In August of 1900 the Rotherham police were given information about some illicit drinking which had been going on at Dalton. Suspicions had begun when several local men had been taken into custody accused of being drunk, however none would admit to drinking in a particular hostelry in the area, so the police could not tie it down to any landlord. The worst offenders seemed to be some Irish miners who were working at the Silverwood Colliery and who lived in huts. These had been temporarily erected in the area where sinking operations for the colliery had been in progress. The area was put under close supervision and around 17 August it was noted that a certain quantity of beer was seen to be taken into a hut occupied by a man called Albert Reynolds.
Superintendent McDonald arranged for a constable from another division, who was unknown to the area, to be given employment at the colliery brickyard near to the huts. Working undercover and in plain clothes, he had kept an eye on the hut, where he could regularly hear the sound of men singing and enjoying themselves. Entering the hut one night, the undercover officer, found that large quantities of liquor was being sold on the premises. Altogether on sale were barrels of beer and bottles of whiskey, rum and brandy. After that, he managed to visit the hut on a regular basis and saw drink being consumed on the premises and also taken away from the premises for consumption later. Once he made his report to the superintendent, a raid was organised
Accordingly on Saturday 8 September 1900, Superintendent McDonald took out a warrant and accompanied by Inspector Myers, they raided the hut around 11.30 pm and found several men on the premises. The hut was surrounded and all the alcohol on the premises was removed. In fact the haul was so large, that a special horse and dray had to be requisition in order to remove it all. In total there was 53 gallons of cask beer, 336 pint bottles of beer, 10 bottles of Irish whiskey, 3 bottles of brandy and 3 bottles of rum. The alcohol was then taken to the courthouse at Rotherham. On Monday 10 September, Albert Reynolds was brought before the magistrates at the West Riding Police Court.
It was recorded that he ‘hobbled into court on crutches, suffering from a broken leg for which he had been off work for some time’. Once seated, he told the court that he would be conducting his own defence. Reynolds pleaded guilty to the charge, but asked for a remand in order to bring witnesses who would prove that certain allegations against him were incorrect. He was charged with selling beer without a license on the 7 and 8 September. Superintendent McDonald described the prisoner as being employed as a sinker at the Colliery and the occupier of a hut nearest to the pit where he worked. He said that after several complaints from local people, the hut had been placed under observation, and beer had been seen taken into the hut under cover of darkness.
The next witness was Police Constable Stone who told the bench that he had observed a delivery of alcohol at 9.10 pm on 17 August. The delivery, which was carried out by two drays, were then emptied at the hut belonging to the prisoner. He also told the court that although there had been many complaints about drunken men, the nearest public house was a mile away. Then it was time for the undercover police officer to give evidence. He told the court that his name was Police Constable Lancaster and said he had been stationed in the Barnsley police force, but had been seconded to Rotherham for this investigation. For this purpose he had been employed in the brickworks, and so he could see Reynolds’ hut from where he was working as it was only about 150 yards away.
He said that on 7 September he had gone to the hut in company with a man named Willis, and ordered a pint of beer for which he paid 6d. For the next round, Willis ordered two more pints and was served by a servant. Since that time he had gone several times and had always been served. He stated that on each occasion Reynolds had been present. Also whilst he had been in the hut he heard men come to the back door and order sixpenny worth of whisky. Reynolds wife went to the door and told the servant to serve them and once again Reynolds was there. The witness described how the whisky was measured in an egg cup before being poured into larger cups for the men who then took them away. He also claimed that when working in the brickyard he saw men go to the hut day and night, just as if it had been an ordinary public house.
However upon hearing this, the prisoner Reynolds maintained that on the date mentioned, he had not been present in the hut as he had been at Woodhouse Mill at the time. He asked the magistrates to remand him for a week, so that he could find witnesses to prove that he had been elsewhere at the time. The chair to the magistrates, Mr Rhodes asked him if any of these witnesses could account for any of the alcohol which had been found on the premises and the prisoner shook his head. Inspector Myers then stated that on 8 September he had gone with some of his men to remove the alcohol with a search warrant. He listed that the barrels of beer had come from various breweries along with the bottles of spirits.
The inspector stated that the bottles of spirits had been placed out of sight under a table which was covered all around to hide the bottles. His officers had also found a book which recorded all the sales made from the various breweries, as well as a number of bills. He confirmed that the police had gone with plenty of men in order to prevent any retaliation from any of Reynolds customers during the raid. When Reynolds was asked to account for the shebeening he stated that he was separated from his wife and had to pay her 17s 6d a week and then he had been forced to be away from work due to his broken leg. Therefore he had sold alcohol to the other men in order to supplement his wages. He concluded that it was no good denying what he had done.
But then Mr Rhodes dropped a bombshell. He told the court that the prisoner had been convicted at Shirebrook, Chesterfield four years previously for shebeening on 19 September 1896. There had been two separate charges for which he was fined £50 and costs. After hearing this, the court inflicted another fine of £50 or three months imprisonment on him. The next case the court heard arose from an incident which had occurred when the police were in the act of arresting Reynolds on 7 September. The prisoners name was William Comer of Silverwood and he was charged with resisting the police. Superintendent McDonald again was the witness and he said that when the police went into the hut, the prisoner had been sitting at a table there.
When he saw the uniformed officers he grabbed a walking stick and held it in a threatening manner. The stick was removed from him and he was told to ‘keep quiet.’ Later he picked up a poker and was about too strike one of his men, when the superintendent spotted him. He shouted and thankfully another officer, Police Constable Brooks managed to knock the poker out of the man’s hands. When asked if he had anything to say for himself, Comer apologised for his behaviour and stated that he had been drinking and didn’t know what he was doing. However the superintendent told the bench that after he had been arrested, he had also tried to incite others to attack his men. The bench inflicted a fine of 20s and costs or one month in prison.
It was reported later that the case had excited much interest in the local populace and that consequently the courtroom had been crowded throughout. Many of the men from the colliery had been present in the court, however it was reported that they behaved very well. Reynolds wife had also been arrested on a similar charge, but as magistrates of the period tended to think that women had no option but to obey their husbands, they agreed to drop all the charges against her and Mrs Reynolds was dismissed