WikiWirral is where great friendships are made.
Forum Statistics
Forums65
Topics76,499
Posts1,034,117
Members14,886
Most Online80,173
Apr 25th, 2025
Who's Online Now
7 members (3 invisible), 3,317 guests, and 474 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters
sunnyside 45,164
MattLFC 22,315
Mark 21,269
granny 17,811
_Ste_ 16,347
Newest Members
Littlehaven22, BluePeter, David_Roberts, PostNB, Gemnm
14,886 Registered Users
New General Forums
Bridge Street Hostel - 1980’s
by Jmac267 - 20th Jul 2025 12:55pm
Cammell Laird Film - Old Ships & Hardships
by David_Roberts - 16th Jul 2025 5:03pm
Cammell Laird Film - Old Ships & Hardships
by David_Roberts - 16th Jul 2025 5:00pm
Subscriptions to posts?
by nickaxe - 5th Jul 2025 12:33pm
New Wirral History
Hoylake Parade School tragedy
by chris58 - 16th Jul 2025 5:30pm
Removed Mother from Grave
by bert1 - 29th Jun 2025 6:44am
White House, Childer Thornton
by NickWirral - 23rd Dec 2022 1:19pm
Top Posters(30 Days)
bert1 11
Topic Replies
What are they doing at four bridges?
by Excoriator - 25th Jul 2025 12:23pm
New Ferry regeneration
by diggingdeeper - 24th Jul 2025 5:10am
Bultaco pursang
by BultacoAstro - 23rd Jul 2025 6:23pm
Family Alldis
by diggingdeeper - 22nd Jul 2025 5:19pm
Bridge Street Hostel - 1980’s
by Jmac267 - 20th Jul 2025 12:55pm
Pay and Display ... Or Not.
by diggingdeeper - 19th Jul 2025 11:07am
Mobile Welder Wanted
by Grosvenor - 17th Jul 2025 6:46pm
July
M T W T F S S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
Top Likes Received (30 Days)
Philip 1
ap493 1
bert1 1
Top Likes Received
bert1 29
Mark 4
casper 4
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#1085847 31st May 2025 7:35am
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,793
Likes: 29
bert1 Offline OP
Wiki Veteran
OP Offline
Wiki Veteran
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,793
Likes: 29
I research family history and I came across a relative of the wife Patrick Croal who at the age of 11 in 1901 died of nicotine poisoning. Newspaper reports said he had been an excessive smoker from a very early age.

The editor of the Sunday School Chronicle, Rev Frank Johnson after Patrick's death took up the fight to have tobacconists to stop displaying cigarettes packed in bright colours next to sweets and to stop selling cigarettes to young boys. He wanted sweet shops not to be able to sell tobacco at all.

Writing in his Chronicle he threatened all tobacconists if they didn't change their ways he would start an organisation called the Anti Cigarette League.
This he did and for a fee of one and a half pennies you could enrol and effectively take up the fight. The organisation went international.

Here in Wirral many joined the League and one school in New Ferry had 200 members.

The Shaftsbury Boys Club gave up a room so the Anti Cigarette League could hold weekly meetings but the meetings were for boys under 9 years old and was heavily attended each week.

The problem eventually reached parliament, proposals put forward was to tax cigarettes, at the time you could buy 10 for one penny and if you looked around you could buy 10 for a half penny. The proposer wanted to put cigarettes out of the reach of children through pricing.

Another proposal was to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone under the age of 16, which eventually happened.

Reasons given, at 16 the body is more mature and tobacco has less affect.


God help us,
Come yourself,
Don't send Jesus,
This is no place for children.


Bertieone.
Google Ads
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 14,524
Likes: 33
Wiki Master
Offline
Wiki Master
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 14,524
Likes: 33
Prior to the availability of mechanisation to produce cigarettes (late 19th century), smokers primarily used pipes, especially cheap clay pipes for the poor. Lung cancer was virtually unheard of until cigarettes came into use, possibly because the price of tobacco dropped, most pipes used a very small amount of tobacco.

Tobacco smuggling into Liverpool was a huge business in the 19th century, the legitimate importers formed societies to wipe out the black market - although it is difficult to believe that any company didn't get creative with their own figures.

Taxation on tobacco in the UK started around 1660, much of the smoking world at and before that time were smoking cannabis or similar concoctions. It is not until the first world war that cannabis and opium smoking effectively got overtaken by tobacco, there is a paradox that many of the UK WW1 (and WW2) military hadn't smoked cannabis before being posted abroad yet cannabis usage still declined. I suspect in the UK that cannabis smoking may be getting on a par with tobacco again.


We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn

https://ddue.uk

Moderated by  Mod 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Random Wirral Images

Click to View Topic.
Newest Topics
What are they doing at four bridges?
by Excoriator - 25th Jul 2025 12:23pm
Bridge Street Hostel - 1980’s
by Jmac267 - 20th Jul 2025 12:55pm
Pay and Display ... Or Not.
by diggingdeeper - 18th Jul 2025 12:53am
Mobile Welder Wanted
by Grosvenor - 17th Jul 2025 6:46pm
Hoylake Parade School tragedy
by chris58 - 16th Jul 2025 5:30pm
For Sale & Free
Member Spotlight
Beaty59
Beaty59
Port Sunlight
Posts: 236
Joined: May 2009
Today's Birthdays
There are no members with birthdays on this day.
New Wirral Info
What are they doing at four bridges?
by Excoriator - 25th Jul 2025 12:23pm
Pay and Display ... Or Not.
by diggingdeeper - 18th Jul 2025 12:53am
Family Alldis
by Alldis - 2nd Jul 2025 6:15pm
News : New Topics
Cammell Laird Film - Old Ships & Hardships
by David_Roberts - 16th Jul 2025 5:02pm
New Ferry regeneration
by Excoriator - 16th Mar 2025 4:22pm
Lucy Letby
by diggingdeeper - 16th Dec 2024 7:16pm
New Enthusiast Forums
Mobile Welder Wanted
by Grosvenor - 17th Jul 2025 6:46pm
Bultaco pursang
by Bultaco - 13th Mar 2019 1:43pm
Popular Topics(Views)
10,444,787 CW Chat room thread
5,676,371 WIKI WALK CHAT
4,491,389 Spotted!
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5