January 1919

The crowds meeting trains at Rushden to greet returning soldiers had decreased as most prisoners had come home.

Sarah Ann Wilkins of the Waggon and Horses was fined £15 for serving drinks after hours.

There were 2,136 children attending day school during the last quarter – a decrease of 61.

The Rushden Pig Club was wound up.

The difficulty of obtaining coal was given as the reason for children’s non‑attendance at school.

Two captured guns were on show, but as the weather was miserable, few people went to see them.

Newton Road school was closed because 6 inches of snow fell.  Telegraph poles were broken by the weight of snow in Wellingborough Road, Portland Road and Higham Road.

Coal was scattered over the High Street when a horse slipped on the snow and broke the cart shaft.

February 1919

Labour certificates for children reaching 13 years were to be issued at the end of each term instead of at their birthday.

Little children were seen waiting at the station for a few lumps of coal due to the shortages.

The phenomenal cold and fuel shortages caused the closure of some factories.  Alfred Street and Newton Road school children were sent home as there was no coke or wood for heating.

The Rushden Urban Council considered starting a tuberculosis colony with dwelling houses for local people.

The Food Control Committee reported that bakers were selling bread less than 12 hours old, which was an offence.

The Council considered building 112 municipal houses in Newton Road at a cost of £65,577, with rents at 17 shillings [£0.85] per week.

Captain Jackson accepted a Grecian silver bowl as a token of appreciation when the Special Constables were disbanded.

March 1919

A ‘plague’ of influenza hit the town with people advised to go to bed and stay there.

Snow of over 18 inches was still lying from the storms of the previous month.

The billiard room at the Coffee Tavern proved a great success.

The Rushden Echo reported that work on the Channel Tunnel would start soon.

Fuel shortages almost caused the town to be without gas.

A tramp begging for food in Queen Street was sent to prison for 7 days.

Young people who had obstructed the footpaths in Rushden were each fined 15/- [£0.75].

‘A good many girls in Rushden think of nothing but dancing,’ said the Rev Ion Carroll of St Peter’s Church.

April 1919

C.E.Bayes said the town refuse should be collected municipally as the present system was unsanitary.

A ‘town’ meeting was called to discuss the erection of a Cottage Hospital as a War Memorial.

The offer of a “tank” in commemoration of the purchase of War Savings Certificates was accepted by the Council.

Lord John Sanger’s Circus entertained the town with elephants.

May 1919

The estimated cost for the War Memorial, which had already been ordered, was £830.

Three Temperance Bandsmen were to tour the USA for 6 months.

Lt.A.D.Denton was asked to play cricket for Northamptonshire despite the loss of a leg in the war.

Mr.Elmer was given the post of full time secretary to the Discharged Soldiers’ Federation, at a wage of £2.18s.0d per week.

A Victory Ball was held in the Co-op Hall with 250 people in fancy dress.

Sixty cases of tuberculosis were reported for the year 1918 as against 41 in 1917.

Two boys were fined 2/- and 2/6d costs for damaging a thickset hedge of Harry Ewart Knight.

£393.15s.0d was to be spent tarring 5 miles of roads in the Rushden Urban District.

June 1919

Of the 30 Belgian refugees who came to the town, 11 remained here.

Crowds gathered to see swarms of bees, worth a sovereign each, opposite the Free Library.

No fresh female labour was to be engaged in the men’s department of factories.

A record number of holiday makers made bookings at Rushden Station for the South Coast.

A.Stock and J.Eagle caught 7 bream with a total weight of 30 lbs at the start of the fishing season.

The old property of A.Robinson, greengrocer, [corner of Church Street and High Street] is to be pulled down and up-to-date premises erected.

July 1919

The Great War, which lasted 4 years and 328 days, was officially terminated with the signing of the Peace Treaty.

Mr.C.Green proposed improvements to The Green and the erection of Public Baths as a celebration of Peace.

Clubs provided free beer to celebrate the Peace.

A loan of £1,250 was required to obtain an electrically propelled dust cart for the town.

A large party assembled on The Green to bid farewell to Mrs General Booth and her Salvation Army Officers.

Hot-water heating was to be installed in Newton Road Infants’ School at a cost of £742.18s.0d.

The Rushden Red Cross made 5,895 articles of clothing, including 677 shirts, for distribution during the Great War.

The proposal to buy Rushden House for £6,300 as a Sanatorium met with some opposition.

Rushden had the lowest death rate in the county being 10 per 1,000 people.

The Royal Society of Plumbers gave the Red Cross a motor ambulance, driven by a DMC engine and lighted by electricity, for use in Rushden.

Denton and Sons’ annual outing went to Luton where they had a good view of the rioters tearing down the peace decorations and breaking windows.

August 1919

The Palace closed for renovations, and then re-opened with an all-star variety programme.

Over 2,000 people left town by train for their holidays.

A policeman was placed on duty at the bottom of Queen Street during the dinner hour due to a number of cycle accidents at this dangerous corner.

The heatwave reached 80 degrees F.

The Rose Day collections were postponed as so many people were still on holiday.

Bitter complaints were made regarding the inadequate way ration card applications had been handled.

September 1919

There were 938 members of the Higham & Rushden Boot Operatives Union still serving with the Colours.

Building started on 24 houses to be erected by the RUDC.

New books for the Free Library cost £15.

Food prices were still rising.  A four pound loaf cost 9½d and milk was 1 shilling a quart.

Three deliveries of letters were to be made each day.

Frank Wilkins, landlord of the Waggon and Horses, made a flight in an aeroplane and dropped messages over Rushden.

October 1919

Fifty German prisoners were unable to leave Rushden because of strikes on the Railway.  Strike pay for the railwaymen was fixed at 12 shillings per week by the N.U.R.

Factory hours were cut to 25 per week because of the strike and only doctors and food distributors were allowed to buy petrol.

A new Bedford to Rushden bus service made it possible to travel from London to Leicester.

Henry Dunkley received a watch for attending school from the age of 3 for 10 years without absence or ever being late.

November 1919

It was reported that the motor ambulance had carried 14 patients and covered 450 miles.  The expenses were £25.15s.11d, but complaints were made at the charge of £2 asked for each journey so it was to be reduced to £1.10s.0d.

The town came to a halt at 11 o’clock on the 11th and Mr.J.Bates sounded the ‘Last Post’ before the 2 minutes’ silence which was observed by schools and factories where the engines were stopped.

A loan of £14,500 at 5.5% repayable in 60 annual payments of £830.19s.1d was raised for the Council housing scheme.

Voting by postcard for residents over 18 years took place to decide on the two schemes for a War Memorial.

December 1919

The newly formed Pig Club had over 30 members.