1839
First
Grand
National horse
race
run
at
Aintree,
Liverpool.
First
baseball
game
played
in
Cooperstown,
New
York.
First
bicycle
made
by
Scottish
inventor
Kirkpatrick
Macmillan.
A
correspondent
of
the
Owestry
Bye-Gones
column
of
March
26,
gave
some
instances
of
'thieve's
houses'
in
Wales.
He
said
early
in
1839
a
'blue
book'
was
published
containing
a
report
of
the
commissioners
for
enquiring
into
the
means
of
establishing
a
constabulary
force
through
England
and
Wales.
The
commisionaires
reported
that
around
3,000
'travellers'
(ie:
thieves)
made
provincial
tours,
either
during
stated
seasons
or
if
London
was
to
hot
for
them.
All
over
the
country
there
were
lodging
houses
for
travellers,
in
every
town
and
every
village.
Also
known
as
thieving
houses,
they
were
the
'flash
houses'
of
the
rural
district,
receiving
houses
for
stolen
goods.
The
city
of
Chester
alone
was
said
to
have
150
or
200
of
these
houses
and
Chester
generally
along
with
Cornwall
was
stated
to
be
the
very
worst
in
the
kingdom
for
‘wreckers,’
and
it
was
also
stated
that
on
the
Cheshire
coast
not
to
far
from
Liverpool,
"They
will
rob
those
who
have
escaped
the
perils
of
the
sea,
and
come
safe
on
shore;
they
will
mutilate
dead
bodies
for
the
sake
of
rings
and
personal
ornaments".
