FORMER Saints star Peter Harvey can now be put in the picture. He'd been agonising over a certain Father Hearne whose name has popped up twice in his life over a span of 45 years.

The priest had given his name to a trophy won around 1958 by Peter, from Pike Place, Eccleston, during his West Park Catholic Grammar schooldays; and then he spotted just weeks ago, that a Fr. Hearn had been recorded as the opener of Sacred Heart parish hall.

Peter promptly recruited help from customers of this column, in asking: "Who was Father Hearne?"

Bought

Now, David Griffiths of Derwent Close, Rainhill, comes up with the answer (thanks to John Vose's book, 'Growing Up in St Helens').

"Fr. Hearne", he writes, "was the parish priest at Sacred Heart. In 1899, he bought a house in St George's Road and set up a Catholic school for boys, with a Mr J. Carey as its headmaster. In 1911, De La Salle Brothers took over, with Brother Nilus as head".

SO there you have it, at long last, Peter! Should be able to sleep a bit sounder in your bed...