THE fate of fallen women in Victorian Bolton is being highlighted in newly available archives listed as part of an internet scheme giving greater access to historical papers.

Documents held by the Bolton local studies archive show that the issue was such a concern in the mid 1800s in the town that civic leaders set up a special committee to deal with the problem.

The Committee for the Reclamation of Unfortunate Women was set up in 1967 to try and help prostitutes escape a life of vice.

It was the brainchild of the then mayor, Fergus Ferguson, who brought together the area's most prominent churchmen, aldermen and councillors to try and counter prostitution, which was viewed as "this great evil."

The documents even name some of those who were helped, including 21-year-old Ellen Loftus who had been a prostitute for five years but was afraid of her boyfriend who threatened to kill her if she stopped.

Help included a policy of moving "the poor creatures" out of the town and out of reach of "disreputable places" of which, according to the records, there were 78 in Bolton.

The fascinating documents are just some of hundreds of Bolton papers listed as part of the "Our Mutual Friends in the North" scheme in a bid to make them more accessible.

Anyone interested can log onto to the website www.a2a.pro.gov.uk HERE and search public record offices around the country for information, including those from the Our Mutual Friends scheme just by entering key words.

The documents themselves are not available to view on-line but there is a summary of their subject matter and arrangements can them be made to see them in person at the record offices they are held in.

Other records listed as being in the Bolton archive at the Central Library range from inventor Samuel Crompton's correspondence and papers to details of organisations such as Bolton Gas Company and the Public Loan Society and individuals such as F Howcroft, a World War II air raid warden from Great Lever.

Barry Mills, Bolton's local studies librarian said: "By putting our catalogues on-line, we've brought the history they contain very much to life and to everyone's fingertips."