Complaining about the habits of Victorian railway passengers

It seems that the gripes Victorian railway travellers had about their fellow passengers were very similar to ours...

London Bridge, 1858

"Once I found myself racing north alone with an elderly spinster of forbidding aspect. She had long since left the “springs of fifty years” behind. She was gaunt, grey, and bony, She wore gleaming spectacles. She was like the elderly Englishwoman dear to Parisian caricature. And the first words she uttered of sepulchral tones were these: “I always travel in a ladies’ compartment when going even the shortest journey, for you never know what might happen!” This prudent spinster, it will be seen, was gifted with that priceless possession, a vivid imagination. With her, I remember, I was moved to formulate my views as to the Ideal Train. I argued that the whole classification of passengers required immediate rearrangement. There should not only be separate carriages for children, but compartments for the newly-wed, for men who smoke inferior cigars, for schoolboys, for people who want to discuss their private affairs, for folks recovering from dangerous illnesses, for ugly people, for “engaged” couples – or those who ought to be – for young ladies who giggle (there is no form of nerve-torture to compare to this on a long journey), and for people who regard railway travelling as an excuse for gnawing chicken-bones, drinking, potent-smelling liquors, and strewing themselves and everybody else with crumbs."

Miss Hepworth Dixon, Ladies Pictorial, August 1896

London and North Western Railway Criminal Prosecutions - December 1878

In December 1878 the London and North Western Railway prosecuted the following number of cases:

Crime                                                                                          Number of cases

Robbery                                                                                                 6

Drunk and disorderly                                                                               4

Attempting to enter a train in motion                                                         3

Travelling in a superior class of carriage to that for which tickets were 

held + obstructing the company’s servants in the execution of their duty     3

Receiving stolen property                                                                         3

Travelling without a ticket                                                                         2

Interfering with comfort of passengers + obstructing the company’s 

servants in the execution of their duty                                                       2

Travelling with platform tickets                                                                  2

Pocket-Picking                                                                                       1

Drunk and assaulting a company’s servant                                               1

Travelling with ticket over date                                                                 1

Assaulting Company’s servant                                                                 1

Trespass                                                                                               1

 Source: The National Archives, RAIL 410/183, Traffic Committee minute book, Minute 31173, 10 January 1879

Some Railway Worker's Accidents in the 1880s

Occasionally, I just like to browse the railway staff records on the Ancestry.com website. One of the saddest files I know is the London, Chatham and Dover Railway's book of injuries that its employees sustained. Indeed, there are some truly shocking stories recorded that highlight how dangerous working on the Victorian railway was:

Date: 14 November 1882
Name: Hibbert, G.
Grade: Engineman
Nature of Accident: Forefingers taken off (end of) had his hand on Brake block when fireman unexpectedly applied the brake - fingers caught between block and wheel.[1]

Date: 4 January 1884
Name: Driver of a cart
Nature of Accident: Knocked down while shunting train in Hatton's Yard, Faversham Creek, arm had to be amputated - Pilot Engineman R. Broadberry [2]

Date: 12 June 1885
Name: None given
Grade: Platelayer
Nature of Accident: Forefingers taken off (end of) had his hand on Brake block when fireman unexpectedly applied the brake - fingers caught between block and wheel.[3]

Date: 18 July 1887
Name: Foster, W.G.
Grade: Fireman
Nature of Accident: Head cut and body bruised thro. slipping off into pit in Battersea Shed. Engine 118, Driver, Goodhew [4]

Date: 31 December 1888
Name: J. Coventry
Grade: Engineman
Nature of Accident: When oiling engine at Victoria was struck on the back of his head with a bottle thrown from the 5.30 pm boat train. [5]

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[1] The National Archives [TNA], RAIL 415/108, Register of injuries to workmen: 1880 - 1891, p.45
[2] TNA, RAIL 415/108, Register of injuries to workmen: 1880 - 1891, p.46
[3] TNA, RAIL 415/108, Register of injuries to workmen: 1880 - 1891, p.87
[4] TNA, RAIL 415/108, Register of injuries to workmen: 1880 - 1891, p.112
[5] TNA, RAIL 415/108, Register of injuries to workmen: 1880 - 1891, p.124

Britain's Largest Employers in 1907

Britain's railways before 1914 were some of Britain's largest employers. Indeed, table below shows that of Britain's twenty-five leading employers in 1907, thirteen were railways.

"He was ordered to leave" - A Drunk at the Victoria Station - 1872

On Saturday I posted a story about a drunk at the Midland Railway's Sheffield Station in 1872. However, this story was found directly below it:

'DRUNK AT THE VICTORIA STATION - Thomas Williams, miner, living at Handsworth was charged with being drunk at the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Station. at about seven o'clock on Saturday evening the prisoner went to the Victoria Station in a state of intoxication. He was ordered to leave, and two porters accompanied him off the premises to see him safe away. Shortly after eight he was found wandering upon the line a short distance from the station, and narrowly escaped being run over by a train. He was given into custody. - The bench inflicted a fine of 20s and costs.'[1]

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[1] The Sheffield & Rotherham Independent, Tuesday, February 06, 1872, p. 7

Britain's first Dining Car - 1879

On Monday 27 October 1879, Britain's railways witnessed the first appearance of a dining car on the Great Northern Railway (GNR). This car was not how we would expect railway dining facilities to be today, and there were actually two coaches, one when the passengers ate and another where the food was cooked. This was a widely reported event, and the press heaped praise on the GNR, with poetry being produced to mark the occasion. If you would like to read more about this event, I wrote a whole blog post on it last year.

"Could not give any account of himself" - Drunk on a train -1872

In know people who have been in a similar situation...really I do:

'DRUNK IN A RAILWAY TRAIN' - Richard Shaw, turner, Leeds, was charged with being drunk at the Midland Station. Mr Curtis stated that the prisoner was found drunk in a train on its arrival at the station, on Saturday evening. He had no ticket, and was so drunk that he could not give any account of himself, and was locked up. His ticket was afterwards found in the carriage - Fined 10s and costs, or 14 days.[1]

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[1] The Sheffield & Rotherham Independent, Tuesday, February 06, 1872, p. 7

The Number of Railway Companeis in Britain 1830-1910

People are sometimes astounded when I tell them that in the Victorian period there were over a hundred railway companies in Britain. Therefore, I just thought I would share the figures, as shown on the left. A 'significant' railway company is defined as those that had gross receipts constituting 0.25 per cent or more of the industry total.[1]

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[1] Arnold, A.J. and McCartney, S. ‘Rates of return, concentration levels and strategic change in the British railway industry, 1830-1912’, Journal of Transport History, 26 (2005), p.50

LADIES ONLY - Carriage Compartment Label

From the late 1860s there was a general hysteria about the notion of women travelling alone in railway carriages and the possible risk of them being attacked. Because of this, in October 1874 the Metropolitan Railway introduced dedicated 'Ladies Only' compartments on all their trains. They were infrequently used, and after a few months the company had dispensed with them. From then on, all that most companies offered was the reservation of compartments for women on request, and the label above, placed in the window of a compartment, would designate it as such. If you would like to read more about 'Ladies Only' compartments, I wrote a whole blog post on the whole subject in April last year.

Filthy Railway Carriages

I have never thought about the cleanliness of railway carriages in the Victorian period. However, after being alerted to the presence of interesting railway material in the British Medical Journal, I had a browse and a  letter from August 1896 showed me that unclean passenger accommodation isn't uniquely a peril of modern railway travel:

'SIR,-Let me ask your assistance in removing a possible source of danger to public health, and in remedying a state of things existing in our midst highly discreditable in this age of sanitary progress.
                 The condition of some of the carriages on that section of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway running from Victoria to London Bridge vid Sydenbam, by which I have of late been frequently obliged to travel, is very disgraceful. Their filthy condition suggests that they are rarely washed or cleaned, and the favourable soil that their dirt affords for the accumulation and possible development of noxious germs can be imagined. Is there no sanitary authority responsible for the inspection of these carriages? In one case within my knowledge representations have been made, but apparently without effect.-I am, etc.,
August 13th. OBSERVER'[1]

What is interesting, is that the class of carriage wasn't even mentioned. Indeed, by the late nineteenth century even third class accommodation was of a good standard and, as shown by this letter, the expectation was that in whichever one chose to travel it, it would be at least clean!

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[1] The British Medical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1807 (Aug. 17, 1895), pp. 451-452

A Narrow Escape - 1883

Luckily for many, we don't have carriage doors that passengers can open themselves any more. However, I do wonder how many times events such as the one below, from 1883, occurred in the age of the slam door.

'A NARROW ESCAPE - At Crewe, on Friday, the 31st ult, Wm. Fitch, a respectably dressed man, was charged with being drunk at Crewe station. The defendant was travelling by a Birmingham train, and as it was running into the station he attempted to step onto the platform, but he fell between the platform and the train, and narrowly escaped being killed. He was let off with a penalty of ten shillings.'[1]


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[1] Cheshire Observer, Saturday, September 08, 1883; pg. 7; Issue 1622

In the event of a passenger being drunk and disorderly.... 1889

Throughout nineteenth century railway rule books there is one regulation they will always certainly contain; that an individual being found 'under the influence' on the job will be dismissed. Far less common are regulations relating to what staff should do if a passenger is found drunk. I was, therefore, interested to find this one from the Barry Railway's rule book of 1889:

"247: In the event of any passenger being Drunk and Disorderly, to the annoyance of others, the Guard is to use all gentle means to stop the nuisance; failing which he must, for the safety and convenience of all, remove the offender from the train at the first station. The Guard must obtain the name and address of the offender , and also of one, at least, of the Passengers present at the time; he must also take care that the offender's luggage is put out of the train before it proceeds on its journey."[1]

[1] The National Archives, RAIL 1134/4, Rules and Regulations to be observed by all persons in the service of the company, p.120-121

Collision on the Midland Railway [of a Beer Train] - 1883

One day I reckon I should do a history of the railways and beer. This is from The Pall Mall Gazette of January 26, 1883.

"A collision occurred yesterday on the Midland Railway between Leicester and London. A heavy beer train was being shunted to allow a Leicester express to pass, and while across the main line an empty waggon train dashed into it, smashing the waggons and completely blocking both lines. The engine kept the rails, and no serious personal injuries were sustained, but there was great damage to rolling stock, and the lines were not clear for traffic for several hours."

That may be all well and good, but how much beer was lost?

Elizabeth Ainsworth - Railway Office Cleaner - 1892

While browsing through railway company staff files, I came across Mrs Elizabeth Ainsworth, who was listed as an office cleaner at the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's Ardwick Station in 1892. Just to see what I could turn up, I thought I would briefly look into how Elizabeth came to hold this post, as most women who were employed on the railways and were listed as 'Mrs' were widows of railwaymen who had been killed while on duty.

Elizabeth was appointed to her post on 29 November 1892 on the pitiful wage of eight shillings a week (£20 6s per year).[1] Therefore, I figured that the next thing to do was to look for her in the 1891 census. On finding her, I discovered that she was forty-nine when the census was taken and had been born in Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire. At that point she was living with her five children and husband, Henry, who was a railway porter.[2] The hunt was then on to find out what happened to Henry.

Unfortunately, his staff record has seemingly not survived. Yet, I did find out that a Henry Ainsworth died in the June quarter of 1892 in Chorlton, which is only four miles from Ardwick. Therefore, it is possible that this was my Henry, although the birth year on the Birth, Marriage and Death register does not match that on the 1891 census. Nevertheless, on the 1901 census, when Elizabeth was still living with four of her children in Ardwick, she was listed as being a widow.[4] Consequently, while much searching did not turn up how Henry died, I am almost certain that Elizabeth received the job because he had passed away.

Later records show that Elizabeth continued in the company's service until 1 February 1913, and that her wages were only advanced once, in October 1893, when she started receiving ten shillings a week.[3]

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[1] The National Archives [TNA], RAIL 463/309, MS & L Railway & Canal general staff book, p.45
[2] TNA, RG 12/3169, 1891 Census,  Lancashire, Ardwick, District 26, p30
[3] TNA, RAIL 463/243, Staff register: 4841 - 5342 No. 10, p.4932
[4] TNA, RG 13/3678, 1901 Census, Lancashire, South Manchester, Ardwick, District 29, p.32

The Cross-Border Archive Project

I was recently sent a link to The Cross-Border Archive Project by Rachel Moore, who I met that the Archives, Artefacts, Amateurs and Academics conference some weeks back. Starting in early 2007 and ending in June 2008, the project was a joint venture by the Newry & Mourne Museum and Louth County Archives Service to make available on-line documents regarding the history of Newry and Mourne in Northern Ireland and Louth in Ireland. Of particular interest to Rachel and I was the section covering documents from the Great Northern Railway, which crossed the border between the two regions.

The site contains sections on the history of the railway, its social impact, the company's works at Dundalk, the company's relationship with its employees and the trade it engaged in; all of which are accompanied by a fascinating array of images and documents. Naturally, my favourite image was that of the 'Great Northern Brewery private Siding'. However, I was also interested by a document providing details of the GNR's clerical exam from 1917. It stated that 'attention should be paid to grammar, spelling, punctuation and handwriting' of candidates when they submitted essays on one of the following four subjects: '(1) The necessity of tilling more land in Ireland', '(2) Modern inventions used in War', '(3) The game of football - its uses and abuses', and '(4) An honest man is the noblest work of God.'

Ultimately, there are many interesting things to look at and learn about on the site and I really recommend a look.

The Stock Exchange Nicknames of British Railway Companies - 1898

In my researches yesterday, I came across a list of the stock exchange nicknames of Britain's largest railway companies in 1898. What I found interesting is that some of the names just use a word, or part of a word, from the company's title. However, other names relate to the region the companies served, for example the North Staffordshire Railway was referred to as 'pots', presumably because of the large pottery industry there. I'm now just curious about how these names came about. The whole list was as follows:-

Caledonian                                          Claras
Cambrians                                          Cambs
Glasgow and South Western                Ayrshires
Great Central                                      Centrals
Great Eastern                                     Easterns
Great Northern                                    Yorks
Great North of Scotland                       Haddocks
Great Western                                    Westerns
Hull and Barnsley                                Hulls
London and North Western                  Brums
London and South Western                 Souths
London, Brighton and South Coast       Berthas
London, Chatham and Dover                Little Chats
Midland                                              Middies
North British                                       British
North Eastern                                     Berwick
South Eastern                                    Doras
Lancashire and Yorkshire                    Leeds
North Staffordshire                             Pots
Taff Vale                                            Taffs


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[1] The National Archives, ZPER 46/1, The Railway Yearbook for 1898

Which Railway Employees Suffered the most Accidents in 1888?

Accidents to railway workers were very common in the Victorian period, and most safety legislation was passed to protect the passenger, rather than the employee. A Board of Trade report on accidents in 1888 stated that out of the 346,426 individuals engaged in railway companies' Traffic, Locomotive, Engineering and Stores Departments,  346 were killed and 2,193 were injured. However, different grades of employee were affected to different extents, and the table shows the proportion of individuals in each grade who were victims of an accident (sorted by the proportionate fatality rate):

Clearly, individuals working  with the physical movement of rolling stock, the Brakesmen, Goods Guards and Shunters, suffered the greatest proportion of accidents.  Furthermore, both in terms of fatalities and injuries, station-based staff, such as Ticket Collectors, Station-Masters and Porters, were in the bottom half of the table. Thus, this evidence would suggest strongly (and let us face it, this probably didn't need pointing out) that where you worked on the Victorian railway affected your chance of being in an accident. The closer you were to a 'moving part', putting you at greater risk.

A Serious Charge Against a Station Master - 1888

In the later nineteenth century the station master was seen as a respectable member of society who was usually beyond reproach. However, occasionally I find the odd individual that betreyed this image, such as this case from 1888 of the Great Western Railway's Station Master at Yarnton, near Oxford:

'Before Oxford City Magistrate this morning George Taylor Beavington, station master at Yarnton, and his wife were charged with stealing and receiving from a brake-van on the Great Western Railway, in transit from Charlbury to Oxford on May 31st, a post office mail-bag and contents, including a five-pound note. - The evidence showed that on being questioned by the Inspector the male prisoner admitted he had taken the bag. - Both Prisoners were remanded for a week.[1]

Naturally, Beavington lost his job immediately, and when the case was eventually heard by the Oxford Assize Court on 25 June he was sentenced to twelve months hard labour. The case against his wife was not proceeded with.[2]

[1] The North-Eastern Daily Gazette, Friday, June 08, 1888
[2] The York Herald, Tuesday, June 26, 1888

The Career of an Engine Driver, 1840-1891

In 1894 Strand Magazine carried an article about numerous engine drivers, asking questions regarding their careers and any accidents they had throughout them. One of the interviewees was John Dear, who served had served the London and South Western Railway for fifty-one years. His career, which was judged typical of LSWR drivers, was described as follows;

'John Dear, seventy-five years of age, said he began his career on the railway in 1837. After a short experience on the London and Birmingham Railway, he joined the South Western in 1840 as fireman, becoming a driver about 1842. He continued driving until about 1884, when he was made inspector for the Windsor station, having to look after the engines and men, which position he held until 1891, when - to use his own words - "in consequence of ill-health the directors kindly granted me a pension, as they do all their old servants."

Dear continued: " I ran a passenger train between Nine Elms (the London terminus at that time) to Southampton till the end of 1849. Then on the opening of the Windsor branch (in 1850), I shifted to Datchet; and when the line was completed I ran between London and Windsor."[1]

Indeed, Dear's staff record, which has him down as 'N' Dear, states that he joined the company in May 1840, was appointed Locomotive Foreman at Windsor on 23 January 1884 on 45 shillings per week, and was pensioned by the company's Engineering and Stores Committee on 1 March 1892.[2]

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[1] Story, Alfred, 'Engine Drivers and their Work', Strand Magazine, 8 (1894 -July) p.279
[2] The National Archives [TNA], RAIL 411/530, various locomotive and carriage and wagon depots, register No.5

Handel Festival at Crystal Palace - Handbill

Before the advent of the railway poster, one of the ways nineteenth century railway companies advertised was through the printing and distribution of the humble handbill. The one above was produced in 1877 by the Midland Railway promote cheap excursion fares to London and 'Handel Festival' at Crystal Palace. I would really recommend enlarging the image to have a closer look, there's a lot of interesting detail.