TheGenealogist adds British Railways Regional Magazines

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist adds British Railways Regional Magazines to its Newspaper Collection 

Newly released staff magazines reveal railway workers, retirements, obituaries, sporting life and staff outings   

TheGenealogist has added a fascinating new set of British Railways regional magazines to its growing newspaper and periodical collection, giving family historians a rich new source for tracing railway ancestors and exploring everyday working life on Britain’s railways.

The latest release includes more than 60 issues from British Railways regional magazines, covering the Eastern, North Eastern, Scottish, Southern, Western and London Midland regions. The titles span the late 1940s through to the early 1960s, a period of major change for Britain’s rail network following nationalisation.

These publications were produced for railway staff and are rich in the small but important details that can help researchers place an ancestor within their working community. They include staff changes, appointments, transfers, promotions, retirements, long-service presentations, workplace presentations, obituaries, sporting reports, staff outings, social club news, photographs, departmental updates and stories from depots, stations and offices across the regions.

For family historians, this type of material can be especially valuable. A railway worker may appear in a retirement notice after many years of service, in a presentation report marking a move or promotion, in an obituary written by colleagues, or in a report of a cricket, football, bowls or athletics match. Others may be named in accounts of staff excursions, railway institute events, dances, charity activities or local workplace news. These mentions can add personal colour and context that may not be found in other more commonly used records such as census.

Among the highlights are early post-nationalisation issues from 1948 and 1949, Scottish Region magazines from the 1950s, Western Region editions from the late 1940s, and the Southern Region’s June 1953 Coronation Number, reflecting the national mood around the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
The magazines also help researchers understand the world in which railway ancestors lived and worked. They show the pride, humour, challenges and close-knit nature of railway employment, from major regional announcements to small local stories about staff clubs, outings, charity efforts and long-service awards.

Mark Bayley, Head of Content at TheGenealogist, said: 

“Railway records are always popular with family historians, and these British Railways magazines add colour and context to the lives of those who worked on the railways. The staff news, retirement notices, obituaries, sports reports and social items can all help to bring a railway ancestor’s story to life. They are not just about trains and timetables. They are about people, workplaces, communities and the everyday stories of post-war Britain.”

This new release strengthens TheGenealogist’s newspaper and periodical collection and adds further depth for those researching occupational history, local history and transport heritage.

The British Railways regional magazines are available to search now on TheGenealogist.

In this release is an article about the early days of the rail: Shildon, Birthplace of the Railways. From notes by a driver of Locomotion No. I (reproduced from the British Railways Magazine Eastern, North Eastern, Scottish Regions, November 1948). 

(With thanks to Paul Bayley)

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Ancestry adds Irish railway employment records

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added a new Irish collection:

Ireland, Railway Employment Records, 1870-1940
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62687/
Source: Irish Railway Staff Records. Dublin, Ireland: Irish Railway Record Society. www.irrs.ie

About the Ireland, Railway Records, 1870-1940

General collection information

This collection captures the lives of men and women employed by the railways of Ireland, including bus lines and tramways. The country's rail system was owned by private companies, serving different parts of the country, who kept detailed records on their employees. Whether for a driver, clerk, or engineer, these records can show an employee's work history, wages, merits, and even punishments.

Life-altering events like accidental injuries and retirement are also included. In addition, this collection shows how the railway companies handled historical events, such as work-absences during the 1916 Rising and noting employees who returned home from service in World War I.

In 1925, all the companies which lay wholly in the Irish Free State meged to become the Great Southern Railway. This company established bus and truck services during the thirties. In 1945 the Great Southern Railways amalgamated with the Dublin United Transport Company railway companies to form Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE), Ireland's national transport service. In 1958, CIE absorbed those parts of the Great Northern which lay south of the border. The Irish Railway Record Society have worked closely with CIE to protect the personnel records of the past, saving them for future generations to enjoy.

Using this collection

If your ancestor was employed by the railways, this collection can provide the following information about them:

• Birth date and place
• Death date and place
• Occupation
• The station or depot where they worked
• Salary
• Date of employment and termination

You may find even more details about your ancestor's work life, such as pay raises, days taken for sick leave, and membership of associations or trade unions. Depending on your ancestor's job, railway records may also provide personnel files. Knowing the dates and locations of your ancestor's employment can help you track their movements. Bear in mind this collection covers 7 decades worth of documents, so employee records can vary in scope and detail.

For further details visit the collection link above.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Update to Railway Work, Life and Death project

From Mike Esbester, news of an update on British and Irish railway staff trade union records:

Was your railway ancestor a trade unionist?

As the railway industry was one of Britain and Ireland's biggest employers for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, many of us have railway ancestors. From the 1870s railway workers started to join trades unions, to secure better working conditions. This has produced records which help us with our family history research - if we can get hold of them!

As part of its work on accidents to British and Irish railway staff before 1939, the 'Railway Work, Life & Death' project has just released a major new update to its free database. Around 25,000 records, focusing on trade unionists, have been made public and they want us to make use of them!

The records cover 1889-1920, and deal with accidents, ill-health and old age. They document the support provided to its members by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants/ National Union of Railwaymen. They give us details about financial support offered when staff became too old or too ill to work, or if they had an accident. The orphan fund, for example, provided a weekly payment to look after children under 14; compensation funds also gave members and their families vital financial stability after an accident.

All together the database now has nearly 50,000 cases between 1889 and 1939, all transcribed by the project’s excellent volunteers.

The project is a joint initiative of the University of Portsmouth, the National Railway Museum and the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick, working with The National Archives. It wants to see the information it’s making available being used by you, in your research - it's all available free, from the project website. They're also keen to hear from you if you find someone you're researching, so please let them know.

www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk

Twitter: @RWLDproject

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Railway-Work-Life-Death-108745674380484

(With thanks to Mike)

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

The Railway Work, Life & Death project

I've been asked to give the following collaborative initiative seeking to make more easily available details of accidents to British and Irish railway workers before 1939:

Your railway ancestor’s accident?

The railways were one of Britain and Ireland’s biggest employers for much of the 19th and 20th centuries – meaning many of us have one or more railway workers in our family trees. What hasn’t been commonly known is that railway work could be very dangerous – and that some of the accidents that resulted have left records useful to us as family historians. 

Since 2016 the ‘Railway Work, Life & Death’ project has been working on making these pre-1939 records more easily available – and from mid-July will be making 16,000 additional cases available as part of its free database, found on the project website. All together the database will then contain over 21,000 cases between 1900 and 1939, all transcribed by the project’s excellent volunteers. The records tell us about the people involved, what they were doing, when, where and why, and help us understand working life and accidents on the railways. 

The project is a joint initiative of the University of Portsmouth, the National Railway Museum and the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick, working with The National Archives. It wants to see the information it’s making available being used by you, in your research - it's all available free, from the project website. They're also keen to hear from you if you find someone you're researching, so please let them know.

www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk
Twitter: @RWLDproject
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Railway-Work-Life-Death-108745674380484

(With thanks to Mike Esbester)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Remains of Scotland's earliest railway uncovered

An archaeological project has discovered the remains of Scotland's oldest railway. The Tranent Wagonway in East Lothian was constructed in 1722 for a coal mining operation, just fifteen years after the Act of Union with England, and some 23 years before the Forty Five Jacobite Rebellion. The project has unearthed timbers from the rail line which suggest several upgrades, dating from 1722-25, 1728-30, and 1743-44. 

For more on the story, visit the 1722 Waggonway Project at www.1722waggonway.co.uk/post/archaeological-digs-unearth-stunning-industrial-sites-in-east-lothian-linked-to-william-adam.

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Ancestry adds Queensland government railway workers database

If your ancestors emigrated to Queensland, Australia, and took up work in the railways, this new collection on Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) may be of interest:

Australia, Queensland, Index to Government Railways Workers, 1878-1946
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61999/
Source: Caloundra Family History Research Inc. Queensland Government Railway Index to Staff Records. Caloundra, Queensland, Australia: 2003.

This collection contains an index to staff employed in various stations in the Queensland Government Railway from 1878-1946. While information available for individual records may vary, you may be able to find:

Name
Age and Birth Date
Employment Start Date *When a date is not available, a year range is provided
Employment Start Place
Occupation and Industry

The following research tips have been provided by the Caloundra family History Research Inc.: “This is an Index to the Qld Government Railway (QGR) Staff Records Employed in Various Departments & Stations 1889 – 1912 held at QSA… Where an alias was given, another entry has been created referring back to the Register and page number. There may be more than one entry for a name…

Spelling variations for any surname should be taken into account and in many cases, given names have been abbreviated eg Wm, Patk, Alxd, Hy etc. While we may feel we know what these abbreviations represent, in most cases they have been left as is. Some names have been hard to decipher and all care has been taken to accurately record the information but the onus is on the research to check all probable entries…

The apostrophe has not been included in the Last Name Column so names such as O’Sullivan will be shown as O SULLIVAN. Surnames beginning with “Mac” will be found at the beginning of the “M Section”. Those beginning with “Mc” will be found alphabetically in the “M Section”. Where dates have been unable to be deciphered, a series of zeros have been inserted eg 00/00/0000 in the column for these dates.”

Chris

My next 5 week Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers course starts November 2nd - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is now out, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.