Documents at The National Archives

Fountains Outside the National Archives

North London Railway

Staff Registers, etc, RAIL 529/130-138

Total entries RAIL 529/130-138 = 4586. Allowing for many names in 131, 137 and 138 (1196 entries) being duplicated in the staff registers, there are, perhaps, about 3750 to 4000 individuals listed.

The staff registers (130-135) contain only names of the staff employed by the Traffic Department, ie, station staff, signalmen, guards and railway policemen. Hence there is a shortage of information of those employed as foot-platemen, permanent way workers, signal engineers, etc, or in Bow Works. Dates of appointment are invariably date to Traffic Dept, not necessarily date of joining the Company. For example, William Alfred Hancock who transferred from the Engineer’s Dept to become a ticket collector: Ticket Collector, Coaching Dept, Homerton station. Appt 19 Jan 1892. [RAIL 529/131/605 Folio 207]; Collector. Pay 20s. 19 Jan 1892. On transfer from Engineer’s Dept to Traffic Dept. [RAIL 529/56 3 Feb 1892, Loco Com Min 8319.]]

RAIL 529/130 – Staff Register (new entrants). Gives details of employee name, position, previous positions/school attended (if any), details of who recommended the employee, age employee began service, height, salary, date of appointment and remarks on employee promotion to other positions, resignation (frequently with details of the new employer), dismissal, wage deductions/fines and work suspensions. Dec 1895-Oct 1901 (558 entries)

RAIL 529/131 – Staff Register for salaried and waged staff (coaching, police, traffic and telegraph operating departments) listed by stations including booking clerks, ticket collectors, station inspectors, porters, signalmen, guards, brakesmen, couplers, shunters, messengers, foremen, policemen, point cleaners, lampmen, train boys and female cleaners, etc. May 1900–Jan 1911 (919 entries)

RAIL 529/132 – Staff Register No 1. Gives details of employee name, position, previous positions/school attended (if any), details of who recommended the employee, age employee began service, height, salary, date appointed and remarks on employee promotion to other positions, resignation, dismissal, wage deductions/fines and work suspensions. Jun 1848-Oct 1872 (989 entries)

RAIL 529/133 – Staff Register No 2. Gives details of employee name, position, previous positions/school attended (if any), details of who recommended the employee, age employee began service, salary, height, date appointed and remarks on employee promotion to other positions, resignation, dismissal, wage deductions/fines and work suspensions. Oct 1872-Oct 1881 (800 entries)

RAIL 529/134 – Staff Register No 3. Gives details of employee name, position, previous positions/school attended (if any), details of who recommended the employee, age employee began service, salary height, date appointed and remarks on employee promotion to other positions, resignation, dismissal, wage deductions/fines, and work suspensions. Oct 1881-Sep 1888 (710 entries)

RAIL 529/135 – Staff Register No 4. Gives details of employee name, position, previous positions/school attended (if any), details of who recommended the employee, age employee began service, salary, height, date appointed and remarks on employee promotion to other positions, resignation, dismissal, wage deductions/fines, and work suspensions. Sep 1888-Dec 1895 (191 entries)

RAIL 529/136 – Engagement agreements (251-500). Forms for staff aged 21 years and over and employed by the Locomotive Department. Aug 1912-Dec 1920 (142 entries)

RAIL 529/137 – Clerks’ agreements No 5. Memorandum of Agreements for salaried staff. Gives details of employee name, position, department and station. Mar 1883-Apr 1896 (166 entries)

RAIL 529/138 – Clerks’ agreements No 6. Memorandum of Agreements for salaried staff. Gives details of employee name, position, department and station. Jun 1896-Jan 1910 (111 entries)

Minute Books 

Board Meetings’ Minutes
RAIL 529/9 Meetings of directors 1845 – 1850
RAIL 529/11 Meetings of directors 1850 – 1853
RAIL 529/13 Meetings of directors 1854 – 1857
RAIL 529/15 Meetings of directors 1857 – 1860
RAIL 529/17 Meetings of directors 1860 – 1862
RAIL 529/19 Meetings of directors 1862 – 1864
RAIL 529/21 Meetings of directors 1864 – 1867
RAIL 529/23 Meetings of directors 1868 – 1871
RAIL 529/25 Meetings of directors 1871 – 1875
RAIL 529/27 Meetings of directors 1875 – 1881
RAIL 529/28 Meetings of directors 1881 – 1887
RAIL 529/29 Meetings of directors 1887 – 1895
RAIL 529/30 Meetings of directors 1895 – 1901
RAIL 529/31 Meetings of directors 1901 – 1908
RAIL 529/32 Meetings of directors 1908 – 1911
RAIL 529/33 Meetings of directors 1912 – 1916
RAIL 529/34 Meetings of directors 1916 – 1922
Officers’ Meetings Minutes 1862-1885
RAIL 529/38 Officers’ meetings 1862 – 1871
RAIL 529/39 Officers’ meetings 1871 – 1876
RAIL 529/40 Officers’ meetings 1877 – 1885
Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee Meetings’ Minutes
RAIL 529/41 Stores and Report Committee 1862 – 1871
RAIL 529/42 Locomotive and Stores Committee 1865 – 1868 1 – 420
RAIL 529/43 Locomotive and Stores Committee 1868 – 1869 421-779
RAIL 529/44 Locomotive and Stores Committee 1869 – 1871 780-1259
RAIL 529/45 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1871 – 1873 1260-1738
RAIL 529/46 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1873 – 1875 1739-2252
RAIL 529/47 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1875 – 1876 2253-2728
RAIL 529/48 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1876 – 1878 2729-3308
RAIL 529/49 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1878 – 1880 3309-4003
RAIL 529/50 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1880 – 1882 4004-4665
RAIL 529/51 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1882 – 1883 4666-5303
RAIL 529/52 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1884 – 1886 5304-6104
RAIL 529/53 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1886 – 1888 6105-6839
RAIL 529/54 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1888 – 1889 6840-7482
RAIL 529/55 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1889 – 1891 7483-7951
RAIL 529/56 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1891 – 1892 7952-8674
RAIL 529/57 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1893 – 1894 8675-9390
RAIL 529/58 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1895 – 1897 9391-10118
RAIL 529/59 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1897 – 1899 10119-10801
RAIL 529/60 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1899 – 1901 10802-11448
RAIL 529/61 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1901 – 1903 11449-12120
RAIL 529/62 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1903 – 1905 12121-12781
RAIL 529/63 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1905 – 1907 12782-13477
RAIL 529/64 Locomotive, Stores and Traffic Committee 1908 – 1909 13478-13843
Permanent Way and Estate Committee Meetings’ Minutes
RAIL 529/65 Permanent Way and Estate Committee 1865 – 1866
RAIL 529/66 Permanent Way and Estate Committee 1868 – 1872
RAIL 529/67 Permanent Way and Estate Committee 1872 – 1876
RAIL 529/68 Permanent Way and Estate Committee 1876 – 1878
RAIL 529/69 Permanent Way and Estate Committee 1878 – 1885
RAIL 529/70 Permanent Way and Estate Committee 1885 – 1890
RAIL 529/71 Permanent Way and Estate Committee 1891 – 1897
RAIL 529/72 Permanent Way and Estate Committee 1897 – 1904
RAIL 529/73 Permanent Way and Estate Committee 1905 – 1909
Finance and General Purposes Committee Meetings’ Minutes
RAIL 529/74 Finance Committee 1852 – 1854
RAIL 529/75 Finance Committee 1854 – 1855
RAIL 529/76 Finance Committee 1855
RAIL 529/77 Finance and General Purposes Committee 1865 – 1870
RAIL 529/78 Finance and General Purposes Committee 1870 – 1876
RAIL 529/79 Finance and General Purposes Committee 1876 – 1885
RAIL 529/80 Finance and General Purposes Committee 1885 – 1897
RAIL 529/81 Finance and General Purposes Committee 1898 – 1909
RAIL 529/82 Rough Committee Minutes 1849 – 1851
Reports to the Board and Officers’ Meetings Minutes 1909-1919
RAIL 529/37 Reports to Board 1909 – 1922
RAIL 529/83 Officers’ meetings 1909 – 1911
RAIL 529/84 Officers’ meetings 1912 – 1915
RAIL 529/85 Officers’ meetings 1916 – 1919

London and North-Western Railway

RAIL 410/1831 LNWR Staff Records Broad Street Station 1865-1920.

Introduction

This ledger is arranged alphabetically with names being entered under the first letter of surnames in chronological order of appointment. Entries prior to 1st February 1909, when the LNWR took over the running of the NLR, are almost certainly all NLR and NSWJR staff (see under Numbers below). From 1st February 1909 it contains both LNWR and NLR station staff. Unfortunately, it shows neither with which railway the staff served, nor does it show the type of employment. It also lists gate attendants for the electric trains from their introduction in 1916.

From June 1915, as more and more men went off to war, women began to be employed. In June 1919 the reverse happened, those remaining either resigned or were dismissed to make room for the men coming back. Over that four year period Broad Street took on almost two hundred women for varying lengths of time. Thus, the only way to discover who worked for the NLR is first to find them mentioned in other sources. Prior to the war, women were employed only as charwomen, etc. The first woman to be employed was Mrs Marion Sophia Gloyns, on 7th June 1915 and the last to leave were Miss Nellie Overton and Miss Lilian Stevens on 13th June 1919. All three were NLR ticket collectors. Mrs Gloyns missed out by one day for serving for the whole period that women were employed, having been dismissed on on 12th June 1919.

When was it prepared?

It appears to have been written in the same hand and possibly after April 1917. See Cooper, Miss Alice Sarah: “Miss Alice Sarah” is in smaller writing to accommodate “Mrs Crawford May’18.” Edith F Chapman married Edward Crawford. [GRO. Jun qtr 1918, Hackney, 1b, 691.]

documents-at-the-national-archives

Gate Attendants

The electric services between Broad Street and Richmond and Kew Bridge started on the 1st October 1916. Prior to this date, these services had been run by the NLR and, in consequence, the new electric trains between these places were manned by NLR staff. In addition to a driver and a guard, each train of six coaches had at least four gate attendants (Officers Meeting of 19th February 1918) but I would have thought that there would have been at least one per coach. [Atkinson F G B, Adams, BW, and Clarke, H L, History of the North London Railway, Volume 1, London’s North Western Electrics, NLR Historical Society, 2015, page 26. TNA RAIL 529/85, Officers’ Meeting 19th February 1918, Minute 2357 (this was a report into a fatal accident at Richmond in which Annie Phillips, a gate attendant, was killed).] There are at least 112 NLR gate attendants listed.

In trawling the NUR registers of members, they are shown as gatemen and gatewomen and appear from 1916, coinciding with the start of the electric services.

The crunch problem: as they are referred to as gate attendants or (wo)men, ‘gate’ implying sliding expanding metal gates. I cannot recall seeing a picture of LNWR electrics having such gates (including pictures in the Society’s book), all had sliding doors. I know the GN and City underground coaches had such gates.

Numbers

There are a total of 1271 names listed. Of these 285 were prior to 1909: 283 were NLR or NSWJR railwaymen, mostly signalmen and two no supporting evidence has been found. The appointment date for signalmen is the date they were first appointed watchmen or signalmen. Therefore at least 283 of the 285 were not LNWR. The remaining 986 shown from 1909 were a mixture of LNWR and NLR staff.

Points worth noting and examples
Brown, Alfred Edward. Appt 14 Sep 1916. DOB 26 Apr 1900. Transferred to LNW 14 Mar 1918. [RAIL 410/1831.]
Brown, Alfred Edward. Gateman. Age 16. Railway shown as “NL Electric.” Joined NUR, Acton & Ealing branch, 25 Feb 1917. Excluded Oct 1918 in arrears. [MSS.127/NU/OR/2/51, f180.]
Two gatewomen next to one another in the NUR register showing that from 1909: there was an awareness of staff being employed by different railway companies; and that RAIL 410/1831 accounted for both railways:
Bew, Miss Lily. Appt 26 Feb 1918. DOB 5 Nov 1889. Dismissed 3 Jun 1919. [RAIL 410/1831.] and Bew, Lily. NLR. Gatewoman. Age 28. Joined NUR, Acton & Ealing No 2 branch, 2 May 1918. Excluded Oct 1919. [MSS.127/NU/OR/2/59, f36.]; and
Campkin, Miss Ellen. Appt 2 Apr 1918. DOB 14 Feb 1883. Dismissed 27 May 1919. [RAIL 410/1831.] and Campkin, Ellen. LNWR. Gatewoman. Age 35. Joined NUR, Acton & Ealing No 2 branch, 16 May 1918. Excluded Oct 1919 in arrears. [MSS.127/NU/OR/2/59, f36.]
An example of appointment dates for signalmen:
Galley, William Henry. Porter. Age 21. Appt 1 Dec 1890. [RAIL 529/135/170 Folio 85.]
Galley, William Henry. Appt 9 Mar 1891. NSWJ. [RAIL 410/1831.]
NLR Minutes: Porter. New appt. Pay 18s. [RAIL 529/55 4 Feb 1891, Loco Com Min 7951.] Porter. Foot injured. Camden. 2 Feb 1891. [RAIL 529/56 4 Mar 1891, Loco Com Min 7977.] Porter. To NSWJ. Pay 18s. 9 Mar 1891. [RAIL 529/56 29 Apr 1891, Loco Com Min 8027.]

Acknowledgements

Martin O’Keeffe who suggested I did this, Ross Workman who lent a hand, Barnaby Wren who kept me on the right track and Chris Heather of TNA who, as always, was keeping a careful watch on me.

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