The number of accidents and injuries sustained by railway workers during Victorian and Edwardian times was shocking - but until now we've forgotten how dangerous it was. Thankfully things are very different now.
A major historical study of over 65,000 records of the men, women and children who worked on the railways in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, shows that for many life was hard, dirty and dangerous.
Now, during Railway 200 , which marks 200 years of the modern railway, the information in the records is being made available to the public, free of charge.
The original records, kept by The National Archives , have been painstakingly transcribed by a dedicated volunteer team and are now available digitally as part of the Railway Work, Life & Death project database.
The extensive database of railway worker accidents before 1939, includes fascinating human interest stories. Among them, an early accident of office cleaner Mary Ramsey- North Eastern Railway - who was run over by a train at South Shields, County Durham, whilst taking out the ashes from the station fireplaces in 1859.
And 14-year old Ivor Richards working for the Rhymney Railway in Cardiff, who was knocked down and killed whilst crossing railway lines in 1916.
The records reveal numerous diverse experiences. William Parry, who was employed as a signalman following an accident in which he lost his leg, was subsequently injured in 1911 when he overbalanced whilst dusting his signal box.
Great Western Railway driver Henry Chappell had to jump from his engine to save himself, as it ran out of control and was about to hit another train at Monmouth Troy in Wales.
Current practices and procedures have built upon past experiences like these and the tens of thousands of others in the Railway Work, Life & Death project dataset. Mary Ramsey and Ivor Richards, for example, would be provided with a safe walking route that avoided them needing to be near the tracks. If being trackside could not be avoided, they would have to undergo safety training and certification before being allowed anywhere near operational railway lines.
The data released comes from the 'Railway Work, Life & Death' project co-led by Dr Mike Esbester , Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth , working in collaboration with The National Railway Museum and the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick , and working with The National Archives .
Dr Esbester said: "We're delighted to be making these unique records more easily available, especially during 'Railway 200', and can't wait to see people using them. They reveal so much about life and people on the railways in the past that we can't get anywhere else - and help us see the individuals behind the statistics. The efforts of The National Archives volunteers, transcribing these records, is phenomenal - none of it would be possible without them, so we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. The records show us just how dangerous work on the railways was, how far we've come now - but also areas where the industry could still improve."
James Cronan , Records Specialist at The National Archives, said: "The work done by our dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers has been vital in pulling together this data. Without their hard work it wouldn't be possible to gather information about who was involved, what they did and what happened to them. This is the sort of project which we just couldn't do without the time and effort which our fabulous volunteers have poured into this project."
The Railway Work, Life & Death project aims to improve our knowledge and understanding of British and Irish railway workers and their accidents from the 19th Century to 1939. Using this historical knowledge to work with the current rail industry and wider community to make a difference today is an important part of the project's work.
This latest data release follows a previous release in 2023 of 25,000 records of railway worker accidents and how they were supported by trade unions. The database now contains over 115,000 records of people from across the UK. It is available, free, from the Railway Work, Life & Death project website.
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Railway Work, Life and Death
Working on Britain and Ireland's railways a century ago was incredibly dangerous, and this research project sheds light on the thousands of employees hurt or killed at work during that time.
