GWR : Great Western Railway

[Tourmie]

I have long been searching for a mention of Thomas Hinchliffe who worked Swindon GWR for most of the latter half of the 1800's. On the 1901 census he was 70 and a retired engine fitter. He died 7 April 1906. Would dearly love to find a mention of him as I have absolutely nothing. His sons and daughter also worked there for a time but that's another story.

[chesil]

Hello,

Do you have any info for a George Frederick Hines, Engine Driver, was based at Weymouth.
Best wishes

[SwindonLibrary]

Hi Tourmie,
Did we ever get back to you on Mr Hinchcliffe? - I have checked the 1906 staff sections of the GWR magazine and cannot see any mention of his death (in later years there is better coverage via various pensions schemes). There is a definite change in the way the staff magazine covers the lives, work and deaths of staff after World War I, with far more attention paid to the more humble workers.

Have you tried to get his staff record? Try the TNA link in the post by notanotherminer.

[SwindonLibrary]

Hi chesil
Could you please have a read of Swindon libraries post 4 of this thread which explains that the search they can conduct is somewhat limited........

Hi,
Thanks for posting this. We have not checked into this thread for a while.

As you say, we can check for very specific dates for GWR staff, and many have come to us after seeing this forum. We often do find something but there is yet to be any accessible searchable name index for us to use.

If ever anyone wants to get in touch with us and we don't spot a post here, please just email [email protected] (and put "FAO Swindon Collection" in subject line).

[Tourmie]

Hi Tourmie,
Did we ever get back to you on Mr Hinchcliffe? - I have checked the 1906 staff sections of the GWR magazine and cannot see any mention of his death (in later years there is better coverage via various pensions schemes). There is a definite change in the way the staff magazine covers the lives, work and deaths of staff after World War I, with far more attention paid to the more humble workers.

Have you tried to get his staff record? Try the TNA link in the post by notanotherminer.

No and the name is Hinchliffe not HinchCliffe a very common mistake! I have looked at the railway records on ancestry and found a couple of entries but not for Swindon.
What is a TNA link? I don't know how to get his staff record - what would it tell me regards personal info?
If there is more info after WW1 maybe I would be better off asking about his son John Thomas - anything for him of note?
He died 8 September 1934.
Thank you for replying.

[SwindonLibrary]

No and the name is Hinchliffe not HinchCliffe a very common mistake! I have looked at the railway records on ancestry and found a couple of entries but not for Swindon.
What is a TNA link? I don't know how to get his staff record - what would it tell me regards personal info?
If there is more info after WW1 maybe I would be better off asking about his son John Thomas - anything for him of note?
He died 8 September 1934.
Thank you for replying.

Sorry about surname typo!

I have checked the GWR Staff mag for 1934 from Sep to the end of the year and even into the begininng of 1935, and sadly there is no mention of his son either.
The obits list the date of death so I can see that by December they are on to October and November deaths.


Such a shame - there are many many names there and although somtimes it literally justs lists them as an obituary, often there are
photos and more detailed obits.

[sailorbaz]

Hi again,
As you can see I posted on this thread a couple of years ago! Since then one of my cousins now believes that the name of my mother's father was Maurice Watts Hemming (sometimes appears as Hemmings). He appears in the 1911 census as a 'Horse driver, Railway Co.', living at 4 House, No. 5 Court, Bradford Street, Birmingham.
I have a photo of my mother's father taken about 1912/14. I would be most grateful if you could find a photo of Maurice Hemming in the magazine, so that I could make a comparison to confirm one way or another.
Regards
Barry

[Tourmie]

Sorry about surname typo!

I have checked the GWR Staff mag for 1934 from Sep to the end of the year and even into the begininng of 1935, and sadly there is no mention of his son either.
The obits list the date of death so I can see that by December they are on to October and November deaths.


Such a shame - there are many many names there and although somtimes it literally justs lists them as an obituary, often there are
photos and more detailed obits.

I never expect to find anything so am not surprised but thank you for checking I appreciate it

[Elma]

Hi
Do the records at Swindon cover any mention of staff that worked for the London Midland & Scottish Railway.
My relative Albert Godfrey worked for them and possibly the GWR before he died in 1949. He lived in Avonmouth.
With thanks ELMA

[SwindonLibrary]

Hi
Do the records at Swindon cover any mention of staff that worked for the London Midland & Scottish Railway.
My relative Albert Godfrey worked for them and possibly the GWR before he died in 1949. He lived in Avonmouth.
With thanks ELMA

Hi Elma and Sailrobaz,

We don't have staff records here - we just have an almost complete run of the GWR staff magazine. This ends of course in 1947. It can be very useful for genealogy as it lists promotions, retirements, obituaries and other stories - sometimes with photographs, but it has not been indexed to that level yet, although we hear there are projects in progress. So for us to find anything we need the exact (-ish) date of a particular event that may have been covered by the GWR Staff Magazine - retirement, death, promotion, military event etc.

GWR (and other railway company) staff records themselves are out there, and if you read through this thread there are several useful posts with information on how to go about it, plus lots of advice!