GWR : Great Western Railway

[Elma]

Thanks for the reply I do not have specific dates unfortunately, although my Albert Godfrey died in the spring of 1949.
Many thanks anyway.
ELMA

[sailorbaz]

Thanks for your reply. I believe Maurice Hemming worked for the GWR from 1911 to 1914, initially at Snowhill, Birmingham and spent some time at Banbury. He joined the army in 1914 and I believe he was assigned to the Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway which was being built then. He later served in Salonika.
I'll try the records at Kew.
Thanks again
Barry

[jofreegard]

Hi
From the staff books I know that my great grandfather - Stewart King received a commendation in August 1911, but I don't know what for. Is that kind of news in the staff magazines? If so, could you have a look for me please? The details I know are:
Stewart King born July 1872, worked as porter at Bridport from September 1898 and Calne from February 1905. Reference to testimonials: 26782.

Many thanks, look forward to hearing from you

[SwindonLibrary]

Hi jofreegard,

I have looked at the 1911 GWR staff magazine till the December issue but without success. So sorry to draw a blank (again!).

If it helps, the "Staff commendations" in 1911 are for actions like "detecting a broken coupling" or "alertness in securing the arrest of a bicycle thief" or "prompt action in dealing with a wagon on fire". Many are fire and theft related.

[jofreegard]

Thanks for looking for my last request, it's a shame we cannot get more details. Thanks for suggesting the type of things people were commended for - some idea is better than none.

Do you think you could look for an obituary for me now please?
The details I know are:
Doreen King worked as a bookings clerk at Calne station. She died on 8th March 1947 and we know that GWR representatives went to her funeral.

Looking forward to hearing from you - this is such a great thing you are doing!

Thanks
Jo

[SwindonLibrary]

Aargh! The curse strikes again.

I have searched through the HUNDREDS of obits and other staff notices and had no luck - we lookd through the entire remainder of 1947 with no success. Local press for Calne may be the best bet - try the WSHC at Chippenham (too far south for our newspaper holdings).

The puzzle is that there are almost no women listed (we only spotted 1 in those 9 months!) which is odd as there were many working for the GWR. It may be that only men were members of the GW Provident Soc (who supplied 75% of the obits). Others here will know more than us on this subject.

[mickgall]

Hello

would it be possible to do a look up for Edward Albert Gall. In the 1911 census he is shown as a railway groom, which I take to mean working with horses (he had been a driver with the Royal Field Artillery for 10 years), maybe in the parcels/goods delivery section of the railway. The address shown is Kensington so I'm guessing he was mavbe based at Paddington or Old Oak Common. From 1914-17 he did war service. From 1917 -1946 he was a railwayman. He died 1/1/1946, his death cert shows him as railwayman retired and living in Slough. I'm not 100% sure he was GWR, just taking a guess given the places where he lived.
Many thanks
Mick

[SwindonLibrary]

Hi MIck,

I have checked the first 6 months of the 1946 GWR staff magazine and there is no mention of Mr Gall's death.
The only other entry we found was searching the railway records on Ancestry:

Name: Edward Albert Gall
Birth Date: 19 Dec 1880
Age: 15
Residence Date: Oct 1896
Station: Paddington
Company: Great Western
Class Number: 264
Piece: 358
Description: Register of uniformed staff No.2 F & G 1872-1915.

If this is him then I suggest reading through the other posts in this thread and finding out how to track down his GWR staff record.

Best of luck!

[mickgall]

yep thats him
thanks for the quick reply
Mick

[joehudd]

May I ask if there are any entries for a Henry Ashford in the staff magazine .he was born 8th january 1849 and he joined gwr on the 9th of february 1865. he went through many promotions from what i have seen of his records and many ummm situations.census records show him as a railway engine driver. he retired on the 5th of may 1915. his son was also a railway engine driver from what census records say but i cant find his records.
thanks joe