Continuing our look at the cases found in our new data release, this week we have the 1922 accident to Frederick James Webb. In many respects this was a typical accident, as we shall see. However, in one aspect it was atypical – in a way which says interesting things about how the railway companies […]
Archive | Accident reports
The Buckley brothers
Our last 2 blog posts have taken an overview of the new project data (available here, free). This week we’re going to start looking at the individual level, taking a single case and seeing what we can find out. Or, more accurately, we’re taking two cases that occurred in the same incident: brothers Thomas and […]
What’s in the new data?
Last week we launched our enhanced dataset of Railway Inspectorate staff accident investigations. We added a further 17,000 records to the existing database, available here, bringing our coverage to around 21,000 individuals, 1900-1939. In the blog post launching the new data, we outlined a few key points and gave some brief examples. In this blog […]
Names still spoken – our new data release
Over the years, many people have toyed with the idea that we don’t fully die until we are forgotten. We hope that with our free new data release, detailing around 17,000 British and Irish railway worker accidents between 1900 and 1939, those individuals’ names will be spoken and the men, women and children remembered. Almost […]
Godfrey Elliott Linegar and Alfred Linegar
By Jenny Leng on June 27, 2022 in Accident aftermath, Accident reports, Blog, Family History, Guest contribution, Local History
This blog post was produced by University of Portsmouth History student Jenny Leng, as part of her work on the ‘Working with the Past’ module. The module asks students to work in groups on projects and to determine how they will present their findings; it gives them experience outside traditional degree work that will help […]
The Oakworth Anti-Vaccinator’s Railway Accident
By Sylvia Valentine on June 6, 2022 in Accident reports, Blog, Family History, Guest contribution, Medical humanities, Urban History
One of the great things about this project is that it takes us in all sorts of unexpected directions. That includes the research and topics we’re exposed to – as in today’s guest blog post: another surprise that the apparently mundane topic of railway accidents has thrown up. There’s another aspect to the directions the […]
Railway Accident at Ivybridge Devon 1917
By Sandra Gittins on May 16, 2022 in Accident reports, Blog, Explore your Archives, Family History, Guest contribution
We’re delighted to welcome Sandra Gittens back to the project blog this week. Sandra is known for her research on – amongst others – the railways of the First World War. In the course of that work she’s uncovered a number of accidents to railway staff on military duty overseas, many of which she’s already […]
James Spridgeon, Railway Platelayer: Accidentally Killed in 1880
By Rosie Rowley on May 23, 2022 in Accident aftermath, Accident reports, Blog, Family History, Guest contribution, Local History, Urban History
This week’s blog post came about following a talk Mike gave at the U3A Family History Conference in Buxton in September 2019. Mike had a number of interesting conversations, including with this week’s guest author, Rosie Rowley. They discussed a case Rosie had found from her family history, also notable for the fact that the […]
An accident in the dark – Woodhead tunnel 1922
In today’s post, project volunteer and regular blog contributor Philip James looks at the (infamous?) Woodhead route, including the tunnels. He draws on an accident case he found when transcribing for our forthcoming data release, as well as providing us with a potted history of the Woodhead route. Our thanks as ever to Philip for […]
An Irish works accident
This weekend the 175th anniversary of the Inchicore Works in Dublin will be marked by an open day at the Works. The actual 175 was reached last year, but … well, you can imagine why things were postponed. Opened in 1846, the Works remains operational to this day; as we might expect of such an […]
