We’re pleased to be able to feature another guest post, from another person the project has been able to help. John contacted us via our feedback form to let us know that he’d made use of the project database and found it useful – something we always like to hear, so do get in touch […]
Archive | Family History
Connecting people through the project
People are central to our project in so many ways. Obviously the railway staff who had the accidents, details of which we’re making more easily findable (via our database). Their families, too, as the accidents rarely simply affected one person. Their work colleagues also appear in the records. Behind the project work are several small […]
Approaching the past, via E Beaumont
By Mike Esbester on July 12, 2021 in Accident reports, Approaches to the past, Blog, Family History, Linking sources, Local History
History and the past has been in the news a fair bit recently – notably controversies over culture wars, statues and how the past is understood, interpreted and presented. Clearly there aren’t static or universal understandings of the past. So how does our approach to the past and the sources we use shape the questions […]
A family history approach to E Beaumont
By Natalie Pithers on July 12, 2021 in Approaches to the past, Blog, Family History, Guest contribution
This post is one of a series exploring how the same source might be approached in different ways by different types of researcher, so we can better understand each other and work together more easily. There’s an introduction to this, and the associated posts like this one, here. On reading the scant details regarding […]
Tracing a railway career pt. 1 – introducing James Stoneman
Many of our blog posts focus on the thing central to our project: railway staff accidents. Increasingly we’re trying to think more broadly about the life stories of the individuals involved – where we can find out more about them. Very often family historians have been leading the way here. Today’s guest post turns the […]
Charles Bennett Mugford, 1878-1959
By Jane Jarrett on June 14, 2021 in Accident aftermath, Blog, Disability, Family History, Guest contribution
In this post, guest author Jane Jarrett outlines her Grandfather’s life and career, including the accident that cost him his arm and changed his life in a variety of ways. It’s another reminder both of the personal impacts of railway accidents and of the ways in which the railway companies treated injured staff. The personal […]
William Charles Lilley
By Archie McDermott-Paintin on June 21, 2021 in Blog, Family History, Guest contribution, Local History
This week our blog features a guest post from Archie McDermott-Paintin, a 2nd year History student at the University of Portsmouth. Archie worked with fellow student Marc Treloar (whose post was featured a couple of weeks’ ago) and project co-lead Mike Esbester on project data, including early access to our data release planned for later […]
Frederick John Berriman
By Gordon Dudman on May 10, 2021 in Accident aftermath, Blog, Family History, Guest contribution, Linking sources
In this week’s post, from guest author Gordon Dudman, some of the legal issues raised by railway accidents come to light. These weren’t, however, arcane points, but had a very real impact on the ability of one man’s wife to claim compensation for her husband’s death. They also had wider implications for all areas of […]
The Life & Death of Thomas Hall
Last year the author of this guest post, Tom Hall, got in touch with us. Having found out about the project, he wanted to let us know about an accident that wouldn’t feature in our database as it was too early – the death of his Great Great Great Grandfather, Thomas Hall, in 1860. After […]
John Preece, his bravery, and his terrible injuries
By Steve Jackson on February 22, 2021 in Accident aftermath, Blog, Disability, Family History, Guest contribution, Linking sources, Local History
We’re delighted to have received this timely guest post from long-time project friend and support Steve Jackson. It’s timely because, as Steve notes, it meshes nicely with this month’s focus on tragedies centred on a particular place. One of the virtues of our project is that it will increasingly allow us to take a place-based […]
