This page is one of a series introducing railway staff who worked on the south coast of England before 1939. They’ve been researched as part of the ‘Portsmouth Area Railway Pasts’ project – which you can read more about here, including accessing details of the other railway workers featured.
Research was undertaken from November 2024-July 2025, by a small group of volunteers from the Havant Local History Group, working with the University of Portsmouth’s History team. The work was funded by the University of Portsmouth’s Centre of Excellence for Heritage Innovation.
The workers featured were selected from staff who appear in the Railway Work, Life & Death project database of accidents to pre-1939 British and Irish railway workers.
*** This page is under development – the full life story will be updated as soon as possible.
Not everyone working on the railway in the past was a railway employee. Lots of people had some reason to be on railway property – including Arthur Hobbs of Petersfield.
He was employed by Gammon and Son coal merchants, at Petersfield coal sidings. On 14 February 1901 some wagons were moved into place and Hobbs began unloading them.
However, he started too soon! The steam engine moved some more wagons which bumped the wagon Hobbs was working in. A piece of coal hit Hobbs’ leg, leading to nearly a month off work.
*** Further details of Arthur’s life will be added as soon as possible.