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.
Arthur Watts’ life story was an interesting one – if with a sad ending. He lived his life in east Hampshire, moving from a rural background to work on the railways. Following the pattern seen elsewhere in the Railway Work, Life & Death project, other members of Arthur’s family – later including his son – also worked on the railways.
Arthur’s puzzling siblings
It should be no surprise that Arthur’s life was focused in rural east Hampshire. All of his immediate family had their origins here – though there’s a knot to untangle about two of his siblings. Arthur’s father, Henry, was born in approximately 1851, in Buriton, near Petersfield. His mother, Agnes (nee Edney), was born in Hambledon, in 1852. They married on 7 August 1875, in Hambledon. From census evidence, it looks like Henry and Agnes lived in Catherington in 1878 and were in Buriton by 1880. So far, so good.
On the 1881 Census, Henry and Agnes were living in Buriton, along with four children: Ernest (born 1880 in Buriton), Henry (born 1878 in Buriton), William (born 1874 in Hambledon) and Lizzie (born 1873 in Hambledon). At first glance I didn’t spot the apparent inconsistency: William and Lizzie were born before Henry and Agnes were married.
But on the 1891 Census that puzzle became more visible. There William and Lizzie were listed with the surname ‘Edney’ – their mother’s maiden name. So had they been born before Henry and Agnes were married, to another father? And why were they given the surname Watts in 1881 but not in 1891? Did some form of domestic tension arise between censuses? It’s unlikely that we’ll find out, demonstrating once again that the historic record can obscure as much as it reveals.
Family and working life in Buriton
Arthur Watts was born in 1887, in Buriton. He was to spend much of his life there. On the 1891 Census he had eight siblings, two of whom were younger than him. Family employment followed what might be seen as a relatively predictable pattern, for a rural village. Arthur’s father, Henry, was working as a carter. Arthur’s eldest sibling, Lizzie, was working as a domestic servant; his two eldest brothers were under carters.
By 1901, there was a hint of change in the air. Henry Watts remained employed as a carter on a farm. And Arthur had followed in the family footsteps, starting work age 14 as an under carter on a farm. It’s possible that this might have been the same farm as his father – if so, presumably his father would have been his boss. The change came from two of Arthur’s elder brothers: Harry and Ernest were by this point employed as platelayers on the railway.
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) skirted the edge of Buriton village, on its route south from Petersfield to Rowlands Castle, Havant and Portsmouth. It seems likely that Harry and Ernest would have joined the LSWR, therefore. By the 1911 Census, only Ernest and Arthur were still living with their parents in Buriton. Henry was by now listed as a ‘horse feeder’. As on previous censuses, Agnes was not recorded as having a formal occupation (though you can be sure she was doing a lot of unpaid, domestic labour). Ernest was a platelayer still; and Arthur was a builder’s labourer.
Rural to industrial?
Unfortunately it’s not been possible to locate any of the Watts brothers employment records. If they survived, they might tell us when they joined the LSWR, as well as about their subsequent service. We can piece together a little more detail from other records, however.
We already know that older brothers Harry and Ernest joined the railway at some point between 1891 and 1901 censuses. This would have exposed Arthur to railway work, simply by living around them. In 1914 we know that Ernest joined the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), via its Petersfield branch. And in 1919, Arthur also joined the NUR Petersfield branch, as a platelayer. He might have joined the LSWR at the point; but he could already have been working on the railway before joining the Union.
In 1920 Arthur married Eveline Emily Welch; she had been born in Buriton in 1886, providing a connection. On the 1921 Census, they were living in Chalton, though Arthur was noted as working at Rowlands Castle station. Their son, Richard Henry, was born in 1921. And there the record train stops – until Arthur’s accident.
A fatal mistake
On 11 September 1937, Arthur was examining the tracks for which he was responsible, to the north of Rowlands Castle station. He left the station at just after 7am, and walked along the tracks to the point where his patrol ended and the next one began. There he talked to his colleague in charge of the next section, and turned back towards Rowlands Castle, to examine the other railway line for which he was responsible.
Just out of Rowlands Castle station he was seen by the driver of a passing train at about 9am. He was standing out of the way of the train, on a siding next to the line. He seemed to be focusing on the train that was coming from London and going to Portsmouth. When it had passed, he stepped back into the track space to carry on with his work – but into the path of an oncoming London-bound train. He was hit and instantly killed.
The investigation by the state-appointed Railway Inspectorate suggested that Arthur had been distracted by the Portsmouth-bound train and forgotten about the London-bound train that was to hit him. Potentially he was keen to get back to his work, but the accident was put down to a ‘momentary lapse’ on Arthur’s part.
Arthur’s wider life
From newspaper reports about Arthur’s death, we have something of an impression of Arthur’s wider life. The Coroner praised Arthur as ‘a valuable and capable man and faithful [railway] servant [that is – employee].’ He was ‘a man well known at Rowlands Castle and of outstanding good character.’ According to the Portsmouth Evening News, during Arthur’s time in Rowlands Castle ‘he had interested himself in many of the local functions.’ He was a sporting man and would supervise sports meetings, including looking after the boys’ football team ‘which was very well known in the district.’ He was also a member of the local Choral Society and a member of the church choir.
Arthur was survived by his wife and son. On the 1939 Register, they were noted as living at 2 Railway Cottages (Woodbury Lane), Rowlands Castle. Richard was by that point working as a clerk for the Southern Railway – presumably part of the reason they were able to stay in the property.
An accidental coda
When searching for more on Arthur Watts’ life, we found another accident. However, this involved Ernest Watts – Arthur’s brother. With a sad twist, his accident happened close to the site of his brother’s death. In March 1938, around six months’ after Arthur’s fatality, Ernest was greasing points near Rowlands Castle station. His grease can touched the third rail and he was electrocuted. First aid was given and he was taken to Emsworth Hospital, where he was operated on for extensive burns. Working on the track was particularly dangerous, but the dangers might come even when trains weren’t moving. Ernest evidently recovered, as he was noted on the 1939 Register as being a track worker.
Mike Esbester
I’m Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth, and one of the wider Railway Work, Life & Death project co-leads. I’ve greatly enjoyed the Portsmouth Area Railway Pasts project and have valued the chance to learn with and learn from Neil, Ann, Geoff and Alan – and to share what we’ve uncovered here.