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 … in a satisfactory working condition’
Just like now, in the past it took all sorts of people doing all sorts of things to keep the railways running. One of those people was Southern Railway coalman William Farmer.
On 2 March 1925, in the dark at nearly 1am, he was loading coal onto steam engines at Fratton. The old crane he was using jammed, so he climbed up it to free the chain. As he tried, the chain moved and crushed his left hand.
As well as the crane being ‘not … in a satisfactory working condition’, the lighting at the coaling point was criticised.
*** Further details of William’s life story will be added as soon as possible.