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.
William Farmer was injured in an accident at Fratton locomotive yard in Portsmouth in 1925. His story, though, mirrors that of several other individuals we uncovered on the Portsmouth Area Railway Pasts project – notably via a naval connection.
Early life
We know relatively little about William’s early life. Census returns tell us that William was born in Camberwell, Surrey, in 1876. His father, David, was a builder. By 1901 William had joined the Royal Navy. He was onboard HMS Royal Oak in Malta at the point of the 1901 Census, serving as an able seaman.
In 1905, in Portsmouth, he married Adele Dilly Lotta Levey. They were living at 7 Carisbrook Road – close to Fratton Park football ground. At this point William was a petty officer in the Navy. Interestingly, Adele was French – where and when she and William met is unknown.
William remained a petty officer by the time of the 1911 Census. He and Adele were then living at 24 Reginald Road in Eastney, with their four children. At some point between 1911 and 1919, William left the Navy. He then followed in what seems like an increasingly well-trod path, and went to work for the railways.
Railway service
The records don’t show when William joined the railways, but he was there by 1919. In that year he became a member of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR)’s Portsmouth branch, working as a coalman for the London & South Western Railway (LSWR). He was based at Fratton locomotive depot. On the steam era railway, coal was vital – particularly ensuring that everything was sufficiently fuelled to be able to do its work. William’s job would have been physically demanding, including unloading wagon loads of coal by hand. Given he was 43 when he first joined the Union, he had a tough job to do.
He was still there in 1925, when his accident happened. By this time he was employed by the Southern Railway. This was the successor company to the LSWR and a number of other railways which were merged in 1923. On 2 March 1925 William was at work coaling engines at 12.55am. To do this, he was using a 30 hundredweight hydraulic crane to lift and lower the coaling tubs (each one of which he would have filled by hand). The crane and coaling stage in use that night were not the usual ones, but a secondary location.
According to the accident investigation, by state-appointed Railway Inspector JPS Main, the crane was both old and ‘not working satisfactorily’. As William was using it, the chain was jerked off the pulley wheel at the top of the jib and became jammed. He climbed the jib to free the jam and replace the chain – as ever, demonstrating that it tends to be the workers who go above and beyond to get the job done who end up being exposed to more dangers. As William was freeing the chain it swung around and caught his left hand.
The crane and the auxiliary coaling stage was only used when the main coaling apparatus was being maintained. However, Main’s report noted this wasn’t the first time this issue with the crane jamming had happened. As a result he requested that the crane shouldn’t be used until it was ‘thoroughly repaired and a guard fitted over the pulley wheel or another crane substituted.’ As a part of his report, he also raised questions about the lighting of the space, which he was ‘assured will receive immediate attention.’
Beyond the accident
By 1921, William and Adele had a total of six children, three girls and three boys. They were living at 141 Byerley Road, Fratton – relatively close to work for William. We’ve been unable to find them on the 1939 Register. William was superannuated from the NUR on 17 April 1946 – effectively retiring, likely from railway service. He died in Portsmouth in 1951.
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.