This page is one of a series introducing railway staff who worked in and around Stoke-on-Trent before 1939. They’ve been researched as part of the ‘Tracks through Time’ initiative – which you can read more about here.
The workers featured were largely selected from staff who appear in the Railway Work, Life & Death project database of accidents to pre-1939 British and Irish railway workers.
Arthur Hollis’ story was supposed to be a short one. Not because his life was short, but because there was – at first search – relatively little information, and his accident at work was relatively minor. However, when starting to write this account, it became clear there were some questions which we wanted answered. That led into deeper research – which threw up some fascinating glimpses into Arthur’s life, his family’s lives, and the challenges of working-class life in the past.
Arthur’s family
Arthur’s parents were Thomas Gething and Mary Hollis (nee Reynolds). They were married in 1887 in Stoke-on-Trent. Their first child, Thomas, was born late that same year, though died in 1888. Lucy Cecilia was born in 1891, and Arthur Alfred was born in 1892.
Not much is known about Thomas or Mary. We couldn’t find them on the 1891 Census. Thomas died in 1897, age 33. Mary remarried in 1898, to George Thomas Perry – though sadly he too died, in 1900, age 21.
In 1901, therefore, Mary – now double-widowed – was living with her children, Lucy and Arthur. They lived at 36 Allen Street in Stoke. Mary was working as an office cleaner.
It looks like by 1911 Mary might have died. Certainly Lucy and Arthur, then 19 and 18, were living by themselves, at 8 Trentham Road, Penkhull, Stoke. Lucy was working as a ‘lady teacher’ and Arthur as a tram conductor.
All of this we might have missed had we been satisfied with leaving the early part of Arthur’s life a blank. There was another crucial part of the story, too, which added a different inflection to Arthur’s railway service.
Arthur’s war service
Because we don’t know when Arthur joined the railway, it was possible that he saw out the First World War in England. If he were already working on the railways and was in a reserved occupation, then he would have remained at home. However, we checked for a service record – and it was significant to uncover.
Arthur enlisted for four years on 28 June 1914, as part of the North Midlands (Staffs) Heavy Battery. According to his record, at enlistment he had been a miner, at Fenton Colliery. His next of kin was ‘Louie Hollis (sister)’, living at 51 Richmond Street, Stoke.
Arthur landed in France on 4 March 1915. He lost the middle finger on his left hand on 1 December 1916, possibly as a result of a gun shot wound. Understandably, this needed medical treatment, including time in back in England. This was a particular surprise – to which we’ll return, as it says something about the railway industry as an employer.
He was back in France in time enough to be gassed in August 1918. He was discharged in early 1919, and pensioned on 2 September 1919, with a gratuity of £56 (now c.£3,300) for the loss of his finger.
Post-war life
Arthur’s first appearance in the records after the war comes quickly – and brings us to the railway. He joined the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) as a brakesman – someone who applied the brakes on railway wagons in goods yards. On 13 July 1919 he joined the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR)’s Stoke No. 1 branch.
Evidently Arthur’s war disability was no barrier to railway employment – though it was surprising that, for such a physical role as a brakesman, the loss of a finger was not seen as an issue. Possibly the railway companies were well-used to disabled staff, given railway work produced large numbers of disabilities. Following an accident at work that resulted in life-changing injuries, companies often found alternative roles for newly-disabled staff.
Just before the 1921 Census Arthur married Lilian M Reynolds. Lily Hollis then appears on the Census, with Arthur – and his sister Louie Hollis, all living at 51 Richmond Street, Penkhull. Neither women had an occupation listed against their names, though as we’ve seen elsewhere with the census, this doesn’t mean they weren’t in paid employment. Arthur was listed as a goods guard for the NSR. At the ‘Grouping’ of the railway companies in 1923, the NSR was absorbed into the London Midland and Scottish Railway, which became Arthur’s employer.
Arthur’s 1926 railway accident
On 26 June 1926, Arthur was working at Cliffe Vale sidings. He’d started his eight-hour shift at 7am. He was involved in shunting wagons – coupling and uncoupling wagons, to form trains. Wagons were joined by ‘couplings’ – effectively a heavy duty chain, comprised of three links attached to a wagon, that would be slung over a hook on the neighbouring wagon.
Four hours into the shift, at 11am, he was trying to join wagons which had a particular form of coupling, called an ‘instanter’. This was shorter and a different shape to regular couplings. To join the wagons he was using a coupling pole. This was a flexible wooden pole with a hook at the end, used to catch the coupling links and throw them over the hook on the wagon. All the while he would be standing by the side of track, out of the way of the wagons.
On his first attempt to join the wagons Arthur missed. On the second attempt the link slipped off the coupling pole’s hook. As a result, Arthur’s hands moved forwards – one of them was caught between the wagon buffers and crushed. Curiously, the accident report doesn’t specify which hand, but it was probably his right hand. His existing wound was on his left hand; if he had been left-handed, the accident report would probably have mentioned it. As a result of the accident, the first finger and first joint of his thumb were amputated, and his hand lacerated.
After the accident
We don’t have much detail about the rest of Arthur’s life. He appears on the 1939 Register as an LMS porter. Presumably the Company found a role for him away largely from trackside spaces – though as a porter he might still be amongst stock, and it remained a physical job.
He was living at 3 Stone Road in Stoke, with Lily and their two children Joan and Joy. There were three other people living with them, possibly as boarders, though other possible connections haven’t been ruled out. Arthur died in 1981, in the Stoke area.
Arthur’s life story turned out to be a surprising one – as is so often case when we look at people. We found Arthur purely because he appeared in the Railway Work, Life & Death project database for the Stoke area. We were able to put his accident – a single moment – in a much wider context. It showed some of the challenges of railway work, certainly; but also how hard working-class life in the past could be, one man’s First World War experiences, and the place of family in a life story.