UNDERSTANDING MIDLAND RAILWAY COACHING DEPARTMENT STAFF RECORDS

The late Glynn Waite hard at work using the original Midland Railway Study Centre reading room in August 2012.
Behind him is the equally studious Jim Pope.

The following notes are aimed at helping people without a railway background understand the Midland Railway Coaching (or Traffic) Department staff records in the National Archives’ RAIL 491 series¹, which are now digitised and accessible via Ancestry. They concentrate on the main types of entries found in the ledgers. Should you come across anything that is not included, please contact the Study Centre Coordinator, and we will endeavour to assist.

Unfortunately, there is also a need to clarify some TNA cataloguing practices and to make various comments about Ancestry transcriptions and its browse facility.

The main ledgers in this group

No.	Period	File	Comment
1024	1871 – 1879	Coaching Department	Period extends to 1880.
1025	1881 – 1898	Coaching Department
1026	1899 – 1908	Coaching Department	Generally covers northern part of system.
1027	1889 – 1908	Coaching Department	Generally covers southern part of system.
1039	1859 – 1866	Staff List	Included under Miscellaneous Departments in Ancestry browse facility.

Comment will be made on similar ledgers for specific locations from time to time. These are listed later in this document.

Example 1
Station Masters at Darley Dale (in ledger Rail 491/1025)

1. The Midland Railway generally used initials rather than forenames in its Coaching Department ledgers. Consequently, researchers may need supporting information to ensure that they identify the correct person.

2. Entries were made in the chronological date order. Names were crossed through when the individuals ceased to occupy the post. E. Morris was the current occupant when the ledger ended in 1898, so was not altered.

3. In this example, the Station Masters were paid a salary. The amounts shown were in pounds and shillings, or full pounds, per annum. These were crossed through either when the occupant left, or received an alteration to his salary.

4. The numbers in the particulars column refer to the pages in the same ledger where the occupants transferred to or from. In the case of A. Deverall, he was the occupant when the ledger was started in 1881, so the figure 107 indicates where he moved to – in this case Station Master Buckden. The date he transferred can be determined from his entry on page 107 (see Note 9).

5. Deverall’s replacement, T. Clarke, transferred from Station Master Somerset Road (page 328) on 7^th November 1884 (see note 9) and subsequently became the Station Master at Helpston (page 672).

6. J.S. Tye is also shown to have been previously employed in a post on page 328. However, in his case he was the Station Master at Church Road, there being entries for more than one station on that particular page.

7. Tye’s record has an entry “ad 1/10/90”. This indicates that he had an increase in his salary (ad = advanced) on 1^st October 1890. It will be noted in the “salary or wages” column that his original salary of £63.14pa was altered to £70pa.

8. Tye moved to a post on page 568 – which was Station Master Tibshelf & Newton. It will be noted that his replacement, E. Morris also has 568 against his name. In this case the two men actually exchanged posts.

9. The dates of transfer were when the occupants took over the full responsibilities of the post. There was always a training period – usually of two or three weeks – so the new occupant would already have been at the station for that period of time. There were variations to this feature where new stations / posts were concerned, which are explained in Note 11. There are also three ledgers where the dates are those when the person moved to the new post for training – see section following Note 31.

10. One of the facts a researcher may well know about an ancestor is his place of work. Unfortunately, a search in Ancestry may not show this correctly, even if the ledger itself is correct, as there are extensive errors in station names. Darley Dale, for example, is shown as Arley! [see comment below "Station Names"]

Example 2
Station Masters at Armathwaite
(in ledger Rail 491/1024)

11. This example is primarily to demonstrate that, where new appointments are concerned, the dates rarely reflect what actually happened! Most intermediate stations on the Settle and Carlisle line (on which Armathwaite was situated) opened on 1^st May 1876. However, no official appointments were made until 14^th November. It was common practice not to appoint staff on a permanent basis until it could be determined that the anticipated level of staffing was correct. In some cases, the eventual incumbents were actually in situ from the opening; in other cases the posts were initially covered by relief staff. In order to determine whether a man was in situ earlier, it is necessary to look at the entries for his previous job and determine when his replacement took over. In the case of Armathwaite, W. Mee transferred from the post of Station Master Sileby (page 459). His replacement at Sileby took over on 18^th July 1876, which indicates that Mee was at Armathwaite by that time, and possibly for the opening of the station. See also Note 13.

12. It will be noted that J. Simpson is shown as “ex A&N Joint Line”. The Ashby & Nuneaton Joint Line was administered by the Midland and London & North Western Railways. Coaching Department ledgers exist for both companies which, on occasions, provide slightly different information! Simpson actually transferred from the post of Station Master Snarestone. Midland records show that he relinquished the post at that station on 12^th January 1878. It is possible that he moved to Armathwaite for training straightaway, as Mee took over his next post as Station Master Manton (page 503) on 19^th February. [To complicate the situation, L&NWR records show Simpson’s transfer from Snarestone as having taken place on 15^th March! It should be noted, however, that there were numerous differences between Midland and L&NW dates on the A&N Joint Line, which may well have had some association with their respective staff expenses.]

Example 3
Station Master Edale
(in ledger Rail 491/1025)

13. In many cases, official appointments to new posts took place within six months of the stations opening / post being created. However, there were exceptions, and on the Dore & Chinley Line (Hope Valley) there were no official appointments for almost two years! The intermediate stations opened on 25^th June 1894, but here we find L. Wright, the Station Master at Edale, not being officially appointed until 16^th April 1896. His previous post was Station Master Cromford. Examination of that page (227) shows that his successor, H. I’Anson, was officially appointed on 9^th August 1894. This indicates that Wright was at Edale by that date, and possibly for the opening of the station.

Example 4
Machine Youth Bakewell
(in ledger Rail 491/1025)

14. This extract shows the occupants of a post for a junior member of staff; in most cases it was their first job on the railway. Large amounts of parcels were forwarded by rail in those days. These would have to be weighed, recorded, and the appropriately priced parcels stamps attached to them. The Machine Youth would have been responsible for these duties. Few remained in the post for long. They would be moved to other jobs to enable other new recruits to be appointed. No-one could remain in such a post after the age of 17.

15. It will be noted that this particular post was initially wages grade – J.H. Clark, the occupant when the ledger was started, being paid 6/- per week. However, from the appointment of A.B. Cooke in November 1891, the post became salaried.

16. With most of the individuals being new appointees to the post – i.e. their first job – there will be no page number indicating where they came from. The page number in the entry for A.B. Cooke, for example, (187) indicates where he moved to, though this ought to be clear as he had two salary increases prior to that entry.

17. The dates when the new appointees are shown to have taken over the posts are not the dates when they were originally employed. This would have happened several weeks earlier. The lads would have received general training initially – sometimes when there was no specific vacancy, though experience showed that one would arise in the not-too-distant future. Some new appointments ledgers exist from which starting dates and other details, including full names, can be determined. From one of these (Rail 491/1016) it can be determined that the forenames of J.B. Bloore, who took over the post on 17^th October 1882, were John Bennett, and that he joined the Midland Railway on 7^th July 1882 at the age of 15. [Details of the new appointments files can be found between Notes 31 and 32.]

18. There are some entries where, instead of a page number, “see above” is shown. This indicates that the person transferred to a post higher up on the same page, in this case that of the Booking Clerk – the entry there being "see below". Unfortunately, Ancestry transcriptions and, therefore, searches only show one entry (unless one of them has been transcribed differently!). Consequently, this makes it difficult for people with little knowledge of railways to properly trace their relations’ careers. The problem, however, is wider than this. Most images cover two pages – in this case 253, on which the extract is from, and page 254. If a person was transferred to a post on the opposite page (which would normally show the page number), the same situation applies and there will only be one entry. However, in some cases where there is more than one entry with the same name, these can be completely different people, with the consequence that the person’s record will not be found, or could be wrongly identified. This is a particular problem with common surnames such as Jones and Smith.

19. Some transfers are shown with a place name and a page number, such as "Millers Dale 37" and "Birmingham 129". This indicates that the details are in another ledger that covers the specific location (see section following Note 25 below).

20. The word "resigned" in the example above indicates precisely what happened. It should be noted, however, that this may not be entirely correct with senior salaried staff, such as Station Masters. Such people could retire at the age of 60. However, their fitness was reviewed annually from that time until the age of 65, and if deemed satisfactory, they could remain in the job. On the other hand, the men themselves could opt to retire at any time above the age of 60. If that took place, then the entry in the staff records was usually shown as resigned rather than retired.

21. Bakewell is another location where an Ancestry search reveals an error in the station name – in this case it appears as “Ewell” [see also note 10.]

Example 5
Station Porter Arkholme
(in ledger Rail 491/1026)

22. This is an adult post at Arkholme on the Furness & Midland Joint line. It would appear that the Midland Railway was responsible for appointing all staff, hence the reason for the details appearing in a pure Midland ledger rather than in one for joint staff.

23. The job title was originally Porter, but was later changed to Station Porter – note that "stn" is in a different coloured ink. In most cases dates are shown for such changes, but not here.

24. W.R. Watson is shown as resigned from Esholt on 15^th March 1901. There are similar cases spread throughout the ledgers. No explanation has been seen for such entries. It is believed that what happened here is that Watson was transferred to Esholt, possibly at the Company’s request. He appears to have been dissatisfied with the new job during the training period, and resigned. As he was not officially appointed to the post at Esholt at that time, the entry would have been made against his last permanent position.

25. There are further examples of transfers to and from larger locations where staff details were in separate ledgers (Hellifield and Westhouses). "Otley Joint" refers to information in one of the joint lines staff ledgers (see section prior to Note 28). In most cases a page number would be shown, but it has been omitted in this case (for the record, the corresponding entry is on page 21 of Rail 491/1036 – Joint Staff 1893 to 1906). The Ilkeston Junction (Jc) reference refers to a page in Rail 491/1027. It will be seen in the list that precedes these notes that from 1899 to 1908, the records are split between two ledgers (Rail 491/1026 and 1027). As a consequence there is an additional layer of cross-referencing.

As the Midland Railway expanded, so did the number of staff it employed. From 1876 onwards certain new ledgers were started for locations where large numbers of staff were employed. Those in the National Archives collection are:

No.	Period	File	Comment
997	1897 – 1911	Birmingham New Street Joint Station.
998	1878 – 1911	Bristol Joint Station.
999	1876 – 1908	Burton.
1000	1880 – 1908	Cudworth, Sheepbridge, Eckington, etc.	Now altered in TNA catalogue to "Cudworth, Sheepbridge, Eckington, Clay Cross, Ambergate and Rowsley"
1001	1876 – 1907	Derby.
1002	1876 – 1908	Gloucester, Bath and Bristol.
1003	1880 – 1908	Kettering, Northampton, Luton, etc.	"etc." is St. Albans (from 1880), Hendon (from 1899) and Childs Hill / Cricklewood (from 1899).
1004	1876 – 1908	Leeds.
1005	1876 – 1908	Leicester.
1006	1876 – 1908	Masborough, Staveley and Chesterfield.
1007	1876 – 1908	Nottingham and Beeston.
1008	1876 – 1899	St. Pancras.
1009	1899 – 1908	St. Pancras.
1010	1876 – 1908	Saltley and Birmingham.
1011	1876 – 1908	Sheffield.
1012	1876 – 1908	Skipton, Keighley, Shipley and Hellifield
1013	1876 – 1908	Toton.
1014	1876 – 1908	Trent, Lincoln, Mansfield and Westhouses

26. Entries in these ledgers with numbers only refer to the pages in the ledgers. In most cases where place names are also shown, these refer to entries in Rail 491/1024 to 1027 (see the top of the page).

27. Because consecutive pages in the ledgers refer to the same location, a large number do not have the name(s) repeated at the tops of the pages – though indexes to the contents appear at the front of each ledger. Unfortunately, Ancestry transcribers have not entered location names where these are not written at the tops of pages, even for the one location ledgers. This, therefore, can cause difficulties when searching for a person who is known to have worked at a specific location.

Unfortunately, not all the ledgers for larger locations are included in the National Archives collection. It should be noted that Coaching Department staff ledgers for the following locations during the period 1876 / 1880 to 1908 are ‘missing’:

• Bedford
• Bradford
• Buxton
• General Superintendent's Office (until 1899 - see Rail491/994 below)
• Kentish Town
• Manchester
• Melton Mowbray
• Millers Dale
• Peterborough
• Stamford
• Wellingborough
• Wigston L&H

Also in the same category are four ledgers that cover staff employed on some of the lines jointly operated with other companies:

No.	Period	File	Comment
1034	1870 – 1876	Joint staff lists
1035	1876 – 1892	Joint staff lists
1036	1893 – 1906	Joint staff lists
1037	1906 – 1920	Joint staff lists

28. These are similar to the other Coaching Department ledgers, though also include staff appointed by the partner companies.

29. While the transfer of Midland staff to and from joint line posts is identified, the records do not always specify where they came from / went to. A name search in Ancestry often reveals the relevant pages in pure Midland ledgers.

30. Dates in pure Midland and joint line ledgers are sometimes slightly different. With men returning to the Midland, there appear to be cases where they needed to be taken off joint line records for accountancy purposes before being transferred to a new post with the Midland.

31. Staff records also exist for some of the joint line partners, particularly the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire and London & North Western Railways. Sometimes dates are the same, sometimes they are slightly different, and sometimes these include additional information.

There are three ledgers that show dates when the men transferred to their new jobs (for training) rather than when they took over the full responsibilities of the posts. These are:

No.	Period	File	Comment
994	1899 – 1907	Superintendent's Dept.
995	1901 – 1908	District Superintendent's personal staff.	Relate to a re-organisation that decentralised staffing arrangements.
996	1901 – 1909	District Superintendent's personal staff [Derby District]	Relate to a re-organisation that decentralised staffing arrangements.

Mention was made in Note 17 of ledgers that give details of new appointments in the Coaching Department. These are:

No.	Period	File	Comment
1015	1871 – 1877	New appointments.	In Ancestry browse facility under "Miscellaneous Depts".
1016	1877 – 1882	New appointments.	In Ancestry browse facility under "Miscellaneous Depts".
1017	1882 – 1890	New appointments.	In Ancestry browse facility under "Various" with catalogue dates only.
1018	1890 – 1897	New appointments.	In Ancestry browse facility under "Various" with catalogue dates only.
1019	1897 – 1900	New appointments.	In Ancestry browse facility under "Various" with catalogue dates only.
1020	1902 – 1913	New appointments Derby District.	In Ancestry browse facility under "Derby" with catalogue dates only.
1032	1868 – 1873	Staff Register	In Ancestry browse facility under Miscellaneous Depts. With catalogue dates only.

32. The employees’ full names are generally shown in these ledgers. The first five have separate sections for each letter of the alphabet, based on surnames, with entries for each section entered in (more-or-less) date order. The other two have entries in (more-or-less) date order, irrespective of the surname.

Why are there few records after 1908?

From this time, the Midland Railway started to compile staff records for each individual on cards or paper forms and generally abandoned those recorded by location. Unfortunately, the vast majority of personal records were destroyed shortly after employees left the railway.

Station names

Under normal circumstances little would need to be said about station names. Unfortunately, there are errors in Ancestry records. These can be put into four categories:

A summary of those noted (which also include stations on other systems) is appended below:

Sorted in alphabetical order of name			Sorted in alphabetical order of changed name
Original Name	Changed Name		Original Name	Changed Name
Aberavon	Aber		Aberavon	Aber
Aberbargoed	Aber		Aberbargoed	Aber
Aberbeeg	Aber		Aberbeeg	Aber
Aberbran	Aber		Aberbran	Aber
Aberdare	Dare		Aberdeen	Aber
Aberdeen	Aber		Abergavenny	Aber
Abergavenny	Aber		Abersychan	Aber
Abersychan	Aber		Abertillery	Aber
Abertillery	Aber		Aberystwyth	Aber
Aberystwyth	Aber		Bearley	Arley
Adderley Park	Park		Darley Dale	Arley
Albrighton	Brighton		Warmley	Armley
Alexandra Park	Park		Chellaston	Aston
Althorp Park	Park		Barrow Haven	Barrow
Attenborough	Borough		Barrow Hill & Staveley Works	Barrow
Bakewell	Ewell		Bolton-upon-Dearne	Bolton
Barrow Haven	Barrow		Kimbolton	Bolton
Barrow Hill & Staveley Works	Barrow		Attenborough	Borough
Barton & Walton	Walton		Conisborough	Borough
Basingstoke	Stoke		Crowborough	Borough
Bearley	Arley		Desborough	Borough
Bolton-upon-Dearne	Bolton		Farnborough	Borough
Broadheath	Heath		Gainsborough	Borough
Burton Joyce	Burton		Loughborough	Borough
Burton Point	Burton		Loughborough Park	Borough
Carcroft and Ardwick	Croft		Market Harborough	Borough
Cathays	Hay		Marlborough	Borough
Charwelton	Welton		Mexborough	Borough
Cheadle Heath	Heath		Peterborough	Borough
Chellaston	Aston		Princes Risborough	Borough
Chesterfield	Chester		Wadborough	Borough
Coalbrookdale	Coal		Wellingborough	Borough
Coaley Junction	Coal		Whiteborough	Borough
Coalport	Coal		Albrighton	Brighton
Coalville	Coal		Burton Joyce	Burton
Codnor Park	Park		Burton Point	Burton
Conisborough	Borough		Chesterfield	Chester
Crowborough	Borough		Irchester	Chester
Darley Dale	Arley		Manchester	Chester
Desborough	Borough		Coalbrookdale	Coal
Donisthorpe	Thorpe		Coaley Junction	Coal
Dunhampstead	Hampstead		Coalport	Coal
Eastleigh	Leigh		Coalville	Coal
Eckington and Renishaw	Kington		Carcroft and Ardwick	Croft
Edwalton	Walton		Aberdare	Dare
Elm Park	Park		Keadby	Dby
Farnborough	Borough		Swinderby	Derby
Finsbury Park	Park		Landore	Dore
Gainsborough	Borough		Healing	Ealing
Glenfield	Glen		Hemsworth	Emsworth
Great Malvern	Malvern		Bakewell	Ewell
Hare Park	Park		Glenfield	Glen
Haydock Park	Haydock		Dunhampstead	Hampstead
Hayes	Hay		Litlehampton	Hampton
Hayfield	Hay		Shirehampton	Hampton
Hayle	Hay		Southampton	Hampton
Healing	Ealing		Southampton Docks	Hampton
Heath Town	Heath		Wolverhampton	Hampton
Heather	Heath		Cathays	Hay
Heathfield	Heath		Hayes	Hay
Hemsworth	Emsworth		Hayfield	Hay
Hexthorpe	Thorpe		Hayle	Hay
Honor Oak Park	Park		Horsehay	Hay
Horsehay	Hay		Haydock Park	Haydock
Irchester	Chester		Broadheath	Heath
Keadby	Dby		Cheadle Heath	Heath
Kensington Park	Park		Heath Town	Heath
Kentish Town	Kent		Heather	Heath
Kimbolton	Bolton		Heathfield	Heath
Kings Heath	Heath		Kings Heath	Heath
Kirkby Stephen	Kirkby		Short Heath	Heath
Kiveton Park	Park		Small Heath	Heath
Landore	Dore		Thornton Heath	Heath
Langley Mill	Langley		Washwood Heath	Heath
Langwathby	Wath		New Holland	Holland
Litlehampton	Hampton		Upper Holloway	Holloway
London Bridge	London		Kentish Town	Kent
Long Sutton	Sutton		Old Kent Road	Kent
Loughborough	Borough		Eckington and Renishaw	Kington
Loughborough Park	Borough		Kirkby Stephen	Kirkby
Manchester	Chester		Langley Mill	Langley
Mansfield Woodhouse	Mansfield		Eastleigh	Leigh
Market Harborough	Borough		London Bridge	London
Marlborough	Borough		Great Malvern	Malvern
Mexborough	Borough		Mansfield Woodhouse	Mansfield
Moorthorpe	Thorpe		Tibshelf & Newton	Newton
New Holland	Holland		Northampton	Northam
Northampton	Northam		Adderley Park	Park
Old Kent Road	Kent		Alexandra Park	Park
Park Lane	Park		Althorp Park	Park
Park Royal	Park		Codnor Park	Park
Park Street	Park		Elm Park	Park
Parkend	Park		Finsbury Park	Park
Parkgate (& Rawmarsh)	Park		Hare Park	Park
Parkstone	Park		Honor Oak Park	Park
Peterborough	Borough		Kensington Park	Park
Princes Risborough	Borough		Kiveton Park	Park
Queen's Park	Park		Park Lane	Park
Shirehampton	Hampton		Park Royal	Park
Short Heath	Heath		Park Street	Park
Shustoke	Stoke		Parkend	Park
Small Heath	Heath		Parkgate (& Rawmarsh)	Park
Southampton	Hampton		Parkstone	Park
Southampton Docks	Hampton		Queen's Park	Park
St Annes Park	Park		St Annes Park	Park
Stoke Canon	Stoke		Westbourne Park	Park
Stoke Edith	Stoke		Basingstoke	Stoke
Stoke Golding	Stoke		Shustoke	Stoke
Stoke Mandeville	Stoke		Stoke Canon	Stoke
Stoke Works	Stoke		Stoke Edith	Stoke
Sutton Bridge	Sutton		Stoke Golding	Stoke
Sutton Coldfield	Sutton		Stoke Mandeville	Stoke
Sutton Park	Sutton		Stoke Works	Stoke
Swinderby	Derby		Long Sutton	Sutton
Thorney	Thorne		Sutton Bridge	Sutton
Thornton Heath	Heath		Sutton Coldfield	Sutton
Tibshelf & Newton	Newton		Sutton Park	Sutton
Ullesthorpe	Thorpe		Thorney	Thorne
Upper Holloway	Holloway		Donisthorpe	Thorpe
Wadborough	Borough		Hexthorpe	Thorpe
Warmley	Armley		Moorthorpe	Thorpe
Washwood Heath	Heath		Ullesthorpe	Thorpe
Wellingborough	Borough		Barton & Walton	Walton
Westbourne Park	Park		Edwalton	Walton
Whiteborough	Borough		Langwathby	Wath
Wolverhampton	Hampton		Charwelton	Welton
Worthington	Worthing		Worthington	Worthing

Compiled by Glynn Waite – July 2014.

---

Back to the top of this page