Genealogy Chat

How would someone get from Highgate, London to Stechford in Birmingham in 1877 .
would there have been trains running at that time of day
or would it have been coach and horses ,my Grandmother
was born in Stechford but the family lived in London .
Hazel

I would imagine by train - I think the railways were pretty much up and running by the 1850s in a lot of areas, especially somewhere like Birmingham.

Quite possibly they came by rail. Both Curzon Street and New Street railway stations in Birmingham had train services from London on a daily basis with Birmingham New Street becoming the main station for London services in 1854. By the way journey time then was 4 and half hours...not much slower than today!

Thank you Kate
and thank you Col .
i really didnt know whether the trains were running then or not .

she had two children in Stechford , my grandmother and her brother
all the others were born in London . and i just cant find a birth entry for either of them it's so frustrating but thanks for your help
Hazel

You're quite right, Col! As I recall, it used to take me around three hours to get from Leicester to Preston when I was at uni (and that's not including a 25 min walk to Leicester station and a 25 minute drive once I got off the train in Lancashire!).

I bet they weren't much quicker back then . . .

Just thinking, they may have gone by canal but if I remember correctly from history, the canals were mainly used in the 1790s to 1820s because the roads were so bad and the railway hadn't come in, but they weren't as popular once the roads had been improved and the early rail network was in place.