Genealogy Chat

You did ask! "The British Railway Clearing-House was established in 1842, its purpose, as defined by the Railway ClearingHouse Act of 1830, being to settle and adjust the receipts arising from railway traffic within, or partly within, the United Kingdom, and passing over more than one railway within the United Kingdom, booked or invoiced at throughout rates or fares. It is an independent body, governed by a committee which is composed of delegates (usually the chairman or one of the dii ~ctors) from each of the railways that belong to it. Any railway company may be admitted a party to the clearing-system with the assent of the committee, may cease to be a member at a months notice, and may be expelled if such expulsion be voted for by two-thirds of the delegates present at a specially convened meeting. The cost of maintaining it is defrayed by contributions from the companies proportional to the volume of business pasfed through it by each. It has two main functions. (I) When passengers or goods are booked through between stations belonging to different railway companies at an inclusive charge for the whole journey, it distributes the money received in due proportions between the companies concerned in rendering the service. To this end it receives, in the case of passenger traffic, a monthly return of the tickets issued at each station to stations on other lines, and, in tile case of goods traffic, it is supplied by both the sending and receiving stations (when these are on different companies systems) with abstracts showing the character,wcight, &c., of the goods that have travelled between them. By the aid of these particulars it allocates the proper share of the receipts to each company, having due regard to the distance over which the traffic has been carried on each line, to the terminal services rendered by each company, to any incidental expenses to which it may have been put, and to the existence of any special agleements for the division of traffic. (2) To avoid the inconvenience of a change of train at points where tile lines of different companics meet, passengers are often, and goods and minerals generally, carried in through vehicles from their starting-point to their destination. Irf consequence, vehicles belonging to one company are constantly forming part of trains that belong to, and run over the lines of, other companies, which thus have the temporary use of roiling stock that does not belong to them. By tile aid of a large staff of number takers who arc stationed at junctions all over the country, and whose business is to record particulars of the vehicles which pass through those junctions, the Clearing-House follows the movements of vehicles which have left their owners line, ascertains how far they have run on the lines of other companies, and debits each of the latter with the athount it has to pay for their use. This charge is known as mileage ; another charge which is also determined by the Clearing-House is demurrage, that is, the amount exacted from the detaining company if a vehicle is not returned to its owners within a prescribed time. By the exercise of these functions the Clearing-House accumulates a long series of credits to, and debits against, each company; these are periodically added up and set against each other, with the result that the accounts between it and the companies are finally settled by the transfer of comparatively small balances. It also distributes the money paid by the post-office to the railways on account of the conveyance of parcel-post traffic, and through its lost luggage department many thousands of articles left in railway carriages are every year returned to their owners. Its situation in London further renders it a convenient meeting-place for several Clearing-House Conferences of railway officials, as of the general managers, the goods managers, and the superintendents of the line, held four times a year for the consideration of questions in which all the companies are interested. "

Hi Does anybody know what a Railway Clearing house is? This was the occupation of my GGGfather (a Clerk), and I don't know where to start looking for info. Can anybody point me in the right direction. Thanks Lynne

Sylvie Glad to be of help. It just happens that I'm planning a visit to Kew and had the book out of my local library. In the unlikely event that you fall over info about an engine driver called John Garvie, jot it down as he is my step-great grandfather, but don't look for him especially. I can do it myself, it's just you might notice the name as you do your searches. But I would appreciate your feedback on how easy/or not [!] it is to find things, and the facilities. Cheers. Have a great day! Helen.

Helen That is PERFECT. Thank you so much. I was just going round and around in the on line PRO catalogue. I've used it before to great effect and even managed to order stuff before going up but I was really lost in the railway stuff. Thank you again Sylvie

nudge

Sylvie This is from Jane Cox' book "New to Kew?" page 98 "RAILWAY WORKERS PRE-NATIONALIZATION There were hundreds of railway companies and thousands of our ancestors were employed by them. Survivial of staff records, unfortunately, is very patch; there is much more for the Great Western Railway than for any of the others. Before you start your research you arve advised to consult the following book in the Research Enquiries Room (MORIS* will tell you where it is) or you can buy it in the shop: David Hawkings, Railway Ancestors (Stround, 1995) It lists all the companies and their surviving records and explains in what series you might find a fireman, engine driver, porter etc.... Having identified which class of records you need to look at from David Hawkings' book, go to the binders with RAIL labels on them in the lobby or Research Enquiries Room and order the records you need of the computer. You may have to go through a large number of registers, so make sure you order three items and then three more as soon as the original three have been delivered to you." *MORIS = Means of Reference Information System. You find out what class of documents you want, key in the ref. number and MORIS tells you what indexes are available and where they are. MORIS is available on 5 computer terminals at Kew. Hope this helps - have a good day and when you've been let us have your tips!

It IS wonderful to exchange ideas with someone who knows something about the issue. The accident didn't cause harm to him but it is said that he knocked down and killed a child on a crossing. The trouble is my aunt says he was an engine driver and it happened on the track and my dad says he wnet on fromn driving with horses to driving a lorry and it was on the road somewhere between Paddington and Slough! He could therefore have suffered a 'demotion'! He was 'Fireman - retired' on his death certificate Thanks again for you ineterest Sylvie

The career progression which you suggest does seem rather unlikely. Regarding footplate crew, the normal progession was 1) engine cleaner (working in an engine shed, involved in very mundane jobs), 2) fireman (stoking a locomotive) starting with a shunting engine, then goods trains, finally passenger trains) 3) driver (possibly shunting then goods then passenger). If this person was a "carman", as railway carters were called, and suffered an accident it's hard to believe his disability (if there was one) would make him suitable for being a fireman. If he had been an engine driver, I suppose it's just possible he could have been downgraded to fireman as a result of a misdeed. Of course, problems of wartime on the railways could have distorted the normal career path I suppose.

Yes thanks - I've been searching this catalgue on line but it is enormous and I don't know where to start my research - even though I have read the information leaflet! it would be handy to pre order the first item that I need. Thanks though Sylvie

I just found this (which you probably knew already) "The official GWR company records and archives, which subsequently were part of British Rail, are now held at the Public Record Office at Kew. These include Staff Records and Accident Reports."

I'm trying to find my way around the PRO catalogue in preparation for a visit to Kew on Tuesday. It struck me that someone may have already done this and be able to helo me. I'm looking for someone who worked for Great Western Railways from about 1916 through to abt 1960. He worked out of Paddington station either as a delivery person with a a horese driven 'lorry' or a train driver - more likely the first. He had an accident whilst driving for the company and after that became a fireman. Where do I start my search and should I order documents before I go? Thanks Sylvie