Railwaymans cottage

[JC2019]

Hi all,

I'm currently renovating an old "Railwaymans cottage", basically a terraced house which was built to house workers of the GWR working on the adjacent railway. The terraces were sold off in the late 60's, some of them to the railway employees living here at the time. I was wondering, how did one qualify for a railway house? how much rent did they have to pay or was it free? (mines 3 bed with a downstairs bathroom) has anyone on here lived in one as an employee or their family worked for the railway? any unusual rules? any interesting stories around?

Thanks J

 

[Cowley]

Interesting subject. One of my customers has an old railway cottage in Lapford (which they privately own).
I think they looked into it’s history a while back, I’ll drop him a text tomorrow and ask him what he found out about it.
What area (without being too specific) is yours in?
Welcome to the forum by the way.

 

[JC2019]

Thanks Cowley. I'm in the Bristol area. I have managed to find out the first residents and the date the house was built which was good but took a bit of research.

 

[krus_aragon]

Thanks Cowley. I'm in the Bristol area. I have managed to find out the first residents and the date the house was built which was good but took a bit of research.

With that information in hand, it could be informative to have a look at census records for the street, in the first census after it was built. That'd give you an idea of the kind of jobs the residents had. If searching online, search for your first known residents, then look at the original documentation, and you'll typically see the neighbours above and below on the scanned form.

(Many public libraries offer free access to genealogy websites, and the likes of ancestry.com often give free access over a bank holiday weekend wherever you are.)

 

[John Webb]

There is a recent thread on railway housing https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/railway-housing.181284/#post-4006132 which you may also find of interest.

 

[JC2019]

With that information in hand, it could be informative to have a look at census records for the street, in the first census after it was built. That'd give you an idea of the kind of jobs the residents had. If searching online, search for your first known residents, then look at the original documentation, and you'll typically see the neighbours above and below on the scanned form.

(Many public libraries offer free access to genealogy websites, and the likes of ancestry.com often give free access over a bank holiday weekend wherever you are.)

Thanks. I've managed to get hold of the Census records and its interesting as the first occupants had 7 children! What I was mainly after was a living history I guess. Its always interesting to hear from someone who has lived in one.

 

[GusB]

Thanks. I've managed to get hold of the Census records and its interesting as the first occupants had 7 children! What I was mainly after was a living history I guess. Its always interesting to hear from someone who has lived in one.

Back then large families weren't that unusual. I've researched quite a bit of my own family history, and it certainly wasn't uncommon for there to be 10 or more kids, and sometimes with a gap of nearly 20 years between the youngest and the oldest child. Please also bear in mind that infant mortality was much higher, and while you may find that there are a number of occupants in a property in one census, that number may vary significantly in the next. In some cases it may be simply because the elder children have flown the nest, while in others more children have been born into the family; all too often, sadly, some bairns simply didn't survive.

This probably isn't relevant, but may be of interest: in Scotland, there was a fairly strict naming convention - first son named after paternal father, second son named after maternal father, third son named after father... With daughters it went mother's mother, father's mother, mother etc... It wasn't unusual for a baby to be given the same name as a previously deceased sibling.

Anyone who has watched the "Who do you think you are?" programmes, and recalls Jeremy Paxman almost in tears because he discovered that some of his ancestors died in the poorhouse should realise that, unless their ancestors had a privileged background, this was a real threat to anyone (and their families) who found themselves unable to work.

 

[70014IronDuke]

You may well find out more should you consult the many knowledgeable heads in the GWR email group.

"[email protected]"

To join, I think you'd need to go to the yahoo groups page

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Thanks. I've managed to get hold of the Census records and its interesting as the first occupants had 7 children! ...

Back then large families weren't that unusual. I've researched quite a bit of my own family history, and it certainly wasn't uncommon for there to be 10 or more kids, and sometimes with a gap of nearly 20 years between the youngest and the oldest child. Please also bear in mind that infant mortality was much higher, and while you may find that there are a number of occupants in a property in one census, that number may vary significantly in the next. In some cases it may be simply because the elder children have flown the nest, while in others more children have been born into the family; all too often, sadly, some bairns simply didn't survive...

Of course, the occupants being woken up by passing trains may also be a factor