ONE of the most interesting and yet neglected aspects of Britain’s railway history previously reported in the Railway Observer is that of its people. Without the nation requiring their service for the transport of passengers or goods, there would be no cause for them to exist; and without the engineers, track workers, drivers, ticket collectors, guards and signalmen there would be no railway anyway.
The coming of the railways created enormous social changes as companies sprang up everywhere creating close-knit communities. Railwaymen formed their own social clubs and associations. What is perhaps one of the most notable traits of old railwaymen through the times is how they have looked after their own kind in times of need, setting up Widows and Orphans Funds to help those left in poverty, or providing convalescent homes for railwaymen following an illness.
It all started early in 1885 with the plight of infants coming to the notice of Canon Allen Edwards, Vicar of South Lambeth and railway chaplain, who had always taken an interest in local railway workers. In March 1886, the first orphanage was opened at 78 Jeffreys Road, Clapham, London. It provided a home for 10 children of employees of the LSWR.