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Finishing the railway companies’ accident records

Since 2018, a team of brilliant volunteers has been working at The National Archives of the UK. They’ve been transcribing the accident records produced by English and Welsh railway companies before 1939. The excellent news is: they’re nearly there! There’s also a chance for you to get involved, too – so do read on!

We’ll be releasing the records later this year, as part of the Railway Work, Life & Death project database. It’ll tie in with Railway 200, the nation-wide programme of events and activities marking 200 years since the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened. The addition of the railway company records to our project database will be a massive boost to everyone’s ability to find out more about our railway pasts – and particularly the people who kept the system running. Given one of the major themes of Railway 200 is ‘celebrating railway people’, we’re keen to see the past railway staff found in the Railway Work, Life & Death project being recognised.

 

Railway company records

The railway companies were compulsive record keepers. Part of that was vital to keeping organisations functioning, especially when they were spread over vast distances. And – so far as accidents went – part of the record keeping was a requirement. From 1877 the railway companies had to submit detailed information about accidents to workers to the government. This record keeping only intensified after the 1897 Workmen’s Compensation Act, which forced companies to pay compensation to injured workers or their dependents. The companies now had a financial interest in worker accidents.

All of this has left a huge body of records, full of valuable detail about the accidents and the people involved. It’s hard to say for sure, but for the records held at The National Archives there may be around 55,000 cases recorded. That’s a small fraction of the total accidents, and of the records that once existed – but it’s still a large number. The challenge – of course – is how to make those records and the information they contain more easily accessible.

Fortunately, the brilliant volunteer team at The National Archives have been rising to that challenge! Over the last 7 years they’ve been diligently working to transcribe and summarise those records. It’s no easy task – the records are all handwritten, often in tiny script, very much of its time – some is beautiful and clear; others … much less so! The team has been on site at Kew in order to transcribe, so it’s been a real commitment: and we’re very grateful. It’s painstaking work, but it’s making it possible to get in to the records and see the individuals.

I went up to Kew yesterday, to have a look at some of the original records – and to meet the volunteer team again. It was lovely, as we hadn’t met for quite some time. I could share how their work is appreciated, and reinforce how important it is – as well as convey my excitement about bringing all of the records, of different types, together, to give us a much better understanding of the lives and accidents of railway workers. Not only that, but much wider social, cultural and economic aspects found in the records. It was wonderful to hear from the volunteers that they were still just as keen on the project today as when they started in 2018 – and to hear what they’ve got out of being involved.

 

Finishing touches – From the Page

Though the end is in sight, there’s still a fair bit to do. The on-site team at The National Archives remain hard at work – but there’s also space for wider involvement too. The aim is to get things finished ahead of the summer, and to do that, a bit of extra help is needed.

Over the last couple of months, some of the accident records have been added to the ‘From the Page’ site. This is a crowd-sourcing platform, which allows people to get involved in transcription projects remotely. The National Archives have added several volumes of railway company accident records – and they’ve been popular. Brilliantly, they’ve mostly been transcribed – and very quickly. There’s now only one final volume left open – and even that’s going fast. It’s available here – for the time being, at least!

When all of the volumes are transcribed, they’ll go through the usual processes of checking and standardisation for consistency. When they’re ready, they’ll be integrated into the existing Railway Work, Life & Death project database – and you’ll be able to use the records as a whole.

This means you’ll be able to find more individuals, places and railway information. You’ll get different information from each of the sources, which when put together will help you find out more about the railway people, places and events in the sources. As we get closer to the new data release, we’ll focus on some specific cases that show what’s in the records at the individual level. They’ll also show the value of being able to look across a range of different records, giving us a more rounded view of past life, work and accidents on the railways and beyond. Watch this space!

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