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Railway roots
Few workforces have had more effect on our nation’s history than railway workers. Now you can discover the part your family played in this revolutionary industry, with our brand-new record collection.
The spread of railways allowed the Industrial Revolution to move beyond the major cities, and literally changed Britain’s landscape forever. Even today, we still rely on trains to carry goods, people and ideas all over the country. Railway Employment Records, 1807–1963, reveals your ancestors who laid the tracks, stoked the engines and drove the trains through almost 200 years.
The railway industry has a long history of mergers, nationalisation and privatisation. Our 2 million records come from the 10 companies that survived in 1948, when they were taken over by the Government.
Most common among the comprehensive records are staff registers. These tell you your ancestors’ job roles, ages, and even details like salaries and how long they’d been employed. So, you can quickly build up a clear picture of their working lives.
Crucially, the registers also reveal transfers between different stations. Railway workers were Britain’s first truly mobile workforce, as they travelled the country installing new tracks and stations in ever-wider locations. Our records let you follow your family’s movements.
Other documents in the collection include caution books and accident records. These highlight some fascinating stories — there are several incidents of trains colliding and running off tracks as the staff struggled to come to terms with the new technology.
If your ancestors signed up as children, you might find them listed — along with information about their parents — in apprenticeship records. You can then trace their progress through the ranks, often right up to their retirement in pension books.
If your ancestors signed up as children, you might find them listed — along with information about their parents — in apprenticeship records. You can then trace their progress through the ranks, often right up to their retirement in pension books.
Railway Employment Records, 1807–1963 is available to Premium and Worldwide members. Upgrade your membership now
Top tip
Going postal
Post was one of the most important commodities carried by the 19th-century trains. Railway staff would have worked closely with the postal workers revealed in our second new record collection this month. Find out more -
Postal ancestors
The Post Office has been a British institution for centuries. Using our new record collection, you can find out if your family had a hand in its long and storied past.
Our Postal Service Appointment Books, 1737–1969, trace your postal worker ancestors from the days when messages were delivered individually on horseback. Letters were charged by the distance a horse had to travel, and it could take a week to reach a recipient at the other end of the country.
The records take you through the 19th century, as huge changes affected the lives of those inside and outside the Post Office. First the trains arrived, to carry huge numbers of letters all over Britain. Then the postage stamp made it affordable for anyone to send a letter, leading to a huge increase in demand.
You can uncover your forebears’ careers right up to the 1960s, as airmail transported our thoughts and ideas from America to Australia.
Our 1.4 million records tell you whether your relatives spent their days in the sorting office, or rose early to deliver the post. They reveal when each person joined the postal service and what role they were given.
You can see where your forebears worked. You can then use this information to follow their progress through the years in local directories.
In many cases, you can also discover who recommended your ancestor for the position. Perhaps this is a close friend, or even another family member for you to explore?
These records offer a rare glimpse at the people inside one of Britain’s oldest employers. Search now
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2011/ The British Postal Museum & Archive
To see the scanned images of the Appointment Books, you’ll need to be a Premium or Worldwide member. Upgrade your membership now
The Postal Service Appointment Books, 1737-1969 were transcribed by volunteers in the Ancestry World Archive Project. Because of this, the searchable indexes are free for anyone to use. Why not join the Project, and help to preserve and put online millions of crucial family history documents? Find out more
Top tip
Saving records
Once you've found an ancestor in one of our records, you can save that document to your family tree, so it's easy to find again later. Look for the 'Save' button at the top-right of the record. -
Have you tried... our News and Info pages?
Our search pages are obviously the best place to start looking for your ancestors. But what if you want to know a bit more about the records, get tips to help with your searches — and learn about our latest releases? That’s where our News & Info pages come in.
These pages are dedicated to our key record categories. We have one each for census; birth, marriage and death; military; criminal; wills and probate; Ireland; and occupation records. Plus, we have individual pages for our largest parish collections — London, Liverpool, West Yorkshire and Dorset — and we’re currently working on an innovative page that will make it easier to find all our parish records.
Our pages are split into sections, each providing different information. You can move through the sections by clicking on the tabs at the top.
First, you’ll find details of our newest record collections in each category, and often teasers for upcoming collections. For example, our census page gives you up-to-date news on the 1911 Census, while the occupation page tells you about our new railway and Post Office records.
You can then read about related collections that may help you learn more about your ancestors' lives, or go further back with your family tree. The birth, marriage and death page explores each type of index and certificate in turn, while our wills and probate page provides a step-by-step guide to using the National Probate Calendar.
Many of our pages also provide some background history, putting your family’s stories into a wider context. All our local parish pages include timelines, so you can read about the wider events that would have affected your forebears in that area.
On our occupations page, you can even watch a series of social history videos.
Throughout all the sections, you’ll find top tips helping you search the records more effectively, or suggesting new lines of discovery. Whatever stage you’re at with your research, it’s well worth exploring them, so see what you can learn.
Start with our new occupations page. Top tip
Quick Links
We regularly update our News & Info pages with the latest news and new record collections. Use the Quick Links in the top-right corner of your Ancestry.co.uk homepage to save these pages, so you can find them again easily. -
Ask the experts
Welcome to our Ask the experts section. This is where we answer your questions on all things genealogical, so if you have any pressing queries, send us your questions now*.
Thank you for all your questions so far. If your question doesn't appear here, you can email our Member Services team at support@ancestry.co.uk and they'll help you with your research.
This month’s questions are answered by professional genealogist Doreen Hopwood and military historian Paul Reed.
Doreen Hopwood is a professional genealogist for the City of Birmingham. She regularly talks at family history events around the country, and lectures in social history at Birmingham University.
Paul Reed is one of the UK’s leading military historians. He has written books on both World Wars, and contributes regularly to family history magazines. He also works as a historical consultant for the BBC, on programmes including Who Do You Think You Are? and My Family At War.
Resting place
Q. I’m looking for the burial place of my grandfather, Benjamin William Morley, who died in 1973. I believe he was living with his brother, James, in Cheam, Surrey at the time of his death. Please can you help me find his last resting place?
Yvonne
A. I found Benjamin William Morley’s death registration in the official index at Ancestry.co.uk in the June Quarter of 1973 in Surrey Mid East District. This shows his date of birth as 8th June 1903. The next step is to buy a copy of the death certificate, as this will show the date and place of his death — and also his home address.
Once you have the certificate, search the birth, marriage and death announcements in local newspapers, as entries generally give the funeral and burial/cremation details. You can search www.newsplan.co.uk to find the names of local newspapers in circulation in 1973 and see where copies are kept now. The local record office or library will able to provide details of cemeteries, crematoria and churches with burial grounds in the area.
Doreen Hopwood
*Terms and Conditions apply: I understand that by sending questions to 'Ask the experts', I grant Ancestry.com Operations Inc. a perpetual license to distribute or republish such questions at its discretion, with credit to me. I release Ancestry.com Operations Inc., its agents and assigns, from any obligation to make payment hereunder and from any liability incurred in connection with the use of the questions. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. may edit the questions for content, length, and/or clarity. I warrant that I am at least 18 years of age.
Fighting in Africa
Q. I’ve been trying to gather info regarding my grandfather’s Boer War service. I know he served in the concentration camp in the Transvaal and he seems to be in the artillery or yeomanry, judging from his uniform and also knowledge of horses that he carried into World War I. Where can I access records for the Boer War?
Sue Stacey
A. The main records for the period fall into two categories; medal records and service files. Both of these are available at The National Archives; the medals on microfilm, filed under WO100 and service records in WO97.
The medal records are organized by unit for the two medals awarded; the Queen’s and King’s South Africa Medals. Without a unit, it’s tricky to trace a man. Fortunately, these are also now available at Ancestry.co.uk, so use the search options to trace him.
The service records are arranged by surname — but Imperial Yeomanry records are separate in WO128. These records haven’t been digitized. It’s also worth checking the World War I service records at Ancestry.co.uk, as many men discharged after the Boer War have records in this collection.
Paul Reed
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