33
4. RAILWAY INFORMATION
BRITISH TRANSPORT HISTORICAL RECORDS
PRO ref Rail 491
969
1870970
1870974
1870
986
1897-1916
994
1899-1907
1001 1876-1907
1008 1876-1899
1009 1899-1908
1015 1871-1877
1016
1017
1018
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1039
1040
1041
1061
1068
1069
1070
Staff Reg.
Goods Manager St Pancras
Staff Reg.
Goods Manager St Pancras - Wages
Staff Reg.
Somers Town
Reg. of Wages Staff
errors of individuals Derby
Staff Reg.
Supt. Dept
Staff Reg.
Derby Station
Staff Reg.
St Pancras No 1
Staff Reg.
St Pancras No 2
Staff Reg.
New Appt Book
Appointed
Age
Harry Prince
1872 May 27
21y
Shipley
Porter
Arthur Prince
1873 Jan 19
19y
Clay Cross
No. taker
William Prince
1873 Feb 16
19
Derby
Carriage cleaner
1877-1882
Staff Reg.
New Appt Book
1882-1890
Staff Reg.
New Appt Book
1890-1897
Staff Reg.
New Appt Book
1868-1873
Staff Reg.
New Appt Book
J. Prince
1868 May 18
Derby
Carriage washer
1899-1902
Staff Reg.
New Appt Book
G. Prince
Marple
Signalman
25/1870-1876
Staff Reg.
Joint Staff list (Jt lines & stations)
1876-1892
Joint Staff List
1893-1906
Joint Staff List
1859-1866
Staff Reg.
No 3
1859-1886
Staff Reg.
Pedigree list
Pedigree
Wm. Prince
1615
CJ;
lost
Wm ;
8288
Geo ;
9266
Thomas ;
11481
Joseph ;
Sheffield (decd.)
14759 (decd)
1859-1886
1901-1906
1872-1892
1892-1902
1902-1907
Staff Reg.
Pedigree list
Register of Accidents
Staff Reg.
Loco dept.
Staff Reg.
Loco dept.
Staff Reg.
Loco dept.
The Manchester Buxton Matlock & Midland Junction Railway. (MBMMJR)
1
Incorporated 16th July 846 (Amended 22nd July 1847
2
Jointly promoted by the Midland Railway (MR) and the Manchester & Birmingham
Railway (MBR) which later became to LNWR)
3
Opened Ambergate to Rowsley 4th June 1849. Extension opened 1863
The Midland Railway
1
Incorporated 10th May 1844
2
History
MBMMJR joint lease with LNWR 1849
MBMMJR to Buxton 1863
London Extension begun 1863
MBMMJR to Manchester 1867
St Pancras Station opens 1868
Wages Staff records Cards Ref D3220/11/5
Salaried staff records cards D3220/10/9
© Gordon and Barbara Faulkner
)
)
No Frederick Prince
34
ROWSLEY STATION
Ref “London Midland, Then & Now”, by Gavin Morrison
Rowsley was the terminus of the line from Ambergate from its opening until the completion of
the Midland line northwards in the 1860’s. The extension required a minor deviation at
Rowsley with the result that a new station designed by Edward Walters was constructed.
Rowsley was the main freight centre on the line and had a sizeable shed which closed in
1964.
Ref “Rowsley - a rural railway centre” by Glynn Waite & Laurence Knighton.
Is the definitive book on the subject
The following Information was received from Glynn Waite.
The Midland Railway moved people around the country whenever there was the demand for
both jobs and experience. You will probably note from our book that they imported
experienced people from other parts of the country when Rowsley Sidings opened in 1877.
The situation at Rowsley in the early 1860s changed quite a lot, especially in the motive
power department. Prior to the extension of the line to Hassop (in 1862) and Buxton (in
1863), there would have been no more than two engines based at Rowsley and perhaps only
one. The passenger trains to and from Ambergate were certainly worked from the Rowsley
end, but indications are that the goods working was based on the Derby end – although there
may well have been a need for a shunting engine at Rowsley. Men worked long hours in
those days, so one driver and one fireman would probably have worked the passenger trains
on a shift of around 13 hours – though someone could well have been employed to prepare
the engine for start of work and dispose the fire afterwards. So, there would have been few
people employed at Rowsley, and Frederick Prince would have been quite fortunate to have
got such a job. You will note from our book that the population of Rowsley was only 210 in
1871, while most of those who worked did so for the two dukes. So it was not really
surprising that a new employee should come from Stanton rather than Rowsley.
The shed at Rowsley started to lose its importance once the line opened to Hassop on 1st
August 1862. The initial service indicates that many of the passenger trains were worked
from the Derby / Ambergate end. However, this had changed by January 1863, when the
timetable showed that services were worked from the Hassop end – with the engine and men
coming from Rowsley. When the line was extended to Buxton on 1st June 1863, Rowsley
lost all involvement in passenger services, and there is reason to believe that the shed was
closed down for a short while. Certainly the driver (or one of them if there was indeed
someone for goods shunting), transferred to Buxton, while the guard was shown as Station
Master Longstone at the beginning of 1864. I would therefore suggest that Frederick’s
transfer to London took place around June 1863. It would be a case of go where the work is
or be sacked.
Peter Witts (Mid Rly Soc) has written the following about operations in London at that time:
Midland traffic had been conveyed by the LNWR at Rugby for some years to London. The
opening of the Leicester & Hitchin in May 1857 gave the MR a route over a greater proportion
of its own metals but initially this route was of greater use for Midland goods trains. MR
passenger trains first used Kings Cross on 1/2/1858 On behalf of the Midland the Great
Northern had built a roundhouse of 16 (later 24 roads) at Kings Cross that had opened in
1859 so this is where he would have been based. In September 1867 the MR opened its
own line from Bedford to St Pancras Goods depot along with its own loco sheds at Kentish
Town. However the shed at Kings Cross was retained until the opening of St Pancras
passenger station in 1868. Initially Kentish Town catered for all types of traffic but in 1882
the new shed at Childs Hill (Cricklewood) opened.
Ref British Steam Railways p 62
The Midland Railway found a way into London by agreeing running powers with the Great
Northern from Hitchen to King’s Cross. The Great Northern line was heavily congested and
by the early 1860’s the Midland was building its own line south from Bedford towards a new
terminus at St Pancras.
© Gordon and Barbara Faulkner
35
Ref The London Encyclopædia p435
King’s Cross Station - built 1851-2 for the Great Northern Railway. Built on the site of the
London Smallpox Hospital in a district formerly known as Battle Bridge. The distrixct was
called King’s Cross to commemorate the monument to King George IV which stood at the
crossroads near the site from 1830 till 1845 when it was demolished. When it was opened it
was the biggest station in England.. The Midland Railway used it as well until St Pancras
opened in 1868.
Ref The London Encyclopaedia p 317
Gospel Oak. Straddles the border between Hampstead & Kentish Town. 27 acres around
what is now Lismore Circus were sold for development. By 1858 plans were laid for
residential development based on a central circus with six or seven roads radiating from it.
The coming of the railways changed everything. Houses were built but they were of a “very
humble” kind for humble people. The noisiest and most objectionable public house was the
Gospel Oak a favourite of navvies and troublesome shoemakers. The North London
Railway, the Tottenham & Hampstead Junction Railway and above all the Midland Railway
built stations and shunting yards. Development finally started there in the 1870’s
Ref The London Encyclopaedia p 754
In 1863 the Midland Railway bought a site for their London terminus in the centre of the slums
of Agar Town. They had previously shared a terminus with the Great Northern at King’s
Cross.
In 1863-7 the train shed was built. The platforms had to be raised 20 feet above the level of
Euston Road because of the proximity of the Regent’s Canal, which the trains had to cross.
The cellars beneath were designed for the brewers of Burton-on-Trent to use for storage.
The adjacent Midland Grand Hotel of memorable design was built between 1868 & 1872.
© Gordon and Barbara Faulkner