Genealogy Chat

Could the Joseph Shaw driver be the Father or Uncle of your Joseph Shaw? What is his Father doing on the 1891 census?

> Would it be common for a 14 year old to be a train driver in 1894? Definitely not under any circumstances! Cheers, Bill

And Joseph Shaw is SUCH a common name, I would be very surprised if this is really your man. I got caught with this train driver thing - my 2 x GGF was by all family accounts, a train driver, driving the Flying Scotsman etc. I spent a lot of time and money trying to prove this (I had no certs at the time, the slippery old ***). Eventually I found his marriage cert, which gave hisoccupation as 'Engine Driver'. More looking, found nothing. Then a chance posting on here gave me the information that he was almost certainly an AGRICULTURAL Engine Driver, or a stationary engine driver in a factory. (My uncle, his great granson, refuses to believe me, even though he is described as a shopkeeper on his son's birth cert!) Olde Crone

I think you will find that the cleaners did actually clean the inside of the firebox which sooted up and filled with ash and tar deposits. I have no idea whether they cleaned the outside of the engine but I do know that they climbed inside the fire box to clean it out. Sylvie

Google Railway cleaners and drivers, or the like there are a quite a few articles to look at The first step in a footplateman's career was to be a cleaner. The full progression was: 1) Cleaner; 2) Passed Cleaner (i.e. passed to fire locomotives); 3) Fireman; 4) Passed Fireman (i.e. passed to drive locomotives) 5) Driver. Cleaners could expect to become firemen in their 20's, and depending on the availiabilty of promotion could expect to work many yeard before becoming a driver. The 'top' driveres were of retirement age, by our standards today.

Helen, Cleaners in this context polished the outside of the steam engines, not the inside of the carriages - they were as dirty then as they are now....!

I think it unlikely too. They had to be cleaners (where they physically had to get inside the firehole to clean it), then several years as a fireman (stoking the fire not putting it out!) before they could be a driver. However, I fell prey to an assumption with a relative who was a fireman for GWR. I thought he was stoking fires but it turned out that he WAS actually attached to the fire bridgade and trained to put them out! The thing is that if you don't send for it you will never know... Sylvie

on the site www.lightage.demon*co*uk it lists 'major railway incidents' I found a relative Shaw Joseph (no age) Driver, Wigan/Liverpool LNWR, 1894 who was born in 1880, and on several of his children birth/baptism/marriage records it stated he worked for this company) and i'm just trying to confirm to myself it's him - before i send off for the info

I think so. I understood from the programme Sue Johnston did in Who do you think you are? that train drivers had to work as cleaners for several years before they progressed. Are you sure its a railway train? nell

Would it be common for a 14 year old to be a train driver in 1894?