British Railway Staff Records

Another instructive podcast has been posted by The National Archives, Kew, this one by historian Bruno Derrick "guides us through how to trace those ancestors who worked on the railways during the Victorian era, both at home and abroad. Discussing the extensive collection of railway staff records held at The National Archives, this talk looks at various company records, accident records and railway magazines and offers advice on the best ways to approach and use these resources."

At one point the catalogue for RAIL 264 is mentioned. I tried it for the name Northwood. There was one hit, for a Daniel Northwood, who joined the Great Western Railway Company as a clerk in April 1863 and resigned in June 1866.

Daniel was in my Northwood database, the brother of William Northwood (1844-1928) who migrated to Ottawa and became the financial half of a successful business. Daniel was obviously also competent with figures as by the time of the 1871 census he was an assistant surveyor of taxes.