14 year-old left in charge of a railway station, 1869

[weepingwillowb]

Would it have been unusual, or considered acceptable, to give a boy that responsibility, even if it was only temporary while an adult was away? It was on a Sunday morning, 17th October 1869, so perhaps there were no passenger trains due to arrive (Daisyfield was on the Blackburn-Clitheroe line), and what would the repercussions, if any, have been for whoever was normally in charge at the station and for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company? I've not come across a report of any follow-up to the accident.

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[778]

Would it have been unusual, or considered acceptable, to give a boy that responsibility, even if it was only temporary while an adult was away? It was on a Sunday morning, 17th October 1869, so perhaps there were no passenger trains due to arrive (Daisyfield was on the Blackburn-Clitheroe line), and what would the repercussions, if any, have been for whoever was normally in charge at the station and for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company? I've not come across a report of any follow-up to the accident.

View attachment 152647​

Where did you find this article? These accidents would have been an everyday occurance back then. Only his family would have cared about him, and it would have been forgotton about the next day. That is just how it was in those days.

 

[swt_passenger]

Where did you find this article? These accidents would have been an everyday occurance back then. Only his family would have cared about him, and it would have been forgotton about the next day. That is just how it was in those days.

The incident actually had national coverage, there were many newspapers right across the country and in Ireland, (as seen in the British Newspaper Archive), that used the same wording, it must have been a news agency story.

He was employed as a ticket collector.

 

[Snow1964]

In 1869, school leaving age was 10. It was not raised until 1893 when it was increased to 11.

3-4 years after leaving school would now be 21-22, so we have different age values.

Average UK life expectancy then was just 41 years

 

[Ashley Hill]

At 16 I was often left in charge of a station whilst the Senior Railman went into town at lunchtime. Shopping apparently!

 

[Rescars]

IIRC quite a number of the more significant accidents pre-1889 involved (though were not necessarily directly caused by) youths being left in charge whilst more senior staff were engaged in other matters, either on or off railway premises. Presumably this was not that unusual and most of the time nothing untoward happened.

 

[weepingwillowb]

Yes, I'm aware that 14 year-olds in working-class areas would be much more likely to be working than at school, but I was thinking of his size. Was he being expected to do an adult-sized man's work when he was a smaller size and shorter height? It might have been relatively easy for an adult man to mount a moving ballast wagon, but young Pickup might have struggled to reach up for handholds.

Thanks for all the responses.

 

[The exile]

If we consider the accuracy of a lot of modern day press railway articles, “ in charge of” could mean a whole range of things. The article also does not mention whether the accident occurred “in the line of duty” or whether he was just larking about/ hitching a lift.

 

[norbitonflyer]

IIRC quite a number of the more significant accidents pre-1889 involved (though were not necessarily directly caused by) youths being left in charge whilst more senior staff were engaged in other matters, either on or off railway premises. Presumably this was not that unusual and most of the time nothing untoward happened.

Abermule, in 1922, being an example where the teenaged staff were expected to run things whilst the stationmaster took his lunch break and attended to administrative matters. (For those who don't know, a misunderstanding between the younger youth and the stationmaster, on his return to the station, resulted in a train being given a tablet for the wrong single track section, resulting in a head-on collision).

 

[AdamWW]

Average UK life expectancy then was just 41 years

That will be the life expectancy at birth, heavily influenced by infant mortality, so not a very useful number at all.

Make it to age 10 and you'd be looking at surviving into your 60's on average, I think.

 

[eldomtom2]

That will be the life expectancy at birth, heavily influenced by infant mortality, so not a very useful number at all.

Make it to age 10 and you'd be looking at surviving into your 60's on average, I think.

The ONS has a useful page comparing 2011 with 1841 showing how improvements in life expectancy drop off the older you get. The influence of infant mortality is clear - from age 0 the average life expectancy in 2011 is 40 years longer, but by age 5 that's dropped to 25 years longer. By the time age 60 is reached the average life expectancy in 2011 is less than a decade longer than in 2011.

And of course, it's worth remembering that the life expectancies as usually quoted are period life expectancies - that is, they are the average age of death in a particular year, and don't take into account factors that may influence life expectancy after that year.

 

[Gloster]

In charge quite possibly meant that there was no shunting to be done, no tickets (or only local ones) to be sold, no signalling or similar duties to be carried out, etc. There might still be trains to be dealt with and tickets to be collected, but nothing involving safety or handling anything more than the smallest amount of cash. Even in 1978 I was left on my own on Sunday night to look after a station in a fairly large town and collect the tickets of the soldiers heading back to camp after weekend leave. Fat chance: they were all racing to grab one of the few taxis!

EDIT: I was eighteen at the time.

 

[Ken H]

The Radstock rail accident seems to have had poor staffing arrangements. 7th aug 1876.

Link to wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radstock_rail_accident The Radstock rail accident took place on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway in south west England, on 7 August 1876. Two trains collided on a single track section, resulting in fifteen passengers being killed

 

[Rescars]

Abermule, in 1922, being an example where the teenaged staff were expected to run things whilst the stationmaster took his lunch break and attended to administrative matters. (For those who don't know, a misunderstanding between the younger youth and the stationmaster, on his return to the station, resulted in a train being given a tablet for the wrong single track section, resulting in a head-on collision).

AIUI, all the signalling and telegraph staff involved in the Foxcote (Radstock) accident in 1876 were under 18.

 

[Harvester]

Abermule, in 1922, being an example where the teenaged staff were expected to run things whilst the stationmaster took his lunch break and attended to administrative matters. (For those who don't know, a misunderstanding between the younger youth and the stationmaster, on his return to the station, resulted in a train being given a tablet for the wrong single track section, resulting in a head-on collision).

The signalman too, along with the duty stationmaster, was found guilty of great neglect by the Coroner’s jury. What was most unfortunate was the accident could still have been avoided, had the crew of the stopping train inspected the tablet they had been given at Abermule more closely! It was not the Abermule-Newtown section tablet, but that for Montgomery-Abermule. The same tablet they had handed over minutes earlier, and which in all the confusion was erroneously handed back.

 

[Taunton]

The GWR 100 years ago had stationmaster instructions for what "boys" (a distinct grade, and of course minimally paid) were not allowed to do. Apart from "handling any of the signalling apparatus", another was "starting the engines of road motors". This was of course before buses and lorries had starter motors, and it had to be done on the crank under the radiator.

And of course, they were not allowed to touch anything on a locomotive, not even clean it.

 

[Vespa]

In those days you were considered a young adult and more responsibility than a teenager of today would face, it was not considered unusual in the Victorian era or even in the Regency or Georgian era to work in responsible jobs even in supervisory roles.

They didn't know any different and just got on with it as everybody needed to earn money.

I've read Victorian railway books describing such working conditions.

 

[weepingwillowb]

Being employed at a railway station must have been a much better and more prestigious position for a 14 year-old in Blackburn than working in a cotton mill, and in other parts of the country better than working down a mine. Better working conditions, better opportunities for advancement, a uniform to wear, but not without risks of injury or worse.