Discovering More About Britain's First Fifteen Female Railway Clerks - Part 1

I recently wrote about the first fifteen female clerks appointed by the London and North Western Railway’s (L&NWR) at its Curzon Street Goods Offices in Birmingham in the mid-1870s (Here). Dubbed an 'experiment' on the press, their employment was the initiative of the District Goods Superintendent, Mr W.J. Nichols, and was the first time on Britain's railways that women had been employedto perform functions that were at the time ordinarily undertaken by male employees.[1] However, having limited resources my post was informed by newspapers from the period. I knew nothing of the women’s names, ages or careers. I just dubbed them the ‘Birmingham Fifteen.’

But then I was pleasantly surprised. As I related in my last post (Here), The National Archives (via Ancestry.co.uk) has in the last fortnight made available on-line the staff records from some of Britain’s major railway companies from the 19^th and 20^th century. Therefore, after purchasing a subscription the first thing I did was to look for the ‘Birmingham Fifteen.’ Firstly, I found one clerks' name on the 1881 census, the only census which has been transcribed with individuals’ occupations, and then searched the staff records. The result was that I found more information than I could handle and I have, therefore, decided to dedicate two posts to my findings. The first post will look at when the women were appointed, their ages on appointment, the management structure of the office and their starting wages. The second will look at their careers, their wages after appointment, how they left the service and the effects of Mr Nichols’ initiative on clerical employment for women in the L&NWR generally.

I’ll start this post logically, at the beginning. The first women appointed as clerks at the Curzon Street offices were J.M.A. Heywood, J.M. Matthews and Emma Eliza Beard on the 1^st June 1874. These were soon followed by others. However, there is a bit of confusion as to how many women were actually appointed. Indeed, it shows that 19^th century newspapers were not always reliable. The Englishwoman’s Review of February 1878 stated that at that point there were 15 women working in the office.[2] Up to June 1876 it seems that only fourteen women had been appointed. Yet, the appointment of Martha E. Hughes and Louisa J. Hands in early 1877 made the total number up to sixteen.[3] The answer to this conundrum, I think, is that Beard, was significantly older and paid more than the others, suggesting that she was the ‘matron.’ Thus, it can be surmised that the Review did not count her in the fifteen as she was their line manager. The number of women in the office only remained at sixteen until the 1^st May 1878, when A.J. Stoker transferred to the company’s Wolverhampton offices.[4]
 

The ages of the women varied, however, all would have been unmarried and possibly the daughters of railway workers. The Englishwoman’s Review of 1878 stated that the majority of the women were ‘young persons,’ [6] and this is confirmed by the evidence. The youngest clerk appointed was L.M. Matthews who was only fifteen years and six months old. It is presumably for this reason that she was listed as a ‘female apprentice.’ [5] As shown below, of the thirteen women employed under the age of twenty, five of the clerks (31.25%) were employed at the age of 15, with the rest being engaged between the ages of 16 and 19.

Only 3 of the women were over the age of 20. As stated, the oldest woman in the office was Beard, who was thirty-two years old and five months. However, Stoker was twenty-six years and eleven months old and Mary Butler was twenty-seven months and eleven months old. Indeed, it is suspected that because of her age and her wages (see below) that Butler was the Assistant Matron. 

Interestingly, their starting wages compared very favourably with those of male clerks, who usually also began their L&NWR careers between 14 and 19 years old. Eleven of the thirteen (84.61%) women entering the service below the age of 20 received £26.00 per annum, or 10s per week (which concurs with the Review article). This was £1 higher than the starting rate for most male apprentices (based on records observed). Thus, the initial claims of the press that the employment of women would reduce railway company costs seems to have been their opinion rather than based on any evidence. Furthermore, 18 year old M.E. Harris and the 26 year old A.J. Stoker both received £31 per annum (or 11s 11d per week). Therefore, it is not unreasonable to suggest that in these two cases the L&NWR was rewarding prior experience of clerical work, especially as Harris was under the age of 20 but receiving more than her similarly aged counterparts. Naturally, the managers of the office received more than the others. Beard received £65 per annum (24s per week) and Butler received £39 per annum (15s per week).[7]

What has been shown is that from the outset the office of ‘Birmingham Fifteen’ was initially identical to those elsewhere in the company. There was a hierarchy, transfers, apprentices, comparable pay with male clerks and variance in wages based on experience. Indeed, this is interesting when juxtaposed against of the initial views of the press that perceived the employment of women clerks as abnormal, using words like 'experiment,' and claiming that their engagement would reduce railway company costs. However, as will be shown in part 2, the options open to the ‘Birmingham Fifteen’ were actually very limited, with the heights they could reach in pay and positions capped. 

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[1] The National Archives [TNA], RAIL 410/1837, Register of salaried permanent officers in the Goods Department including clerks, goods managers, inspectors, superintendents, time keepers, accountants, foremen, agents, canvassers and collectors, p.929

[2] The Englishwoman’s Review, Friday, February 15^th 1878, p.77

[3] TNA, RAIL 410/1837, Register of salaried permanent officers in the Goods Department including clerks, goods managers, inspectors, superintendents, time keepers, accountants, foremen, agents, canvassers and collectors, p.1207

[4] TNA, RAIL 410/1842, Salaried Staff Register [No 1, pages 581-1087] - Goods Department. Includes station masters and clerks, p.167

[5] The Englishwoman’s Review, Friday, February 15^th 1878, p.77

[6] TNA, RAIL 410/1837, p.1207

[7] TNA, RAIL 410/1842, p.913

Economic Update

Dear Friend,



I hope this email finds you well and enjoying the bits of sunshine in between the clouds.



Speaking of clouds, there is no doubt there is a large grey one over the US and Europe. This past week has been especially precarious with huge ups and mostly downs in the stock markets that suffered a major free fall yesterday as a result of the credit rating down grade. That being said however, a small gain was made today with expected volatility to continue.



Although there has been a very swift turn to the negative, we should be used to the turmoil since the fallout in 2008. It is important to note that Canada and US banks - to a lesser degree - are in a stronger position then the 2008 financial crises. The banks have billions on cash reserves and are much better prepared for financial difficulties. We are seeing the bond market go even lower and US debt even carries a negative return as there is that much demand to buy US debt.



As far as interest rates go, this is a sign that we are going to continue in a recorded low interest environment for an extended period o f time. Now is not a time to panic or let fear make your choices. Look at the log term view of your financial goals and make choices that fit within those parameters.



See below for a great perspective on the markets from Craig Alexander, Chief Economist TD Bank.



Get current interest rates now, call 604 536-3802



Financial reaction to u.s. credit downgrade



Yesterday morning financial markets appeared to be set

for a moderate correction in the wake of the S&P downgrade

to the U.S. sovereign debt rating. Asian, European and North

American equity markets were generally down 2-3% when

we wrote our note on the financial reaction to the downgrade.

However, the initial North American sell-off became a rout

over the course of the afternoon that reeked of fear.

In our commentary, we stressed that in, and of itself,

there was no rational reason for the lower credit rating to

provoke panic selling. The US government is solvent and

the risk of default remains negligable. Indeed, the associated

probability of default associated with a AAA rating

versus a AA+ rating is miniscule. Moreover, the fact that

other credit agencies did not follow suit limited the financial

consequences of the downgrade.

Accordingly, the market reaction yesterday can only be

interpreted as a crisis in confidence. It was a vote of nonconfidence

in the ability of governments to deal with their

fiscal problems. It was also a vote of non-confidence in the

sustainability of the economic recovery. This was the worst

possible outcome at the worst possible time.

The U.S. economy is extremely fragile. This can be seen

by the fact that the combination of $4 per gallon gasoline,

a supply chain shock from Japan and bad weather in the

Winter and Spring were capable of stalling U.S. economic

growth in the first half of the year. The expectation was that

the waning of these factors would lead to markedly stronger

economic growth in the second half of 2011. However, the

financial rout has put this improvement in peril.

The issue is once again about confidence. The financial

turmoil runs the risk of negatively impacting the psyche of

consumers and businesses. If consumers and businesses

cut back their spending because of worries about a renewed

recession, it can easily result in the precise outcome that they

are fretting about. It could also aggravate the correction in

US housing, lead financial institutions to cut back on their

willingness to lend, and worsen the US fiscal situation -- in

other words, add to the various structural headwinds on the

economy.

The traditional response to bolster confidence is verbal

support from policymakers or, if that doesn’t work, an easing

in fiscal or monetary policy. Given that there has been a

loss of confidence in the ability of governments to address

their problems, verbal support has had little impact so far.

Both the G-7 statement on Sunday and Obama’s speech on

Monday were entirely ineffective. This leads to the matter of

policy actions. The bad news in America is that the scope for

additional monetary stimulus is limited and fiscal stimulus

is not likely feasible in the current political environment.

The bottom line is that the rout in financial markets has

materially increased the risks of a renewed US economic

downturn, which would have global ramifications. The

sad truth is that it doesn’t have to be this way. The current

environment harkens back to FDR’s speech in the 1930s

that, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless,

unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts

to convert retreat into advance”. The US government

is not insolvent. There is time to deal with the fiscal challenges.

And, the message from S&P and financial markets

that greater fiscal progress is required will not be lost on

policymakers. Given today’s Federal Reserve decision, the

immediate question is whether Bernanke can restore some

of the lost confidence. The main message to investors, consumers

and businesses is don’t panic, try to have a bit of

faith, and remember that you can be your own worst enemy.

Craig Alexander

SVP & Chief Economist

TD Bank Group

Digitising Records - Thoughts on Ancestry's New Digital Archive of Railway Staff Records

Within the last week there was an important development for genealogists and railway historians. It is something that I have been waiting for some time, even if I never knew whether it would come. On Wednesday I became aware through one of my followers on Twitter that The National Archives and Ancestry.co.uk had made available on-line vast swathes of 19^th and early 20^th century staff records from Britain’s major railway companies.

My first thought was ‘oh crap.’ As some of my long-time readers will be aware, part of my PhD focuses on the lives of the London and South Western Railway's (L&SWR) managers and I have done extensive research on the company's staff records. Indeed, I spent many long hours photographing 3000+ L&SWR clerks' staff records held by the archive. As such, you can understand my initial frustration that the digitised records did not appear two years ago, as it would have saved me monumental amounts of effort. However, on reflection this was more annoying than anything else and there are massive benefits for my work as now I can access with ease all the records I hadn’t photographed.

The records cover the staff of seven railway companies that existed before 1^st January 1923, and three of the ‘Big Four’ companies that existed after it. They are as follows:-

Pre-1922 Railway Companies

Great Western

London and North Western

London and South Western

London, Brighton and South Coast

London Chatham and Dover

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire (Great Central from 1899)

Midland

Post-1922 Railway Companies

Great Western

London and North Eastern

London, Midland and Scottish

Furthermore, what has been digitised is more than just individuals’ employment histories, and also included, where available, are accident books, books of disciplinary action and pension details.

Therefore, for historians, as opposed to genealogists, this opens up a number of research opportunities from the comfort of their home. Social historians can investigate labour relations, women's employment, accident rates, poverty, railway employees’ backgrounds and ages of appointment. Business historians can also get data on internal labour markets, pay scales, discipline, company hierarchies, promotional trees and the companies’ management class. Furthermore, because the companies served different parts of the country, regional variations in all these subject areas can be drawn out.

However, this isn’t to say that everything to do with the records is rosy for the historian. As with all things on Ancestry, my feeling is that its search engine is geared to genealogists. I understand why this is so. After all, it is a website for genealogists and it is predominantly their subscriptions that pay for records to be digitised.

Nevertheless, the ‘family history’ perspective doesn’t make it easy for individuals wanting to use the records for historical research that is non-genealogical. On the positive side, I can search for employees by region, date of entry into service, birth date and by railway company. Yet, there are some annoying things that the search engine won’t allow. Apart from a few individuals, I cannot search for all employees that worked at a particular site, for example Hampton Court Station. Furthermore, I cannot search the database it by gender (which can be done on the rest of the Ancestry site) and nor can I have listed all the individuals that worked in a particular position, for example porters. Therefore, if Ancestry had the time or the money to add these features to the search engine it would be useful.

Additionally, I think there is scope for the database to be expanded. In the back of David T. Hawkins’ Railway Ancestors there is a list of the railway companies whose staff records survive in The National Archives. Thus, it seems that vast numbers of records were not included in the digitisation project. A couple of large companies that existed before 1923 did not have their records digitised, such as the North Eastern and Taff Vale Railways. Additionally, some smaller companies, such as the Somerset and Dorset and Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railways, were also left out. Records from companies that were absorbed in larger ones were also omitted, for example the London and Birmingham and Whiteness and Furness Junction Railways. Lastly, some records survive from the Southern Railway.

I presume the the staff records from these and other companies were left out because there aren’t great numbers of them. Indeed, from some railways only one volume of staff details survive (it should also be pointed out that for some companies no records remain). Nevertheless, to expand the project to all these surviving files would be of immense value to historians.

Of course, I am now getting into wish-list territory. I do appreciate that to improve the search engine and to add all surviving railway company staff records would be a massive task that ultimately may not be remunerative. The reality is that I have no cause whatsoever for complaint. I have available to me now something that I never thought I would, a searchable database of all surviving L&SWR staff records. For that I am immensely grateful. Overall, it is a significant achievement on the part of The National Archives and all involved should be proud.

I will, however, try to get the most from this new resource. Thus, to show its value I will be using it to inform my next few blog posts.

You can see Ancestry.co.uk's railway staff record search page HERE.

Comment On This week Ecnonmic Action

We have seen a very up and down week, so say the least. The stock markets are in fear mode, simple as that.There has been a very swift turn to the negative which leads to volatility. We should be use to the turmoil and drama since the fallout in 2008, we are not though. Canada and US banks are in a much better position then the 2008 financial crises. The banks have billions on cash reserves and are much better prepared for any financial difficulties. We are seeing the bond market go even lower and
US debt even carries a negative return as there is that much demand to buy US debt.
This is a sign to me that we are going to continue in a recorded low interest environment for an extended period o f time(as always this can change at any time!). Now is not a time to panic or let fear make your choices. Look at the log term view of your financial goals and make choices that fit within those perimeters.

'As Temperate a Body as Could be Found' - The United Kingdom Railway Temperance Union

I got it into my head that I should write a blog post about railway temperance this week as I will be traipsing off to the Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court, twice. So, perhaps it is my subconscious, or my liver, trying to tell me something.

Temperance was one of the key principals of railway employment in the 19^th century, ensuring that individuals’ who were in safety critical positions, such as enginemen, firemen, porters, signalmen or guards, did not have impaired judgements when undertaking their duties. The London and South Western Railway’s rule book from 1845 stated that ‘any engineman or fireman found drunk whilst on duty, or on the company’s premises, will be instantly discharged, and visited with the severest penalties of the law.’[1] By 1912 this had not really changed and the Railway Clearing House’s rule book of that year stated that railway employees were not allowed into station Refreshment Rooms and any found drunk on duty would be dismissed ‘without notice.’[2]

Nevertheless, Jack Simmons pointed out that the greatest extension of the railway network between 1850 and 1876 was accompanied by the massive rise in national alcohol consumption.[3] In 1831 nine Burton-upon-Trent breweries produced 50,000 barrels of beer. By 1868 twenty-six breweries produced 1,755,252 barrels and in 1888 thirty-one breweries produced 3,025,000 barrels.[4] Thus, given the increase in alcohol consumption, some railway workers formed temperance unions to promote the cause. Yet, prior to 1882 these organisations were small, uncoordinated and operating independently.

In 1882 thirty-two unknown railwaymen,[5] feeling that a ‘principal of cohesion and expansion’ was required,[6] formed the United Kingdom Railway Temperance Union (UKRTU) with backing from the Church of England Temperance Society. The CofE’s temperance union was particularly active at the time. In that year there were 339,687 members in the 20 national diocesan branches, as well as 14,352 individuals in the seamen’s temperance union. The formation of the ‘Railway Temperance union’ was simply part of a policy of expansion to spread the word of temperance.[7] However, the railway union always had the unique perspective in that abstinence from alcohol was always linked with the safe operation of the railways.

The first meeting of the UKRTU was held at Exeter Hall, on the Strand, on Wednesday 11th October 1882. The president of the new society was Rev. Cannon Ellison.[8] The growth of the railway temperance union had a difficult start. However, by 1908 there were 300 branches nationally with 37,947 members[9] and branches were established by workers from most main line railway companies.[10] Membership particularly expanded in the early twentieth century. For example, in 1905 the London and North Western Railway union’s membership was only 4,777, whereas in 1908 it stood at 17,536.[11]

Members could pledge allegiance to the union in two capacities, following the practice of the CofE’s own temperance society. Category A members pledged total abstinence from alcohol and promised ‘by example and effort’ to promote the union. Category B members had this similar aim, but for whatever reason chose not to abstain totally.[12]

The organisation was carried on by volunteers who ran activities that could be broadly split into two categories; spreading the message, and events. Spreading the message was a big part of the union’s purpose from the start and the union used a system of ‘catch-my-pal,’ where members would induce their friends and neighbours to join. He would ‘talk and argue and persuade until that object was achieved.’[13] Furthermore, branches held meetings daily at meal-times where individuals would listen and talk about temperance message. On the social side, concerts and lectures were held in winter time and excursions would be run to the seaside and resorts in the summer months. Additionally, by 1911 the union owned a number of halls which were used as reading rooms ‘or institutes where a game of billiards may be played.’ The union’s halls at Crewe could also boast of a rifle range. Competition between branches also occurred, whether through football or between branch choirs.[14] Lastly, the Great Western Railway temperance union members established the company’s staff magazine with the tag-line the ‘Temperance Union Record’ in 1888.[15] These practices continued up until the First World War and beyond.

Overall, the question that could be asked is whether work of the UKRTU actually reduced intemperance and ensured safety on the railway? But in reality that is not the issue. At the point of the union’s establishment no example was cited where alcohol had directly caused an accident. Furthermore, an expansive article in The Quiver from 1911 on the union did not cite one accident where an intoxicated individual had been involved. The truth was that temperance among railway workers, while not absolute, was well established by 1882 through the companies’ own rules and regulations. In January 1885 the South Western Gazette, the London and South Western Railway’s staff magazine, reported on the first meeting of that company’s Exeter branch. The Bishop of Exeter stated that the organisation was ‘very peculiar and very striking’ as ‘it could not be said that railway men as a general rule were tempted to drunkenness,’ and that they were ‘as a body were as temperate a body as could be found.’[16]

Thus, because generations of railway workers had had drilled into them the notion temperance by railway companies’ managements the UKRTU was in fact quite irrelevant to the issues of safety. This is re-enforced by the fact that the great concerns of safety campaigners rested not with the alcoholism of railway workers, but with matters of technology and railway worker’s lengthy and tiring hours. Therefore, the formation of the UKRTU was simply an extension of the national temperance movement, which was part of a religious groundswell at the time, and it only used the issue of ‘safety’ as a cover to push its own religious message of service to God through abstinence.

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[1] London School of Economics [LSE], HE 1 (42)/4391845, Rules for Enginemen and Firemen, 1845, Rule XXIV, p.20

[2] Author’s Collection, London and South Western Railway Rule Book, 1^st November 1912, Rules 9 and 12, p.8-9

[3] Simmons, Jack, ‘Temperance Movement,’ The Oxford Companion to British Railway History, (Oxford, 1997), p.503

[4] Goruvish, T.R. and Wilson, R.G., The British Brewing Industry: 1830-1980, (London, 1994), p.91

[5] Blyth, Gregory, ‘Temperance on the Line,’ The Quiver, Vol 46, No 6, (April 1911), p.581

[6] Jackson's Oxford Journal, Saturday, October 14, 1882; Issue 6761

[7] Daily News, Wednesday, April 26, 1882; Issue 11241

[8] Jackson's Oxford Journal, Saturday, October 14, 1882; Issue 6761

[9] Raynar, Wilson H., The safety of British railways; or, Railway accidents: how caused and how prevented, (London, 1909), p.92

[10] Blyth, ‘Temperance on the Line,’ p.582

[11] Raynar, The safety of British railways, p.92

[12] McKenna, Frank, The Railway Workers: 1840-1970, (London, 1980), p.47

[13] Blyth, ‘Temperance on the Line,’ p.584

[14] Blyth, ‘Temperance on the Line,’ p.582

[15] Great Western Magazine and Temperance Union Record, November 1888, p.1

[16] South Western Gazette, January 1885, p.6

Debt Fear Declines and Growth Fear Sets In

The US were able to put a deal together at the very last minute. Which surprised no one. The politicians down there have not learned anything and the stock and bond markets are now going to make them pay for it.Personally i hope the American people vote all of them out of office for the very unnecessary worry and stress caused to everyone! The real problem is growth of the economy and jobs. The US needs jobs so people will have security and money to spend. This will keep the machine rolling. Till this happens we are in a low interest rate environment and low growth opportunities for certain sectors. We have seen over the last few days bond rates in Canada plummet to the lowest levels since the financial crash. We are now back at historic lows on Fixed rate terms as well as deep discount variable terms. This tells me we are heading to low interest rates for more of an extended time.

Opportunity and Exploitation – The First Female Clerks on Britain’s Railways - 1875

Before 1870 most women working on the railway received their jobs as an act of charity from the railway companies on the death or injury of their husbands. After being on a waiting list, they could be appointed as refreshment room attendants, carriage lining sewers, ticket sorters or gatekeepers. Unsurprisingly, these jobs were low paid, took place in poor conditions and had long hours. Yet, being appointed to such a post was far better that the alternatives of poverty or possible confinement to the workhouse. Indeed, as I have written before (here), the lives of railwaymen’s widows was hard and destitution was always possible.[1]



In 1875 the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR), Britain’s second largest railway company, altered the nature of women’s employment within railway companies by appointing 15 women to clerical roles at the company’s Birmingham Goods Department. This was on the initiative of a ‘Mr Nichols,’ who was the traffic manager at the Curzon Street Station. Strictly speaking, this was not the first time women had been given office-based employment by the railways, and on rare occasions the daughters of stationmasters had been engaged as telegraphists. Yet, the 1875 appointments signalled a change in women’s opportunities on the railways as it was first occasion when clerical positions had been created specifically for women, rather than their circumstances or any charitable intent.



This could possibly linked to the improved education in the period. The 1870 Education Act had extended education (somewhat unevenly) to all children between the ages of 5 and 12. Given that most of the women employed by the L&NWR were ‘young women,’ it could be argued that the expansion of national education facilitated their employment. Indeed, a few years later the women were all described as being ‘fairly educated.’ [2] Yet, while these were progressive steps for womens' employment in the railway industry, overall, railway companies were comparatively slow in appointing women to clerical positions. As an example, the Post Office was employing 3,500 female clerical staff by 1887.[3]



The work and conditions of the fifteen women employed by the L&NWR were described in a number of publications. In 1878 The Englishwomen’s Review (hereon known as 'The Review') stated that the women's work was principally to make 'abstracts from invoices for the ledger accounts of credit customers and for forwarding to the Railway Clearing House.’[4] This work was described by The Review as being ‘not difficult,’ but required ‘care and accuracy.’ Like most clerical jobs in the period, this would have been highly repetitive and dull.

The conditions of the work were not that distinct from those of the male clerks, although Myra’s Journal in 1889 stated that the women worked separately from them and were placed under a matron's charge.[5] Unlike other women performing jobs on the railway network, their hours were relatively tame, and they worked between 9 am and 5 pm. However, as with most clerical work in the period, the reality was that they would have gone home when they finished their assigned work, whether that be at 5, 6, 7 or 8 pm. The pay was pitiful compared with their male colleagues, ranging from 10s to 17s per week (£26 to £44 4s per year). Indeed, most junior clerks on the London and South Western Railway started on £30 per year, but their wages could reach the £100s throughout their career (See here). [6] However, even amongst female clerical workers these wages were poor and Myra’s Journal stated that they were ‘less than those paid by the Prudential Assurance Company.’[7] Furthermore, these women would have had no promotional prospects and presumably they left the company on marriage.



Nevertheless, in comparison with other employment opportunities for young women, working for the L&NWR was deemed better given the office environment. The Review stated that ‘the work affords excellent employment for fairly educated girls whose parents do not wish to send them into shops and factories.’[8] Therefore, in contemporaneous eyes, the avoidance of manual work made up for the fact that the women were poorly paid.



With these appointments being novelties in the railway industry at the time, it is not surprising that they drew criticism. Firstly, some argued that by appointing women to such roles it would threaten men’s jobs. In July 1876 the periodical Judy observed that because of the success of the women at Birmingham and the expansion of the ‘experiment,’ ‘Female engine-drivers and stokers will be the next step of course.’[9] Thus, while Judy was comic publication, this clearly expressed the threat some men felt from women being employed en masse within the railway industry.



Furthermore, in February 1887 The Review noted that a correspondent from the Railway Shareholder had argued that ‘though paid less…,[women] are totally unable to perform the whole of the arduous and multifarious duties of a corresponding number of male clerks owing to their “want of knowledge of the general routine of work”’ The Review retorted that if there really was a problem it ‘might be easily remedied by more regular training; but we are well disposed to think that the experience of the North Western Company…is conclusive, and that women clerks are up to their work.’[10] Thus, the women were attacked along lines which historically womens’ employment always has been; the taking of men’s jobs and the perceived inability of women to perform their duties adequately.



However, the L&NWR's management were very pleased with the ‘experiment,’ and The Review stated that ‘it is found that the work is done much more accurately than by male clerks, to say nothing of the neatness which is also displayed.’[11] Furthermore, The Cheshire Observer stated that because of this ‘the directors have been induced to try the experiment in other large centres of traffic…we believe the interesting experiment is being tried at Chester Station.’[12] Consequently, by the 1890s the L&NWR had recruited around 180 women for clerical posts,[13] at Camden, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds Chester and Wolverhampton.[14] But the success of the ‘Birmingham fifteen’ had wider implications within the industry. In 1877 The Leeds Mercury reported that other railways were considering employing ‘respectable women’ at stations.[15] Thus, by 1911 Britain’s railways employed 1,120 women in clerical positions (as opposed to 84,802 male clerks.)[16]



It should, however, be remembered that the true purpose of the L&NWR's appointments in 1875 was not through any urge to reform employment practices for women or to open up their opportunities. Rather, the L&NWR saw them as a source of cheap labour in a time when the railway industry's profitability was declining. The Cheshire Observer stated that for all railway companies the employment of the women in clerical positions ‘would be of great consideration in these times of railway competition.’[17] The Leeds Mercury stated that ‘the arrangement is economical, and ought to result in lessening railway expenditure, which has grown unduly in late years, especially in the wages department, and brought about a lamentable reduction in the rate of dividends.’[18]



Thus, the appointment of the 15 clerks at Birmingham was a significant event in the history of women’s employment on the railway, opening up clerical roles for women within the L&NWR and other companies. Nevertheless, the reality was that these women were exploited to improve company profitability. Indeed, this was story repeated in the other railway companies, and in other industries, when they took similar steps.



EXTRA, 11/08/2011: I have since written another blog on this subject to be found HERE



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[1] Wojtczak, Helena, Railwaywomen, (Hastings, 2005), p.1-41

[2] The Englishwomen’s Review, Friday, February 15th, 1878, p.77

[3] The Englishwomen’s Review, Tuesday, February 15th, 1887, p.78

[4] The Englishwomen’s Review, Friday, February 15th, 1878, p.77

[5] Myra’s Journal, Monday, Aril 1st 1889, p.185

[6] The Englishwomen’s Review, Friday, February 15th, 1878, p.77

[7] Myra’s Journal, Monday, Aril 1st 1889, p.185

[8] The Englishwomen’s Review, Friday, February 15th, 1878, p.77

[9] Judy, July 19th 1876, p. 141-142

[10] The Englishwomen’s Review, Tuesday, February 15th, 1887, p.78

[11] The Englishwomen’s Review, Friday, February 15th, 1878, p.77

[12] Cheshire Observer, Saturday, July 15th 1876, p.6

[13] Wojtczak, Railwaywomen, p.29

[14] Myra’s Journal, Monday, Aril 1st 1889, p.185

[15] The Leeds Mercury, Thursday, June 25th, 1877

[16] Wojtczak, Railwaywomen, p.29

[17] Cheshire Observer, Saturday, July 15th 1876, p.6

[18] The Leeds Mercury, Thursday, June 25th, 1877