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Archiver > RAILWAY-UK > 2005-09 > 1127983878


From: "Peter Davidson" <>
Subject: Re: [RWY-UK] Samuel CHETTLE- Great Western Railway
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 09:53:24 +0100
References: <001201c5c226$f7154800$099381cb@heidiz18oiqqwt>


Heidi wrote:
> I am trying to find some information about my husband's g.g.grandfather
Samuel CHETTLE. From about 1840 to 1850 he was an employee of the Great
Western Railway at Taplow, first as railway clerk, and he was station master
when he died in 1850.
> Would the records kept at the Public Record Office have any information on
when and where he was born? And would this information be available anywhere
on the internet as I am in Australia and unable to look at the records
personally.

Hi Heidi,
There's good news & bad news. There are good staff records for the GWR at
Kew but I doubt they would have place of birth & they aren't online.

Have a look at:
National Archives research guides
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/researchguidesindex.asp
National Archives catalogue
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.asp

The best book for railway staff records is
David T Hawkins, Railway Ancestors: A Guide to the Staff Records of the
Railway Companies of England & Wales 1822-1947, (Stroud, 1995). It has
detailed info on what staff records are available for the different
companies. I have a photocopy of the GWR appendix so if you want further
details to possibly give to a researcher at PRO, let me know off list.
Two other books are
Cliff Edwards, Railway Records: A Guide to Sources, (PRO, 2001) &
Tom Richards, Was Your Grandfather a Railwayman?, (FFHS, 1995).

Although your date of death is fairly early, it might be worth investigating
the local papers as the station master was a significant member of the
community. Taplow is close to the Bucks/Berks border, so it might be worth
contacting both record offices:
http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/archives/
http://www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk/
You might be lucky & there was a proper obit. If you have the actual date of
death, it might be worth seeing if someone on the Bucks or Berks mailing
lists would do a look-up for you.

Incidentally, putting Samuel CHETTLE, birth, 1800+/-20, into:
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=igi/search_I
GI.asp
gets 7 hits. Is he one of them?

Good luck,
Pete Davidson (Suffolk, England but born & bred in Swindon home of the GWR.)

Researching: DAVIDSON, EDGEWORTH, BUSHELL, HAWKES




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