'Railway Work, Life & Death' project

Railway Work, Life and Death project

What was it like to work on Britain and Ireland’s railways over 100 years ago? How were tens of thousands of employees injured or killed? Who were these people?

The ‘Railway Work, Life & Death’ project has been delving into these questions, creating an important new resource for anyone researching railway history, family history, labour history and many other topics.

On Transcription Tuesday we're working with the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick - which holds the RMT's records, back to pre-NUR days. Indeed, one of those volumes is what is in Transcription Tuesday. The aim is that people can, from home, download a page of the volume and will then work through it, transcribing details into an online spreadsheet we've put together. The volume covers accident enquiries and legal cases involving union members, 1901-1905. It details who was involved, what happened, what the impact was, and what, if any, arrangements were secured to help look after the worker or their family after an accident.