When researching my 3xgreat-grandparents, Walter Thomas Piller and Susanna Davies, I hit a problem. Walter and Susanna married in Great Yarmouth and had two short-lived children there, the second of whom was buried in August 1851.1-5 In August 1852 they had a child, Betsey and in August 1853 a son, Walter, both born in Shoreditch.6,7 Walter grew up to become my 2xgreat-grandfather, but Betsey seemed to just vanish. The solution lay in the railways.
Railways had a major impact on the development of modern Britain.8 Towns which missed out on a route slowly degenerated into villages and formerly remote villages grew into towns. In other locations (such as Amersham) development steadily migrated to a nearby station, leaving the ancient village hanging loose.
With their capacity for both bulk freight and mass human transport, railways significantly reduced both travel times and travel costs while increasing availability. Before the railways, most travel for lower income families was by foot, cart or canal, all at pretty much walking pace (5-7 kph).9 Only the wealthy could afford coaches (private, stage or mail) which travelled at about twice the speed (8-14 kph). The frequency with which these services were publicly offered would only be, at most, a few times per week. The early trains frequently travelled at 30-50 kph and often provided several services per day.8 (p118),10 After 1844 all new railway companies were required to provide low cost travel at 1d per mile. The existing companies rapidly followed suit as these low cost services provided access to a new, mass market and were extremely profitable.8 (p89) Offering affordability and speed, railways were a key facilitator of migration within the UK.
----------
Coventry was a town which needed transport. Surrounded by a major coalfield and with industries developing, Coventry welcomed developments in transport systems.11 Major road improvements began in the early eighteenth century, with turnpike trusts steadily being set up to convert bridle ways to carriage ways. Canal development begain in 1768 connecting the Bedworth coalfield to Coventry and by 1790 the Coventry Canal provided connections to canals reaching Liverpool and the Thames. Coventry station was built in 1838 as a stop on the London (Euston) to Birmingham railway.11,12 By 1843 trains were taking 4-5 hrs for the 150 kilometre trip from London to Coventry, with ~8 services per day.10 This was quicker, more convenient and much cheaper than a stage coach (~10 hours), and also much quicker than by canal (~36 hours over several days).9
My 4xgreat-grandparents, Catherine Randal and Edward Butler, married in 1822 at Foleshill, north-east of Coventry.13 Edward died in 1826 leaving one child (James born 1823) and Catherine remarried to Henry Fletcher in 1827, again at Foleshill.14,15,16 Their first three children - Henry (1828), Hannah (1831) and Jonas Henry (1832) - were all born near Foleshill but the last two children - George Henry (1834) and Charles Henry (1837) - were born at Tower Hamlets, east of the City of London.17-21,24 The move from Foleshill to Tower Hamlets in about 1833 would most conveniently have been made by canal.
In 1840 Henry Fletcher died in Tower Hamlets.22 In the 1841 census Catherine was still living in Tower Hamlets, but by 1851 she was back in the Coventry area with Jonas Henry and George Henry where she remarried in 1856.23-25 By this time the trip could have made by railway.
Her eldest son (my ancestor), James Butler lived in Tower Hamlets until his death in 1867 but his eldest daughter, Louisa, was staying with her half-uncle, Jonas Henry Fletcher, in the Coventry area in 1861 returning to London by 1871.26,27,28
Catherine’s second son, Henry Fletcher, also stayed in Tower Hamlets for the rest of his life, but her two youngest surviving sons (Jonas Henry and George Henry) having moved back to the Coventry area with their mother in 1851 married in the area and had families there.29,24,30 During this time Louisa, daughter of James Butler, visited Jonas Henry. However, Jonas Henry and George Henry, with their families, were back in Tower Hamlets by 1871.31,32
It is doubtful whether this hopping back and forth, especially of entire families, could have happened were it not for the existence of the railway.
----------
Norfolk had been a relatively isolated area of England for centuries, cut off from the rest of the country by the fens. In addition there was only one (short) canal built in the North-east of the county, so that travel was limited to the rivers and the roads.33,34,35 The Norwich Thorpe to Great Yarmouth railway line opened in 1844, greatly reducing travel time between the two towns.36 In 1845 Norwich Thorpe was connected to the Shoreditch (Bishopsgate) terminus in London.36 This would have greatly simplified travel from the Norfolk coast to London with a single change of train at Norwich. A faster route from Norwich to Shoreditch (Liverpool Street) via Ipswich was opened in 1851.36 By 1859 London could be reached from Great Yarmouth in eight hours.37
It turns out that Betsey, third child of Walter and Susanna, while born and baptised at Shoreditch, was buried at Great Yarmouth in March 1853 (no death registration found).38 Then in August 1853 their fourth (and first surviving) child was born at Shoreditch.7 The family seems to have settled down in Tower Hamlets after this. I have very little doubt that most of the family’s travelling between Yarmouth and the East End of London was done by rail and undoubtedly they made many more trips for which we have no evidence.
----------
It is difficult to see the amount of travelling to and fro between place of origin and London shown above occurring without the railways and the existence of the railways needs to be taken into account when searching for sources. When people vanish in the mid nineteenth century, check when nearby stations were built and where the rail lines could take people. It took me a long time to find Betsey Piller’s death simply because it didn’t occur to me to look for a death outside London once the family had initially moved there!
