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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: Ohri on Wednesday 20 January 21 17:45 GMT (UK)
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Has anyone heard of railway apprenticeships in the 1930's 40's from schools /orphanages for boys who stayed there .
I believe girls were trained in domestic skills .
I am interested to find out any information I can about these schools/orphanages especially in the West Midlands area , as I believe a great great uncle was placed in one of these places .
thanks
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Welcome to Rootschat Ohri :D
Not sure about apprenticeships specifically, but Ancestry have UK Railway Employment Records 1833 - 1956. You may find your gg uncle listed there.
Would you like to give us your gg uncle's name and when and where he was born?
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www.childrenshomes.org.uk may provide some info?
Search by location/County.
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Hi , my gg uncle's name was William Harry Parsonage . He was born in 1920 in Dudley , West Midlands.
any help would be greatly appreciated .
Thanks
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Ancestry seems to have quite a few hits for William Parsonage on their records of All UK, Railway Employment Records, 1833-1956.
I don't have a sub to Ancestry so have no way of knowing if any of these relate to your William.
Perhaps another Rootschatter will have a look for you if you don't have a sub to Ancestry. There may not be any relevant records for William.
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Hi and thanks for replies. I am subscribed to ancestry.co.uk and will have a look at the Railway Employment Records.
I'm also working my way through the orphanages/ childrens homes / schools in the area. Although he wasnt an orphan , his parents were poverty stricken and had to send him away to be looked after . I believe this was quite common in those times .
I'm not sure whether this was done through the church or other charitable organisations . But I think that my gg uncle worked on the railways when he was old enough to do so , while still living in the orphanage /school/childrens home .
Thanks for taking the time to help . Stay safe
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There are two types of apprenticeship on the railway, conventional where a boy (working class) is apprenticed to a trade, fitter, boilerrsmith or electrician etc. and premium where the parents of the person pay the railway company to employ and train him. Needless to say these people are not working class. I suggest that their records are more likely to have survived.
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GWR records on Ancestry have apprentice records for fitter, turner, coppersmith, boilermaker etc,.
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I should also say that most if not all of the mainline railways had their own orphanages, records of which may survive.eg Google Railway Servants Orphanage.
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It may not be what you're looking for, but the Ministry Of Labour set up training camps around the country in the 20s that ran until the early 40s. My grandfather was sent to one in Lincolnshire, he was supposed to learn agriculture, but mostly he helped clear land for reforesting - http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/radio4/making-history/able-bodies.pdf and http://www.workhouses.org.uk/labourcolonies/