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Messages - GrizzlyDad

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1
London and Middlesex / Re: What was the Great Northern Railway AT?
« on: Saturday 06 November 10 19:37 GMT (UK)  »
Great detective work, thanks a million.

A picture would be the icing on the cake but, as I said earlier, I never expected to get this much information so I am very happy to have learnt this much.

Gareth

2
London and Middlesex / Re: What was the Great Northern Railway AT?
« on: Friday 05 November 10 14:07 GMT (UK)  »
Thanks, gents, good finds. I agree Agar Town seems to most likely and I suppose there are two main possibilities for why they put Great Northern Railway AT as their address. Either it was his workplace and they lived closeby or they were in the accommodation above the stables. That may be as close as we get but it's pretty close.

I am glad to see the hotel on the census. Makes me feel better about my original assumption. They were just too poor to be staying there.

3
London and Middlesex / Re: What was the Great Northern Railway AT?
« on: Thursday 04 November 10 17:20 GMT (UK)  »
What I enjoy about this forum is that, even if you don't get to the bottom of your mystery (and I probably won't), you learn a lot along the way.

I had never connected my stableman with the railways but now the link seems clear. I just thought they had checked into a hotel (which now seems ridiculous and I seem to have gone from a hotel to a tent in two days!). It is a bizarre location to put on a marriage certificate (especially for the wife) but I guess they were just getting by.

Thanks to everyone who's contributed so far and if anyone comes across any more information I'd be happy to hear from you.

4
London and Middlesex / Re: What was the Great Northern Railway AT?
« on: Wednesday 03 November 10 16:51 GMT (UK)  »
I guess it will be hard to find firm evidence that he worked for the railway but it does seem to be a strong possibility.

I still think it's a 'T' from looking at my GRO certificate. There is another 'T' written with the same flourish on my certificate but not all 'T's are written the same way.

It he lived/worked in this depot, could the 'T' stand for Terminus? I see on the 1851 map it has Railway Terminus written. You can see from Dawn's jpg that the other letter is an 'A'. Great Northern Railway A....... Terminus????

5
London and Middlesex / Re: What was the Great Northern Railway AT?
« on: Wednesday 03 November 10 15:49 GMT (UK)  »
Thomas Ansell was a horsekeeper (ostler) so would there have been a requirement related to the railway? I'd assumed he would have worked in an inn but I suppose you had to leave your horse somewhere if you were travelling by train ;D

You've made me think.

I don't know anything about sickness, it doesn't seem very likely. They were soon producing children and in the 1861 census were living in Aldenham Street.

6
London and Middlesex / Re: What was the Great Northern Railway AT?
« on: Wednesday 03 November 10 13:52 GMT (UK)  »
Thanks for the suggestions. The fact the answer is not obvious at least gives me some reassurance that I'm not just being dim.

I hadn't made the connection that the railway had only just been completed. I imagined they'd saved up to get married from a nice hotel but a run down, demolition-threatened shanty town night be closer to the truth.

The map is fantastic, by the way.

7
London and Middlesex / What was the Great Northern Railway AT?
« on: Tuesday 02 November 10 19:50 GMT (UK)  »
My g-g-grandparents, Thomas Ansell and Mary Ann Osmon, married at St Pancras Church on 7 February 1858 and both gave their address as 'Great Northern Railway AT' (Or possibly AJ, I think it's a T but the writing is hard to read).

I've googled 'Great Northern Railway AT' and can't find anyything. Was it a hotel? Does anyone know what AT stood for?

Maybe this is a question for railway buffs rather than family historians!

They may have had delusions of grandeur as the bride's father is listed as 'Vetinary Surgeon' when he's described in the censuses as a Blacksmith.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Gareth

8
Occupation Interests / Re: What did a railway gatekeeper do?
« on: Tuesday 12 October 10 13:13 BST (UK)  »
Yes, Driffield does seem to have been a lot busier then than now as a railway hub. I'm grateful to everyone who's contributed to the discussion as I am much more knowledgable now than when I posted the topic.

I like to think I'll find more about John Botterill as I search through records and newspapers - please someone digitise the Driffield Times :) - but in a way it's harder to find out about someone who worked long and hard and didn't get into trouble. We'll see.

9
The Common Room / Re: Police Officers police history (1891)
« on: Friday 08 October 10 20:28 BST (UK)  »
I have a policeman ancestor, James Weaver, a metropolitan policeman between 1861 and 1882. It may not apply in this case but I have had a lot of joy in searching for him in newspapers databases. Because I have his number, 82 S, I have been able to find him in three articles in The Times and twice in two other newspapers, usually as a witness in hearings or trials. I have also found him as a witness in an Old Bailey trial as they have computerised their archives.

So you don't just have to rely on the police records.

As an aside, does anyone know if there are metropolitan police photographs from this period? Of course I'd love to find a photograph of him but I know that's probably a fantasy. But I would like to see how policemen looked at that time.

Gareth

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