Railways 1800's

[Redroger]

I can't think of a short cut, other than to say that if the staff records survive then they are held in the National Archives at Kew. Then, it would be a hard slog identifying the women staff from the men by Christian names, with the inevitable doubts over the Viviens, Hilarys and Evelyns etc. You might of course be very lucky.

[Nick29]

Most couples met when the female went to work in domestic service, and London was by far the biggest employer for women in domestic service.  It's possible that either the young lady went into domestic service herself, or may have been visiting another family member who was.

[Redroger]

True, but when I worked on the railways, (some time after the 1800s) it was regarded as the biggest marriage bureau in town.
I see no reason to believe this did not apply in the 19th century also, all that was needed was unmarried staff of both sexes.

[Nick29]

I don't think you would find too many women working on the railways between 1851 and 1914.   It was really only the outbreak of WW1 that saw women moving into jobs which were previously done by men.

[Redroger]

See reply No.7 above, 1176 total in the 1901 census, out of a total number of at least 500,000 employees, say around 2%, a minority, but a significant number.

[Nick29]

Yes, but many would have been cleaners, workers in station cafes and women who opened and closed crossing gates.   I'm not sure you'd find too many on the actual trains pre-1914.

[KGarrad]

Maybe railways had little to do with it?

My grandparents met and married (1919) in Blackwood, Monmouthshire.
He was from an ag.lab background in Wiltshire; she was from Kent!

Puzzled me for many years as to how and why they would meet in South Wales.

I have the answer now - coal mining!
He and his brothers left farming and initially worked the Bristol coalfields, but then moved to S. Wales when pits closed in Bristol.
Her father couldn't find work in Kent (a promised job as a tram-driver fell through; his fish shop failed), so he ended up tending boilers in the S Wales mines, and then brought his family.

So, maybe Annie's family (father/brother?) could have come to South Wales for the mines?

[Christine Knox]

Try Bradshaws railway guide

[stanmapstone]

Yes, but many would have been cleaners, workers in station cafes and women who opened and closed crossing gates.   I'm not sure you'd find too many on the actual trains pre-1914.

As you can see, in 1901, they are classed under "Railway Officials or Clerks", and  "Railway Porters & Servants" not on the actual trains 

Stan