I first found Thomas when I looked on the 1871 Census for Grimsby in Grimsby Central Library; I was able to take a photocopy of this record, and take it home with me.
The Census of 1871 in England & Wales was taken on the 2nd April, 1871, and it shows Thomas & his family living in Grimsby, Lincolnshire on that date. The family live at 26, Railway Street, which as the name suggests is right next door to the railway line running from Grimsby Town Station through Grimsby Docks Station to the Grimsby Docks. The details are below:-
Thomas, aged 52, head of the family, married, born Scarboro', Yorkshire.
Elizabeth, aged 46, wife, married, born Selby, Yorkshire.
Joseph, aged 21, son, Railway Goods Clerk, born Selby, Yorkshire.
William, aged 17, son, Blacksmith, born New Holland, Lincolnshire.
Arthur, aged 9, son, Scholar, born New Holland, Lincolnshire.
This was the first sighting I had of my Great, Great Grandfather, Thomas Readman, a railway engine driver, born around 1819, in Scarborough, Yorkshire, Scarboro', being the common way of shortening that name. Scarborough I knew to be a seaside town on the North Sea Coast, quite some way from Grimsby where Thomas was living in 1871. He had wife called Elizabeth, born in Selby, about 1825, and three sons, one born in Selby & the others in New Holland, Lincolnshire. I had been to New Holland before, it was the place where we used to catch a ferry to go to Hull over the Humber Estuary. I knew that there was long pier there, with a railway line on it that went from Grimsby, so was this link I was looking for. I knew that the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway Company had built a railway line from Sheffield to Grimsby, with a branch line to New Holland. The Railway Company saw Grimsby as a way of them making money; there was an old dock there, so if they could develop this dock, there would be a connection with the continent of Europe. A link also to Hull could be got through a pier at New Holland, so maybe this was why Thomas was in New Holland at some time;he had to be there, as two of his sons were born there, William in 1854, Arthur in 1862. So the search was on, when did Thomas go to New Holland, why and where did he live. If he was born in Scarborough, when exactly, and where, and then, who was this Elizabeth, born in Selby, and who were these other children; all I knew then that my great grandfather was called Arthur, but had no idea of anyone else. Okay it wasn't long until I realised that Thomas & Elizabeth had had another son called John, born in Selby, before Joseph, but so much was there to learn. Family History fever was taking hold. So back to the census reels, the microfilm reader, find the film, thread it through the slots and wind it on, then search.
Ten years earlier, on 7th April, 1861, the Readman family were in New Holland, at 34, Railway Square, though I doubt that the houses would have been numbered then. Railway Street & Railway Square, perhaps Thomas lived in a house rented to him from the railway company.
Thomas Redman, aged 42, Head, married, Railway Engine Driver, born Scarborough, Yorkshire.
Elizabeth Redman, aged 36, wife, married, born Selby, Yorkshire
Joseph, aged 12, son, scholar, born Selby, Yorkshire
William, aged 7, son, scholar, born New Holland, Lincolnshire.
John Dufton, aged 7, visitor, born, Knaresborough, Yorkshire?
At first I wondered if this was the same family, not the same spelling of the surname, but then in 1861, what sort of education was there, and would Thomas know how to spell his name or were they spelt phonetically? It looked very much like the same family though, same names and it fitted with the census of 1871. Then who was this young 7 year old called John Dufton, born in Knaresborough, just visiting at the house on Census day, 1861.Was he a relative of some sort, or just a playmate of William from a nearby house? So now to find the census of 10 years earlier, were they still in New Holland then, and if not, maybe the birth records of the children was a clue.
So on 30th March, 1851, the Readman family were in Ousegate, Selby; Ousegate, that means Ouse Street, so next to or close by the River Ouse, a tidal river, that flows into the Humber Estuary. It's not a gate, that's the Viking name for street, and Yorkshire was settled by the Viking people who came to pillage and rape in the 8th Century or so, but later settled in that part of the world. I knew that York, just a few miles north of Selby, further up the River Ouse was the Viking capital of their kingdom at one time.
So at entry 104, not the house name at all were the following:-
Thomas Redman, Head, married aged 31, Engine Driver, born Scarborough, Yorkshire
Elizabeth Redman, wife, married, aged 27, born Selby, Yorkshire
John Redman, son, aged 4, born Selby, Yorkshire
Joseph Redman, son, aged 1, born Selby, Yorkshire.
So at last this was the proof, the John Readman I had found much earlier living in 39, Freeman Street, Grimsby, as the owner of a music shop, was connected to this family of Readmans living in Selby in 1851. Thomas was an engine driver in 1851, now that was interesting, what sort of engine would he have been driving, and from where and where to? Were there any railways in Selby in 1851, if so what was the name of the Railway Company? Could he be the driver who had driven into Grimsby for the very first time in 1848? So many more questions, so much to discover, better concentrate on one relation at a time!
Somebody told me about the IGI, or to International Genealogical Index, now called https://familysearch.org/ . But this was in 1996, but I think I did look up the baptism of Thomas Readman in this website, though it wasn't called that above and the website layout was very different. It's very much easier to have a search on this index, rather than going to Scarborough itself to look it up there, or even to the North Yorkshire Parish Records office which was in Beverley, Yorkshire. However someone had told me that's its best to use the index as a guide, and look up the real thing for yourself. The index has been transcribed by a Mormon member at a record office, and like most of us, mistakes can happen in transcription, so better I make it rather than the Mormon, then I know if the record is correct. In 1819, the Church held the records of births, marriage and burial, state registration hadn't been invented. The Church had been doing this since Henry VIII made himself head of this Church of England in 1534. They continue to do so now, but state registration came along in 1837, but not everyone complied as there was no fine if you didn't bother. So in these records I found a Thomas Featherstone Readman baptised at St Mary's Scarborough on 20th December 1818, son of John Readman and Hannah. So now I had the parents of Thomas Readman, and his full name, Featherston, that's a name and a half, had there been another Featherston in the family. I knew that my father was called William Sneath Readman, named after his mother's maiden name of Sneath, so wondered if this naming process was part of the same pattern. Also the name John, as being Thomas's father fitted, John being the name of Thomas's first born son, but who was Hannah Readman, and where did she fit in?
On the 15th May 2007, we were staying in Scarborough for a week's holiday, watching cricket at Scarborough Cricket Ground; Yorkshire were playing a four day game. We rented an apartment overlooking North Bay, a bit old fashioned, but a lovely view in the morning, and close to the cricket ground as well. I went to Scarborough Public Library and found that they had a good local history section, so spent the day looking at the records. I found some Scarborough St Mary Baptisms on page 149, for 1818.
20 December 1818, Thomas Featherstone, son of John & Hannah Readman, of Scarborough, father's occupation, plumber.That's what you don't get on the IGI, the occupation of the father.There were no other baptisms for the same couple there at all, and I looked in 1819-1824. On September 18, 1798, there was a baptism for a John Readman, son of William & Mary Readman, and in the same year, a baptism of a Hannah Hudson, daughter of Robert & Elizabeth Hudson. Hang on I am going a bit fast, I also found a marriage between a John Readman & Hannah Hudson on 20 June, 1818 at St Mary's Scarborough, so if that's the parents of Thomas, then she was pregnant when they married. The other way to confirm the name of Thomas's father, occupation and address, was to obtain Thomas's marriage Record, that way also I would learn her maiden name, so another family to explore. In those early days it was a matter of using the fiche records at the public library of the GRO (General Record Office). Quite a performance matching up the records between bride and groom, so much easier now with Free BMD and Ancestry. I sent for the record, and this was what I got:-
On February 15th, 1846 Thomas Redman, of full age, bachelor, Engine Driver, of Selby, son of John Redman, Joiner married Elizabeth Dufton, of full age, spinster, of Selby, at Selby Parish Church. The certificate spells the surname as Redman. Both candidates sign the certificate as their marks. I sent for this record on 5th January 2001. This record doesn't say where John Readman was living then, but does say he was a joiner, not a plumber.Elizabeth's maiden name was Dufton, but it doesn't name her father, so was he deceased at the time? The surname Dufton rang a bell, wasn't that the name of the 7 year old with Thomas & family in New Holland in 1861. So where had Thomas been between 1818 in Scarborough and 1846 in Selby? When and where did he become an engine driver, and how had he met Elizabeth Dufton? I hoped the 1841 Census would assist me, but try as I might I have yet to find him on that census.Maybe if I researched Elizabeth Dufton I would find out about the 7 year old.
So what else do we know about Thomas? Well we know he and his wife Elizabeth had 6 children, John (1847), Joseph (1850), William (1853), Peter (1856), died 1857, Hannah Elizabeth, (1858),died 1859 and Arthur, (1861). I have been trying for ages to find which railway company he worked for, the problem being many of the smaller railway companies were swallowed up by the larger ones and the employment records haven't survived. I went to the National Archives in Kew, London armed with a small book I had bought at York Family History Fair. The book is called "Was you grandfather a railwayman"? by Tom Richards, published by Tom Richards & Federation of Family History Societies, latest edition published 1997. Many of the larger railway ledgers of the Archives are huge hard backed books, smelling of soot! I didn't find anything conclusive so need to go again and have another look.
In November 2004, we moved from Cleethorpes to Leeds, and round about that time, I discovered that Thomas and his siblings had also lived in Leeds at one time. All of us will know that searching census entries can be very difficult; trying to second guess how the transcribers have transcribed the enumerators writing is quite daunting. The surname Readman doesn't help either, often it's Bedman, Redman, all sorts, and Thomas is often Thos! All this was before I had an account with Ancestry, I was searching the records in Grimsby Library, and also getting help from a friend in Grimsby who had an Ancestry Worldwide Account. When we moved to Leeds, I went to the Reference Library there, they had a huge local history section, so I started there looking for Readman/Redmans in the census. Doing this blog has taken me back to looking in all my old notebooks. But on Ancestry when I bought an account at last!
1345/6 Hunslet HO/107/1345/6/16/24
Pottery Field
John Redman, 40 , Joiner, Born Yorkshire
Hannah Redman, 40, Born Yorkshire
Elizabeth Redman, 15, Born Yorkshire
John Redman, 15, Fireman, Born Yorkshire
William, 15, Born Yorkshire
Mary, 10, Born Yorkshire
Jane, 3, Born Yorkshire
But still no Thomas! Often I have found that you can find a relation if you search outside the box, as it were, search for siblings etc; that's how I found more about Thomas & his family through a holiday in New Zealand!
One of Thomas's children was William, born in New Holland. He went on to become company secretary of the Grimsby Ice Company, his daughter, Edith married a refrigeration engineer called George William Clayton. Edith & George & son Ralph emigrated to New Zealand, North Island, where George became manager of a Refrigeration plant in Waitara. I managed to discover that Ralph grew up in New Zealand, worked as a newspaper reporter, and married in Christchurch. He and his new bride, came to England on holiday. Ralph had been in contact with an Austin Readman relation in Sheffield, to find out more about his family background, and they met up with Austin. Through the magic of the internet I was able to discover the wherabouts of Ralph's bride, and we met her in Christchurch in 2006. So as well as having a holiday in New Zealand I visited the grave of Edith Clayton, nee Readman, and met up with a lady who knew more about a Readman family in Sheffield than I did. Then tracing back with this Sheffield Readman family I discovered that they were all descendants of a William Readman, an engine driver.Could he be related to Thomas?
Okay a bit more about Thomas, a little intriguing though! Back in the year 2000, I had sent for the death record of Thomas. I rarely sent for certificates, they were and are still expensive, but still do prove things by document, the best proof, rather than just story & word of mouth. I was amazed when I received his death record:-
Registration District: Caistor, that's some 12 miles east of Grimsby.
301: Fourth July 1879, at 44, Garibaldi Street, Grimsby, Thomas TATTERSON Readman, male, 60 years, Engine Driver, Mistral Disease, Certified by G S Stephenson, MB, X the mark of John Readman, son of the deceased, at 44, Garibaldi St, Death registered, Fifth July, 1879.
So not Thomas Feathstone Readman, but Thomas TATTERSON Readman. Had the minister christening Thomas misheard is parents, had the clerk mixed up the name, or had Thomas changed it at sometime? Bearing in mind the previous rules, was there a TATTERSON name in the family beforehand, I couldn't find a Featherstone?
Was he the driver of that first train into Grimsby? Well the opening of the line from New Holland to Grimsby & then to Louth took place on February 28th, 1848. It was quite a day, because firstly, the carriages had to be brought from Hull, over the Humber estuary to the wooden pier, which was 500 feet long and 30 feet wide. On the opening day, there was no railway track on the pier, so the carriages were unloaded and set down onto the line. Meanwhile, the directors of the railway company and their guests crossed the same river in a new steam boat the "Prince of Wales", and then dined at the new railway hotel called the Yarborough Arms. Lord Yarborough had a country seat at Brocklesby, and his own railway station. He was the major landowner in the area, and a supporter of the line. The carriages had been improved so that there were springs, "to increase considerably the ease and comfort of the passengers". The train and its carriages moved on to Grimsby, via Goxhill, Ulceby, Habrough, Stallingborough, Great Coates & Great Grimsby (16 and half miles). At Grimsby the whole party went to view the new docks which will when fully opened be large enough to accommodate 1200 vessels. Then the party left from Grimsby to Louth, where they admired the church and town. Then they returned to Grimsby, taking 16 minutes to do the 14 mile trip, the locomotive was "Phlegon", one the Company's most powerful engines. The reporters were then allowed to inspect the engine & carriages, consisting of three first class and four second class carriages. The train and its passengers then returned to New Holland for an excellent dinner at the Yarborough Arms, followed by a return trip on the "Prince of Wales" back to Hull over the Humber. The following day the line was opened to the public. (See The Sheffield & Rotherham Independent (Sheffield, England), Saturday, March 04, 1848; pg. 2; Issue 1464)
We know for sure that in 1848, Thomas was not living in New Holland, but was still in Selby, for his sons John & Joseph were born in that town. It's more likely that a driver from New Holland took the train to Grimsby & Louth, as opposed to a stranger from Selby, who would have had to either drive a train from Selby to Hull on the newly opened Hull & Selby railway, or travel to New Holland by ferry boat from Hull before the party of guests did. It's also likely that in 1848, Thomas was employed by either the York and North Midland Railway company who in 1840 leased the Leeds & Selby railway which had opened in a blaze of glory on September 7, 1834. I think it most likely that Thomas either acted as fireman/driver on one of these engines, as the family were living in Leeds in 1824. Firemen received about 15 shillings a week, and drivers, 32 shillings. However this company started to lose money in 1840, so the York & North Midland took it over, and in 1845, the Hull & Selby Railway Company opened their line to Hull from Selby, so that there was then a through train from Leeds to Hull. Elizabeth Dufton, was born in Selby, and Thomas married her in 1846, she was living there, so it's more than likely that was how she and Thomas met. He was living in Selby and working from the railway base there as seen above.Thomas would have had to live in his railway company rented house in Ousegate, and was employed by that company, not the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway & East Lincolnshire railway that jointly operated the line from Louth to New Holland via Grimsby. The M, S & L Railway had its houses in New Holland where we saw Thomas in 1861, so some time between 1850 & 1853, he changes companies, so more than likely operated engines on that line from New Holland to Grimsby, just wasn't the first one to do so. For a picture of the line and New Holland station see this website: http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/n/new_holland_town/index.shtml & http://gb.geoview.info/new_holland,2641633
Disappointing to find that a family tradition is just that, not a fact, but it's made quite a journey, hasn't it-a railway journey!
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