The LNER Encyclopedia

I am researching family history. I am trying to trace a great uncle of mine called William Harris. The only information I have is that he lived near Newcastle upon Tyne though originally he spent his early life in the midlands. I am checking with this forum because when he died in the late 40s early 50s he was in receipt of an LNER pension (albeit a small one). At some stage he must have served in the forces in World War 1 as he had an East Howden Heroes shield on his watch chain that was sent on to my father in late 50s when William died. Any help in getting more information about William would be much appreciated!

Richard Aldridge

Howden is a small town outside Hull i wonder if your relation may have enlisted in one of the pals Battalions. These were created so friends could all enlist together with people from the same area I am not sure if Hull had a Pals Battalion although Sheffield and other towns across Yorkshire and Lancashire had them.
Later on they tried not to recruit like this as certain Battalions suffered a lot of casualtys.
I hope this may shed a bit of light.

Five minutes after i wrote this I googled Hull Pals there is quite a bit on the web about them.

Many thanks for your prompt response. There is also a Howden north of the Tyne opposite Jarrow which is where I think that my great uncle must have lived. I suspect you are correct about William enlisting in a 'Pals' battalion but one that was Newcastle based such as one of the various Northumberland Fusiliers Service battalions. As yet not made much progress there. One of his younger brothers did so in the 14th Battalion of the Warwickshire Regiment better known as the 1st Birmingham Pals.

In going through my late father's records I have discovered a reference number to William's LNER Superannuation Fund. Can I get any mileage out of that?

Richard

You could always try Railway Pensions (they actually are called RPMI now) at PO Box 300, Darlington, DL3 6YJ or ring them first on Freephone 0800 343434 to explain the nature of your enquiry see if they have records going back that far. In my experience, they are always helpful - if they can be. Good luck, anyway

hq1hitchin wrote:You could always try Railway Pensions (they actually are called RPMI now) at PO Box 300, Darlington, DL3 6YJ or ring them first on Freephone 0800 343434 to explain the nature of your enquiry see if they have records going back that far. In my experience, they are always helpful - if they can be. Good luck, anyway

I think you will find that personal records like pensions are subject to the 100 year rule, so it may be some time before they are made available.

Sorry - I was working on the assumption that the 30 year rule would apply - not sure if also could be covered by Freedom of Information Act?

Errr- just Googled the 100 year rule but can find no mention of it anywhere. Do any of you with legal minds know if it still, in fact, exists?

hq1hitchin wrote:Errr- just Googled the 100 year rule but can find no mention of it anywhere. Do any of you with legal minds know if it still, in fact, exists?

I certainly applies to census records, and I believe there is, or used to be, a reference to it in respect of employee and pension record on the NRM site.

This is all I could find:

http://www.30yearrulereview.org.uk/background.htm

Is the 100 year rule still extant - anybody confirm?

The Northumberland Fusilers had a brigade formed from railway workers in the North East.
Newcastle Railway Pals (17th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers)

This is the order of battle

http://www.cwgc.org/somme/content.asp?id=35&menu=sub

A Call to N. E. R. Men - Non Commissioned Officers of the 17th ( Service ) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers - North Eastern Railway Pioneers '



Northumberland Fusiliers. It was a railway battalion equipped by the railway and handed over as a battalion, complete with horses, wagons and men who were all railway workers. This battalion was recruited at York.
.

Thanks very much for the several leads given. I will certainly try the Railway Pensions people; they can only say no! I will also follow up on the 17th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. Does any one know of a book on this battalion e.g. like Terry Carter's excellent compilation of the Birmingham Pals battalions?

Richard

Have you tried the Burnt Records (WW I Service records) in the PRO? There are also the medal rolls, which IIRC are complete - they might allow you to trace a unit, which would give you a fair start. Once you're sure of the unit then there's bound to be a Regimental Museum somewhere.

It would be worth contacting the Northumberland Fusiliers Museum at Alnwick Castle, as they hold a lot of records there. In the unlikely event that they can't help, they would point you in the right direction. I found them very helpful when I was looking for information about my Grandfather who was in the 19th Bttn.