Our guest speaker talked about who worked on the railways and the variety of jobs that they did; although he said it was uncertain when women were first employed in clerical positions.
In the 1830s/40s clerical workers were the highest paid of railway staff and had to have a good education and references to get the job. However, by 1910 they were ranked amongst the poorest paid railway employees.
In 1915 junior clerks had a 7 year training scheme, depending on the size of the station. Gaining knowledge from other employees was a way of gaining promotion. They worked long hours – up to 20 hours a day and 98 hours in a 7 day week. David gave examples of the amounts they were paid and their references and we were shown a Rule Book with pages of rewards and fines.
There were three clerical positions: booking clerks, administrative clerks and telegraph clerks who did their work actually on trains!
Sandra Marvin
Next Meeting
Friday 9th June 2017 'They Dared to be Doctors' by Toni Mount