Thread by @garius

A quick follow up to highlight one of the hundreds of tiny tragedies.

So on 8th October a family set out together on a journey. Their son had been approved for an emigration visa to the US, and they were off to Southampton (via London) together.

They were on the Express /1

https://twitter.com/garius/status/1446447850326564868

Now I should explain at this point that one OTHER way Harrow is unique for an accident at that time is that we don't just have the accident report. We have a LOT of the original supporting documents.

This includes scrawled patient lists, police notes from the scene etc.

As a sidebar, it's worth noting that we only have these because of another piece of luck:

They were chucked in a skip during a big cleanout at the RAIB in the 70s. But someone there realised they were historically important and pulled them out.

Today, they're in Harrow museum.

Among these notes are lists of victims, often scrawled at the time, and what hospitals they were sent to. And then, elsewhere, notes on who did and didn't survive at the scene or at hospital.

So back to our family, travelling south with hope for this kid's future and sadness at seeing him off. His mum and sister are with him, as well as uncles etc.

And then...

disaster.

They're in one of the carriages badly affected.

From the hospital lists, we can see that our emigree escaped unscathed, or at least walking wounded.

Most of his family didn't. There was a death. And, almost worse, they were separated in the aftermath with his relatives being sent to different hospitals in different locations.

Now imagine being that guy.

Your dream of emigrating is in front of you. You have a ticket for the boat. You're from a poor family. Maybe they even helped you scrape together enough money for your new life.

Maybe some of those travelling down helped you with that money. Now, in the chaos, you don't know who is definitely alive and who isn't.

Because they're all in different hospitals and you probably don't know where. And this is pre-mobile phones.

But the boat isn't going to wait

From the emigration records, we know that this young chap then had to make what must have been the HARDEST decision of his life.

He left the scene. He rushed South. He managed to catch that boat. He took his one chance to get to America.

I cannot imagine having to make that choice. To have to decide, in the middle of a disaster, with those you love dead or potentially dying, whether you still go or not.

Maybe one of his surviving travel partners helped him make the choice. I hope he had someone to talk to.

But leave he did.

He caught that boat. He built a new life in America.

But the burden of making that choice must have sat on his mind forever. And not knowing who lived and who died, for that long trip, must have been hell.

I know all this, btw, because many moons ago the TV show Heir Hunters were trying to track down relatives of one of his siblings. They'd worked out one had died in the accident.

When I went through the records, the full picture of what happened to that family became clear.

BTW as some of you were asking, if you really do want to buy me a coffee, then you can do so here.

Please don't feel you have to though, and do make a charity donation instead as a priority. ko-fi.com/garius

So people asking for a bit more info. I'm not really in the business of naming victims etc. (hence my vagueness up thread). Unless it really adds something, it just feels disrespectful.

I will tell you a bit more about the family though.

Our émigré was James Robinson from Wigan

His sister (Joan Woodall) was also on the train and was injured. D.C. Above is Don, her husband.

Another example of tiny tragedy is below. This is one of those "where are we sending people?" sheets.

Note they haven't been able to work out how Don and Joan are related.

Now here's where we get into ANOTHER of my passions. Because also on the train was John's brother - a certain Bob Robinson.

Bob Robinson, from Wigan? Well as I'm sure you ALL already know (😜) that's actually the legendary British wrestler Billy Joyce. wrestlingheritage.co.uk/billy-joyce