When I was a child, I pestered my beloved Grandma, “Tell me some stories about your family!” She didn’t have a lot to pass on but mentioned one extraordinary snippet of information: a relative had lost his arm. Unsurprisingly, this fact has been lodged in my head ever since. All my life I have wanted to get to the bottom of this intriguing story. Was it was really true? Who was this mysterious one-armed relative? Recently, I have been able to piece together the truth behind this tale.

I decided that the most likely candidate for this one-armed relative was my Grandma’s paternal grandfather, Josiah David Bullock, a railwayman with the Great Western Railway (G.W.R.). Had he had an accident at work that resulted in the loss of a limb? Grandma, who was born in Wylye, Wiltshire, in 1897, had probably only met him on a few occasions growing up, as her paternal grandparents lived in the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. Perhaps this is why she was not able to identify him directly.

In order to discover if it was indeed Josiah who had lost an arm, I wanted to view his railway employment records: they might contain a clue. The records of the G.W.R. are held by the National Archives (https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/), but in 2011, they were digitised by Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/). I was delighted to find two records pertaining to Josiah David Bullock. Here is his entry in a register kept by the G.W.R. for uniformed staff:

This record provides chronological information on Josiah’s various positions and postings during his career with the G.W.R., along with commensurate salary details. His birth date was given as August 10 1844 but there was no record of his early history of his career, except for the information that he had joined in November 1866 and had been in Bristol, prior to his appointment as a porter in Salisbury in January 1871. I already knew that Josiah had married in Bristol in 1869 and his eldest child, my great grandfather, Albert Simeon Bullock was born there in 1870. In February 1876, Josiah moved to the seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, where he was promoted to a foreman porter. After a few years, in October 1879, he moved to Maiden Newton, Dorset. His pay had been steadily increasing from a starting salary of 17 shillings a week to 25 shillings a week when he got the job in Weymouth. However, it decreased to 20 shillings a week when he moved to Maiden Newton. Perhaps this was because the job in Maiden Newton also included a house.

In March 1888 there was a mysterious entry in his record: ” Away” “Ill”. Was this an indication that Josiah had had an accident? Of course, it is entirely possible that he was ill for other reasons but it was obviously serious, as he did not get back to work until August 1888. From this date onwards he had a more lowly position, employed as a gateman at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. His pay was cut to only 18 shillings a week, close to what he was earning when he started out in his career twenty years earlier. A gateman was in charge of opening and closing the gates on a level crossing. Since it was light work, it would typically be a job given to a worker who was older or not so able-bodied. A stamp told me that Josiah had been commended in August 1911 and the date of his resignation, June 1912, was given on the following page.

One further railway record gave me some additional information on Josiah’s career:

The above staff record was contained in a book kept by the Bristol Division of the G.W.R. It similarly tracks Josiah’s career and corresponding salary, but also contained a note on one misdemeanour that he had committed. Josiah was fined 5 shillings for changing duty with another man without authority when he was working at Weymouth on May 27 1879. As he was earning 25 shillings a week at the time, it was a fifth of his pay. An entry states that Josiah was “Injured” and left the service on April 20 1888. A note was then added “resumed duty no record” and it was stated that he had become a gateman.

Looking at these two records together, it seems pretty certain that Josiah had injured himself badly ca. March/April 1888, and had not been fit enough to go back to work until August. He was then employed as a gatemen, working at a lesser capacity and correspondingly, he received a much lower wage.

Fortunately, I have one photograph of Josiah David Bullock and his wife, Mary. Although it is impossible to be certain, the thin sleeve on the left arm of Josiah’s jacket does suggest that his arm might be missing. This official photograph, taken by a photographer in Weston-super-Mare, might have been commissioned by the couple to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. If so, it can be dated to 1899, when they would both have been in their late 50s:

I felt confident that Josiah David Bullock was indeed the relative who had lost an arm but what had happened? A newspaper article would be the most likely place to find this information, as a terrible accident like this would surely have been reported in the local press. Using the website of the British Newspaper Archive, (B.N.A.) http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk, I began my search.

Although I found two references to Josiah appearing as a witness at inquests into other accidents (more on those later), I drew a blank when it came to a report covering Josiah’s own accident. One of the main newspapers covering Dorset was The Southern Times and Dorset County Herald but its coverage on the B.N.A. website ends in 1886, before resuming again in 1889. Were there no surviving issues for 1888? Not wanting to give up, I decided to change tack and instead of searching under “Bullock” or “Josiah”, I decided to use just the search terms “Maiden Newton” and “Railway Accident” focussing on issues published in March/April 1888. At last, I found what I was looking for in the Bridport News, published on Friday March 30 1888:

SHOCKING ACCIDENT AT THE STATION –

Railway work of every description is at all times subject to great risk and danger, but perhaps the most dangerous branch of it is that known as “shunting”. We believe we are right in stating that the majority of accidents and fatalities that occur among railway servants happen whilst they are engaged in this necessary branch of their work. Considerable care, however, seems to be taken at the stations in this district, for occurrences of the kind referred to are not, fortunately, very frequent. Maiden Newton, however, on Monday night was the scene of a sad accident of this character, by which a railway servant named Joseph Bullock, a foreman porter, at Maiden Newton, lost a limb. It appears that about a quarter to six Bullock was engaged in checking off the goods in a truck while shunting operations were going on, and the truck in which he was at work was shunted back, and came in contact with another, pitching the unfortunate man out on to the rails. He fell with his arm across the metals, the consequence being that the wheel of the trucks passed over it, severely crushing and lacerating it just below the shoulder. He was speedily picked up and Dr. Rendall was quickly in attendance, by whom the injured man was accompanied to the hospital at Dorchester, where the injured limb was properly amputated, and we are glad to learn that he is going on as satisfactorily as can be expected under the circumstances.

A similar article was published the same day in the Western Gazette newspaper:

SHOCKING ACCIDENT AT THE RAILWAY STATION-

Joseph Bullock, the head porter at the railway station, was riding on one of the trucks of the Swindon goods train, on Monday evening, engaged in checking the traffic to be transferred to the Bridport line, when he was pitched into the permanent way by the sudden jolting of the trucks. In falling his left arm came across the metals, and the wheels of the truck severed the limb above the elbow. Mr. Reed, the stationmaster, at once sent for Mr. W. Rendell, surgeon, by whom the limb was bandaged, and the unfortunate man was the despatched in the guard van to Dorchester, being accompanied by the doctor to the County Hospital. Bullock there went through an operation, but on the following day it was found necessary to amputate another portion of the limb.

In both newspapers, Josiah was referred to as Joseph, no doubt because everyone knew him as “Joe”; it was therefore assumed that his full name was Joseph rather than Josiah. “Bullock” had been rendered unintelligible by the O.C.R. (Optical Character Recognition) technology, used for scanning newspapers, which can be imperfect, especially when the print is poor. It is certainly worthwhile using alternative search terms if nothing comes to light at first.

From the two reports, it seems that Josiah had been in an open-sided goods truck when suddenly, it was shunted violently, throwing him out onto the tracks. Another truck ran over his left arm, severing it above the elbow. Fortunately, for him, the local surgeon, Dr Rendell, was quickly on the scene, conveying him by train to Dorchester Hospital. He was operated on and his arm was amputated just below the shoulder. Poor Josiah, what a terrible thing to happen! No wonder it had taken him five months to recover.

As mentioned previously, I also discovered from newspaper reports that Josiah had been called as a witness in court on at least two occasions when there had been accidents on the railway line. The first incident happened in 1877, when Josiah was working as a foreman porter at Weymouth, prior to his move to Maiden Newton:

The article continues at some length and various witnesses were called to give their testimony, as the Coroner sought to investigate the circumstances in which Thomas Smith had met his death. One of these witnesses was Josiah Bullock and this was his testimony:

I am a foreman porter of the G.W.R at Weymouth. Yesterday between one and two o’clock I was engaged in shunting trucks on the tramway, and was in the brake van next to the engine. The train was composed of 21 trucks for the tramway, 3 for Portland, Joliffe’s trucks of coal, brake van, and engine. That is not an unusual number – sometimes there are more, sometimes less. The train was stopped dead, the trucks being detached from the engine by a man named George Bishop. The trucks would not go on of their own accord, and would not move without considerable force. The engine did not push the trucks after they were disconnected. In answer to the jury witness said: I have never known an engine give the trucks a violent push so as to send them down the train nor have I seen them sent on without any one being in charge. The engine never passed the gate. I have never known trucks pushed so far as the timber yard. If I saw any one on the tram as the train was being shunted on it I should call the engine driver’s attention to it, and endeavour if possible to get the train stopped.

There was then what would have been a comical exchange if the occasion hadn’t been so serious:

Mr Collett [Weymouth stationmaster] remarked as a precaution and warning to the public the whistle of the engine was always blown during the time of shunting on the tram.

Mr Charles [foreman of the jury] said that was no good to a deaf man.

Mr Collett said the company’s servants took all ordinary precautions for the safety of the public, but could not undertake to restore a man’s intellect.

A Juror suggested a man should be placed on the tram with a red flag to warn people of danger.

Mr Collett remarked that perhaps that would be of no use, as a person might be colour-blind.

In the end, the jury ruled that it was an accidental death, on account of the fact that Thomas Smith had been trespassing in an area of the goods yard that was not open to the public. However, several witnesses testified to the dangerous shunting practices at the station. In particular, families who lived in housing close to the goods yard feared for their children, who out of necessity, played very close to the tracks. This terrible accident highlighted the need for additional safety measures to ensure that no further deaths were incurred. The jury recommended the following measures:

That the railway company should be cautioned to take greater care in shunting, and have persons in charge of the trucks so that the public might be warned at all times against any danger which might arise, and that in shunting they should take care the speed should be regulated more than it has been of late, they believing it to have been too great.

Did this incident play any part in Josiah’s decision to leave Weymouth and move to the quieter country station of Maiden Newton? It is ironic that dangerous shunting at that station too was to cause his horrific injury some years later.

This was to be not the only time that Josiah Bullock gave his testimony in a coroner’s court. On Wednesday June 26 1895, there appeared in the Weston-Super-Mare Gazette an article entitled “The Fatality at the Pottery Railway Crossing”. An inquest had been held into the death of a young boy, Henry George Jones, aged 8, who had been run over by a train at the Pottery Crossing the previous Wednesday, June 19. The construction of the railway line had cut off the Royal Potteries, (a business that specialised in making flower pots), from the town, along with some housing, so a crossing provided access. On the evening of that Wednesday, three boys had been crossing the railway line with their five donkeys, no doubt going home after a long day giving rides at the beach.

Evidence was given by William Jones, the brother of the deceased:

William Jones, aged 14, said – I am a donkey driver and live at the Lower Potteries. I am a brother of the deceased. Arthur Mayne, deceased, and myself were going home on the 19th inst, at about 8.30 p.m. We were in charge of five donkeys, and were riding them. When we arrived at the railway crossing leading to the Lower Potteries, we found the gates shut as usual. A boy opened the gate the town side of the line just after an excursion train had passed along. We did not see the down train coming and we proceeded across the rails. I got across safely, but my brother did not. No whistle was blown, but I heard the train and on looking round I saw my brother and the donkey in front of the train. I saw the train run into the donkey, and I then went straight home, not waiting to see what had happened. There was nobody in charge of the crossing when we got there.

William Jones must have been traumatised by what he had seen. What an ordeal to give his evidence in court! Another witness was asked whether she had seen notices on the gates warning persons of the danger of using the crossing. She replied “I have, but I can’t say that I have read them”. A juror asked if a man was stationed at the crossing to open the gates. The witness responded by saying that there was a man there but he does not open the gates, he only sees that there is no one on the line when a train is passing. The train driver said he had blown his whistle loudly, as he knew that visibility was reduced when a train was passing in the other direction. Josiah Bullock was then called to give his testimony:

Josiah Bullock said – I am gateman at the Potteries crossing under the G.W.R. Company. My duties are to see that people using the crossing close the gates after them and also to try and prevent any obstruction to the trains passing. I have also to keep trespassers off the line. I have no signalling duties to perform, but I should try and prevent an accident by signalling with flags.

The Coroner – You are really there more to protect the trains than the public?

Witness – Yes

Proceeding, witness said his duties were from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, except Sunday. He was not on duty when deceased was killed, and did not see the accident.

The Coroner – How many persons use the crossing?

Witness – I should think on an average the crossing was used by about 250 persons, including children, daily.

The Coroner – How many trains pass the crossing daily?

Witness – Between 40 and 50 while I am on duty.

The Coroner – Have you seen any accidents at the crossing?

Witness – No, but I have cautioned many persons and I have prevented accidents.

The Coroner – Is it a public crossing?

Witness – As far as I know.

Mr Gerrish, [representative of G.W.R] interposing, suggested that the witness was not in a position to give evidence on that point.

The Coroner – Do you close the gates when a train is passing?

Witness – Yes.

Mr Lillington [representative of the owner of the road] – From what you have seen at the crossing do you think the precautions used are sufficient for the protection of the public?

Witness – I can’t answer that question.

Mr Lillington – Do you consider there is an element of danger in the crossing as it exists at present?

Witness – I do, at times, such as when two trains pass the crossing at the same moment.

Mr Lillington – Do you think a man should be kept in charge of the crossing at all times?

Witness – I do.