Network Rail has discovered a family whose service on Britain’s railways dates back to 1846 – and is on the hunt for families with an even longer railway history.
Next year, Network Rail and other partners will hold Railway 200, a year-long programme of events to mark the 200th anniversary of the modern railway following the opening of Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825.
Now, Railway 200 has revealed the extraordinary story of the Mike and Andrew Lamport, a father and son whose ancestors have worked on the railways since 1846.
Mike, 76, from Ely in Cambridgeshire, worked on the railways from 1964 to 2008. Andrew, 27, from Croydon, followed in his father’s footsteps and now works as a guard for South Western Railway, based at London Waterloo.
Mike has traced his railway roots back to April 1846, when his 2x great grandfather Matthew Mathews joined the original South Western Railway as ‘Porter No.18’ at Richmond station in Surrey.
Promotion saw him move to Waterloo station to become a passenger guard on the Waterloo to Portsmouth line, via Guildford, when it opened in 1859.
Two years later, on the evening of 28 January 1861, Matthew was one of the heroes of a train crash at Epsom Junction, now known as Raynes Park. A grateful railway management soon appointed him to the role of District Inspector at Bishopstoke, later renamed Eastleigh, before offering him the relatively sinecure post as station master at the newly-opened Shawford station where he remained until his retirement in April 1896. He died in 1904.
Following in Matthew’s footsteps, all four of his sons also went on to enjoy 50-year railway careers. They and their sons and grandsons continued the family tradition of railway service, one becoming a ‘Top Hat’ station master at Waterloo station. The last member of the Mathews railway family retired in 1964.
Mike’s father’s mother was Matthew Mathews’ granddaughter. His father, Matthew Lamport, started working at Southern Railway in 1937 as a signal lad at Liphook, retiring from British Rail in 1986 as station master at Haslemere in Surrey.
Mike said: “I joined BR in 1964, retiring from the railway 44 years later. I’ve since served continuously on several railway heritage bodies and am currently a member of the Railway Heritage Trust Advisory Panel and a voluntary adviser to Railway 200.
“The railway baton was passed to my son Andrew who is a passenger guard with South Western Railway based at Waterloo, just as Matthew had been 160 years before him. I hope Andrew will continue to fly the rail flag for many years to come and, who knows, he might still be on the rails in 2046, making it a 200-year record for our railway relatives.”
Railway 200 now wants to hear from current or retired railway staff with an even longer family line of continuous railway service than Mike and Andrew’s.
The youngest representative of the oldest railway family in the UK will be invited to some of the Railway 200 celebratory events next year.
If you have railway ancestry dating to before April 1846, please email railway200@gbrtt.co.uk with your contact details.
