R is for Railway Employee

John Allen Belshaw was employed by the NSW Railways as a truck examiner, when he was accidentally killed in a terrible workplace accident, 17,000kms from his place of birth. 

       John Belshaw's death certificate, 1902

A truck examiner inspected the rolling stock in the railway yards, to make sure it was operational. Tragedy struck when John was killed, aged 45, on the 29 August 1902. He was run over by a locomotive at the Redfern Railway Station and died of his terrible injuries. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported at the time of his death:

The City Coroner…at the inquest on Saturday morning concerning the death of John Allen Belshaw, a truck examiner, who was run over by a locomotive at the Redfern Railway station on the preceding day. Evidence was given to the effect that on Friday morning, deceased was the line behind two cars, when an engine came out from one of the platforms. Someone called out and  deceased looked round, seemed to hesitate and was immediately knocked down and run over. The fireman of the engine stated that when deceased was first seen he was only a yard or two from the buffers. The whistle was blown and the brakes applied, the engine being brought up by its own length. A verdict of accidental death was returned.

An Inquest was held at the Lloyd’s Hotel the following day and the Coroner was  J. C. Woore. The Daily Telegraph article was a little more revealing. It stated that the “shocking fatality” happened about 8am and that the body was “fearfully mangled.” It also reported that Belshaw was “picked up in a terrible condition, his head being badly smashed and his right thigh crushed. The Civil Ambulance Brigade was summoned and the man removed to the Sydney Hospital where Dr. Webb pronounced life extinct.”  Belshaw was employed at the Darling Harbour yards. At the time of the accident the Belshaw family were residing at Prospect Street in Surry Hills & Roger was only four years old. 

There are over 50 accounts of John's accident published in the newspapers all over the country.

    The Daily Telegraph 30 August 1902 p. 10

Life would have been tough for Georgina and one wonders if the family received any compensation.

John's story ended a long way from his original home. Born in Magheralen a small village in Northern Ireland in 1856, he was the son of William Belshaw and Jane Allen. He married Georgina Ferguson/Hill in 1882 and the couple had four children. During this early period, John was noted as a farmer.

Sometime following their marriage, John and Georgina migrated to Australia. They travelled in 1888 on the steamer 'Orient' via Adelaide arriving in Sydney in 1889. Their youngest child, at the time, Jane Allen Belshaw, died at sea, she was only eight months old.

The family settled in Sydney, first living in Bondi and then mostly in the vicinity of Redfern and Surry Hills. Several more children were born to John and Georgina in Sydney, Muriel was born in 1890, at the time, John was recorded as a general labourer living in Chester Street Redfern but by 1898 he was recorded as an Examiner of Railway Trucks, when his last child, Roger was born.

At the time 1902 the family were living at 7 Prospect Street, Surry Hills. 

This is my contribution to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge)