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)

Accidental death of John Belshaw - Trove Tuesday

Fatal railway accident reported in The Maitland Daily Mercury 29 Aug 1902,  p. 3

Last week I attended a conference at the Australian Technology Park (ATP) at Eveleigh. This locality has always interested me due to a family connection. ATP was originally the Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops was the locality of the shocking death of John Belshaw in 1902.

An interior view of the Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops, Redfern
Photo: M. Nichols, 2015

The Belshaw family originated from County Down in Northern Ireland, and travelled on-board the steamer Orizaba departing from London in 1888 via South Australia to Victoria, finally arriving in Sydney in January 1889 with their four children Clara Crawford, born 1883; Georgina Mary, born 1885; Robert, born 1886  and Jane Allen born 1888. (To put it in context, Robert was the father of our maternal Grandmother). 

Sadly eight month old Jane succumbed to bronchitis on the voyage out, just a few days before the boat arrived in Adelaide. They made their home in Sydney and John found work as labourer. Times were tough as it was during the depression of the 1890s.

Shortly after arriving in Sydney, Georgina fell pregnant and gave birth to daughter Muriel Helen, late in 1889. After a large gap (nine years) she fell pregnant again, and had a son, Rodger. By 1898 the family were living in Redfern and John was still recorded as a general labourer.

However tragedy struck the family when John aged 45, was killed on the 29 August 1902. He was run over by a locomotive at the Redfern Railway Station. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported at the time of his death:

The City Coroner…held an 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. 

The Inquest was held at the Lloyd’s Hotel the following day with J. C. Woore the Coroner.  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.”  

Many years ago, and before Trove was conceived, the above articles were consulted from the main Sydney newspapers and the information duly added to then family archives.

More recently I decided to search Trove to see if any additional information could be located. Surprisingly a general search reveals 94 articles for this decade and of the 46 of these were from 1902 the year the accident occurred. Most of the articles were printed in New South Wales papers but the accident was also mentioned in all of the other states, as well. I have corrected some of the text but I do need to ensure that all of the articles are corrected and tagged.

Entries for the accidental death for John Belshaw on Trove in 1902

The point of the story, it pays not to narrow your search to just the locality where an event took place. You may miss out on some treasures.

The accidental death was reported as far away as Western Australia.
This small paragraph appeared in the Kalgoorlie Western Argus 2 Sep 1902, p. 31 

John was employed at the Darling Harbour yards in 1902. At the time of the accident the Belshaw family were residing at 7 Prospect Street, Surry Hills and Roger, the youngest child, was only 4 years old. 

7 Prospect Street, Surry Hills

His wife Georgina did not remarry and it must have been tough raising her family without a breadwinner. Georgina spent much of her remaining years as a volunteer at her local church in Darlinghurst.

Death certificate issued for John Belshaw in 1902
Source: Family archives