Early life

Harry Edwards—called Henry in the official records—was born on 28 May 1852.He was the second of eleven children, growing up in a busy household where his father, John, earned his living as a mason’s labourer and his mother, Sarah, looked after the home.

Harry spent his early years in Warminster, but before long the railway carried him into a much wider world.

Harry and the railways

His railway story began on 23 July 1870 when he left for Salisbury and took his first railway job as an engine cleaner at the GWR Broad Gauge Engine Shed. It was the beginning of a working life that would take him from town to town, following new opportunities while remaining loyal to the Great Western Railway.

By 1881, the railway had brought Harry to Bristol. From 1891 onwards, work kept him moving, with stops including Newton Abbot and Penzance. In 1901, he could be found living in Slough.

A Bristol home

A decade later, in 1911, Harry was living in Knowle. By then, he had climbed the railway ranks to become a 1st Class Engineman.

By 1921, after so many years of moving around, he had made his home in Totterdown.

In 1876, Harry married Justina Flower Evans, and the couple went on to raise eleven children of their own.

Retirement

After almost forty-seven years of railway service, Harry finally retired on 30 May 1917. He finished his career as a 1st Class Engineman at Bristol’s Bath Road depot—a long way from the young engine cleaner who had started out in Salisbury.

Six generations in the railways 

Harry’s son Frank followed him onto the Great Western Railway in 1905. Frank’s daughter, Phyllis, later married Ronald Worden, a firefighter whose own father was a Bristol-based engineman. Their two daughters both found work with British Railways. Then, in 1965, the younger daughter, Geraldine, married Terry Nicholls, who worked on the clerical staff. Geraldine and Terry’s eldest child carried the tradition forward as a Bristol-based GWR driver. His daughter and son became train drivers too, extending this remarkable railway connection into a sixth generation.