This is the story of a tragic local event that I had never
heard of. Until, that is, I discovered a gravestone in a nearby church referring
to it. Two days later, while at my local church I found another two deaths that
occurred in the same incident. I decided to investigate what happened and the
stories of the three people who boarded a train on a summer’s day in 1905 and
who died together in an event that shook the nation. I cannot believe I had
never heard of it!
The
first church I had visited was St Helen’s in Lunt, Sefton. Every time I go there, I discover a different
story and that day was no different. I found the grave of Annie Smith Newall “killed
at Hall Road Station 27th July 1905”. It was obvious to me that
there must have been some sort of accident, perhaps she had fallen on to the
track. I vowed to research it soon.
Annie's grave. St Helen's Lunt
However, a few days later while in my local churchyard of St Peter's I discovered
the grave of a brother and sister, Arthur and Sarah Curphey “who were killed in
the Railway Disaster at Hall Road 27 July 1905”. So Annie’s death was not an
isolated accident but a “disaster” What were the stories behind the deaths of three people,
united in their fate on 27th July? Time to investigate!
St Helen's Lunt.
It was the discovery of Annie Smith Newall's grave that led me to research the 1905 rail disaster
Annie Smith Dennant was born on 13th September
1860 in London. Before her marriage to Edward Newall in 1893, Annie was living
with her sister who was a schoolteacher. Both girls had been born in London and
had been orphaned by the age of 5. I do not know the story of their move from
London to Liverpool. Edward was the Manager of a Metal Manufacturers at the
time of Annie’s death. In 1906, 18 months after Annie’s death Edward married
her much younger cousin, Harriet. They gave their son, who was born in 1911,
Annie’s maiden name as one of his names.
The other church that I visited,
St Peter’s Formby, had the
graves of a brother and sister who died together.
Arthur Richard Curphey (aged
44) and his sister Sarah Jane (Jennie) (aged 24) died together. Both were
unmarried Sarah was a shop worker (perhaps in Southport) and Arthur was a commercial
traveller in the timber trade.
Arthur and Sarah's grave: St Peter's Formby
Description of identification of Arthur's body
Arthur was not identified initially and there
are several rather gruesome accounts of finding and identifying him. The siblings
are buried together in the beautiful and peaceful churchyard of St Peter's in Formby.
Arthur and Sarah rest together in the beautiful churchyard of St Peter's, Formby
Having decided to research these deaths I was amazed to find the amount of coverage of the accident
in the national press.There are dozens of reports in national and local papers. Indeed, the King and Queen sent a telegram expressing
their condolences to the survivors of the crash and the victims’ families via the
Chairman of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, Sir George Armytage Bart.
Postcard produced at the time.
Clearly showing the local interest- including many inquisitive children!
William Coote, the signal man at Hall Road immediately accepted responsbility for the crash and indeed was found guilty of making a
mistake but his actions were not deemed criminal. I have not been able to trace
what happened to him but found a letter from him in the local press thanking
family and members of the public for their sympathy and support. It must have been
a terrible burden to him to realise his error and take the responsibility for so many shattered lives.
As far as I know, there is no memorial or plaque at Hall
Road station remembering those who died. But 120 years later, I remember them
and in particular the three people who now rest in peace in two quiet
churchyards.I shall visit them whenever I return to the churches.
For more details of the crash and the following enquiry, here are some links (some are very detailed!)
Ancestry.co.uk
Find My Past
British Newspaper archive
www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk
