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Tonks, Railway Guard

B

Brummiebell

master brummie
My G G Grandfather was a railway Guard in Birmingham in 1857, any idea how I can find out any more about him, perhaps which station he may have worked at and do you think they may still have any records of staff at this time. Are there any historical Societies I can contact perhaps? I think his father and brother may have worked for the railway too and he lived at Barrack street Aston at the time. His name was John Tonks B. 1826 aprox. Any ideas anyone please, I would love to know more about him and have come to a standstill as unable to find a birth cert or other info. Many thanks Maria
 
hi maria, i dont have the records you want but i do have a railway register which has two Tonks employees listed. its Tyseley Goods Register

Benjamin Tonks born 16th Oct 1866 entered service on 19th july 1900 shed porter . left service 21 jul 1900 rate 19/- left on own acount
Thomas Tonks born 1st Jun 1883 entered service on 4 apr 1906 shed porter,. left service 4 apr 1906 rate 19/- own account

it looks as if these two men just worked for odd days, as thomas is also down for 4 more days in 1906.

there is no other info and these may not be your family.
 
do you know john tonks parents and was he born in birmingham?

at st. martins there is a baptism of john tonks son of william and mary ann tonks. born 6th sep 1825 and christened on 16th apr 1827. abode - ashted. fathers occ. locksmith
 
Hello Shera

Thank you so much for that, I think that my John may have worked at Snow hill or Moor Street, unfortunatley Benjamin doesn't ring any bells but John did I believe have a son Thomas, but his date of birth would have been earlier, however this Thomas may have been a desendent of his as the Tonks did like to call sons after father. I believe my John's father was John Tonks B.1796 also and was married to Sarah Whitmore his Grandfather was also John Tonks 1770 and his father John Tonks also. However most of this comes form Census records and matching up with others family trees. If this info is correct however his father and brother both worked for the railway at some time so does seem a bit of a coincidence. Would like to find Johns Birth Cert as I would like to be 100% sure I have the right Tonks branch and would love to find out more about him. Can I ask how you got hold of your Tysley records and do you know how I would get hold of any for other stations in Birmingham. Many Thanks Maria
 
hi maria, i guessed these would not be your family, but its worth posting just in case! i think there were quite a few tonks around birmingham in the nineteenth century. the tyseley goods register is on a cd i purchased from bmsgh. (google it, you will find it). it was on the cd for birmingham miscellany which has just a few odd church records. the same place sell the st. martins church records as well. i have no idea where you may find other railway records - i hope someone else can help you.
as john tonks was born about 1826 there will not be a birth certificate for him. the records didnt start until 1837. your only hope is to find a baptism record which is what i was hoping i had found for you at st. martins. maybe one of the other people who have the same tree have the baptism? good luck in your search. shera
 
Hello to all that have been so kind to try and help me in my search, have contacted the website metioned and they have sent me lots of information on where the various records are kept (a lot are in Crewe it seems) and it looks as if there are quite a few still in existence so will keep plugging away at it. Some are Central Libary in Birmingham and when I next go there I will see if they have anything to point me in the right direction. Shera, thank you so much for the Baptism record, I think it may well be the right one and I do recall my mother saying that my Nans family originated in Asted Row so think that a bit of a coincidence. I also had no idea about Birth records not being around at that time, just goes to show how clueless I am in this. Will now try to track down the St Martins records from the website you told me about, perhaps I can trace him back further still with the baptism records. Please can you tell me whether the records give any other information other than the date of birth and parents ect, do they give any god parents or anything else, just wondering if it's worth getting a copy of the original to link it to any other family members that I already know off. Sorry to ask such silly questions but I am very new to this Thank you so much Maria
 
hello maria, ive had a look through my st. martins records to try to find a marriage for william and mary ann tonks but i cant find one.

i have looked over several years after john tonks baptism but cant see anymore, however i did find this one at an earlier date. i presume it must be the same father and mother (mary ann or ann)

1st jan 1821 elizabeth daughter of william and ann tonks born 23 nov 1818. ashted. locksmith.

and another on 30th aug 1813 jeremiah son of william and mary ann tonks born 22 apr 1813 . lawley st. ashted. locksmith

in fact this child had 2 baptisms! 13th may 1813 jeremiah son of william and ann tonks . lawley st. ashted. locksmith

i looked on familysearch.org for a marriage. theres this one but it would mean they had their first child jeremiah before they were married so not sure if its the correct people

st. phillips bham marriage of william tonks to mary ann hudson on 28 jun 1814

previous to the baptisms i gave you, there was even less info. just one line, the date, childs name, son/daughter of , then parents names i.e. william and mary tonks. thats it so not much good!

hope this helps a bit anyway. shera
 
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