| AdminHistory | George Charles Stevenson lived at 16 Cinnamon Street, Wapping (from at least before 1918). He was on born 17 February 1882, Plaistow to George and Sarah Catherine Stevenson née Seaman. George Charles married Nellie Marie Childs Pautard on 26 May 1901. They were both residing at 4 Violet Row at the time. George was a carman and Nellie as a dress maker. She later died in 1947.
George Charles Stevenson fundraised for the families of those killed by the Wapping train disaster. The disaster occurred on 8 July 1921 on the East London Railway. The primary cause of the accident was defective coupling. The secondary cause was guard error, failure to secure breaks and a lack of trap points or chock. As a result, there were 2 fatalities and 16 were injured. A report published about the accident on the 6 September 1921 by the Ministry of Transport states:
"In this case, five vehicles, at the rear of a Great Eastern up goods train (steam worked) from New Cross (G.E.) to Whitechapel, collided with the front of the following Metropolitan Railway electric passenger train (6.33 p.m. from New Cross (S.E.) to Shoreditch), just as the latter had commenced to move away from Wapping Station. The motorman of the electric train and a G.E.R. assistant goods guard were killed, and 14 passengers and two guards were injured."
George Stevenson was the local branch secretary for the Transport and General Workers Union from c. 1924 - 1928 and was also the secretary of the National Union of Vehicle Workers c. 1915 - 1920. He was also Honorary Secretary of the National Union of Vehicle Workers and National Union of Railwaymen's local Demonstration Committee for Stepney and Shadwell District and the Sailors Society.
Sources on Ancestry.co.uk:
Essex, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1921.
1921 England Census.
London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1940.
London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1972.
The report on the collision of a portion of a goods train with a passenger train at Wapping in 1921 [accessed July 2025: Railway Archive website: https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=2130#:~:text=%22In%20this%20case%2C%20five%20vehicles,commenced%20to%20move%20away%20from] |
| CustodialHistory | Transferred to THLHLA from the London Transport Museum. Donated to the Museum under reference code EF02857 in 2005 by a private individual. |