The Society of Genealogists (SoG)
What is the Great Western Railway shareholders index?
This is not an index of railway staff, but of shareholders in the railway. The Society of Genealogists produced its GWR Shareholders Index from ledgers created by the Great Western Railway and now in the Society’s possession. The Great Western Railway’s original ledgers were compiled by the company for transactions relating to all shareholdings which changed hands other than by simple sale.
The GWR called the ledgers Probate Books, which reflects the fact that the great majority of such share transfers (approximately 95%) were as a result of the death of a shareholder and their shares changing hands during the administration of the deceased’s estate. The proportion of the GWR’s total number of shareholders included in the Society of Genealogists’ GWR Shareholders Index is not known but is estimated to be between 50% and 75%; this is because the railway shares were regarded as gilt-edged stock to be held for the long term.
The index currently contains details for approximately 440,000 individuals, with a total number of 570,464 records and 153,569 events entered into the registers. A record is an entry for an individual in the database, including not just shareholders but executors, beneficiaries and others involved in the transfer of shareholdings. An event is a disposal of a shareholder under a will or an intestacy following death, or otherwise than by simple sale during the lifetime of the shareholder.
The Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway, also known affectionately as "God's Wonderful Railway", was built to link London to the West Country, South Wales and the South West of England. Bristol merchants were desperate for effective transport links to London, to prevent the emergence of Liverpool as the country's second port.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the engineer on the project, personally surveying the route. He was also a shareholder, and appears in the Index following his death in 1859.
Read more about the Great Western Railway.
A century of records, including some pre-dating civil registration
The registers were started when the GWR was created in 1835 and the series continues through to 1932. Each volume contains between 450 and 600 individual entries, which may relate to an event occurring up to 20 years earlier than the making of the entry.
In almost all entries, the name of the shareholder is given together with an address, the names of the other parties (executors or legatees for deaths; husbands for marriages) and dates of death, probate, marriage or other event. After 1910, a number of entries relate to the change of trustees of Friendly Societies as a result of a death.
Search for Irish, Scottish and overseas ancestors, as well as English and Welsh
The majority of events are deaths in England and Wales, but the other events and home addresses are:
Marriages 1.4%
Scottish 4%
Change of name 0.8%
Irish 1.4%
Power of Attorney 0.8%
Overseas 1%
In addition there are a very small number of other categories of events where the shareholders are specifically identified:
- Lunatics 14 in number
- Bankrupts 21 in number
- Divorce etc 14 in number
Nearly 571,000 records – find names, dates, places for key events
The Index lists names, dates, places and the event or role of the person listed. Some people appear on two or more occasions, for instance those solicitors who acted as professional executors to estates. The index currently contains details for approximately 440,000 individuals, with a total number of 570,464 records and 153,569 events entered into the registers.
Read more about details included in the records in the Great Western Railway Knowledge Base article.
Occupations are given for about 75% of the individual shareholders, but with a large number being "Gentleman", "Widow" or "Spinster"; at an early stage in the work, it was decided to omit occupation from the index.
