By subscribing you will benefit from:
- Operator & Supplier Profiles
- Face-to-Face Interviews
- Lastest News
- Test Drives and Reviews
- Legal Updates
- Route Focus
- Industry Insider Opinions
- Passenger Perspective
- Vehicle Launches
- and much more!
Operators are being asked to help support a major campaign documenting the lives of women working in the transport industry around London from its beginnings to the present day.
London Transport Museum would like to hear from anyone with a tale to tell about an ancestor, or family member who worked on the capital’s buses, trams, underground, trains or passenger boats.
Women are also welcome to submit their own stories and the museum is asking operators to spread the word about the appeal to their staff.
The results will form an important part of the museum’s archive and it’s hoped will be the subject of a display at the Covent Garden-based attraction.
Ellie Miles, Documentary Curator at London Transport Museum, said: “We are asking people to delve into their family history and tell us about any notable female relatives, ancestors, friends or colleagues who may have worked in the transport industry in the past.”
Notable ladies whose lives are already being documented as part of the project are London’s first woman bus operator, Elizabeth ‘Widow’ Birch, who helped create the Westminster Omnibus Association after taking over her late husband’s cab business in 1846. In 1851 she bought four omnibuses and later passed the business on to her sons. Birch Brothers continued as a successful coach and bus operator until 1971.
Ellen Bulfield was one of the first women to work for the London General Omnibus Company during the First World War. Although around 45% of London’s transport workers were women in 1918 they were expected to give up their jobs to men returning from the forces. Ellen was said to be the last lady ‘clippie’ when photographed on 19 November 1919.
In August 1918, 17,000 female bus and tram workers took industrial action when only men were given a five shilling a week war bonus that the women workers were excluded from. After support from men and women transport workers across the country, the strikers won their case and got their bonus.
Anyone with contributions to the museum project is invited to log on to www.ltmuseum.co.uk/womenintransport. They can also write to Ellie Miles via London Transport Museum, Covent Garden Piazza, London, WC2E 7BB. Entries must be submitted by 28 February 2019.
[/wlm_ismember]