Genealogy Chat

Dad's family made the move from Poole to Portsmouth in the 1850s. When I found a man whose ancestors were neighbors of my ancestors, I contacted him and he very kindly sent me a copy of his family history. His grandfather lived to be over a hundred and had described the move... by boat. On one of the WDYTYA programmes they described the family being shipped across the country by canal.

In the boom years of the railways, third class fares were fixed at something like a penny, for the benefit of the working man.(Come on, railway buffs!) I also have a distant rellie, who moved all her kit and caboodle by canal, another cheap way of moving. Mine seemed to move up and down the same street, then round the corner for a couple of years and then back to the old street again. Olde Crone

and also www.victorianweb.org/technology/railway3.html

Since lots of relatives did move around a lot, I can only assume it wasn't too difficult. The railways made moving about much quicker - you might find this site useful www.learningcurve.gov.uk/victorianbritain/happy/default.htm It's called How did the railways change the lives of people in Victorian Britain? and it says that in 1844 railways were forced to provide 3rd class travel for poorer folk.

Horse and cart in all weathers mmmmmm nice lol. I suppose catching a bit of work here and there on the way and sleeping where they fell was the norm too. Ria

As Nell says, Ria, a horse and cart was used a lot of the time - and people expected to take a long time to get between places (no motorways or planes). Kath. x

My grandmother wrote in her journal about the first time her family moved (about 1892) from one house to another. She and some of her siblings (there were 13 children) were 'parceled out' to stay with aunts or older cousins until her parents were settled in the new home. I got the impression that these arrangements were common. She doesn't say how furniture or other belonging were transported but I doubt people had as much 'stuff' as we have today. Rose

Not difficult at all. They didn't have tons of possessions like we do now and would have gone on a horse & cart, or in a coach or later on by rail. And they wouldn't have had to worry about cancelling the milk or getting the electricity meter read or the phone installed either! nell

I realise the railways would have been a favourable choice, but what if you were too poor. I'm talking about the years of the census dates and in between. Ria

It depends on what years you are talking about, but with the advent of the railways, this was a way of transport that was used quite a lot. People often only rented rooms that were already furnished (so no houses to sell) and they didn't own a lot of things either, so probably only needed a suitcase with clothes etc. when moving. Kath. x

has anyone managed to do any research on how their families moved from town to town. Obviously they would have moved because of work most of the time, but how did they actualy manage to get there, especially with huge families. Mine moved from Bedale,Yorkshire, to Wellington,Shropshire, Salford, Lancashire and then to Liverpool. There wereseveral years between moves and next generations, but we can only imagine how difficult it must have been. Ria