15 February 2024 – Final Journey – The Untold Story of Funeral Trains by Nicolas Wheatley (MSc)
Nicolas began with a brief personal introduction and how he had first become interested in funeral trains. A solicitor by trade, he has worked for the GLC and in private practice based in both Bristol and subsequently in Cheltenham where he is currently a volunteer on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway. He has an MSc in ‘Death and Society’ from Bath University (2012) and a Graduate Certificate in Railway Studies from the University of York (2014).
With an interest in trains and cemeteries, in the course of visiting cemeteries it became clear from some of the headstones that the deceased died elsewhere; so why were they buried there, and how did they get there? Nicolas showed two photographs of headstones each with a good representation of a locomotive. His research showed that both worked for the railway, both were killed in railway accidents and both were then transported back to their respective home areas. People often like to be ‘brought home’ when they die - unless they are high status and are buried at places such as Westminster Abbey. To quote “the story of funeral trains is actually about where and how we remember the dead.”
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first passenger railway to move a coffin by train in 1840 which predates the cemetery at Brookwood; and the practice of moving the deceased by train goes on in many countries around the world. As Brookwood was local to the meeting this evening, Nicolas used it as illustration, explaining the origins of the Brookwood Cemetery and the railway service to transport coffins in specially built hearse vans, with passenger carriages for the mourners, from the Necropolis Station at London Waterloo directly to Brookwood. Maps and photographs helped to show the relationship between the mainline railway, the railway tracks and the two dedicated railway stations within the Cemetery boundary - traces of all of which are still visible if you know where to look. The maps also showed the growth of the village which did not really exist prior to the railway and its associated Cemetery. The Cemetery tracks and the rail link into the Cemetery were taken up in 1948.
Nicolas went on to show a selection of excellent and sometimes rare and unusual photographs including one from 1965 of Sir Winston Churchill’s coffin being loaded on to the train; another showed a standard funeral train hauled by a small tank locomotive with a consist comprised of passenger and hearse carriages with separate carriages for each class. There are two types of funeral train – functional and ceremonial, with the ceremonial taking its place as part of the funeral ritual itself with different styles to reflect the status of the deceased. A further photograph showed Churchill’s funeral train and we were lucky enough to have the gentleman firing the locomotive in the audience for this evening’s meeting, Jim Lester. Other photographs in this part of the presentation included an RCTS rail tour from 1952 hauled by 30577 stopped briefly at Brookwood on its way back from Bisley Camp.
Early funeral trains were functional but the first royal coffin to be carried by train was that of Princess Sophia of Gloucester, granddaughter of King George II, who died in 1844. She was honoured with a big procession with the coffin travelling by train from Paddington to Slough. In 1852 another notable funeral train took the late Duke of Wellington from Deal to London Bridge for burial in St Paul’s Cathedral. The train was run at night and there are no known photographs. Nicolas confirmed that it can be quite hard to obtain photographs of funeral trains although he showed some really interesting examples. Queen Victoria herself was the first monarch whose coffin was transported by train, in her case from the Isle of Wight to Gosport, then train to Paddington and a second train from Paddington to Windsor. Two railway companies were involved and Nicolas showed photographs of the decorated locomotive and one of the tickets. Further photographs showed the late Edith Cavell whose coffin was transported back to UK in 1919 after the successful campaign to have her remains repatriated. We were shown a recreation of the interior of the hearse van used to repatriate the Unknown Warrior complete with barrels containing soil from the battlefields to bury him in. An act of remembrance for all those who lost their lives in WWI.
Photographs were used to illustrate many different types of railway hearse vans together with descriptions and, in some cases, stories about their use and how they were found and rescued for preservation. A single train carrying 48 coffins, the largest number in peacetime, was for those who lost their lives in the R101 airship crash. All were buried together, with a single memorial. There were no known photographs of the train until Nicolas was lucky enough to find one last year (2023) showing coffins being respectfully unloaded with a guard of honour. Further examples followed including more of Churchill’s funeral. All the vehicles in the train have survived and Nicolas was able to tell us where each is today.
The last time that a coffin was transported on the national rail network was in 2001 carrying the late RMT leader Jimmy Knapp who died in London aged 60. His coffin was transported by train from Euston to Glasgow. What is ironic about this occasion is that he had what was described as ‘the honour of riding on a Virgin Train’. As one of Nicolas’s tutors said, Mr Knapp would almost certainly NOT have considered it an honour.
Although funeral trains have ceased on the national railway network, the practice continues on many heritage lines as part of the funeral ritual. The photograph of a coffin carrier clearly labelled as such on a heritage railway is not quite as it was as the originals would have been much more discreet. Quite a few of these carriers still exist today. Trams have also been used for funerals eg at Crich Tramway Village where the coffin is brought by conventional motor hearse, taken round on a special tram-trailer, before going to the local crematorium or cemetery.
Other stories come to light. King George V’s coffin was taken from Sandringham to Kings Lynn and then by train to London, before going on to Windsor for burial in St George’s Chapel there. The train was hauled by a Gresley designed B17 locomotive with the appropriate discs on the front to show that it was a funeral train. There is a second King George V buried there, King George V of Hanover, who lost his throne is 1866, was exiled to Paris but brought back to the UK when he died, and it appears that he too arrived by train, from Dover in his case after crossing the Channel by boat. It is likely that he arrived at Windsor & Eton Riverside station rather than Windsor Central.
Other royal funeral trains were detailed with the last monarch’s funeral train for King George VI in 1952 (Nicolas mentioned a Railway Observer’s Memorial leaflet – a copy of which is in the physical archive at Leatherhead). The last royal train to date was for Lord Mountbatten’s funeral in 1979. Nicolas has a very rare photograph of the coffin being unloaded with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in the background rather than centre stage. That funeral carriage is now in preservation. There was a royal ‘might have been’ in 2022 for her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II but it was not required.
As Nicolas has found, there is a wealth of information to be discovered. Take William Darby, stage name Pablo Fanque, the first black circus proprietor, who died in 1871 and who produced benefit shows to help retired performers. His photograph is shown next to a circus poster advertising a show “Being for the benefit of Mr Kite“. Those who are Beatles fans may recognise this as the origin of a Beatles song with words taken directly from the poster. What was the link with railways? Pablo Fanque’s coffin was transported back to Leeds by train.
The final photographs included the reinterment of the buried population from St James’s Garden, Euston necessitated by the building of the new HS2 line. The rededication ceremony took place at Brookwood Cemetery with a new memorial recording their old resting place.
The vote of thanks was given by Alan Nichols. The presentation was described as thoroughly enthralling and what more can you ask of a presenter than that.