Railway accident at Sowerby Bridge [1903]
On Thursday, 22nd October 1903, Mr George E. Croysdale [aged
34] – a commercial traveller of Liverpool – was killed and several
others were injured when a Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway express
train travelling from Liverpool to Leeds crashed into a light engine
which had been left on the line and forgotten in the Sowerby Bridge
tunnel.
The injured were
- William Stockle, Kirkdale, Liverpool, Driver of the express
- William Tyldesley, Bootle, Stoker on the express
- Nathaniel Bates, Sowerby Bridge
- Samuel Lumb, Mytholmroyd
- Arthur Roberts, Triangle
- Elsie Rylands, Salterhebble, Halifax
- W. L. Becke, Greenheys, Manchester
- Alice Brailsford, Hulme Road, Bradford
- W. H. Dayley, Moseley, Birmingham
- H. Ellison, Cheetham, Manchester
- P. Hoffman, Dudley
- Mrs Hollins and baby, Urmston, Manchester
- Frank Kay, Burton Street, Salford
- Thomas J. Kelley, Aintree, Liverpool
- Paul Luppike, Leadenhall Street, London
- F. Matthews, Pendleton, Manchester
- O. Partington, Rochdale
- E. Patchett, Harpurhey, Manchester
- H. Seeger, Withington, Manchester
- J. N. Smith, Princess Street, Manchester
- Gertrude Taylor, Manchester
- Joseph Taylor, Urmston, Manchester
- W. Wolstenholme, Manchester
- E. H. Wood, Levenshulme
A jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death, adding
that George Allon [the signalman], David Hallowell
[the driver] and Austin Barker [the stoker] of the light
engine could not be exonerated from blame but were not culpably
responsible
©
Malcolm Bull
2021
Revised 15:13 / 15th May 2021 / 3421
Page Ref: MMC2089