Was he just master of house?
Market Rasen's last Station Master Rex Kew (right) with the last Chief Clerk, Mike Fletcher in 1966.
MARKET Rasen’s train station has been an important aspect of the town since the line opened in 1848.
It continues to be a talking point with the care it now receives from the Station Adoption Group (SAG), whose volunteers have created a smart and welcoming station once more.
And it is this group that is asking for the help of Mail readers this week.
They have been contacted by Sue Coson who is trying to find out if one of her ancestors was station master at Market Rasen.
“We have a death certificate for Harry Vickers who is named as being Railway Station Master living in Station House, Market Rasen, and dying there on February 1, 1928,” said Sue.
“He was married to Hannah Elizabeth and we would be very grateful if you anyone has any information about him as we are trying to establish if he is our ancestor.”
SAG volunteer Brian Ward has written a history of the station, but has not come across Mr Vickers before.
“I have been looking through my notes for the History of Market Rasen Station, and I have not found any reference to a Harry Vickers being Station Master here,” said Brian.
“He could of course have just been lodging in the house there, as chapter three of my history shows Mr Turner and then Mr Davies being the 1920/30s Station Masters – at least the last to be listed in any directories of the time.
“They appear in the station rent roll, of which I have a copy, as paying rent for the station house.”
Mr Ward’s station history lists many of the people associated with the station over the years, until it ceased to be manned.
The last dedicated Station Master was Rex Kew, who retired in 1966, after some 18 years in residence, and the last Clerk was Michael Fletcher.
The last station porter is reported to have been one Bob Cox, but it is Alan Tomlinson who is credited with having locked the station for the final time at the end if its staffed life in 1995.
The full history of the station can be viewed on the SAG website at http://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/marketrasenstationadoptiongroup/
Anyone with information on Harry Vickers can contact us here at the Rasen Mail by emailing rasenmail@jpress.co.uk, by calling 01673 844644 or visit us at The Hub on Fridays between 10am and 1pm.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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