Great Western Railway Company Ltd. Records

Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford railway, 1847-1860; Great Western Railway Company Ltd., 1870, 1876-1884, 1887-1898, 1922-1951; Alexander (Newport and South Wales) Docks & Railway Company Limited, 1882-1922.

The Great Western Railway was created by an Act of Parliament on the 31st August 1835 to provide a double tracked line from Bristol to London. However work had started in 1832 to secure finance for the line, research possible routes and design stations, bridges and all other buildings required. The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company, linking South West England and South Wales with London. Originally founded in 1833, it was created by an Act of Parliament on the 31st August 1835, with a double tracked line. Under the Grouping Act, which became operative on 1st January 1923, GWR kept its identity. Regrouping had put nearly all of South Wales under the company. The Alexandra (Newport & South Wales) Docks & Railway originated as a docks company, incorporated in 1865 to build a new large dock at Newport. It was taken over by GWR in 1899. The Newport Abergavenny & Hereford Railway was incorporated in 1846 and constructed in 1852-1854 as a standard-gauge line with the help of the London and North Western railway (LNWR), giving that company access to South Wales.

Arranged into the following: Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford railway; Great Western Railway Company Ltd.; Alexander (Newport and South Wales) Docks & Railway Company Limited.

No restrictions.

Deposited,!994.

Compiled by Seri Crawley for the ANW project. The following sources were used to compile this description: Gwent Record Office, Great Western Railway Company Ltd. Records; Booker, Frank, The Great Western Railway: a new history (Newton Abbot, 1985); The Great Western Railway: 150 glorious ways (Newton Abbot, 1984); Great Western archive (www.greatwestern.org.uk); The Great Western Railway (www.trackbed.com), viewed 7th June 2004.

A hard copy of the catalogue is available at Gwent Record Office.

Usual copyright regulations apply.

All records deposited at Gwent Record Office have been retained.

Accruals are not expected.