George Bradshaw
Encyclopedia
George Bradshaw was an English cartographer, printer
and publisher. He is best known for developing the most successful and longest published series of combined railway timetables
.
, near Salford, Lancashire
. On leaving school he was apprenticed to an engraver named Beale in Manchester
, and in 1820 he set up his own engraving business in Belfast
, returning to Manchester in 1822 to set up in that city as an engraver and printer, principally of map
s. He was a religious man. Although his parents were far from wealthy, when he was young they enabled him to take lesson
s from a minister devoted to the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg
. He later joined the Society of Friends (the Quakers) and gave a considerable part of his time to philanthropic work
. He worked a great deal with radical reformers such as Richard Cobden
in organising peace conferences and in setting up schools and soup kitchen
s for the poor of Manchester. It is his belief as a Quaker that is quoted as causing the early editions of Bradshaw's guides to have avoided using the names of months based upon Roman deities (i.e. a "pagan" usage). (Quaker usage was (and still is) "First month" for January, "Second month" for February and so on. Days of the week were "First day" for Monday and so on.)
He married on 15 May 1839. While touring Norway
in 1853 he contracted cholera
and died in September of that year without being able to return to England
. He is interred in the cemetery adjoining the cathedral
in Oslo
.
s of Lancashire
and Yorkshire
, when, on 19 October 1839, soon after the introduction of railways, the world's first compilation of railway timetables was published in Manchester. It cost sixpence (6d/2½p) and was a cloth-bound book entitled Bradshaw's Railway Time Tables and Assistant to Railway Travelling, the title being changed in 1840 to Bradshaw's Railway Companion, and the price raised to one shilling. A new volume was issued at occasional intervals and from time to time a supplement served to keep this up to date. The original Bradshaw publications were before the limited introduction of standardised Railway time
in November 1840, and its subsequent development into Standard time.
In December 1841, acting on a suggestion made by his London agent, William Jones Adams, Bradshaw reduced the price of his timetables to the original sixpence, and began to issue them monthly under the title Bradshaw's Monthly Railway Guide. Many railway companies were unhappy with Bradshaw's timetable, but Bradshaw was able to circumvent this by becoming a railway shareholder and by putting his case at company AGMs. Soon the book, in the familiar yellow wrapper, became synonymous with its publisher: for Victorians and Edwardians alike, a railway timetable was "a Bradshaw", no matter by which railway company it had been issued and whether Bradshaw had been responsible for its production or not.
The eight page edition of 1841 had grown to 32 pages by 1845 and to 946 pages by 1898 although unusually, in April 1845, the issue number jumped from 40 to 141. The publisher claimed this was an innocent mistake, although it has been speculated as a commercial ploy, where more advertising revenue could be generated by making the publication look longer-established than it really was. Whatever the reason for the change, the numbering continued from 141.
When, in 1865, Punch praised Bradshaw's publications, it stated that "seldom has the gigantic intellect of man been employed upon a work of greater utility." At last, some order had been imposed on the chaos that had been created by some 150 rail companies whose tracks criss-crossed the country and whose largely uncoordinated network was rapidly expanding. Bradshaw minutely recorded all changes and became the standard manual for rail travel well into the 20th century.
By 1918 Bradshaw had risen in price to two shillings (2s/10p) and by 1937 half a crown (2s-6d/12½p). Although historic money values are difficult to calculate, this would have been equivalent to perhaps £6.00 at 2009 values.
. This change reduced dramatically the range and number of individual timetables produced by the companies themselves, who now published a much smaller number of substantial compilations which between them covered the country. Ironically, three of the Big Four transferred their timetable production to Bradshaw's publisher Henry Blacklock & Co. between 1923 and 1939, and most of the official company timetables therefore became reprints of the relevant pages from Bradshaw. Only the Great Western Railway retained its own format.
Between the two world war
s, the verb 'to Bradshaw' was a derogatory term used in the Royal Air Force
to refer to pilots who could not navigate well, perhaps related to a perceived lack of ability shown by those who navigated by following railway lines.
Regrettably, the 20th century had brought about no improvement to the cramped Victorian typography of the earlier issues and a certain inertia became apparent, although the information was as good as ever.
By the 1950s Bradshaw looked distinctly old-fashioned. Five of the six British Railways Regions had followed the companies' example by using Henry Blacklock & Co to produce their own timetable books when the railways were nationalised in 1948, but production was eventually moved to other publishers. This change must have reduced Henry Blacklock & Co's revenue substantially. Parts of Bradshaw began to be reset in the newer British Railways style from 1955, but modernisation of the whole volume was never completed. By 1961 a single Bradshaw cost 12s 6d (62½p), although a complete set of BR Regional timetables could be bought for 6s (30p).
The conclusion was inevitable, and the last edition, No. 1521, was dated May 1961. The Railway Magazine of that month printed a valedictory article by Charles E. Lee.
Reprints of various past Bradshaws have been produced.
railways, just as Bradshaw's Monthly Railway Guide gave the timetables of the railways of the United Kingdom. The Continental Railway Guide eventually grew to over 1,000 pages, including timetables, guidebook and hotel
directory. It was discontinued in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War
. Briefly resurrected in the interwar years, it saw its final edition in 1939.
's willingness to grant third-party publishers the right to print paper versions of the National Rail timetable. Network Rail itself had discontinued official hard copies in favour of pdf editions, which can be downloaded without charge.
As an appropriate tribute to Bradshaw, the Middleton Press named its timetables the Bradshaw-Mitchell's Rail Times. A competing edition of the National Rail timetable, again reproduced from Network Rail's own artwork, is published by TSO, This is a same-size reproduction of the Network Rail artwork, although the size is only about 70% in the Middleton Press versions to reduce the page count.
A third publisher, UK Rail Timetables, has been set up to produce printed timetables, but announced publishing dates (or seasons) have been repeatedly missed.
The problem faced by such publishers is that all franchised train operating companies in Britain are obliged to produce free booklets for their own services, while many passengers also obtain timetable information from the website of National Rail Enquiries (or third-party ticket retailers) instead. It may well be that the majority of purchasers of the surviving hard-copy editions are railway enthusiasts rather than ordinary rail users, although the hard copies do continue to be bought by many reference libraries.
The main timetable for Indian Railways
is still known as Newman's Indian Bradshaw.
used a copy of what was described as a Bradshaw's guide (specifically Bradshaw's Tourist Handbook) for Great British Railway Journeys
, a BBC Two
television series in which he travelled across Britain. The first series was broadcast in early 2010; the second in early 2011.
Printer (publisher)
In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...
and publisher. He is best known for developing the most successful and longest published series of combined railway timetables
Public transport timetable
A public transport timetable is a representation of public transport information to assist a passenger with planning a trip using public transport. A timetable details when vehicle will arrive and depart specified locations and may be organised for by route or for a particular stop...
.
Biography
Bradshaw was born at Windsor Bridge, PendletonPendleton, Greater Manchester
Pendleton is an inner city area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is about from Manchester city centre. The A6 dual carriageway skirts the east of the district....
, near Salford, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. On leaving school he was apprenticed to an engraver named Beale in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, and in 1820 he set up his own engraving business in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, returning to Manchester in 1822 to set up in that city as an engraver and printer, principally of map
Map
A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....
s. He was a religious man. Although his parents were far from wealthy, when he was young they enabled him to take lesson
Lesson
A lesson is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students being taught by a teacher or instructor...
s from a minister devoted to the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg
was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He has been termed a Christian mystic by some sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica online version, and the Encyclopedia of Religion , which starts its article with the description that he was a "Swedish scientist and mystic." Others...
. He later joined the Society of Friends (the Quakers) and gave a considerable part of his time to philanthropic work
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
. He worked a great deal with radical reformers such as Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty...
in organising peace conferences and in setting up schools and soup kitchen
Soup kitchen
A soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church groups or community groups...
s for the poor of Manchester. It is his belief as a Quaker that is quoted as causing the early editions of Bradshaw's guides to have avoided using the names of months based upon Roman deities (i.e. a "pagan" usage). (Quaker usage was (and still is) "First month" for January, "Second month" for February and so on. Days of the week were "First day" for Monday and so on.)
He married on 15 May 1839. While touring Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in 1853 he contracted cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
and died in September of that year without being able to return to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He is interred in the cemetery adjoining the cathedral
Oslo Cathedral
Oslo Cathedral — formerly Our Savior's Church — is the main church for the Oslo bishopric of the Church of Norway, as well as the parish church for downtown Oslo. The present building dates from 1694-1697....
in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
.
Early history
Bradshaw's name was already known as the publisher of Bradshaw's Maps of Inland Navigation, which detailed the canalCanal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, when, on 19 October 1839, soon after the introduction of railways, the world's first compilation of railway timetables was published in Manchester. It cost sixpence (6d/2½p) and was a cloth-bound book entitled Bradshaw's Railway Time Tables and Assistant to Railway Travelling, the title being changed in 1840 to Bradshaw's Railway Companion, and the price raised to one shilling. A new volume was issued at occasional intervals and from time to time a supplement served to keep this up to date. The original Bradshaw publications were before the limited introduction of standardised Railway time
Railway time
Railway time was the name given to the standardised time arrangement first applied by the Great Western Railway in England in November 1840. This was the first recorded occasion when a number of different local times were synchronised and a single standard time applied...
in November 1840, and its subsequent development into Standard time.
In December 1841, acting on a suggestion made by his London agent, William Jones Adams, Bradshaw reduced the price of his timetables to the original sixpence, and began to issue them monthly under the title Bradshaw's Monthly Railway Guide. Many railway companies were unhappy with Bradshaw's timetable, but Bradshaw was able to circumvent this by becoming a railway shareholder and by putting his case at company AGMs. Soon the book, in the familiar yellow wrapper, became synonymous with its publisher: for Victorians and Edwardians alike, a railway timetable was "a Bradshaw", no matter by which railway company it had been issued and whether Bradshaw had been responsible for its production or not.
When, in 1865, Punch praised Bradshaw's publications, it stated that "seldom has the gigantic intellect of man been employed upon a work of greater utility." At last, some order had been imposed on the chaos that had been created by some 150 rail companies whose tracks criss-crossed the country and whose largely uncoordinated network was rapidly expanding. Bradshaw minutely recorded all changes and became the standard manual for rail travel well into the 20th century.
By 1918 Bradshaw had risen in price to two shillings (2s/10p) and by 1937 half a crown (2s-6d/12½p). Although historic money values are difficult to calculate, this would have been equivalent to perhaps £6.00 at 2009 values.
Later history
Bradshaw became less necessary from 1923, when more than 100 surviving companies were "grouped" into the Big FourBig Four British railway companies
The Big Four was a name used to describe the four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923-1947. The name was coined by the Railway Magazine in its issue of February 1923: "The Big Four of the New Railway Era".The Big Four were:...
. This change reduced dramatically the range and number of individual timetables produced by the companies themselves, who now published a much smaller number of substantial compilations which between them covered the country. Ironically, three of the Big Four transferred their timetable production to Bradshaw's publisher Henry Blacklock & Co. between 1923 and 1939, and most of the official company timetables therefore became reprints of the relevant pages from Bradshaw. Only the Great Western Railway retained its own format.
Between the two world war
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
s, the verb 'to Bradshaw' was a derogatory term used in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
to refer to pilots who could not navigate well, perhaps related to a perceived lack of ability shown by those who navigated by following railway lines.
Regrettably, the 20th century had brought about no improvement to the cramped Victorian typography of the earlier issues and a certain inertia became apparent, although the information was as good as ever.
By the 1950s Bradshaw looked distinctly old-fashioned. Five of the six British Railways Regions had followed the companies' example by using Henry Blacklock & Co to produce their own timetable books when the railways were nationalised in 1948, but production was eventually moved to other publishers. This change must have reduced Henry Blacklock & Co's revenue substantially. Parts of Bradshaw began to be reset in the newer British Railways style from 1955, but modernisation of the whole volume was never completed. By 1961 a single Bradshaw cost 12s 6d (62½p), although a complete set of BR Regional timetables could be bought for 6s (30p).
The conclusion was inevitable, and the last edition, No. 1521, was dated May 1961. The Railway Magazine of that month printed a valedictory article by Charles E. Lee.
Reprints of various past Bradshaws have been produced.
Bradshaw's Air Guide
In 1934 Bradshaw also began publishing a guide to the major airline routes both within Europe and those transcontinental flights that originated from Europe and the UK.Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide
In June 1847 the first number of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide was issued, giving the timetables of the ContinentalEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
railways, just as Bradshaw's Monthly Railway Guide gave the timetables of the railways of the United Kingdom. The Continental Railway Guide eventually grew to over 1,000 pages, including timetables, guidebook and hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
directory. It was discontinued in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Briefly resurrected in the interwar years, it saw its final edition in 1939.
Bradshaw's and other printed timetables today
In December 2007, the Middleton Press was one publisher which took advantage of Network RailNetwork Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
's willingness to grant third-party publishers the right to print paper versions of the National Rail timetable. Network Rail itself had discontinued official hard copies in favour of pdf editions, which can be downloaded without charge.
As an appropriate tribute to Bradshaw, the Middleton Press named its timetables the Bradshaw-Mitchell's Rail Times. A competing edition of the National Rail timetable, again reproduced from Network Rail's own artwork, is published by TSO, This is a same-size reproduction of the Network Rail artwork, although the size is only about 70% in the Middleton Press versions to reduce the page count.
A third publisher, UK Rail Timetables, has been set up to produce printed timetables, but announced publishing dates (or seasons) have been repeatedly missed.
The problem faced by such publishers is that all franchised train operating companies in Britain are obliged to produce free booklets for their own services, while many passengers also obtain timetable information from the website of National Rail Enquiries (or third-party ticket retailers) instead. It may well be that the majority of purchasers of the surviving hard-copy editions are railway enthusiasts rather than ordinary rail users, although the hard copies do continue to be bought by many reference libraries.
The main timetable for Indian Railways
Indian Railways
Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....
is still known as Newman's Indian Bradshaw.
Great British Railway Journeys
Michael PortilloMichael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
used a copy of what was described as a Bradshaw's guide (specifically Bradshaw's Tourist Handbook) for Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys is a BBC travel documentary television series presented by Michael Portillo. The series premiered on 4 January 2010 on BBC Two, running for 20 half-hour episodes....
, a BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
television series in which he travelled across Britain. The first series was broadcast in early 2010; the second in early 2011.