Sir Topham Hatt (aka The Fat Controller)

 Sir Topham Hatt

(aka The Fat Controller)

Apparently, Master T. Hatt started his railway career in 1894 at the GWR Works in Swindon as an apprentice. I imagine he was quite slim then. I also imagine that his father probably worked ‘inside’ in the factory and that Topham might well have been born a Swindonian. There’s food for thought as you ruminate upon social mobility.

My great grand-father, Charles Butler, moved to Swindon from Clerkenwell after the carriage & wagon works was opened In Swindon; in 1886, I think it was. So, there is the tantalising possibility that my great grand-father knew this fictive young cove, Master Topham Hatt. And, of course, correspondingly, Master Topham Hatt knew my great grand-father. This is almost on a par with the Great War song chanted as troops marched to the front: “Lloyd George knew my father, Father knew Lloyd George.”

I have my great grand-father’s plane. Stamped GWR and stamped with Charles Butler’s name, it sits proudly on the bookshelves in ‘the study’ upstairs that also serves as a bedroom for our grandson. I also have my gramp’s GWR Swindon Works clocking-in token. Perhaps the young Topham had something similar. ‘All ship-shape and Swindon fashion’ as Wilbert put it.

The young Topham might also have come across Alfred Williams, the ‘Hammer-Poet’ who wrote Life in a Railway Factory. Have a look at this link if you are interested in Alfred: http://radicalstroud.co.uk/life-in-a-railway-factory-alfred-williams-the-hammerman-poet/

In conclusion, I grew up with the sound of the factory hooter: morning, early afternoon and early evening. So that’s something I also share with the Fat Controller. My brother, Keith, has written about the factory hooter and you can hear it at http://www.thewheatsheaf.info/hooter2.html We hear its ghost still.