An A to Z of Women’s Work in the Past in the GWR in Peace and War
A is for acetylene cutter and assembler and dismantler of automatic instruments and acetylene welder
B is for booking clerk and brass lacquerer and bridge-keeper and blinds puller and boilersmith’s mate
C is for charwoman and carriage cleaner and clerk and cellar & page girl and carter and cloak-room attendant and crockery collector and carver and carriage fitter and carriage cleaner and chargehand and crossing-keeper and conductor
D is for draughtswoman and drop stamper and dining car attendant and drilling gang
E is for engine-cleaner and electric truck driver and electric welder and electric plater and electrician’s assistant and enquiry clerk
F is for ferry attendant and fitter’s mate and forewoman and fitter
G is for goods porter and gatekeeper and gardener and goods clerk and general labourer and gatewoman and gate-opener and guard
H is for hotel staff and horse-cloth & sack repairer and horse-keeper and hotel porter and harness cleaner and hammer driver and hammer girl and horse-drawn delivery driver and holder-upper and housekeeping
I is for issuer
L is for laundress and labourer and letter-sorter and luggage-room porter and lift attendant and lining woman and linesman’s assistant and lamp-lady
M is for machinist and messenger and motor van driver and munitionette and machine grinder and machine setter and machine miller and machine turner
N is for number-taker and nut-scragger
O is for oiler and office painter and overhead crane driver
P is for porter and parcels clerk and platform porter and parcel porter and painter and printer and plate layer and passenger guard and polisher
R is for rivet hotter and restaurant car waitress and railway policewoman and railway hotel staff and railway saleswoman
S is for shorthand typist and stewardess and signal cleaner and stores issuer and shed labourer and signalwoman and sewer and station ‘master’ and shunter and storeswoman and station refreshment room staff and supervisor
T is for trimming shop and typist and telephone and telegraph exchange operator and ticket collector and train-attendant and train information attendant and tracer and telephone attendant and train announcer and tube cleaner and tea lady and telephone and communications maintainer
V is for van guard
W is for waitress and washerwoman and waiting-room attendant and workshop woman and weighing-machine attendant and wagon-repairer and wharfingers and flag maker and women’s room attendant
Derived from The Fair Sex Women and the Great Western Railway
Rosa Matheson Tempus Publishing Ltd