Records of St Christopher's Railway Home, Derby

The Institution was founded in May 1858 in order to provide care and financial support for the widows and orphans of salaried railway officers through the provision of grants. The amount given was dependant on length of membership and amount of contributions paid. Other railway grades were allowed to subscribe to the Institution at a later date. A management committee was formed of railway company chairmen and managers. Funds were raised in a variety of ways including annual dinners and social events, subscriptions from wages and public support however, the Benevolent Institution relied very heavily on charitable donations for a number of years. In 1881 the Railway Benevolent Institution amalgamated with the Railway Servants Orphanage in Derby, opened in 1875, which accepted the children of railwaymen who had died whilst on duty. From 1881 children who had lost a father through illness were accepted and those who had lost a mother were accepted from 1927. In 1947 a home in Dorking, Surrey was opened for aged railwaymen and their spouses or widows supported by the Benevolent Institution and part of St Christopher's Railway Home in Derby was altered to accommodate elderly railway workers in 1983. The Home in Derby was closed in 1991. The Railway Benevolent Institution was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1949 and was relaunched under the name Railway Benevolent Fund in 2006. It continues to provide grants to support railway workers and their families.