There were lots of jobs with railways that did not need the skill of reading, firstly the railways had to be built, this called for lots of men who could shovel dirt, drive carts, carry heavy weights etc all skills Ag labourers would of have brought to the job, the engineer and overseers would have need to read and write but the vast workforce were tough labourers. Railway building started in Britian but it was British and Irish know how that built many of the worlds railways. Hence we find in Australia someone born in Russia whose father was a British railway engineer. After the railways were built the lines had to be maintained, again this was manual work. I have traced one family whose family came to Australia as a railway navy whose sons then became fetters on the last railway line he built. My memories of going to school with fettlers children ( from different families to above) in the late 1950s was even then the whole family did not have a high degree of functional literacy. As for how did knowledge of jobs etc move. Don't forget the postage system with Stamps started in 1840, there had been 1d postage in some areas before that. People read and wrote for other people. Regards Elizabeth A local history research in Australia _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Saturday, 1 November 2008 6:27 AM To: [email protected] Subject: GLOUCESTER Digest, Vol 3, Issue 508