Could anyone tell me - the population of the town of Whiteabbey would have been around 1883 and was there any particular type of work that may have brought people to live there? Would there have been many railway workers there at that time? - were children in that era usually born at home or in a hospital and if a hospital would anyone know the name of the one that would have served the area? Thanks Jackie in Canada

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jackie Serna" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2002 12:25 AM Subject: re Whiteabbey > Could anyone tell me > - the population of the town of Whiteabbey would have been around 1883 > and was there any particular type of work that may have brought people > to live there? Would there have been many railway workers there at that > time? > - were children in that era usually born at home or in a hospital and if > a hospital would anyone know the name of the one that would have served > the area? > Thanks > Jackie in Canada > Whiteabbey would have been primarily farmland, so farmers and labourers would have been in the majority. However there were a couple of medium sized flax and cotton mills in Whitehouse, Monkstown, with a very large one in Mossley. Finally, yes, the railway was built through the area, and there was a major junction at Greenisland. The Bleachgreen Viaduct was built around 1840 and was another major junction. See http://www.irrs.ie/0106%20BleachGreen.htm for a map and further information. At the time were were quite a few level crossings, most of which were manned. The railway would have required quite a manpower to keep it running in these days before automation. I don't know exactly what the population would have been, I'd imagine about 1000... Stephen.