John Pelham Maitland was born in Croydon in 1890 to Anna and John T. a whiskey distiller and dealer.
They lived with Anna’s wealthy parents in Croydon for some time. He was apprenticed to the railways in
Brighton 1907 and by the age of 21 was working as an ‘erector (locomotives etc)’ for the LB&SCR.
At the same time he was one of the founders of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers and even presented
its first paper, still just 21, on the subject of French locomotive practice. He wrote a later paper on Coal as a
Factor in Locomotive practice.
He married Evelyn Bennett in 1917, and they had a daughter. John was now a mechanical engineer and
outdoor foreman at Brighton. According to railway historian Fred Rich, John “was in charge of the sheds at
Newhaven (from 1924), at Littlehampton and Bognor (from 1929), at the new Motive Power Department
at Norwood Junction from 1935 and was Running Shed Superintendent at Nine Elms from 1939 until his
retirement.”
At the time of his move from Bognor the West Sussex Gazette 20 June 1935 wrote: “At Bognor he had
a hand in extensive improvements in the working of ordinary and tourist traffic, and he has also acted
as President of the Bognor Regis & District Railway Athletic Club..” He organised staff outings to the
Continent every year, putting to good use the seven languages he’d learned to speak fluently, including
Dutch and Flemish!
As a Southern Railway Superintendent during the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk in June 1940, John was
awarded an MBE (in 1944) for his role in coordinating trains from the coast. He retired in 1950 he planned
to travel to Europe and America, with ambitions to pursue his hobby of ‘castrametation’ – the history of
ancient fortifications. He died in 1964, aged 74
