The practice
of naming railway locomotives dates back to the beginning of steam traction,
and remained widespread on most Victorian and Edwardian railways right up
to the start of the Great War, it was revived strongly after the war and has
continued in various forms ever since.
The adoption of a themed name series associated with particular classes of
engine began on the Great Western Railway in 1837 and developed in earnest
from the 1890's. Together with the London & North Western Railway the
Great Western followed the most consistent policy of naming express locomotives,
a policy which they continued after the grouping of 1923. The systematic themed
naming of engines by class came in with the Castle Class, (1923) then the
King Class (1927) followed by stately homes with Halls,(1928) Granges (1936)
and finally the Manors (1938).
While this appears to have been a reflection of the perceived hierarchy associated
at the time with landed society, there seems to be no evidence that this upset
the employees of the Great Western, indeed the naming of engines seems to
express an element of personality with these engines, almost as if the elites's
love affair with the horse should be extended and transferred to the enthusiasts
of the steam locomotive.
After the grouping of the railways in 1923, competition between the four major railway companies made these companies more conscious of the need to project an attractive corporate image. This took many forms, including public relations campaigns and some elaborate naming ceremonies.Direct evidence of the official thinking behind the allocation of locomotive names is in short supply, as it was seldom clear exactly how the decisions were taken and how responsibilties were divided say between the Board of Directors or one single individual. F W Webb of the L&NWR for example had a more or less free hand in the choice of names (with the name Jeanie Deans appearing among a series of locomotives otherwise named after White Star liners!) An illustration of the seriousness with which a choice of names may be imbued was in the choice of Regimental names, an example being in the naming of Castle No. 4037 South Wales Borderer when an attempt was made to shorten the name, this received short thrift from the Regimental Chiefs, who on appeal to the Great Western Railway CME Charles Collett, had the the full title shown on the nameplate. King George V1 also confirmed that this was acceptable. The Railway Companies may have felt it conferred an honour on them to have their engines named after famous Regiments with the Regiments on their part, in consenting, hoping that public interest in their Regiment would be increased.
While
naming ceremonies had become regular events, publicity apart they could also
provide opportunities for what might now be called networking. When the Great
Western Railway decided to name Castle Class locomotive Lloyds A1
at a ceremony at Paddington in 1936, a senior official of the GWR later wrote
to an executive of Lloyds confirming that the two Companies "mutal interests
had been served "by the occasion.
Some naming ceremonies may be identified by civic pride, as when Sir Josiah
Stamp of the London Midland & Scottish Railway named a Patriot Class locomotive
Blackpool in 1928 and was then awarded the freedom of the Borough.
They were also an opportunity to associate the Railway companies with Official/Charitable
duties, as in the case of Sir Robert and Lady Baden Powell carring out the
twin namings of the Boy Scout and Girl Guide, the naming
of St Dunstans by Sir Ian Fraser and so on.These occasions were usually
accompanied by bands with suitable speeches being made, followed no doubt
by a equally suitable lunch.
There were instances of a local dignitary or landowner asking to be put on
the list of names, with sometimes unexpected results! For example, when the
3200 class 4-4-0’s (nicknamed Dukedogs) were built they received the
names of titled Earls from various parts of the country, this, perhaps understandably
did not amuse their lordships and the names / titles of these gentlemen were
transferred to the more prestigious Castle Class. The engines renamed were
No’s 5043 – 5062.
As a point of interest the Great Western Railway had no qualms about “inventing” names for some of the engines, for example Cookham Manor as a place does not exist, but Manor Class 4-6-0 No.7808 carried that name! And rather more puzzling is why, Hidcote Manor, which does exist was ignored in favour of a nearby Georgian Manor House Known as Foxcote? This became Manor Class No. 7822 Foxcote Manor. Compton Manor (Manor Class No.7807) was in fact Compton Castle, which the GWR had correctly allocated to Castle No. 5047 !
So what of our own locomotive? We know No. 5029 was out-shopped from Swindon Works in May 1934 and officially named Nunney Castle (At Swindon later that year)after a French style Castle (Chateau) near Frome in Somerset. Was there any official naming ceremony held by the Company? It would be interesting to know if people of the village of Nunney or nearby Frome are aware of the connection between their locality and 5029.
Finally, to the train enthusiast the original nameplate was an almost revered object,when in reality it was simply a pressed steel plate which cost a few pounds in 1934. It would of course fetch rather more than that today!*
*At a London auction house in 2003, one of the nameplates of Nunney Castle sold for nearly £18000.