The Edmondson Ticket

I've come across a fascinating story concerning an invention by one of our Edmondsons. It was called the Edmondson Railway Ticket, and was the brainchild of Thomas Edmondson (1792 - 1851).

While working as a station master on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway (in England), Thomas devised the idea of a new type of railway ticket: a small piece of cardboard, pre-printed with journey details (as opposed to the then current hand-written paper bill). The tickets would be numbered by hand, and validated by a separate date-stamping press when purchased. He later developed a machine which would print tickets in batches complete with the serial numbers. He patented this machine, and was able to charge a royalty to railway companies amounting to ten shillings per annum per mile of the company's routes. The Edmondson ticket continued to be used by British Rail until 1990.

The tickets often had "security measures" included to prevent counterfeits. For example, on the route between Manchester and Leeds, eastbound tickets had a picture of a fleece on the back, and westbound tickets a bale of cotton.

This web page has pictures of many variations of Edmondson tickets, as well as printing machines, plates, date stamps and ticket racks. Excellent stuff.

Click here to see a picture of the marker on a home in Lancaster, marking Thomas Edmondson's birthplace.

Security Lockdown at N.Y. University

A toy gun yesterday caused Alfred University in Alfred, New York to go into lockdown. Police said it is likely a group of students were playing a game known as "Humans vs. Zombies", a live-action role-playing game that splits students into two teams, “humans,” who are armed with NERF guns or water squirt guns who have to defend themselves from “zombies” who try to eat them.


Alfred University President Charles Edmondson said the University is considering banning toy gun games on campus.

Miscellaneous #1

Edmondson and Associates is a Covington, Kentucky law firm focusing on consumer law.

Donna Edmondson is a professional wedding photographer, apparently based in West Virginia. Wonder if she gives discounts if the wedding includes Edmondsons.

Fran Edmondson is an artist in the Chicago area, and paints in both watercolor and oil. Her web site features some examples of her work, which is "currently focusing on personal imagery in abstract."