Travelling to Liverpool, England in the 1850s from rural Titchmarsh

[punch]

Would anyone have any knowledge or suggestions of how a family would travel from Titchmarsh to Liverpool in 1854 and how long it would take?  Was there a railroad system?

[Lydart]

Is that the Titchmarsh near Kettering ?

I'm sure there would be a railway from somewhere nearby,  to L'pool ... I suppose how they travelled would depend to a large extent on how wealthy they were !  Gentry or ag.lab's !!

If the former, then coach and horses ... if the latter, farm carts and shanks pony ! 



I just checked the AA Route Finder site ... its about 150 miles, and they say driving it, via motorways, would take 2 1/2 hours ... so in 1854, on unmetalled roads, I should think it must have taken perhaps 24 hours ? 

[punch]

Yes, the Titchmarsh I referred to is the village near Kettering.  From my research on the Internet it appears that railways were starting to be built in England extending to the Northamptonshire area by the early 1800s.  Therefore, I am assuming that those in the Thrapson, Titchmarsh, Oundle, Thorpe Achurch area travelling to Liverpool to emigrate from that port, would have been able to catch a train somewhere along the route.  My ancestors were not of the gentry, but were skilled craftsmen.

[stanmapstone]

This 1840 map shows the railway which passes through Thrapston which is next to Titchmarsh http://archivemaps.com/mapco/lewis/lewis108.htm it shows the princpal railways at the time.

The railway age began in 1830, and by 1842 there were nearly 2,000 miles of railway in operation. An 1844 Act, introduced by Gladstone, required the Railway Companies to run 'Parliamentary Trains' at a penny a mile for third class passengers. In June 1841 the Great Western Railway from London to Bristol was completed.
By 1851 the Railways were carrying 80 million passengers a year. Thomas Cook's first excursion was on 5th July 1841 from Leicester to Loughborough.
 Stan

[stanmapstone]

The railway was the London and North Western Railway, and Thrapston was the central station between Northampton and Peterborough. It was two miles from Titchmarsh to Thrapston.
There is a map of the L&NWR at http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/Map/index.php
Stan