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Eric Tonks
Eric Tonks
Born	17 July 1914; Birmingham, United Kingdom
Died	26 December 1994; Birmingham, United Kingdom
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	British
Period	1943-1992
Genre	Industrial history, Jazz
Subject	Railways, quarrying, industrial history, jazz
Notable works	The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands
Notable awards	MSc, FRIC, Dip Maths
Children	2

Eric Tonks (17 July 1914^[1] – 26 December 1994^[2]) was an English writer and historian of British industrial railways. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the industrial archaeology of railways and quarrying.^[2] He was also a noted Jazz discographer.

Industrial railways

In 1949, Tonks was one of the founders of the Birmingham Locomotive Club and he was the club's president for 25 years.^[2] He also set up the club's Industrial Locomotive Section, which later became the Industrial Railway Society.^[3] He compiled a well-regarded study of the development of British preserved railways.^[4]

Author

Tonks was a prolific author on the related subjects of industrial history and industrial railways. He began his writing career with a book on the Edge Hill Light Railway, and he was an acknowledged expert in the history of that railway.^[5]

He is particularly known for his "magnum opus"^[2] 9-volume series of books on the ironstone industry of The Midlands, which is considered the standard work on the subject.^[6]^[7] Tonks began work on this series with the publication of a single volume in 1959.^[8] This was expanded into 9 volumes in the 1980s and 1990s. These books are acknowledged, as a "great work...on industrial infrastructure"^[9] and the 1959 edition was one of the first books to integrate the study of industrial railway history with the wider historical and social aspects of the industries they served.^[10]

Other interests

Tonks was a founding member of the Motor Registration Circuit, a club based in the Midlands for car license plate spotting enthusiasts.^[1] He was considered an expert in this field.^[11] He was also a well-known Jazz aficionado,^[12] who wrote a regular column for Discography magazine^[13] and was considered an expert in the field of Jazz discographies.^[14]

Works

Ironstone Quarries

Originally published as:

Tonks, Eric (1959). The Ironstone Railways and Tramways of the Midlands.

Full series:

Tonks, Eric (April 1988). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 1: Introduction. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-018.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
Tonks, Eric (April 1988). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 2: The Oxfordshire Field. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-026.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
Tonks, Eric (April 1989). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 3: The Northampton Area. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-034.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
Tonks, Eric (May 1990). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 4: The Wellingborough Area. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-042.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
Tonks, Eric (1991). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 5: The Kettering Area. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-050.
Tonks, Eric (1992). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 6: The Corby Area. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-069.
Tonks, Eric (October 1989). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 7: Rutland. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-077.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
Tonks, Eric (1991). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 8: South Lincolnshire. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-093.
Tonks, Eric (1992). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 9: Leicestershire. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-085.

Other books

Tonks, Eric (1948). The Edge Hill Light Railway.
Tonks, Eric (1950). The Southwold Railway. Birmingham Locomotive Club.
Tonks, Eric (1972). The Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway. Industrial Railway Society.
Tonks, Eric (1962). The Industrial Locomotive of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Birmingham Locomotive Club.
Tonks, Eric (1962). Light & Miniature Locomotives of Great Britain. Birmingham Locomotive Club.
Taylor, Alan; Tonks, Eric (1965). The Southwold Railway. Ian Allan Publishing.
Tonks, Eric (1974). The Snailbeach District Railways. Industrial Railway Society.
Tonks, Eric (1985). Railway Preservation in Britain: 1950–1984.

References

^ ^a ^b "Unravelling the mysteries of car numbers". Birmingham Daily Post. 4 January 1966.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Eric Tonks". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 141. March 1995. p. 13.
^ "A look at a selection of artefacts on show in the museum". Chasewater Railway. 13 March 2013.
^ Carter, Ian (9 January 2017). British Railway Enthusiasm. Oxford University Press. p. 114.
^ "Look Back with Little: Importance of Railway". Banbury Guardian. 29 September 2014.
^ "Historic Environment Record: Northamptonshire" (PDF). Northamptonshire Industrial Archeology Group.
^ "Earth Sciences History: Journal of the History of the Earth Sciences Society". 16. The Society. 1997. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "Ironstone Quarries". Bulletin of Industrial Archeology in CBA. No. 3. October 1967.
^ Amber, R. W. (1999). The History and Practice of Britain's Railways: A New Research Agenda. Ashgate.
^ "Industrial History". Transport History. 1–2. Graphmitre Limited. 1968.
^ "Upsetting tradition". Birmingham Daily Post. 19 April 1966.
^ Mecklenburg, Carl Gregor; Ruecker, Norbert (1983). International Bibliography of Jazz Books: 1921-1949. Koerner.
^ Venables, R.G.V; Tonks, Eric (August 1943). "Information Please, a regular monthly feature for collectors". Discography.
^ Pickup: The Record Collector's Guide. Vol. 2. Pickup. 1947.