Road into histor
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MOST TRANSPORT managers have a fair idea of the history of their industry in the 20th century. Few, I suspect, would want to answer an exam paper on road transport before the internal combustion engine.
But transport is older than the wheel. You can do wonders with • sledges and levers! and even the huge oak beams for cathedral roofs, were moved across country with primitive wheeled vehicles, Perhaps its not surprising that much of the present law and practice governing road transport is of ancient origin.
The Worshipful Company of Carmen, founded as a Fellowship in 1668, though only receiving its Royal Charter as recently as 1946, is a repository of fascinating historical detail, relevant in many respects to transport in 1978. More than that, it is a body of men — not to exceed 450, by order of the Lord Mayor of London — who distinguished themselves in, or feel an affinity for, transport.
The objects of the Carmen include the improvement "of the occupation of carmen in the City of London and the liberties thereof and in the United Kingdom". Much of the work of the Worshipful Company can be broadly described as charitable. The Livery properties — there is, alas no Carmen's Hall in the City — and splendid silver trophies and tableware are preserved for future generations.
There is an annual presentation of the Viva Shield, together with a gold medal, and citation, awarded for the "invention, principle, development, production, implemented system or other idea which contributes most notably to the advancement of transport in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with particular reference to road transport." This year's winner was MIRA for their unique contribution to road safety in pioneering for full-scale crash tests.
Historically, transport interests have seldom been at the top of the political agenda. In trade and commerce, in past days, the carmen had to fight for their place in society, much as today. Those providing services have not always organised themselves very effectively. If they had done so the Carmen's order of precedence, 77th of 88 guilds currently registered, would have been higher.
The order of precedence of the first dozen livery companies in London reflects the state of trade — and perhaps royal patronage — at the time. Mercers, the top dogs in livery companies, dealing then in costly textiles, would not hold their place today, but Grocers, Fishmongers, Vintners and Ironmongers, all in the top dozen, represent significant road transport sectors even now, if "Ironmongers." can be allowed to represent steelwork of all kinds used in building and roadmaking. Grocers can justly claim their rightful place in an era of supermarkets with ma: ive food distribution accoi panim.ents. Vintners — the wi merchants — whose produ was conveyed in puncheons, casks, of 70 to 120 gallons, certainly well reflected by IN tanker operators shifting thc sands of gallons at a time.
I am indebted to an article Mr C. A. Hart, published in t RCT Review for much of t detail that follows. (Since 19. there has been a close relatic ship between the Royal Corps Transport and the carmer Company.)
The first by-law on reco concerning carts and carters London goes back to 1277. I doubt the Romans, when th occupied London, had their ov traffic rules!
The first attempt to establi a trade guild for carmen w called St Katherine's Fraterni This was in 1 51 7 but the ganisation soon came under t domination of the Woo mongers. Until 1582 t Woodmongers controlled carts and carters, and what w then termed car-rooms — standings in the City. T Woodrnongers, with their alli in the Guildhall, marked t "licensedcarts by branding number on the timber frarr Irk of a cart or waggon — a -ernony annually commemo
ed to this day at the Guildhall.
The car standings defined the ice or stand in which a car or iggen stood for hire. It came represent a licence to operate h're; taxi-stands in cities Jay stem from this. The indings or licences could be queathed to heirs.
Th tussle between the mongers and Carmen was ged. It is not hard to e that the Woodmongers t to maximise revenue uel supplies and minimise ents for transport. The n who had to give a ser o others besides fuel ants, were understandodds with the Woodrs who probably owned wn wagons, anyway.
upshot was that admin e control of carmen and standings passed to 's Hospital, in London, eeded an income to susoor children in their area ere vouchsafed one by the of Aldermen.
hose days it cost a penny
e a cart branded and 5p ew set of -chip and brass' ng the cart number and urpose for which it was Shades of A and B licen
Carmen, carters and ongers paid a quarterly of 6s 8d to Christ's Hoses well as all fines for es of the rules.
Woodmongers again secontrol of the Carmen's between 1605 and 1665. leas of the Carmen for ate incorporation as a any fell on deaf ears. s Hospital again took over istration but in 1668 the ship of Carmen, separate the old Woodmonger enwas sanctioned_ The con n of the Carmen with the tat continued until 1838; oodmongers, once so rich owerful, died as a Livery any around 1750.
ny of the practices which odern generation of road ort operators have had to to terms with originate in
past, indicating the ssity for regulation and control of who does what.
the branding of carts a ernent of the system req metal plates at front and showing an identification ber. This anticipated ber plates and other rigmaof licensing.
ho administered traffic in s before there was a police oo olo agi ug )m ly irrn ce erc ily ong eir Th rati eir 10 in )urt In ha ía low ied. ng! ood .nta tat rea Th ire ade he ?pa om hris Jmi alio om my, ecti losp nd om
-arts om ime ece ght kfter
in ii red ear iurn ium oles tree
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force? Streetkeepers were appointed and their job in the narrow streets with too much cumbersome wheeled traffic must have been more risky than that of traffic wardens today. One-way streets were not invented in our time to cope with proliferating cars and goods vehicles. The first such street recorded by Carmen dates back to 1617. The Act passed by the Common Council refers, In its preamble, to "the disorderly and rude behaviour of carmen, draymen and others using carts, by stopping up the streets and passages of this City" hindering the passage of nobles and great personages" in the process.
There were particular traffic hold-ups at a place called St Magnus Corner, in Thames Street, and the records suggest that the authorities of the time were quite prepared to -throw the bookat anyone thought specially blameworthy. Loaded carts were required to leave Thames Street by a specific route, empty carts approaching by Fish Street Hill, etc. The records of Christ's Hospital tell of a lively character named Lancaster Mauds who in 1738 was fined a guinea for "feedings his horse in the street 11 times, shooting out once, coming in at St. Magnus, and two contempts.
Vehicle queueing at docks and factories which has provided endless columns of print for transport journals in past decades bears some direct relationship to a practice known as "turnkeeping" whereby some 20 stands for empty carts were set up in 1 586 in the upper parts of the City. a well es
tablished legal principle required that carts be taken in turn by hirers without any "picking and choosing" Customer choice, so venerated by traders in 1978, goes back through the centuries. Then, as now, a shopkeeper or merchant could try to insist on hiring a particular cart or wagon because its driver was known to be careful and likely to deliver the goods safely. The Carmen petitioned Christ's Hospital, pointing out that the carter losing goods could always be identified by his cart number. They suggested that traders wanting to pick and choose were motivated by a desire to have excessively heavy loads carried at rates below those allowed by law, with the result that pavements would be torn up and brick buildings shaken. "And if the Axle tree breaketh and a wheele falls off (which many times happeneth) endangers the passengers and many times occasions great damage to the Merchants and Shopkeepers by the loss of their goods."
The British are supposed to be good at orderly queueing and it is easy to see why the Carmen placed so much store on turnkeeping. But the old records show that some Carmen did not pay their dues; some overloaded their waggons; some cut corners, literally an d metaphorically.
We have no monopoly, historically speaking, in the value of loads carried. We read of "the King . . . entrusting his Treasures to a Carman from the Custom House to the Exchequer, sometimes 18 to 20 thousand pounds at any time." There was no lack of street villains.
Over the years national emergencies have led to enforced or voluntary contributions to the war effort by people owning transport facilities. At the time of the Napoleonic menace London's Carmen, concerned that Bonaparte, that "infernal Fiend"' threatened to -murder us, our families and friends, and to lay waste and despoil this happy landoffered to supply the Government with 420 carts and 1,000 horses for the movement of stores, ammunition and implements of war to any part of the Kingdom.
More recently, the Carmen have presented a mobile first-aid unit to the Lord Mayor.
Guilds, from which Livery Companies developed, go back to pre-Conquest years in Europe, but Livery Companies themselves in Medieval times took on many of the characteristics of trade unions and trade
associations. Apprentices' training was hived off over a century ago to the City and Guilds of London though Carmen were urged at a splendid "Court DinnerI attended to apprentice their sons, thus ensuring the future of the livery.
Admission to the Worshipful Company follows the custom of the City of London and is by Patrimony, Apprenticeship and Redemption — the latter costing in total the odd amount of £181.91. The vitality of Livery Companies is reinforced by their enduring traditions. Perhaps they are archaic anachonisms notable for splendid banquets in magnificent surroundings but they do much useful charitable work and they remind the scornful, as Bacon said, that every man is a debtor to his profession.