1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164 
hen Li [don took to Wheels
Page 116
Page 117
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Parliament had a Traffic
Problem Three Centuries Ago. The King Bans
Hackney Carriages in the
Capital. A Case of History
Repeating Itself
IT is a far cry from a 17th-century hackney-coach to the London Passenger Transport Board—yet the traffic problem which brought this great undertaking into being really had its genesis in 1605, when the first public carriage was placed
on the London streets.
Slow to Take to Wheels.
With the Thames as its principal highway, London had been slow totake to wheels, and until the accession of Queen Elizabeth, street traffic was largely a matter of riding and pack-horses. Even in 1580, the few carriages which clattered over the city's cobblestones were invariably the property of noblemen sufficiently wealthy to maintain an enormous vehicle requiring six or eight horses to draw it.
In any case, the more hardy of our ancestors looked upon such a mode of travel as a mere excuse for r..58 luxurious display and sighed regretfully for the less effeminate days when a man was content to sit astride the solid back of a sturdy horse.
Progress, however, pays but little attention to head-shaking, and by the end of the reign, lighter and cheaper coaches requiring only two horses were introduced to such good purpose that, in 1601, a Bill was propod in Parliament to restrain the excessive use of them.
But it was useless to attempt to stem the rising tide of wheels, and two years after James I came to the throne, a far-sighted citizen decided to make London coach-minded by letting out a vehicle at a charge per hour.His example was quickly followed by many others, who found such ready custom that in 1619 we find Parliament talking of levying
art annual tax of on all carriages not privately owned, "the benefit of the duty to be bestowed on decayed captains."
Unfortunately for the decayed captains, the measure received c.ant support, and in 1635 the provision of cheap passenger transport was carried a stage farther, when Captain Bailey started a cab stand. Far from being a decayed Captain, Bailey, who had served under Sir Walter Raleigh on one of the expeditions to America, reltliqed that many fares were lost through coaches always retutning to their stables after even the shortest of journeys.
The First Cab Fleet.
In order to garner the ready harvest awaiting him, the proprietor of London's first cab fleet "erected some hackney-coaches, put his men into livery, and appointed them to stand at the Maypole in the Strand, giving them instructions at what rates to carry gentlemen into several parts of the town, where all day they may be had."
Before long, other hackney men followed the captain's lead, and soon the Strand was a recognized resort for all those wishing to hire a coach. As the writer of a con-. temporary letter remarks, "Everybody is much pleased with it, for whereas before the coaches could not be had except at great rates, now a man may have one much cheaper."
Just as to-day the railways find themselves opposed by the roads, so in 1636 the profitable hackneycoach had to face competition from a new means for transport. Early in that year, Charles I granted Sir Sanders Thincombe a patent to supply London with sedan chairs, because "the streets of our cities of London and Westminster, and their suburbs, are of late so much encumbered with the unnecessary multitude of coaches that many of our subjects are thereby exposed to great danger, and the necessary use of carts and carriages for provisions thereby much hindered."
Protests Against Monopoly.
Hackney-coach owners indignantly protested against Duncombe's monopoly, but must quickly have regretted their precipitate action, as it resulted in the appointment of a Commission for their regulation. After due consideration of the proprietors' complaints, the Commissioners hoist them on their own petard by recommending the King to issue a proclamation :—
" That no hackney coach should be used in the City of London, or suburbs thereof, other than by carrying people to or from their habitations in the country; and that no person should make use of a coach in the city, except such persons as could keep four able horses fit for His Majesty's service."
When we remember the narrowness of London streets at that time, there was some justification for the Commissioners' insistence that unregulated coach traffic had become a menace to pedestrians: "the
streets so pestered and the pavements so broken up, that the common passage is hindered and made dangerous."
Nevertheless, the proclamation spelled ruin to a growing industry, and in June, 1636, the " distressed hackney men" petitioned the 'King that 100 of their number might be allowed to form a, corporation and ply for hire without interference'. They pointed out that as there were not more than 100 full-time hackney drivers in London, the responsibility for traffic congestion could not be placed upon them, but should be attributed to the numerous shopkeepers who let out carriages as a
sideline. Despite the petitioners' offer to pay £500 a year for the right ' to follow -their business, Charles rejected the overture and ordered enforcement of the proclamation.
Two years later the coach interests presented a second petition; not only would they pay the King £500, but they promised to keep 50 men and horses ready for military service. This offer was likewise refused. Failing to gain legal redress, the proprietors decided to ignore the proclamation altogether, and did so to such effect that, in 1639, Charles thought it better to make a bargain by granting the requested licence for the Corporation of Coachmen.
"Banned Zones !"
During the Commonwealth, Puritanism provided few fares for hackney coaches, but shortly after the Restoration they again so increased in number that regulations were issued forbidding them to stand in the streets for hire. Emboldened by the fiasco of 1639, the coachmen paid little attention to the order, and Pepys notes in his diary that on the day the new proclamation came into effect he found a choice of several coaches awaiting his custom.
The following table shows that 17th-century fares were moderate :—
For one day of 12 hours ... 10 0 For one hour ... ... 1 6
Foe every hour after the first ... 1 0 For any of the Inns of Court to Westminster o From the Inns of Court to the
Royal Exchange ... 1 0 From the Inns of Court to the
Tower 1 6 And the same r5to8 hack again, or to any place of like distance."
Any driver refusing a fare or demanding more than his legal rate was fined £2. Some idea of the position achieved by the hackney coach may be gained from the fact that in 1662 there were 2,500 plying for hire in the streets of London. Remembering that the population of the city and suburbs did not exceed 650,000, this compares favourably with the 8,000 taxis serving Greater London to day. D.L.R.