OMNIBUSES AND CABS

THEIR ORIGIN AND HISTORY

BY

HENRY CHARLES MOORE

WITH THIRTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LD.

1902

NOTE

It is with great pleasure that I acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. George A. Glover, who kindly placed at my disposal much valuable information concerning the early history of omnibuses and cabs, and several rare pictures, which are now reproduced for the first time.

I desire, also, to thank Mr. G. A. Thrupp, the venerable author of “The History of the Art of Coach-Building,” for permitting me to have access to his interesting collection of illustrations of vehicles, and to reproduce several engravings dealing with the subject of this book. For a similar courtesy I am greatly indebted to the Worshipful Company of Coach Makers and Coach-Harness Makers.

H. C. M.

London,

August 23, 1901.

CONTENTS

PART I—OMNIBUSES

CHAPTER I

PAGE

Carrosses a cinq sous invented—Inauguration ceremony—M. Laffitte’s omnibuses—The origin of the word “omnibus” as applied to coaches 3

CHAPTER II

George Shillibeer introduces omnibuses into England—The first omnibus route—Shillibeer’s conductors defraud him—His plans for preventing fraud—An omnibus library—Shopkeepers complain of omnibus obstruction 10

CHAPTER III

Shillibeer runs omnibuses in opposition to a railway—Extraordinary action of the Stamp and Taxes Office—Shillibeer is ruined—He appeals to the Government for compensation—Government promises not fulfilled—Shillibeer becomes an undertaker 28

CHAPTER IV

Introduction of steam omnibuses—The “Autopsy,” the “Era,” and the “Automaton”—Steam omnibuses a failure 36

CHAPTER V

Some old omnibus names—Story of the “Royal Blues”—Omnibus racing—Complaints against conductors—Passengers’ behaviour—The well-conducted conductor—The ill-conducted conductor—The “equirotal omnibus” 46

CHAPTER VI

Twopenny fares introduced—The first omnibus with advertisements—Penny fares tried—Omnibus improvements—Longitudinal seats objected to by the police—Omnibus associations—Newspapers on the “Favorites”—Foreigners in omnibuses—Fat and thin passengers—Thomas Tilling starts the “Times” omnibuses—Mr. Tilling at the Derby—Tilling’s gallery of photographs 62

CHAPTER VII

Compagnie Générale des Omnibus de Londres formed—The London General Omnibus Company starts work—Businesses purchased by the Company—It offers a prize of £100 for the best design of an omnibus—The knife-board omnibus introduced—Correspondence system tried—Packets of tickets sold—Yellow wheels—The L.G.O.C. becomes an English Limited Liability Company—The first board of directors—Present position of the Company—The Omnibus: a satire—The Omnibus: a play 79

CHAPTER VIII

The opening of Holborn Viaduct—An omnibus is the first vehicle to cross it—“Viaduct Tommy”—Skid-men 95

CHAPTER IX

A new Company—The London and District Omnibus Company, Limited—The London Road Car Company, Limited—Its first omnibuses—The garden seats—The flag and its meaning—Foreigners’ idea of it—The ticket system—The great strike—The London Co-operative Omnibus Company—Mr. Jenkins and advertisements—The Street Traffic Bill—Outside lamps 100

CHAPTER X

The Motor Traction Company’s omnibus—An electric omnibus—The Central London Railway—The London County Council omnibuses—The “corridor ’bus”—The latest omnibus struggle—Present omnibus routes 119

CHAPTER XI

“Jumpers”—“Spots”—Some curious passengers—Conductors and coachmen—The Rothschild Christmas-boxes—Mr. Morris Abrahams and the Omnibus Men’s Superannuation Fund—Horses—Cost of omnibuses—Night in an omnibus yard 137

CHAPTER XII

Pirate omnibuses—Their history and tricks 164

PART II—CABS

CHAPTER I

The introduction of hackney-coaches—“The world run on wheels”—The first hackney-coach stand and the oldest cab rank in England—Sedan chairs introduced—Charles I. and Charles II. prohibit hackney-coaches—Hackney-coaches and the Plague—William Congreve—Threatened strike of hackney-coachmen—Hackney-chariots introduced—Prince of Wales drives a hackney-coach—Licences—Funeral coaches ply for hire in the streets—A pedometer for hackney-coaches suggested—Dickens on hackney-coaches—Origin of the word “hackney” 181

CHAPTER II

Cabs introduced into England—Restrictions placed upon them—A comical-looking cab—Dickens on cabs—Hackney-coachmen wish to become cabmen—The cab business a monopoly—Restrictions are removed—The Cab paper—The Boulnois cab invented—The “minibus”—The “duobus”—Bilking—A peer’s joke 205

CHAPTER III

Hansom invents a cab—Chapman designs and patents the present hansom—Francis Moore’s vehicles—The Hansom patent infringed—Litigation a failure—Pirate cabs called “shofuls”—The “Clarence” or four-wheeler introduced—An unpleasant fare—The decoration of cabs—Cabmen compelled to wear badges—The “Tribus”—The “Curricle Tribus”—The “Quartobus” 216

CHAPTER IV

A strike—Cabmen’s revenge on Members of Parliament—Cab radius altered—Cabmen object to knocking at doors—The King of Cabmen—Nicknames—A lady feared by cabmen—The kilometric reckoner—Lord John Russell and “Palace Yard Jack”—Cab fares altered—A strike against the introduction of lamps—Another strike—The Cab-drivers’ Benevolent Association—The London Cabmen’s Mission—The Hackney Carriage Proprietors’ Provident Institution—The Cabmen’s Shelter Fund 231

CHAPTER V

Cab show at Alexandra Palace—Forder’s cab—The strike of 1894—Cabmen become organ-grinders—The Asquith award—Boycotting the railway stations—The “Bilking Act” 249

CHAPTER VI

Gentlemen cabmen—An applicant’s nerve—The doctor-cabby—John Cockram—A drunken cabman’s horse 258

CHAPTER VII

The Shrewsbury and Talbot cabs—The Court hansom—The Parlour four-seat hansom—Electric cabs introduced—The “taxameter”—Empty cabs—Number of cabs in London—Cab fares—Two-horse cabs 267

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Shillibeer’s First Omnibus 13

Shillibeer’s Third Omnibus 19

Gurney’s Steam Carriage 37

The “Autopsy” Steam Omnibus 39

The “Era” Steam Omnibus 40

The “Automaton” Steam Omnibus 44

Adams’s Equirotal Omnibus 61

A Knife-board Omnibus 65

Omnibus built by Rock and Gowar 69

Tilling’s Four-horse “Times” 75

Richmond Conveyance Company Omnibus 91

Richmond Conveyance Company Omnibus. End View 93

The First Vehicle to cross Holborn Viaduct 98

The London Road Car Company’s First Omnibus 103

A Road Car Company Omnibus, 1901 107

A Metropolitan Railway “Umbrella” Omnibus, 1901 109

A Red “Favorite.” 1901 110

Hackney-coach. About 1680 189

Hackney-coach. About 1800 194

London Cab of 1823, with curtain drawn 207

The “Coffin-cab” 210

Boulnois’s Cab 214

The First Hansom 217

An Improved Hansom 219

Francis Moore’s Vehicle 221

The First Four-wheeled Cab 225

The Tribus. Back View 229

The Tribus. Side View 230

John Cockram 261

Parlour’s Hansom 269

Electric Cab 272

PART I

OMNIBUSES

OMNIBUSES AND CABS