"The company in the stage coach consisted of a grocer and his wife, who were going to pay a visit to some of their country friends; a young officer, who took this way of marching to quarters; a middle-aged gentlewoman, who had been hired as housekeeper to some family in the country; and an elderly well-looking man, with a remarkable old-fashioned perriwig."
[The Man of Feeling, by Henry MacKenzie, pub. 1820]
Stage coaches and mail coaches, as forms of transport, had a number of similarities. They both offered large coaches with teams of horses, carrying fare-paying passengers on set routes and timetables. They also both used the country's network of posting inns to supply fresh teams of horses as they travelled across the country.
Most stage and mail coaches travelled the same roads frequently, and the coachmen became well-known figures on their regular routes. Individual coaches often had their names painted on the side, so you might see the "Balloon" travelling between London and Coventry, the "Telegraph" heading towards Norwich. Passers-by could watch "The Wellington" as it left Newcastle, or the "Tally Ho" making its way out of Liverpool, while "The Hawk" frequently flew between Manchester and London.
Stage Coaches
Stage Coaches were the Regency equivalent of a bus service. They travelled at a slower pace than the lighter post-chaise and stopped more frequently than the mail coaches.
All stage coaches were privately owned and operated, and the owner paid for an annual licence of five shillings for each coach he owned. The fine for operating a stage coach without a licence was ten pounds for every occasion an unlicenced coach was used. They also paid a tax of 2½ pence for each mile the coach travelled.
By law, stage coaches had to have the name of the owner, and the route he covered, written on the outside of the coach. The coaches themselves could be painted in any colour.
There was a large variation in speed, depending on the size and age of the coach, and the quality of the horses, but on average a stage coach would travel around five miles an hour in summer and four and a half miles an hour in the winter months.
There was room for six inside, plus space for as many as could fit to travel on the roof. In theory, the maximum number allowed on the roof was five—one on the box next to the driver and four on the roof—but in practice, this rule was frequently ignored.
A few services offered a smaller "Light Post Coach", which had space for four people inside. One Light Coach service ran from the White Lion in Bath to the Angel, St. Clements, London, in 1801.
Inside was warm and dry but could be quite cramped, as people (of various sizes) bought bags and belongings inside with them. Although you would normally book a seat inside the coach ahead of time, seats were taken on a first-come-first-served basis. The most popular seats were the four corners by the windows. The least popular were the two middle seats, where you might be squashed between two strangers.
This description of a passenger travelling in one of these middle seats, while sarcastic in tone, is no doubt close to many people's experiences:
"After scaling the shoulders of some dozen passengers, and, as if by a miracle, having escaped the dislocation of your ankle, and after many ineffectual attempts, wedging yourself, at last, into a seat; your principal duty is there to endeavour to lessen the horrors of this "durance vile"; you begin first by moving your foot, then your head, and afterwards, if possible, your shoulders; you then labour to get off your hat, and presently you will make many unlucky efforts for your handkerchief—for now, "vials full of odours sweet" salute your nasal sensibilities, with the united fragrance of musk rose, water lozenges, and peppermint.
By-and-by, you are addressed by one of the passengers, a companion in adversity--"Will you have the goodness to pass your snuff box, sir?"
"My dear sir, it would be the greatest happiness imaginable for me to be able to confer such a favour, but at present, having had the misfortune of losing the use of my arms—"
[A Stage Coach, Miscellanies Selected from the Public Journals, Volume 2, pub 1824]
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
Reading the Regency
कथेतर साहित्यA guide to Regency England for readers of classic literature or historical fiction set in the early 19th century. England, as it was in the early 1800's, can sometimes be as confusing to a modern reader as travelling to a foreign country. Their clot...
