Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is shown within _underscores_; boldface text is shown within =equals signs=. Other notes will be found at the end of the text.

STAGE-COACH
AND MAIL IN
DAYS OF YORE

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

=The Brighton Road=: Old Times and New on a Classic Highway.

=The Portsmouth Road=, and its Tributaries: To-day and in Days of
Old.

=The Dover Road=: Annals of an Ancient Turnpike.

=The Bath Road=: History, Fashion, and Frivolity on an Old Highway.

=The Exeter Road=: The Story of the West of England Highway.

=The Great North Road=: The Old Mail Road to Scotland. Two Vols.

=The Norwich Road=: An East Anglian Highway.

=The Holyhead Road=: The Mail-Coach Road to Dublin. Two Vols.

=The Cambridge, Ely, and King’s Lynn Road=: The Great Fenland
Highway.

=Cycle Rides Round London.=

=The Oxford, Gloucester, and Milford Haven Road=: Two Vols.
[_In the Press._

MAIL-COACH PASSING ST. GEORGE’S CIRCUS, SOUTHWARK, 1797.
_After Dalgety_
]

STAGE-COACH
AND MAIL IN
DAYS OF YORE

_A PICTURESQUE HISTORY
OF THE COACHING AGE_

VOL. II

BY CHARLES G. HARPER

_Illustrated from Old-Time Prints
and Pictures_

LONDON:
CHAPMAN & HALL, LIMITED
1903

_All rights reserved_

PRINTED BY
HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
LONDON AND AYLESBURY.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE LATER MAILS 1

II. DOWN THE ROAD IN DAYS OF YORE. I.--A Journey from
Newcastle-on-Tyne to London in 1772 48

III. DOWN THE ROAD IN DAYS OF YORE. II.--From London to
Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1830 66

IV. ACCIDENTS 96

V. A GREAT CARRYING FIRM: THE STORY OF PICKFORD AND CO. 123

VI. ROBBERY AND ADVENTURE 144

VII. SNOW AND FLOODS 159

VIII. THE GOLDEN AGE, 1824–1848 173

IX. COACH-PROPRIETORS 194

X. COACH-PROPRIETORS (_continued_) 226

XI. THE AMATEURS 239

XII. END OF THE COACHING AGE 260

XIII. WHAT BECAME OF THE COACHMEN 292

XIV. THE OLD ENGLAND OF COACHING DAYS 322

SEPARATE PLATES

PAGE
1. MAIL-COACH PASSING ST. GEORGE’S CIRCUS, SOUTHWARK, 1797.
(_After Dalgety_) _Frontispiece_

2. THE WORCESTER MAIL, 1805. (_After J. A. Atkinson_) 7

3. THE MAIL. (_After J. L. Agasse_, 1842) 13

4. THE BRISTOL MAIL AT HYDE PARK CORNER, 1838. (_After J.
Doyle_) 19

5. THE YARMOUTH MAIL AT THE “COACH AND HORSES,” ILFORD.
(_After J. Pollard_) 25

6. THE “QUICKSILVER” DEVONPORT MAIL, PASSING KEW BRIDGE.
(_After J. Pollard_) 29

7. THE “QUICKSILVER” DEVONPORT MAIL, ARRIVING AT TEMPLE BAR.
(_After C. B. Newhouse_) 37

8. THE “QUICKSILVER” DEVONPORT MAIL, PASSING WINDSOR CASTLE.
(_After Charles Hunt_, 1840) 41

9. MAIL-COACH BUILT BY WAUDE, 1830. (_Now in possession of
Messrs. Holland & Holland_) 45

10. THE “QUEEN’S HOTEL” AND GENERAL POST OFFICE. (_After T.
Allom_) 69

11. THE TURNPIKE GATE. (_From a contemporary Lithograph_) 77

12. A MIDNIGHT DISASTER ON A CROSS ROAD: FIVE MILES TO THE
NEAREST VILLAGE. (_After C. B. Newhouse_) 99

13. THE “BEAUFORT” BRIGHTON COACH. (_After W. J. Shayer_) 103

14. A QUEER PIECE OF GROUND IN A FOG: “IF WE GET OVER THE
RAILS, WE SHALL BE IN AN UGLY FIX.” (_After C. B.
Newhouse_) 111

15. ROAD VERSUS RAIL. (_After C. Cooper Henderson_, 1845) 117

16. JOSEPH BAXENDALE. (_From the Portrait by E. H.
Pickersgill, R.A._) 131

17. PICKFORD AND CO’S ROYAL FLY-VAN, ABOUT 1820. (_From a
contemporary Painting_) 139

18. THE LIONESS ATTACKING THE EXETER MAIL, OCTOBER 20TH, 1816.
(_After A. Sauerweid_) 153

19. WINTER: GOING NORTH. (_After H. Alken_) 163

20. MAIL-COACH IN A SNOW-DRIFT. (_After J. Pollard_) 167

21. MAIL-COACH IN A FLOOD. (_After J. Pollard_) 171

22. LATE FOR THE MAIL. (_After C. Cooper Henderson_, 1848) 183

23. THE SHORT STAGE. (_After J. Pollard_) 191

24. WILLIAM CHAPLIN. (_From the Painting by Frederick Newnham_) 197

25. THE CANTERBURY AND DOVER COACH, 1830. (_After G. S. Treguar_) 201

26. JAMES NUNN, HORSE-BUYER AND VETERINARY SURGEON TO WILLIAM
CHAPLIN. (_After J. F. Herring_) 205

27. WILLIAM AUGUSTUS CHAPLIN. 211

28. THE “BEDFORD TIMES,” ONE OF THE LAST COACHES TO RUN,
LEAVING THE “SWAN HOTEL,” BEDFORD. 219

29. FOUR-IN-HAND. (_After G. H. Laporte_) 243

30. SIR ST. VINCENT COTTON. 249

31. THE CONSEQUENCE OF BEING DROVE BY A GENTLEMAN. (_After H.
Alken_) 255

32. GOLDSWORTHY GURNEY’S LONDON AND BATH STEAM-CARRIAGE, 1833.
(_After G. Morton_) 265

33. THE LAST JOURNEY DOWN THE ROAD. (_After J. L. Agasse_)
275

34. THE CHESHAM COACH, 1796. (_From the Painting by Cordery_)
283

35. THE LAST OF THE “MANCHESTER DEFIANCE.” (_From a Lithograph_) 287

36. THE COACHMAN, 1832. (_After H. Alken_) 293

37. THE DRIVER, 1852. (_After H. Alken_) 297

38. THE GUARD, 1832. (_After H. Alken_) 303

39. THE GUARD, 1852. (_After H. Alken_) 309

40. “ALL RIGHT!”--THE BATH MAIL TAKING UP THE MAIL-BAGS.
(_From a contemporary Lithograph_) 341

ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT

Vignette (_Title-page_)

List of Illustrations ix

Stage-coach and Mail in Days of Yore 1

Mail-coach Halfpenny issued by William Waterhouse 196

Benjamin Worthy Horne 221

“A View of the Telegraph”: Dick Vaughan, of the Cambridge
“Telegraph.” (_From an Etching by Robert Dighton_, 1809) 301

A Stage-coachman’s Epitaph at Haddiscoe 316