In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people usually horse-drawn The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside. A coach was originally a large usually closed four-wheeled Carriage with two or more horses harnessed as a team, controlled by a Coachman and/or one or Further passengers were later allowed to sit outside with the driver. The mail was held in a box to the rear, where a Royal Mail post office guard stood. Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom.
The mail coach was faster than the stage coach as it only stopped for delivery of mail and generally not for the comfort of the passengers. For other meanings see Stagecoach (disambiguation. A stagecoach (also called diligence) is a type of four-wheeled enclosed They were slowly phased out during the 1840s and 1850s, their role being replaced by trains as the railway network expanded. A train is a connected series of vehicles that move along a track ( Permanent way) to transport freight or passengers from one place to another
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History
The postal delivery service in Britain had existed in the same form for about 150 years - from its introduction in 1635, mounted carriers had ridden between "posts" where the postmaster would remove the letters for the local area before handing the remaining letters and any additions to the next rider. Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects wherein written Documents typically enclosed in Envelopes and also Postmaster (or Postmistress) refers to the head of an individual Post office. The riders were frequent targets for robbers, and the system was inefficient. [1]
John Palmer, a theatre owner from Bath, believed that the coach service he had previously run for transporting actors and materials between theatres could be utilised for a countrywide mail delivery service, so in 1782, he suggested to the Post Office in London that they take up the idea. Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. A post office is a facility authorized by a Postal system for the posting receipt sorting handling transmission or delivery of Mail. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. He met resistance from officials who believed that the existing system could not be improved, but eventually the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Pitt, allowed him to carry out an experimental run between Bristol and London. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all Economic and Financial William Pitt the Younger (28 May 1759 &ndash 23 January 1806 was a British politician of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London Under the old system the journey had taken up to 38 hours. The coach, funded by Palmer, left Bristol at 4pm on 2 August 1784 and arrived in London just 16 hours later. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 1784 ( MDCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year [1]
Impressed by the trial run, Pitt authorised the creation of new routes. By the end of 1785 there were services from London to Norwich, Liverpool, Leeds, Dover, Portsmouth, Poole, Exeter, Gloucester, Worcester, Holyhead and Carlisle. History Roman The Romans had their regional capital at Venta Icenorum on the river to the south which is near modern-day Caistor St Edmund Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England Dover is a town and major ferry port in the county of Kent, England. History See also History of Portsmouth There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times mostly being offshoots of Portchester, which Poole ( is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset on the south coast of England Exeter ( (IPA ˈeksɪtər is a city, district and County town of Devon, England. Gloucester (ˈɡlɒstɚ) is a city, district and County town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Worcester (ˈwʊstə is a city and County town of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands of England. Holyhead ( IPA /ˈhɒlihɛd/ Welsh: Caergybi, "the fort of Saint Cybi " is the largest town in the county of Carlisle (pronounced CARLYLE(emphasis on the first syllable is a City in northern England the largest settlement in Cumbria. A service to Edinburgh was added the next year and Palmer was rewarded by being made Surveyor and Comptroller General of the Post Office. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. [1]
Initially the coach, horses and driver were all supplied by contractors. There was strong competition for the contracts as they provided a fixed regular income on top of which the companies could charge fares for the passengers. By the beginning of the 19th century the Post Office had their own fleet of coaches with black and scarlet livery. [2] The early coaches were poorly built, but in 1787 the Post Office adopted John Besant's improved and patented design, after which Besant, with his partner John Vidler, enjoyed a monopoly on the supply of coaches, and a virtual monopoly on their upkeep and servicing. In Economics, a monopoly (from Greek monos, alone or single + polein, to sell exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient [1]
The mail coaches continued unchallenged until the 1830s but the development of railways spelt the end for the service. The first rail delivery between Liverpool and Manchester took place on 11 November 1830. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare For the game see 1830 (board game. Year 1830 ( MDCCCXXX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display By the early 1840s other rail lines had been constructed and many London-based mail coaches were starting to be withdrawn from service; the final service from London (to Norwich) was shut down in 1846. Regional mail coaches continued into the 1850s, but these too were eventually replaced by rail services. [1]
Travel
The mail coaches were originally designed for a driver, seated outside, and up to four passengers inside. The guard (the only Post Office employee on the coach) travelled on the outside at the rear next to the mail box. Later a further passenger was allowed outside, sitting at the front next to the driver, and eventually a second row of seating was added behind him to allow two further passengers to sit outside. Travel could be uncomfortable as the coaches travelled on poor roads and passengers were obliged to dismount from the carriage when going up steep hills to spare the horses (as Charles Dickens describes at the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities). A Tale of Two Cities (1859 is the second Historical novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the The coaches averaged 7 to 8 mph (11–13 km/h) in summer and about 5 mph (8 km/h) in winter but by the time of Queen Victoria the roads had improved enough to allow speeds of up to 10 mph (16 km/h). Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Fresh horses were supplied every 10 to 15 miles (16–24 km). [1] Stops to collect mail were short and sometime there would be no stops at all with the guard throwing the mail off the coach and snatching the new deliveries from the postmaster.
The cost of travelling by mail coach was about 1d. a mile more expensive than by private stage coach, but the coach was faster and, in general, less crowded and cleaner. Crowding was a common problem with private stage coaches, which led to them overturning; the limits on numbers of passengers and luggage prevented this occurring on the mail coaches. Travel on the mail coach was nearly always at night; as the roads were less busy the coach could make better speed. [2]
The guard was heavily armed with a blunderbuss and two pistols and dressed in the Post Office livery of scarlet and gold. The blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading Firearm with a short large Caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle, and used with The mail coaches were thus well defended against highwaymen, and accounts of robberies often confuse them with private stage coaches, though robberies did occur. [3] To prevent corruption and ensure good performance, the guards were paid handsomely and supplied with a generous pension. The mail was their sole charge, meaning that they had to deliver it on foot if a problem arose with the coach and, unlike the driver, they remained with the coach for the whole journey; occasionally guards froze to death from hypothermia in their exposed position outside the coach during the harsh winters (see River Thames frost fairs). Hypothermia is a condition in which an organism's temperature drops below that required for normal Metabolism and bodily functions River Thames frost fairs were Fairs held on the River Thames at London when that portion of the river sometimes froze over during the 15th–19th centuries The guard was supplied with a timepiece and a posthorn, the former to ensure the schedule was met, the latter to alert the post house to the imminent arrival of the coach and warn tollgate keepers to open the gate (a fine was payable if the coach was forced to stop). The post horn ( also posthorn, post-horn, or coach horn) is a valveless cylindrical brass or copper instrument with cupped mouthpiece A toll road, (also known as a tollway, turnpike, pike, or toll highway, especially if it is constructed to Freeway standards Since the coaches had right of way on the roads the horn was also used to advise other road users of their approach. [2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f The Mail Coach Service. The Royal Mail: Postal Heritage Trust (2005). Retrieved on 31 October 2006. Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ a b c Paul Ailey (2004). Mail Coaches. Bishops Stortford Tourist Information. Retrieved on 31 October 2006. Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ Broadside entitled "Robbery of the Mail Coach". National Library of Scotland (2004). Retrieved on 31 October 2006. Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
External links
- History of the Post Bath Postal Museum
- The Mail, by Anne Woodley
- Mail_Coach1 Prints George
- Miscellaneous Essays - The English Mail Coach, by Thomas de Quincey. Authorama - Public Domain Books
- Post Boys & Mail Coaches British Postal Museum & Archive
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