The subject of omnibus conveyance is one to the importance of which the
aspect of every thoroughfare in London bears witness. Yet the dweller
in the Strand, or even in a greater thoroughfare, Cheapside, can only
form a partial notion of the magnitude of this mode of transit, for
he has but a partial view of it; he sees, as it were, only one of its
details.
The routes of the several omnibuses are manifold. Widely apart as are
their starting-points, it will be seen how their courses tend to common
centres, and how generally what may be called the great trunk-lines of
the streets are resorted to.
The principal routes lie north and south, east and west, through the
central parts of London, to and from the extreme suburbs. The majority
of them commence running at eight in the morning, and continue till
twelve at night, succeeding each other during the busy part of the day
every five minutes. Most of them have two charges--3_d._ for part of
the distance, and 6_d._ for the whole distance.
The omnibuses proceeding on the northern and southern routes are
principally the following:--
The Atlases run from the Eyre Arms, St. John’s Wood, by way
of Baker-street, Oxford-street, Regent-street, Charing-cross,
Westminster-bridge and road, and past the Elephant and Castle, by the
Walworth-road, to Camberwell-gate. Some turn off from the Elephant
(as all the omnibus people call it) and go down the New Kent-road to
the Dover railway-station; while others run the same route, but to
and from the Nightingale, Lisson-grove, instead of the Eyre Arms.
The Waterloos journey from the York and Albany, Regent’s-park, by
way of Albany-street, Portland-road, Regent-street, and so over
Waterloo-bridge, by the Waterloo, London, and Walworth-roads, to
Camberwell-gate. The Waterloo Association have also a branch to
Holloway, _viâ_ the Camden Villas. There are likewise others which run
from the terminus of the South-Western Railway in the Waterloo-road,
_viâ_ Stamford-street, to the railway termini on the Surrey side of
London-bridge, and thence to that of the Eastern Counties in Shoreditch.
The Hungerford-markets pursue the route from Camden Town along
Tottenham Court-road, &c. to Hungerford; and many run from this spot to
Paddington.
The Kentish Town run from the Eastern Counties station, and from
Whitechapel to Kentish Town, by way of Tottenham Court-road, &c.
The Hampsteads observe the like course to Camden Town, and then run
straight on to Hampstead.
The King’s-crosses run from Kennington-gate by the Blackfriar’s-road
and bridge, Fleet-street, Chancery-lane, Gray’s-inn-lane, and the
New-road, to Euston-square, while some go on to Camden Town.
The Great Northerns, the latest route started, travel from the
railway terminus, Maiden-lane, King’s-cross, to the Bank and the
railway-stations, both in the city and across the Thames; also to
Paddington, and some to Kennington.
The Favourites’ route is from Westminster Abbey, along the Strand,
Chancery-lane, Gray’s-inn-lane, and Coldbath-fields to the Angel,
Islington, and thence to Holloway; while some of them run down
Fleet-street, and so past the General Post-Office, and thence by the
City-road to the Angel and to Holloway. The Favourites also run from
Holloway to the Bank.
The Islington and Kennington line is from Barnsbury-park, by the
Post-office and Blackfriars-bridge, to Kennington-gate.
The Camberwells go from Gracechurch-street, over London-bridge, to
Camberwell, while a very few start from the west end of the town, and
some two or three from Fleet-street; the former crossing Westminster
and the latter Blackfriars-bridge, while some Nelsons run from
Oxford-street to Camberwell or to Brixton.
The Brixtons and Claphams go, some from the Regent-circus,
Oxford-street, by way of Regent-street, over Westminster-bridge;
and some from Gracechurch-street, over London-bridge, to Brixton or
Clapham, as the case may be.
The Paragons observe the same route, and some of these conveyances go
over Blackfriar’s-bridge to Brixton.
The Carshaltons follow the track of the Mitchams, Tootings, and
Claphams, and go over London-bridge to the Bank.
The Paddingtons go from the Royal Oak, Westbourne-Green, and from
the Pine-apple-gate by way of Oxford-street and Holborn to the Bank,
the London-bridge, Eastern Counties, or Blackwall railway termini;
while some reach the same destination by the route of the New-road,
City-road, and Finsbury. These routes are also pursued by the vehicles
lettered “New-road Conveyance Association,” and “London Conveyance
Company;” while some of the vehicles belonging to the same proprietors
run to Notting-hill, and some have branches to St. John’s Wood and
elsewhere.
The Wellingtons and Marlboroughs pursue the same track as the
Paddingtons, but some of them diverge to St. John’s Wood.
The Kensall-greens go from the Regent-circus, Oxford-street, to the
Cemetery.
The course of the Bayswaters is from Bayswater _viâ_ Oxford-street,
Regent-street, and the Strand, to the Bank.
The Bayswaters and Kensingtons run from the Bank _viâ_ Finsbury,
and then by the City-road and New-road, down Portland-road, and by
Oxford-street and Piccadilly to Bayswater and Kensington.
The Hammersmith and Kensingtons convey their passengers from
Hammersmith, by way of Kensington, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, &c. to
the Bank.
The Richmond and Hampton Courts, from St. Paul’s-churchyard to the two
places indicated.
The Putneys and Bromptons run from Putney-bridge _viâ_ Brompton, &c. to
the Bank and the London-bridge railway station.
The Chelseas proceed from the Man in the Moon to the Bank,
Mile-end-road, and City railway stations.
The Chelsea and Islingtons observe the route from Sloane-square to
the Angel, Islington, travelling along Piccadilly, Regent-street,
Portland-road, and the New-road.
The Royal Blues go from Pimlico _viâ_ Grosvenor-gate, Piccadilly, the
Strand, &c. to the Blackwall railway station.
The direction of the Pimlicos is through Westminster, Whitehall,
Strand, &c. to Whitechapel.
The Marquess of Westminsters follow the route from the Vauxhall-bridge
_viâ_ Millbank, Westminster Abbey, the Strand, &c. to the Bank.
The Deptfords go from Gracechurch-street, and over London-bridge, and
some from Charing-cross, over Westminster-bridge, to Deptford.
The route of the Nelsons is from Charing-cross, over
Westminster-bridge, and by the New and Old Kent-roads to Deptford,
Greenwich, and Woolwich; some go from Gracechurch-street, over
London-bridge.
The Shoreditches pursue the direction of Chelsea, Piccadilly, the
Strand, &c. to Shoreditch, their starting-place being Battersea-bridge.
The Hackneys and Claptons run from Oxford-street to Clapton-square.
Barber’s run from the Bank, and some from Oxford-street, to Clapton.
The Blackwalls run some from Sloane-street to the Docks, and the Bow
and Stratfords from different parts of the West-end to their respective
destinations.
I have enumerated these several conveyances from the information of
persons connected with the trade, using the terms they used, which
better distinguish the respective routes than the names lettered on the
carriages, which would but puzzle the reader, the principal appellation
giving no intimation of the destination of the omnibus.
The routes above specified are pursued by a series of vehicles
belonging to one company or to one firm, or one individual, the number
of their vehicles varying from twelve to fifty. One omnibus, however,
continues to run from the Bank to Finchley, and one from the Angel to
Hampton Court.
The total number of omnibuses traversing the streets of London is about
3000, paying duty including mileage, averaging 9_l._ per month each, or
324,000_l._ per annum. The number of conductors and drivers is about
7000 (including a thousand “odd men,”--a term that will be explained
hereafter), paying annually 5_s._ each for their licenses, or 1750_l._
collectively. The receipts of each vehicle vary from 2_l._ to 4_l._ per
day. Estimating the whole 3000 at 3_l._, it follows that the entire
sum expended annually in omnibus hire by the people of London amounts
to no less than 3,285,000_l._, which is more than 30_s._ a-head for
every man, woman, and child, in the metropolis. The average journey as
regards length of each omnibus is six miles, and that distance is in
some cases travelled twelve times a-day by each omnibus, or, as it is
called, “six there and six back.” Some perform the journey only ten
times a-day (each omnibus), and some, but a minority, a less number of
times. Now taking the average as between forty-five and fifty miles
a-day, travelled by each omnibus, and that I am assured on the best
authority is within the mark, while sixty miles a-day might exceed it,
and computing the omnibuses running daily at 3000, we find “a travel,”
as it was worded to me, upwards of 140,000 miles a-day, or a yearly
travel of more than 50,000,000 of miles: an extent that almost defies a
parallel among any distances popularly familiar. And that this estimate
in no way exceeds the truth is proved by the sum annually paid to the
Excise for “mileage,” which, as before stated, amounts on an average
to 9_l._ each “bus,” per month, or, collectively, to 324,000_l._ per
annum, and this at 1-1/2_d._ per mile (the rate of duty charged) gives
51,840,000 miles as the distance travelled by the entire number of
omnibuses every year.
On each of its journeys experienced persons have assured me an omnibus
carries on the average fifteen persons. Nearly all are licensed to
carry twenty-two (thirteen inside and nine out), and that number
perhaps is sometimes exceeded, while fifteen is a fair computation;
for as every omnibus has now the two fares, 3_d._ and 6_d._, or, as
the busmen call them, “long uns and short uns,” there are two sets of
passengers, and the number of fifteen through the whole distance on
each journey of the omnibus is, as I have said, a fair computation:
for sometimes the vehicle is almost empty, as a set-off to its being
crammed at other times. This computation shows the daily “travel,”
reckoning ten journeys a-day, of 450,000 passengers. Thus we might
be led to believe that about one-fourth the entire population of the
metropolis and its suburbs, men, women, and children, the inmates of
hospitals, gaols, and workhouses, paupers, peers, and their families
all included, were daily travelling in omnibuses. But it must be
borne in mind, that as most omnibus travellers use that convenient
mode of conveyance at least twice a-day, we may compute the number
of individuals at 225,000, or, allowing three journeys as an average
daily travel, at 150,000. Calculating the payment of each passenger at
4-1/2_d._, and so allowing for the set-off of the “short uns” to the
“long uns,” we have a daily receipt for omnibus fares of 8,439_l._, a
weekly receipt of 58,073_l._, and a yearly receipt of 2,903,650_l._;
which it will be seen is several thousands less than the former
estimate: so that it may be safely assured, that at least three
millions of money is annually expended on omnibus fares in London.
The extent of individual travel performed by some of the omnibus
drivers is enormous. One man told me that he had driven his “bus”
seventy-two miles (twelve stages of six miles) every day for six years,
with the exception of twelve miles less every second Sunday, so that
this man had driven in six years 179,568 miles.