I have now described the earnings and conditions of the drivers and
conductors of the London omnibuses, and I proceed, in due order,
to treat of the Metropolitan Hackney-coach and Cabmen. In official
language, an omnibus is “a Metropolitan Stage-carriage,” and a “cab”
a “Metropolitan Hackney” one: the legal distinction being that the
stage-carriages pursue a given route, and the passengers are mixed,
while the fare is fixed by the proprietor; whereas the hackney-carriage
plies for hire at an appointed “stand,” carries no one but the party
hiring it, and the fare for so doing is regulated by law. It is an
offence for the omnibus to stand still and ply for hire, whereas the
driver of the cab is liable to be punished if he ply for hire while
his vehicle is moving.
According to the Occupation Abstract of 1841, the number of “Coachmen,
Coach-guards, and Postboys” in Great Britain at that time was 14,469,
of whom 13,013 were located in England, 1123 in Scotland, 295 in Wales,
and only 138 in the whole of the British Isles. The returns for the
metropolis were as follows:--
Coach, cab, and omnibus owners 650
Coachmen, coach and omnibus
guards, and postboys 5428
Grooms and ostlers 2780
Horse-dealers and trainers 246
----
Total 9104
In 1831 the number of “coachowners, drivers, grooms, &c.,” was only
1322, and the “horse-dealers, stable, hackney-coach, or fly-keepers,”
655, or 2047 in all; so that, assuming these returns to be correct,
it follows that this class must have increased 7027, or more than
quadrupled itself in ten years.
The returns since the above-mentioned periods, however, show a still
more rapid extension of the class. For these I am again indebted to the
courtesy of the Commissioners of Police, for whose consideration and
assistance I have again to tender my warmest thanks.
A RETURN OF THE NUMBER OF PERSONS LICENSED AS HACKNEY-DRIVERS,
STAGE-DRIVERS, CONDUCTORS, AND WATERMEN, FROM THE YEARS 1843 TO 1850.
---------+----------+----------+-------------+-----------+---------
| Hackney | Stage | | |
Year. | Drivers. | Drivers. | Conductors. | Watermen. | Total.
---------+----------+----------+-------------+-----------+---------
1843 | 4,627 | 1,740 | 1,854 | 371 | 8,592
1844 | 4,927 | 1,833 | 1,961 | 390 | 9,111
1845 | 5,199 | 1,825 | 1,930 | 363 | 9,317
1846 | 5,356 | 1,865 | 2,051 | 354 | 9,626
1847 | 5,109 | 1,830 | 2,009 | 342 | 9,290
1848 | 5,231 | 1,736 | 2,017 | 352 | 9,836
1849 | 5,487 | 1,731 | 2,026 | 375 | 9,619
1850[34]| 5,114 | 1,463 | 1,484 | 352 | 8,413
---------+----------+----------+-------------+-----------+---------
Totals | 41,050 | 14,023 | 17,332 | 2,899 | 73,804
---------+----------+----------+-------------+-----------+---------
[34] From 1st May to 4th September, inclusive.
By this it will be seen that the drivers and conductors of the
metropolitan stage and hackney carriages were in 1849 no less than
9619, whereas in 1841, including coachmen of all kinds, guards and
postboys, there were only 5428 in the metropolis; so that within the
last ten years the class, at the very least, must have more than
doubled itself.