Shillibeer runs omnibuses in opposition to a railway--Extraordinary
action of the Stamp and Taxes Office--Shillibeer is ruined--He
appeals to the Government for compensation--Government promises not
fulfilled--Shillibeer becomes an undertaker.
Shortly after dissolving partnership with Morton, Shillibeer
relinquished his metropolitan business and began to run omnibuses
from London to Greenwich and Woolwich, placing twenty vehicles on
the road. It was a very bold step, considering that a railway from
London to Greenwich had been decided upon; but there were many people
who believed that the railway was doomed by his action. In fact, the
following song, entitled “Shillibeer’s Original Omnibus _versus_ the
Greenwich Railroad,” which expressed that opinion, was sold extensively
in the streets.
“By a Joint-Stock Company taken in hand,
A railroad from London to Greenwich is plann’d,
But they’re sure to be beat, ’tis most certainly clear,
Their rival has got the start--George Shillibeer.
“I will not for certainty vouch for the fact,
But believe that he means to run over the Act
Which Parliament pass’d at the end of last year,
Now made null and void by the new Shillibeer.
“His elegant omnis, which now throng the road,
Up and down every hour most constantly load;
Across all the three bridges how gaily appear,
The _Original Omnibus_--George Shillibeer.
“These pleasure and comfort with safety combine,
They will neither blow up nor explode like a mine;
Those who ride on the rail-road might half die with fear--
You can come to no harm in the safe Shillibeer.
“How exceedingly elegant fitted, inside,
With mahogany polished--soft cushions--beside
Bright brass ventilators at each end appear,
The latest improvements in the new Shillibeer.
“Here no draughts of air cause a crick in the neck,
Or huge bursting boiler blows all to a wreck,
But as safe as at home you from all danger steer,
While you travel abroad in the gay Shillibeer.
“Then of the exterior I safely may say
There never was yet any carriage more gay,
While the round-tire wheels make it plainly appear
That there’s none run so light as the smart Shillibeer.
“His conductors are famous for being polite,
Obliging and civil, they always act right,
For if just complaint only comes to his ear,
They are not long conductors for George Shillibeer.
“It was meant that they all should wear dresses alike,
But bad luck has prompted the tailors to strike.
When they go to their work, his men will appear
_À la Française, Conducteur à Mons. Shillibeer_.
“Unlike the conductors by tailors opprest,
His horses have all in new harness been drest:
The cattle are good, the men’s orders are clear,
Not to gallop or race--so says Shillibeer.
“That the beauties of Greenwich and Deptford may ride
In his elegant omni is the height of his pride--
So the plan for a railroad must soon disappear
While the public approve of the new Shillibeer.”
But, unfortunately for Shillibeer, the plan for the Greenwich railway
did not disappear. It was carried out, and when, in 1835, the railway
was opened, the earnings of Shillibeer’s omnibuses began to decrease
ominously. For a time Shillibeer struggled on manfully, but the fight
with the railway was an expensive one, and getting into arrears
with his payments to the Stamp and Taxes Office, his omnibuses were
seized and not permitted to be worked until the money was paid. This
unreasonable action on the part of the Stamp Office was repeated three
or four times, and the heavy expenses and hindrance to business caused
thereby brought about Shillibeer’s failure.
Acting on the advice of his many sympathisers, Shillibeer appealed, in
1838, to the Lords of the Treasury for compensation for the injustice
done to him, with the result that, shortly after, he was offered the
position of Assistant Registrar of Licences, created by the Bill
just passed for the better regulation of omnibuses in and near the
Metropolis. This Act, the second one dealing with omnibuses, made it
compulsory that the words “Metropolitan Stage Carriage,” the Stamp
Office number, and the number of passengers that each vehicle was
licensed to carry should be painted, in a conspicuous manner, both
on the inside and outside of every omnibus. Drivers and conductors
were compelled to wear numbered badges, so as to afford means of
identification in case of misconduct. Licences were not to be
transferred or lent under a penalty of £5, and the omnibus proprietors
were forbidden, under a penalty of £10, to allow any unlicensed person
to act as driver or conductor, except in the case of sudden illness of
the licensed man.
Shillibeer had been led to believe that he would receive the
appointment of Registrar of Licences, and was, therefore, greatly
disappointed when the Assistant Registrarship was offered him. He
declined it, and renewed his applications to the Lords of the Treasury
for compensation for the loss he had suffered through the almost
criminal stupidity of the Stamp and Taxes Office.
At length their Lordships appointed their Financial Secretary, Mr.
Gordon, to inquire into his case, and that gentleman’s investigation
of the facts proved to their complete satisfaction that Shillibeer had
been cruelly wronged by the Stamp and Taxes Office. Thereupon, they
promised Shillibeer that he should receive a Government appointment, or
a sum of money, that would compensate him for the loss he had suffered.
Mr. Gordon was then instructed to apply to the Marquis of Normanby
and the Right Hon. Henry Labouchere, the heads of two Government
departments, to appoint Shillibeer Inspector-General of Public
Carriages, or to give him an appointment on the Railway Department
at the Board of Trade. Unfortunately both of these applications were
unsuccessful. Mr. Gordon then applied for and obtained for Shillibeer
the promise of one of the twenty-five appointments of Receiver-General
of County Courts, which were just then being established. But once
again Shillibeer was doomed to disappointment. Mr. Gordon resigned
his position of Secretary to the Lords of the Treasury, but, before
ceasing his duties, he told Shillibeer that, if the Miscellaneous
Estimates for the year had not been made up, his name would have been
placed in them for a grant of £5000. Moreover, he promised to impress
upon his successor the necessity of seeing that Shillibeer received
his appointment and grant. He received neither. His claims were not
disputed, but unjustly ignored.
At last Shillibeer came to the conclusion that it was useless to place
reliance in Government promises. He, therefore, started business as an
undertaker, in premises adjoining Bunhill Fields Burial-ground, and the
following advertisement appeared continually in the daily papers and
elsewhere:--
“_Aux Étrangers. Pompes._
“Funèbres sur le systeme de la Compagnie Générale des Inhumations
et Pompes Funèbres à Paris. Shillibeer’s, City Road, near Finsbury
Square, où l’on parle Français. Every description of funerals, from
the most costly to the most humble, performed much lower than any
other funeral establishment. Catholic fittings from Paris. Gentlemen’s
funerals from 10 guineas. Tradesmen’s and artisans’, £8, £6, and £4.”
In a few years Shillibeer was well known as an undertaker, and gave
evidence before the Board of Health on the subject of the scheme for
extra-mural sepulture. But his success as an undertaker, which must
have been very gratifying to him after losing many thousands of pounds
as an omnibus proprietor, robbed him of posthumous fame by preventing
his name becoming as much a household word as is Hansom’s. For several
years after his pecuniary interest in omnibuses had ceased the vehicles
which he had introduced into England were called “Shillibeers” more
frequently than “Omnibuses,” but as soon as his “Shillibeer Funeral
Coaches” became well advertised, people did not like to say that
they were going for a ride in a Shillibeer, in case they might be
misunderstood. So the word “Shillibeer,” which would in time have
superseded “Omnibus,” and been spelt with a small “s,” was discarded,
and is now almost forgotten.
Shillibeer was also associated with Mr. G. A. Thrupp, the author of
“The History of the Art of Coachbuilding,” Mr. John Peters, Mr. Robson,
and Mr. Lewis Leslie in efforts to obtain a reduction of the heavy
taxes on carriages. Mr. Thrupp has described Shillibeer to me as a
big, energetic man, with a florid complexion, and brisk both in his
movements and his speech.
Shillibeer died at Brighton on August 22, 1866, aged sixty-nine, and it
is not to our credit that we have done nothing to perpetuate the memory
of one to whom we owe as delightful a form of cheap riding as could be
desired.