Twopenny fares introduced--The first omnibus with
advertisements--Penny fares tried--Omnibus improvements--Longitudinal
seats objected to by the police--Omnibus associations--Newspapers
on the “Favorites”--Foreigners in omnibuses--Fat and thin
passengers--Thomas Tilling starts the “Times” omnibuses--Mr. Tilling
at the Derby--Tilling’s gallery of photographs.
On October 21, 1846, a line of omnibuses was started from Paddington
to Hungerford Market, Charing Cross, with twopenny fares for short
distances. Hitherto the lowest fare had been fourpence. In the same
year advertisements appeared for the first time in an omnibus.
Mr. Frederick Marriott, of 335, Strand, who started the practice,
registered an omnibus, with advertisements displayed on the roof
inside, as an article of utility with the title of a “publicity
omnibus.” Possibly Mr. Marriott--who traded under the name of The
Omnibus Publicity Company--reaped little profit from his idea, which
was scarcely one that could be protected, but omnibus proprietors are
deeply indebted to him, for advertisements are as necessary to them
as they are to newspaper and magazine proprietors. Nevertheless, an
important newspaper made an amusing slip some years ago about omnibus
advertisements. A money-lender advertised in certain omnibuses, and
the newspaper in question, becoming aware of the fact, made some very
strong remarks concerning the proprietor’s conduct in permitting such
advertisements to appear. The omnibus proprietor wrote at once to the
Editor, pointing out the inconsistency of his paper, which censured
him on one page for publishing a money-lender’s advertisement, and
contained, on another, four advertisements of a similar nature. This
letter was not published, and nothing more was said on either side.
Penny fares were introduced in 1849 by some omnibuses running from
the Bank to Mile End. For a penny a passenger could ride the whole
distance. These omnibuses had but a brief career.
In 1850 several attempts were made to improve the style of omnibuses,
with the result that in January, 1851, the knife-board omnibus became
general. It was not, however, like the knife-board omnibuses which we
still see occasionally, for it carried only nine outside passengers.
Two sat on either side of the coachman, and the other five on an
uncomfortable seat, about a foot high, running the length of the
omnibus. They climbed up at the back on the right-hand side of the
door, and sat with their faces to the road. There were no seats on
the near side, but occasionally, when passengers were numerous, the
conductor would permit men to sit there, with their legs dangling down,
over a little rail, in front of the windows. But he always extracted
a promise from such passengers that if they smashed the windows they
would pay for them. That was a very necessary precaution, as the glass
was not of the substantial description now in use.
[Illustration: A KNIFE-BOARD OMNIBUS.]
These new outside seats were very popular with the public, but the
police objected to them, on the ground that the climbing up to them
was dangerous. The police were undoubtedly in the right, as many
accidents testified later, and when they summoned Mrs. Sophia Gaywood
for having such seats on the roof of one of her Bayswater omnibuses,
they obtained a conviction. But Mrs. Gaywood, like most ladies who
have been omnibus proprietors, before and since her time, was rather
fond of litigation, and appealed against the conviction. Mr. Wilson of
Islington, and other leading omnibus proprietors, gave evidence in her
favour, and finally the appeal was allowed and the conviction quashed.
On March 13, 1851, a new patent omnibus was placed on the Bayswater
and Charing Cross road. Each passenger had a seat entirely to himself,
and every seat was shut off and as secluded as a private box at the
theatre. But its career was short. So was that of the London Conveyance
Company, which ran omnibuses to the Bank, _viâ_ Holborn. This Company’s
vehicles had the initials L.C.C. painted on them, but not in such large
letters as the London County Council have on their omnibuses.
In October of the same year a meeting of London omnibus proprietors
was held at the Duke of Wellington, Bathurst Street, Argyle Square,
to consider a suggestion made by Mr. Crawford, the originator of the
Hungerford and Camden Town Association--now known as the Camden Town
Association--for choosing and working new routes at cheap fares.
The Hungerford and Camden Town Association, and one or two similar
bodies, had come into existence a few years previously through the
omnibus proprietors arriving at the conclusion that it would be more
remunerative to cease their fierce struggles one with another, and
to work harmoniously together. They ran their omnibuses at regular
intervals, and the coachmen and conductors were strictly ordered to
keep their time. It was an excellent idea, although it afforded little
satisfaction to lawyers, many of whom had grown prosperous on the
quarrels of omnibus proprietors.
But a reduction in legal expenses was by no means the only saving
effected by the amalgamation. Office and management expenses were
reduced considerably. The conductors, instead of being engaged by the
various proprietors, were now employed and controlled by the secretary
of the Association.
At the meeting at the Duke of Wellington new lines were decided upon,
the most important one being from Bayswater to the Bank--fourpence
all the way, with intermediate twopenny fares. Twenty omnibuses, the
majority built by Messrs. Rock and Gowar, were placed on that road,
and were successful from the day of starting. The Associations now in
existence are--
Atlas and Waterloo Omnibus Association.
Camden Town ” ”
John Bull ” ”
King’s Cross and Barnsbury Omnibus Association.
King’s Cross and Victoria Omnibus Association.
Victoria Station Omnibus Association.
Westminster ” ”
Nearly all of the above were in existence before the London General
Omnibus Company was started. The Atlas and Waterloo is the largest of
the Associations, and its omnibuses run as far south as Gipsy Hill
and north as Finchley. Moreover, it claims, and its claim cannot be
disputed, to have the prettiest omnibus route in London. That route is
from Oxford Circus to Hendon, _viâ_ Finchley Road, Child’s Hill and
Golder’s Green.
[Illustration: OMNIBUS BUILT BY ROCK AND GOWAR.]
The chief proprietors having omnibuses in some, or all, of the above
Associations are: The London General Omnibus Co., Ltd.; The Star
Omnibus Co., London, Ltd.; The Associated Omnibus Co., Ltd.; The
London Omnibus Carriage Co., Ltd.; Thos. Tilling, Ltd.; Birch Bros.,
Ltd.; and Messrs. Cane, Clinch, French, Glover, and Hearn. The
Associated Omnibus Co., Ltd., was formed last year to acquire and carry
on the businesses of The Omnibus Proprietors, Ltd., Mr. John Watkins
and Mr. P. Willing Tibbs.
The London Road Car Company, Ltd., and Messrs. Balls Bros, work in
friendly opposition to the above Associations.
The “times” in these Associations are very valuable, and when any
are placed on the market--which rarely happens--they are snapped
up immediately. Until he has bought his “times,” no proprietor is
recognized in the omnibus business.
In November, 1851, newspapers were placed in the “Favorite” omnibuses
for the convenience of passengers. A rack was fixed at the end opposite
the door, with a printed notice beneath, asking passengers to replace
the papers when done with, and put a penny in the money-box provided
for that purpose. It was soon seen that the British public had not
changed, in the matter of forgetfulness, since Shillibeer and Cloud’s
omnibus days. The passengers were continually taking papers away with
them, and it was very rarely that the money-box was found to contain
anything more valuable than buttons.
In the year of the Great Exhibition, when London was crowded with
foreigners, the number of omnibuses was increased considerably; but
there were not too many, and proprietors and conductors grew rich in a
few months. Many of the conductors fared better than their masters, and
when the Exhibition was at an end settled down to some other business
with a comfortable sum in hand to give them a good start. Of course,
the conductors did not obtain the money in a legitimate manner. The
way in which they did obtain it is, however, no secret. Every morning,
before starting work, they provided themselves with a quantity of
pence, half-pence, and small pieces of silver, for change. Then their
chief aim was to fill their omnibuses with foreigners, and give them
wrong change when they alighted. If a foreigner gave one of those
conductors half a crown for a four-penny fare, the latter would count
out two sixpences and four half-pence, put them in the man’s hand,
shout out “Right away, Bill!” jump on the step and drive off, leaving
the poor fellow puzzling his brain to understand the change. On other
occasions the conductor would tell the foreigners that they had reached
their destination before they had gone half-way, and the unsuspecting
aliens would get out, paying the full fare without a murmur.
Quarrels among the passengers were of everyday occurrence, and the
cause of the discord was, almost invariably, the windows. There were
usually five windows on each side of the omnibus, which could be opened
or closed according to the passenger’s fancy. An arrangement better
calculated to breed discord could scarcely have been made. The quarrels
concerning them were usually somewhat ludicrous--from the fact that
the ten windows rattled fearfully, compelling the disputants to yell
at each other to make themselves heard. One day a Frenchman and an
Italian chanced to be sitting side by side in an omnibus. The Italian
pulled up a window just behind them. The Frenchman promptly, and
indignantly, lowered it. The Italian excitedly pulled it up again, and
this ding-dong performance was continued for some little time, greatly
to the amusement of the other passengers. At last, the Frenchman grew
desperate, and shattered the glass with his elbow, exclaiming, “Now,
Monsieur, you can have ze window up if you likes!”
Many Londoners objected strongly to the overcrowding of omnibuses
during the time of the Exhibition, and some, who knew the law, insisted
upon having their proper amount of space, no matter who suffered in
consequence. The law had declared that every passenger was entitled
to sixteen inches of room on the seat; that he might measure it, and
any person hindering him from doing so was liable to a penalty of £5.
Consequently, many cantankerous people carried yard-measures in their
pockets, and insisted upon having their full space. Certainly, sixteen
inches is not much room for any man or woman, and a large proportion
of the passengers could not possibly squeeze themselves into it; and,
because of their inability to do so, quarrels between thin and stout
people were of everyday occurrence.
In the year of the Great Exhibition was started the first of
Tilling’s omnibuses. There have been many English proprietors who
have conducted their businesses successfully and honourably, but none
came so prominently before the public as George Shillibeer and Thomas
Tilling. Both men had interesting careers, but there the similarity
ends. Shillibeer, if not a rich man, was very well-to-do when he
started his famous omnibuses, and yet he was driven at last into the
bankruptcy court, and finished his omnibus career under a financial
cloud. Tilling, however, began work without capital, and with but one
solitary horse for his stock-in-trade, yet by hard work he achieved
success and built up the large business so well known to all Londoners.
By 1851, four years after his modest start, he had prospered to an
extent which enabled him to put on the road his first omnibus. It was
called the “Times,” and ran from Peckham to Oxford Circus. At the
present day there are some twenty-four “Times” omnibuses on that road.
Tilling’s “Times” are excellently horsed, and share with the John Bull
Association’s omnibuses the honour of being the fastest travelling
omnibuses in London. Tilling’s four-horsed “Times” doing its first
morning journey to the West End is the most picturesque omnibus sight
in England.
[Illustration: TILLING’S FOUR-HORSE “TIMES.”]
When the first “Times” had proved a success, Mr. Tilling started
omnibuses on other roads, and before many years had elapsed there
was no name better known to South Londoners than his. At that period
it was the morning custom of South London omnibuses to go round the
streets, in the district from which they started, to pick up their
regular riders at their houses; but Mr. Tilling would not conform to
this practice. He made it known that his omnibuses would not collect
passengers, but would start from a certain place at a stated time, and
people understood that if they wanted to travel by them they would have
to go to the starting-place.
Mr. Tilling was by no means an omnibus proprietor only. Before he had
been established many years he was the owner of coaches, cabs, wedding
carriages, and, in short, carried on the ordinary business of a job
master. On Derby Day he had, usually, as many as two hundred horses on
the course, and although he was present at Epsom thirty consecutive
years, he had always so much to attend to that he never once saw the
great race run. In fact, on one occasion, when he got back to Peckham,
he surprised his chief clerk, who had been in the office all day, by
asking what horse had won. After that it need scarcely be said that
Mr. Tilling did not indulge in betting. Indeed, betting and swearing
were practices which he would not tolerate among his men, although he
was one of the most considerate employers that ever lived. Unspoiled
by success, unostentatiously charitable and simple in his tastes, he
was held in the highest esteem by every man in his employ, and when he
died, in 1893, the loss was felt by each of them to be a personal one.
There exists, at Messrs. Tilling’s chief offices, a good-sized room
containing a pleasing testimony to the interest which the founder of
the firm took in his employees. Mr. Tilling, many years ago, ordered
that a photograph should be taken, and hung in that room, of every man
who had been in his employ for twenty years. As other men completed
their twenty years’ service their photographs were taken and added to
the collection, and now--for the practice is still maintained--the
walls are covered with them.
Many of the men whose photographs adorn the room have been in the
Tillings’ employ for nearly half a century. One of their “Times”
coachmen, whose face is very familiar to frequenters of Regent Street,
has driven an omnibus through that thoroughfare for over forty years.
His brother has been in the same employ for a still longer period. The
office also has its representatives of long service, one gentleman
having been engaged there nearly forty years.
Mr. Tilling, as already stated, began business with one horse, but
the limited liability company which bears his name has now a stud of
over four thousand, and possesses one hundred and sixty omnibuses. The
horse with which Mr. Tilling started business was a grey, and for many
years, in fact until he was compelled by his customers’ requirements
to break the rule, he would purchase no horses that were not of that
colour.