The opening of Holborn Viaduct--An omnibus is the first vehicle to
cross it--“Viaduct Tommy”--Skid-men.
After a frost or a slight fall of rain, asphalted Victoria Street
and Tottenham-court Road, innocent of sand until many poor horses
have slipped and fallen and struggled and strained to rise again, are
a saddening sight to horse-lovers. But those, and other notorious
streets, at their worst never present such a sight as was witnessed
daily on Holborn Hill in the first half of the 19th century. It was a
cruel, heart-breaking hill for horses to climb, and people who lived
on the spot declared that from morning until night, in all weathers,
piteous sights were always to be seen. Year after year the cruelty
of compelling horses to pull heavily-laden vehicles up the hill
was denounced by hundreds of Londoners, and, eventually, the City
Corporation put an end to the pitiful sight by building the Holborn
Valley Viaduct. The chief stone was laid by Mr. Thomas Henry Fry,
chairman of the Improvement Committee of the Corporation, on June 3,
1867, and on Saturday, November 6, 1869, the Viaduct was opened by
Queen Victoria, who came, accompanied by Princess Louise, straight from
Blackfriars Bridge, where she had just performed a similar ceremony. In
spite of the weather, which threatened at first to be a repetition of
the previous day, when London was enveloped in a fog, the crowd was the
largest which had ever assembled to greet Her Majesty. On the Viaduct,
the tiers of seats erected on either side were filled with a brilliant
gathering invited by the Corporation. After the Queen had opened the
bridge and departed, and the Corporation’s guests had dispersed, the
work of clearing away the stands and preparing for the real opening to
the public was begun.
Punctually at nine on Monday morning the barrier across the roadway was
removed, and at once there was a rush of vehicles whose drivers were
eager for the honour of being first across the Viaduct. Thomas Grayson,
driving one of the London General Omnibus Company’s “City-Atlas”
omnibuses, whipped up his horses and won an exciting race amidst
the enthusiastic cheers of his passengers. In commemoration of this
event, Grayson’s regular riders presented him with a new whip, on the
handle of which was inscribed the occasion of its presentation. Some
of the riders, proud of having been present on the memorable morning,
expressed a wish to have a photograph of the omnibus, and Grayson had
one taken. In it he is to be seen sitting upright on the box, holding
the presentation whip in his hand and driving the pair of horses with
which he won the race. Grayson had a large number of copies of this
photograph printed, with the following record on the back of each:--
First over the Holborn Viaduct,
On November 8, 1869,
at 9 a.m.
Copies may be had of the Driver,
THOMAS GRAYSON,
1, Victoria Place,
Kilburn.
These photographs Grayson offered for sale at sixpence a copy, and the
whole stock was soon purchased by the St. John’s Wood people--to whom
he was already well known--and his fellow ’busmen. The latter promptly
and unanimously dubbed him “Viaduct Tommy,” and by that name he was
known as long as he lived. No London omnibus driver was ever so well
known as “Viaduct Tommy” became, for, as he drove along the streets,
quite conscious that he was a public character, other ’bus drivers
would say to the passengers sitting beside them, “That’s ‘Viaduct
Tommy,’” and the story of his achievement would follow.
[Illustration: THE FIRST VEHICLE TO CROSS HOLBORN VIADUCT.]
“Viaduct Tommy” continued to drive an omnibus for about a score of
years after he became famous, and when, at last, he retired he was not
forgotten. The people in the neighbourhood where he resided, during the
latter years of his life, took pride in pointing him out to strangers,
many of whom, when they heard the story, went up to the old man and
had a chat with him about the great event of his life.
Every innovation for the public good ruins a few people who prospered
under the old order of things, and the building of Holborn Viaduct was
no exception to the rule. A number of men had for years made a living
by putting the skids on vehicles before they started down the hill, and
one of them, who was largely patronised by omnibus men, earned every
day between twelve and fifteen shillings. But when the Viaduct was
opened their occupation was gone.