CARRIAGES FROM 1790 TO 1876.
Mr Felton’s Opinions--Proper Strength of Carriages--Method of
Construction--Usual Width of Coaches--The Perch--Great Height of
Wheels in 1790--The Lord Chancellor’s Coach--The Landau--Phaetons
of 1790--Two Wheeled Vehicles--Taxation on Carriages--Advance of
the Trade--Invention of Elliptical Springs--Carriages of Napoleon
Buonaparte--Number of Vehicles Paying Taxes--The
Curricle.--Introduction of Undersprings--Mr S. Hobson’s
Improvements--The Briska and the Stanhope--The Tilbury and
Dog-Cart--Commercial Travellers’ Gigs--Travelling Carriages--The
Pony Phaeton and the Droitska--The Cab Phaeton and the
Victoria--Dress Carriages--Coronation Procession in
1838--Improvement of the Landau--Introduction of the
Brougham--Waggonnettes--Exhibitions of Carriages--Numbers of
Carriages in 1874.
“In the year 1790,” according to a very competent judge, a coachbuilder
then alive, Mr Felton, “the art of Coachbuilding had been in a gradual
state of improvement for half a century past, and had now arrived to a
very high degree of perfection, with respect both to the beauty,
strength, and elegance of our English carriages.” “The superior
excellence, too, of English workmanship has not only been the occasion
of a very great increase in their number in this country, but the
exportation of them to foreign nations is become a profitable and
considerable branch of British commerce.”
These statements might have been made again and again for many years
after this date. Our carriages, as I will endeavour to show, have
continued to improve; but no longer, I regret to have to say, are they
exported in large numbers. The cost has so much increased, from the date
of 1790, that foreign nations prefer to deal with manufacturers who can
give them a vehicle which, to the eye, appears as good as our own, and
in colours and finish is more to their taste, whilst the price is from
10 to 30 per cent. less than the British carriage.
Although I shall have occasion to treat this part of our subject in the
last lecture more fully, I will here guard against misconception, by
pointing out the example set us by our energetic brothers in the United
States, who have secured a very large market for their carriages, even
in English colonies, by building good and light vehicles at a moderate
price. In confirmation of the statement of Mr Felton in 1790, we find
that English carriages had been exported to the North American and West
Indian Colonies as early as 1740.
To return to Mr Felton’s work. He states that the Coach trade was
prosperous, and was not confined to Coachbuilders proper, but that
harnessmakers and others opened repositories for the sale of carriages.
This practice was not confined to England,--it was also a French custom,
and so much so, that in the French Encyclopædia, Coachmaking is
described under the heading of “Sellier” or “Saddler,” and even now in
some towns on the Continent, one may see “Sellier” painted on the front
of a coach-factory, without any other description of the trade.
The principal improvements in carriages in London from 1770 to 1790 were
the invention of Mr John Hatchett, of Long-acre, whose taste in building
appears to have been prominent, and other Coachbuilders generally copied
him.
Mr Felton adds that many gentlemen took great pleasure and pride in
getting a handsome coach built, and that his treatise was intended to
aid them in forming a judgment thereon.
The following remarks are principally taken from Mr Felton’s work, as
far as regards this period of 1790:--
“Carriages should always be built adapted to the places for which they
are destined, whether for town, country, or the Continent; as a greater
stress is laid upon the carriage in drawing over stones than on a smooth
road. This makes it absolutely necessary to build stronger for the town
than if intended for the country only, owing to the general goodness of
our English roads; it is also necessary to build stronger for the
Continent than even for the town, as the badness of their roads obliges
them to use six horses where we should use two.
“The construction of every carriage should be as light as the nature of
the place for which it is destined will allow. It is folly to give
unnecessary weight to the horses, as the pleasure of conveyance arises
from expedition and ease, which cannot be effected in a cumbersome,
heavy carriage.
“A false opinion pervades the minds of many persons, which is, to build
strongly, regarding the durability of the carriage in preference to the
preservation of the horses. Superior strength is only effected by
additions in weight of the materials used.
“In the usual meaning of the word carriage among Coachmakers, it is the
lower framework on which the body containing the passengers is fixed or
suspended and to which the wheels are attached. Although, speaking
generally, all vehicles are called carriages, yet, in speaking
technically, the distinction must be observed.
“It is the body, however, which contains the passengers, which varies
most in shape and size, and which is most conspicuous to the eye, and
from which, therefore, we derive the particular name of each sort of
vehicle.”
In Coachbuilding, accordingly, the first process is to draw out a side
view of the body, and carefully to assimilate the lines and curves to
the prevailing fashion of the day. Secondly, to draw out the plan, or
view from above, of the bottom and roof dimensions, with the sweep or
cant lines downwards, and backwards, and forwards. The body-maker
afterwards makes patterns in thin wood of all the different pieces of
timber he requires; these are laid upon planks of ash timber, and marked
with chalk, and sawn as nearly to the size as possible. The body-maker
then proceeds to smooth one side of the pieces of wood and frame them
together. It is unnecessary here to give further details of framing the
body, it is sufficient to say that the chief timbers are called the
bottom sides; upon them all the superstructure is raised, and upon their
stability all depends; they are, therefore, of stout timber, and
generally strengthened with iron plates several inches wide, and from a
quarter to three-quarters of an inch thick. It is necessary to mention
the bottom sides also, because we can hardly describe the shape of a
body without mentioning them. The panels are of soft-grained mahogany,
which was used in 1790, as well as at the present day in England;
although our neighbours in France preferred then, and generally still
use walnut and poplar wood for panels. The roof, bottom, and lining
boards are of deal. The roof of a coach is covered with a hide of
leather stretched on in a wet state.
The widths usual for the inside of bodies in those days was 3 feet 5
inches for two persons, and 4 feet to 4 feet 2 inches, for three persons
on each seat. The height of the seat from the floor was 14 inches, and
from the roof 3 feet 6 inches to 3 feet 9 inches. These dimensions will
serve to show how little we have varied from them to the present day.
The body being planned out and in progress, the carriage underworks were
prepared, and Mr Felton’s description answers to the description in most
particulars of the method of building from that time to this. The axles
were common axles, with a single large nut and linch-pin, such as we now
use to agricultural carts and street cabs only. There were improved
axle-trees, with double nuts at each end of the axle-trees and patent
axles, which were not then furnished with the loose collet now used, and
mail axles; all these are carefully described, and evidently very
closely resembled the axles in use in 1876. The axles were strengthened
by wooden additions called beds, in which the axles were recessed and
clipped. The front and hind axle-beds were joined by a long timber
called a perch, with wooden side-stays or wings behind. In front the
under fore-carriage was joined to the perch by a large iron perch (or
king) bolt. To secure a steady bearing for the upper and under carriages
in locking round, a circle of iron and wood was added, termed
wheel-plate in England, and the fifth wheel in America. Beneath the
wheel-plate were the futchels (or fourchils) to support the splinter-bar
and pole, or shafts. All these timbers were heavier in 1790 than those
used in the following years; the ironwork was lighter and broke very
frequently. The iron used by Coachbuilders in those days was decidedly
inferior to the iron of 1830. This remark applies chiefly to the smaller
pieces of iron. When a large piece of work, such as an axle-tree or a
crane was required, it was forged of a number of bars, welded together,
and hammered into a tough, secure mass.
The wheels were the distinguishing feature of the carriages of that day,
from their great height and light appearance, and demand some
consideration from us.
The extreme height of wheels extended to 5 feet 8 inches, which were
made with but fourteen spokes; wheels 5 feet 4 inches high had twelve
spokes; wheels 4 feet 6 inches had ten spokes; and the lowest wheels, 3
feet 2 inches high, eight spokes. The naves were of elm, the spokes of
oak, and the rims or felloes of ash or beech. The rims of the higher
wheels were often of bent timber, in two or more pieces, and were bolted
to the tyres by one bolt
[Illustration: PLATE 25. A FRENCH CHAISE DE POSTE OF 1760]
[Illustration: PLATE 27. LANDAU OF 1790]
[Illustration: PLATE 28. A PERCH SOCIABLE BY HATCHETT.]
between each pair of spokes. The tyre was generally put on in pieces,
the end joining in the middle of the felloe. But the better sort of
wheels had the tyre put on in one piece, and called, as in the present
day, “a hoop-tyre.”
“Many persons,” Mr Felton says, “prefer the common sort of wheel, on
account of their being more easily repaired than the hoop-tyre wheel;
but though the repairing the latter is more difficult, they are much
less subject to need it.” In consequence of the great height of the
wheels it was necessary to make the carriages very long, and the
distance from the front to the hind axle-tree was 9 feet 2 inches in a
chariot, and 9 feet 8 inches in a coach, or about 8 inches in each
longer than we should think necessary now. In hackney coaches a shorter
perch was customary. Crane-neck perches were still used. The springs
were chiefly what is termed the whip spring, namely, an upright spring,
slightly curved at the top towards the body. The same spring, if united
at the point to another, became a nutcracker or elbow spring. The same
united at the thick end with another became the grasshopper, or
horizontal spring, and was used for gigs. The =C= spring was also
occasionally used. There was also a small conical spring placed between
the double of the braces, after the manner recommended by Mr Thomas to
the Academy of Sciences at Paris, in 1703. [_See_ Plate 28.]
Having thus described the making of the body and carriage, we naturally
proceed to the product. What was the actual appearance of the coach of
1790? We are again assisted here by the existence of a coach of that
period. In the museum of South Kensington may be seen the Lord
Chancellor of Ireland’s coach, a large body with deep panels,
flat-sided, longer on the roof than at the elbow, with windows in the
upper quarters; the carriage with two crane perches, (Berlin fashion),
whip springs, and very high wheels. There is no hind footboard, whilst a
hammer-cloth for the coachman is raised upon scroll ironwork, very well
made. The shape and appearance correspond with the designs in Mr
Felton’s book, and with drawings now in the possession of the well-known
firm of Barker and Co., of coaches built by their house for the Duke of
Bedford and others during 1780 to 1800.
The chariot was something like the chariot of later days [Plate 38], but
was made with smaller windows, deeper panels, a very shallow rocker, and
with a sword-case; this was an ugly excrescence at the back of the body,
to which there was an opening from behind that squab against which the
shoulders rest. The sword-case was at first intended to contain weapons,
too frequently required by the many highway robbers that were
encountered by travellers, and for fifty years it was considered
essential to almost every carriage that was built; but it was a relief
to every critical eye when Coachmakers were allowed to omit it.
Landaus were originally invented about the year 1757, at the fortified
town of Landau, in Western Germany.
The Landaus in 1790 [Plate 27], were like coaches in shape but made so
as to open in the centre of the roof, the framework of which fell back
at an angle of 45 degrees only, to allow the admission of air and the
sight of the country more freely than in a coach; but for nearly fifty
years there was no improvement in the method of opening and closing the
top, technically termed the “hood” of the Landau.
Landaulets were chariots made to open. The hoods of both Landaus and
Landaulets, and other carriages, were then made of greasy harness
leather, disagreeable to touch or smell, and continually needing oil and
blacking rubbed into them to keep them supple and black. This was
certainly much against their popularity; but, considering that they were
two carriages in one, and would serve for day and night work, and summer
and winter, it is not surprising that they found a large amount of
patronage.
Besides these vehicles there were phaetons, barouches, sociables,
curricles, gigs, and whiskies. Of these phaetons there were several
sorts, but all for self-driving by the owners. Young England, in those
days especially, delighted in very lofty phaetons and fast driving. The
romantic tales of this age, as well as the biographies, are full of
anecdotes of adventures by upsets out of these dangerous machines, and
yet of the fearful pleasure there was in driving them.
One was called the “Perch-high Phaeton.” [Plate 29]. It was shaped like
a curricle, and had a leathern hood. The centre of the body was hung
exactly over the front axle-tree, the bottom of the body was 5 ft. from
the ground, the front wheels were 4 ft. high, and the hind wheels 5 ft.
8 in. The hind wheels were far behind, as we see them in a
horse-dealer’s skeleton brake. There was a large platform board over the
hind axle-tree, for servants or luggage. On such a carriage George IV.,
when Prince of Wales, used to drive to the race-course, or round Hyde
Park. It was on such a carriage that the Hon. Col. Onslow, generally
called “Tommy Onslow,” performed his feats of driving:
“What can Tommy Onslow do?
He can drive a chaise and two;
What can Tommy Onslow more?
Oh, he drives a chaise and four.”
Another sort of phaeton, with the wheels 6 in. on 8 in. lower, and the
body slung between the wheels, was used both for driving and posting. A
third sort was used for small horses, with the front wheels 3 ft. 2 in,
and the hind wheels 4 ft. 9 in.
Then there was a one-horse phaeton [Plate 30], the body of which was
over the hind axle, and it was hung on grasshopper springs, bolted to
the axle, and connected with the body by scroll-irons; the body was
joined to the fore carriage, which was without springs, by wooden stays,
and the wheels locked round in front of the body. This distance of the
horse from the driver, though it gives but an indifferent command of his
head, yet secures the passengers from the danger of his heels.
The sociable in those days was [Plate 28], in the shape of a double-cab
body, made with or without doors, and with or without a driving seat.
Sometimes
[Illustration: PLATE 31. CHAIR BACK GIG OF 1790.]
[Illustration: PLATE 32. A CANED WHISKEY OF 1790.]
[Illustration: PLATE 33. A BRISKA ON C SPRINGS.]
an open body like this sociable, and a chariot had but one under
carriage between them, which was used according to the year, either with
the open or the closed body.
The large two-wheeled vehicles were hung upon framed carriages with whip
springs behind and elbow springs in front, like the gentlemen’s
cabriolets of the present day. When drawn by two horses they were called
curricles, or if by one horse, chaises [Plate 31]. There was a little
variation in the shape of the body, namely, the full curricle patterns,
and the half curricle with or without a boot--similar to a Tilbury or a
gig body. The wheels were from 4 ft. 3 in. to 5 ft. in height. Lancewood
was then used for shafts.
Another two-wheeled carriage was the Whisky [Plate 32] (or gig) the body
fixed upon the shafts--which again were connected with the long
horizontal springs by scroll-irons. The gig was also made with a
moveable hood.
The Rib Chair was a similar vehicle, but without springs; the body had a
solid board for a seat, rounded into a semi-circular form, with an upper
rail of the same shape, supported by a number of small sticks hardly
differing at all from the Stanhope shape of later days. This vehicle was
made in the country towns for twelve pounds. The tax in 1790 upon
two-wheel vehicles in general was £3, 17s. each, but if the cost was
only £12, and the words “taxed cart” were painted upon the gig or cart,
the yearly tax was reduced to twelve shillings, hence a very large
number of these “rib chairs” came into use among the gentry; whilst
farmers used a similarly cheap cart without springs, and, to obtain some
slight ease, had the seat slung upon straps fastened to the side of the
cart. The tax upon four-wheeled carriages was £8 16s. for the first, and
£9 18s. for the second carriage, but if three or more carriages were
kept, the owner had to pay a tax of £11 on each carriage.
It is difficult for a government who must raise money to so adjust the
taxes as not to impede at the same time the industry of the country.
Looking back now at the alterations which took place from time to time
in the taxes upon carriages used and carriages hired, we can have no
hesitation in saying that sufficient attention has never been given to
the remonstrances of Coachbuilders and hackney carriage owners at the
offices of the Inland Revenue, and that consequently the owners and
users of carriages have suffered an amount of annoyance that might and
should have been avoided; whilst the amount raised in taxes might have
been higher if it had been more judiciously apportioned.
I have now given a description of the principal vehicles at this period
of the history of English coachbuilding. I wish to add that most, if not
all, were used for travelling purposes as well as for driving in the
cities. By an ingenious arrangement the hammer-cloths could be removed,
and the cushions on which the footmen stood behind the coach or chariot
gave place to a trunk or rumble. Boxes fitted to the shape, and called
imperials, were put upon the roofs. Drag-shoes and chains, tool-budgets
and dragstaffs were added,
[Illustration: PLATE 29. A HIGH PERCH PHAETON OF 1790.]
[Illustration: PLATE 30. A ONE HORSE PHAETON OF 1790.]
[Illustration: PLATE 38. AN ENGLISH POST CHAISE OF 1790.]
and the vehicles could then be used as a comfortable travelling carriage
[Plate 38]. The curricles and phaetons were all used to carry trunks,
and these are described by Mr Felton very minutely, so as to make it
clear we have not much improved upon the fittings of a travelling
carriage since 1790.
Looking once more at the history I have given of the state of the
coach-trade in 1790, it is impossible not to be surprised at the
considerable advance from the clumsy vehicles of Queen Anne and George
I.’s time. But during the reigns of George II. and George III., all our
manufactures had received an immense impulse from the energy of the men
of the time. Discoveries were continually being made in arts and
manufactures. Books were written, experiments tried, and debates held in
every workshop as to the best mode of construction and arrangements of
all the parts, and improvements by the artisans employed became a matter
of course. It is true that, with the increased wealth of England there
was an increased demand for carriages,--demand will always produce
supply,--but all must admit that the supply in those days was very good,
and all the varied demands were met with considerable pains and
ingenuity.
In the year 1769, the Society of Arts had given sixty guineas to Mr T.
Hunt for improvements in tyring wheels, and twenty guineas to Mr Joseph
Jacob, of St. Mary-axe, for improved coach springs. This same Mr Jacob
wrote a clever treatise on carriages in 1773; and in 1777 he repaired
the city state coach. In 1772, the Society of Arts gave twenty guineas
to Mr W. Bailey, for improvements in the locking of waggons; and in
1773, the Society of Arts had experiments made in the draught of
carriages, and rewarded a Mr Cuthbert Clarke with fifteen guineas, for
an essay on the height of wheels. Later, Dr Edgeworth, in 1816,
conducted a series of interesting experiments at Dublin, with a view to
ascertain the difference that high and low wheels, long and short
carriages, and springs placed between the axles and the vehicles, would
have upon the draught of the vehicles.
In the year 1804, Mr Obadiah Elliot, a coachmaker of Lambeth, patented
his plan for hanging vehicles upon elliptical springs, thus dispensing
with the heavy combined wood and iron perch and cross beds that had been
invariably used in four-wheeled carriages up to that time, with the
exception of a few one-horse phaetons. Elliot was rewarded by the grant
of a gold medal from the Society of Arts, and extensive orders for his
carriages from the public, who appreciated his important enterprise and
invention.
I have a print, published by Ackermann in 1816, which shows a landaulet
upon elliptical springs. There is a square boot, framed to the body,
with the driving-seat on ironwork high above the boot; what are usually
called the pump-handles behind are straight, and support a foot-board.
The whole is upon four elliptical springs, 3 ft. 6 in. long, and with a
span of 10 in. The wheels are 3 ft. 8 in. and 4 ft. 8 in. high. The body
is very small, and the bottom is 3 ft 6 in. above the ground. But the
centres of the axle-trees are only 6 ft. 6 in. apart.
In the same book of drawings there is a full-bodied barouche, only 5 ft.
long, hung likewise high, with high wheels, and a very short carriage,
with whip springs; a coach and a landau, all painted yellow, are
likewise with very small bodies, and are hung high, with short
carriages, and the perches nearly straight; also a mail phaeton, with a
curricle-shaped body, and a rumble boot framed to it, hung upon a
carriage with 3 ft. 4 in. centres, the wheels 3 ft. and 4 ft. 4 in.
high, with full-shaped =C= springs behind, and elbow-springs and braces
from a high scroll iron on the transom bed.
It is interesting to observe how the demand for light vehicles had begun
to work, in decreasing the size and length in every way, and also in
lowering the height of the wheels from Felton’s time. Exactly the same
revolution was taking place in mail coaches. The improvements carried
out in England were repeated on the continent.
In 1810 three beautiful carriages were built at Milan on the occasion of
the wedding of the Emperor of Napoleon Buonaparte with the Princess
Maria Louisa of Austria. These carriages are still preserved at Vienna,
and consist of a state coach, a chariot, and a barouche, all upon =C=
springs. The perches are double, Berlin fashion, with elegant cranes at
each end; each perch is octagon, very well shaped, and forged out of
solid iron from end to end. All three carriages are small, light, and
well finished. The coach has a large crown on the roof and windows in
the sides, the hammer-cloth is supported on scroll ironwork, all the
decorations are in a good state and well-proportioned. At the Court of
Spain are preserved two handsome coaches built for Charles IV. before
1800, with side windows, an elegant metal fretwork standing above the
edge of the roof, hammer-cloths on scroll ironwork and =C= springs. They
have iron crane Berlin perches, and are suspended upon long thick
leather braces passing from the hind =C= springs to the front under the
body without any iron loops. Photographs of these vehicles are preserved
at the hall of the Coachbuilders’ Company.
I have mentioned the designs in the Carriage Fashion Book of 1816. In
further illustration I can say that, in 1812, a large coachbuilder’s
stock-book, which I have seen, contained over two hundred carriages,
mostly let for terms of years. Of these one-half were chariots, fifty
were landaus, and the remaining fifty coaches and landaulets.
In 1814, there were 23,400 four-wheel vehicles paying duty to
Government; 27,300 two-wheel, and 18,500 tax-carts; a total of 69,200
carriages in Great Britain. We shall see by later returns how much these
numbers have increased, by the reduction of government duties, and the
introduction of elliptical springs.
A carriage was much in fashion at this period called the Curricle; it
had been in use for many years in Italy; it was derived, I believe, from
the British _essedum_, which had been adopted by the Romans. The
Italians of the middle ages brought the body forward in front of the
wheels, and at length suspended the body from braces; the French added
springs, and the English altered the shape giving the back panel an
ogee curve, and improved the hood, and now added a spring bar across the
horses’ backs, rendering it a graceful and easy vehicle, which could be
driven at great speed. The want of perfect safety checked its early
popularity, and it was gradually superseded by the gentleman’s cabriolet
with one horse, and the mail-phaeton with two horses. It was in use from
1700 to 1830. The celebrated Romeo Coates drove a curricle in the shape
of a shell. Charles Dickens drove one as soon as his writings procured
him the means, and Count D’Orsay and Lord Chesterfield had new curricles
from Messrs Barker’s as lately as 1836.
The Coachbuilders of London of the greatest celebrity in 1815 were the
large firm of Collinridge, Rowley, Mansell, and Cook, of Liquorpond
Street; Windus, in Bishopgate Street, in the city of London; Barker, of
Chandos Street; Hatchett, of Long Acre, Houlditch and Hankins; and Luke
Hopkinson of Holborn. In 1818 Mr Windus introduced Undersprings to perch
carriages. It was found that in bad roads the elliptical springs did not
give sufficient ease, but the addition of horizontal springs below the =C=
springs had the advantage of rendering the carriages not only easier but
more durable, by relieving the perch and beds from the direct
concussions caused by ruts and holes. About the same time concealed
hinges were invented. Collinge’s patent axles, which had first been made
in 1792, became more generally used; their high price had been much
against them, but the advantage of carrying a supply of oil for two or
three months, avoiding also the noise and rattle of the common axles
(which require fresh greasing daily), gradually secured their use, and
when the patent expired they were universally adopted. Now this patent
axle and the mail axle are in general use throughout the civilised
world.
In 1820 the greatest improvements in the shape and style in the
manufacture and finish of English carriages were commenced by the
celebrated Samuel Hobson, who may be truly said to have improved and
remodelled every sort of carriage which came under his notice,
especially as regards the artistic form and construction, both of body
and carriage. He lowered the wheels of coaches and chariots to 3 ft. 3
in. in front and 4 ft. 5 in. behind, and lengthened the carriage part
once more to such a true proportion to the whole vehicle as has approved
itself as correct to each succeeding generation of Coachbuilders and
users of carriages. He lowered the body so that it could be entered by a
moderate double step instead of the three-fold ladder previously in use.
He perfected the curves of the bodies and the springs, besides making
the numberless small details of the body and underworks of the requisite
strength, and the most agreeable shape and proportion. Mr Samuel Hobson
learnt the art in the firm of Barker and Co., of Chandos Street, and
rose to be a partner in the firm, but after a few years in that position
he left about the year 1815 and set up for himself in Long Acre, and
ultimately moved about 1824 to the large premises previously Messrs
Hatchett’s. In his improvements he was assisted by his experience
gathered at Messrs Barkers, and aided by the enlightened minds and good
sense of most of the trade, who copied him as they had copied his
predecessor, Mr Hatchett, in 1780.
The Briska, or britchka, had been, about 1818, introduced into England
by Mr T. G. Adams, from Austria. [Plate 33.] It was built both upon
elliptical springs and =C= springs, and was made in various sizes, large
for family use, smaller for posting, with a rumble behind, and still
smaller to be drawn by one horse. This briska was nearly straight along
the bottom, according to the fashion of the wicker waggons still so much
used in Germany. The hind panel was ogee-shaped, the front terminated in
a square boot, and the door was lower than the hind quarter, and was
fitted with a solid folding apron or knee-flap. The carriage was short,
and the front wheel rather lower than usual. The Briska came, in 1824,
to be very much used, and lasted in favour until about 1840.
Two-wheeled carriages had much increased. The Dennett, invented by Mr
Bennett, of Finsbury, was a great improvement on the whisky, or gig, of
1790. It was like those, hung upon two long horizontal springs.
The Stanhope was built under the superintendence of the Hon. Fitzroy
Stanhope, brother of Lord Petersham, by Tilbury, the builder also of the
easy vehicle of that name. The Stanhope was shaped like the old rib gig,
but hung upon four springs, two of which were bolted between the shafts
and axle, and the other two crossways, parallel to the axle at either
end of the body, and shackled to the side springs. These Stanhopes are
very easy, and do not rock so much as other gigs behind a rough-trotting
horse, but they are heavier than the dennett, as it is necessary to add
iron plates all round the shafts.
The Tilbury was made without any boot, but otherwise the body was shaped
like a stanhope; the shafts were equally strong and plated with iron. It
was hung in front by two elbow-springs and leather braces to the shafts
or front cross bar, and behind by two elbow-springs passing from beneath
the seat to a cross-spring raised to the level of the back rail of the
body by three straight irons from the hind part of the cross bar. Later
two more springs were added between the axletree and the shafts by
scroll irons. The Tilbury was an elegant carriage, and when well made, a
particularly good vehicle, but the weight of so many springs and so much
ironwork gradually took away the public favour; they lasted until nearly
1850. They were perhaps more in favour for export to Italy, Portugal,
and other foreign countries, than our other two-wheel carriages, because
they would hold together over the roughest roads, and lasted a long time
without repair.
The Dog-cart and Tandem-cart belong also to the beginning of the present
century in their origin. Dr Edgeworth speaks with horror of the reckless
height to which they attained in 1817. “Carriages,” he says, “have
arisen to a preposterous elevation. That private phaetons and barouches
should be mounted out of the town dust, and above the country hedges, is
a dangerous luxury, but it does not materially affect the public. The
invention of that daring vehicle, ‘the Suicide,’ will not probably be
much imitated among Christian people; and fortunately the laws have
limited the elevation to which, by the absurdity of coachmen, mail
coaches might have been raised.” The “Suicide” was the name of a very
high tandem gig, wherein the groom was mounted upon a seat three feet
above the driver. It received its name in Ireland.
The first Dog-carts had a large and deep boot with Venetian slats in the
sides, to contain greyhounds or pointers, and the four passengers sat
back to back. Tandem-carts were made in a similar manner with a large
boot, the driver’s seat raised, something like the Salisbury boot
fashion, whilst the groom’s seat was, like the hind seat of a drag,
raised from the boot on ironwork. The gradual development of the
Dog-cart in all its varied shapes of high cart and low cart, Newport,
Pagnell, Malvern cart, Whitechapel, sliding body cart, Norwich cart,
&c., are too well known to need enlarging upon. They have afforded
facilities of agreeable locomotion to millions at a very moderate cost,
and, if carefully driven, are as reasonably safe as any vehicle. Who
drives faster than a butcher boy, and over roads of all sorts--dry,
rough, slippery, or newly made--the horse’s head held with a snaffle-bit
only--and yet it is very seldom that the horse falls.
With the growth of our trade and manufactures the system arose of
sending commercial travellers throughout England, to call the attention
of shopkeepers to novelties in manufactured goods. It was found
advantageous to send these travellers in light vehicles which could
convey samples of the manufactures, and this custom led to the
multiplication of gigs in far greater quantities than would have been
otherwise required. About 1830 one coach factory in London supplied
several hundreds of these vehicles to commercial travellers at annual
rentals. Now, this sort of travelling to show samples and solicit orders
is performed by railway, and the greatest number of two-wheeled vehicles
belong to farmers.
In 1810 a duty was levied by Government upon carriages for sale. It was
repealed in 1825, but the returns give the number of vehicles built for
private use in 1814 as 3636, and in 1824 as 5143, whilst the number of
carriages in use in 1824 had grown to nearly 29,000 four-wheeled, and
36,000 two-wheeled, besides 15,000 tax-carts, a total increase, since
1814, of 20,000 vehicles.
Travelling carriages had now become very much in demand, and were taken
on the Continent. Some noblemen and gentlemen began to travel abroad
every year. The fittings had become more elaborate. It was usual to cord
the =C= springs from the top to the bottom to strengthen them, and provide
against the jolts of very bad roads; so that, if one or two of the steel
plates broke, the cording would still hold all together. Also long ropes
were provided, extending beneath the body from the front to the hind
springs, to support it should the body-loops give way under the quantity
of luggage stowed in boxes, and imperials, and cap-cases. A dragstaff
was provided to prevent the coach sliding back when the horses rested in
going up hill, and two drag-chains and shoes against going down hill.
Notwithstanding these precautions it became usual, at the top of the
Alpine passes, from the courier who attended the traveller to procure
from the post-houses two sabots or logs of wood hollowed out to fit a
wheel, and these were substituted for the iron shoes during the long and
steep descent of the Alpine mountains.
In 1824 a carriage was introduced which has become of almost universal
use--the Pony phaeton. In that year King George IV. desired a low
phaeton, and one was built for him of a shape and size in which there
has been little alteration during the fifty years that have since passed
away. It was a cab shape, half caned, with a skeleton bottom side, hung
upon four elliptical springs, with crane ironwork back and front, two
elbow-wings, bow-steps, and large dasher, and it was drawn by two
ponies; the wheels were only 21 and 33 in. high.
Another carriage had been introduced from Germany, called a Droitska, an
open carriage with a hood, on a perch, and with =C= springs. The
peculiarity was that the body hung very near the perch; the place for
the legs was on either side of the perch, so that the seat was only 12
in. above the hind axle-tree; the chief merit of the Droitska consisted
in its lightness compared with Briskas and Barouches, and the shortness
of the whole vehicle. In appearance it resembled a _pilentum_, and it is
probable that Mr David Davies took his idea of a _pilentum_ from the
shape of the Droitska. Mr David Davies, a Coachmaker of Albany Street,
and afterwards of Wigmore Street, had considerable inventive faculties.
He originated a number of vehicles, the Pilentum phaeton, about 1834,
which was an open carriage with the doorway very near the ground, the
driving seat was also low, the whole hung upon elliptical springs, and
built of different sizes, to carry four or six persons, and adapted for
one or two horses.
The invention of the Cab Phaeton is also attributed to him; this was a
cab-shaped body suspended on four elliptic springs, with a low driving
seat and dasher, and shafts for one horse. It was soon generally
adopted, and became the pleasure carriage of thousands. The cab phaeton
was dispersed throughout England, and also on the Continent, where it
became known under the name of “Milord.” About 1850 it had become the
hack carriage of several of the Continental cities, and so went out of
fashion with the gentry. During the last few years, however, it has been
revived under the name of Victoria. In 1869, I think it was, that the
Prince of Wales bought one at Paris of the curved shape, and Baron
Rothschild brought another from Vienna of the square shape, and the
Victoria became again the popular carriage. Light, low, easy, fit for
one horse, and looking very well behind a pair of cobs, it is not
surprising that the Victoria meets with so much patronage, and it is
pleasant to observe how little difference there is made by different
Coachmakers in the size and shape of this useful and elegant vehicle. I
have had occasion to notice the influence that certain Coachbuilders
have had upon the progress of this art, and it will not be right to
omit to mention the great influence that Messrs Peters have exercised
upon the whole trade by the sound and good workmanship which has for so
many years characterised their establishment. As early as 1836 their
Mail phaetons were noted for the steadiness with which they followed the
horses, and the firmness with which they encountered rough roads.
The year 1838 claims special notice in the annals of Coachbuilding; it
was probably the climax of the efforts of modern Coachbuilders in what
is called “Dress” or “State carriages.”[5] These vehicles had long
passed the period in which beautiful carving and elegant painting had
been used to disguise, as far as possible, the clumsy State carriages of
the 18th century. Ever since the building of the Irish Lord Chancellor’s
State coach by Hatchett or Baxter in 1790, Coachbuilders had endeavoured
to produce a graceful outline of body, of a fair size no larger than was
necessary, the =C= springs had been made of a perfect curve, the perch
followed the sweeps of the body, the carving was reduced to a moderate
amount, the ornamental painting was confined to the stripes upon the
wheels, and the heraldic bearings of the owners of the carriages were
beautifully emblazoned on the panels. For further ornament they relied
upon plated work in brass or silver round the body and on the loops and
wheel hoops. In every capital of Europe such carriages had superseded
the old style, and London and Paris had supplied other countries with
most of these State carriages. In this year, 1838, was the coronation of
our gracious Queen, and the different ambassadors of foreign countries
and our own nobility had prepared for the occasion a larger number of
court Dress carriages than had ever been hitherto seen in London. Of
these vehicles it was generally considered that Marshal Soult, the
French Ambassador’s coach bore away the palm. Engravings of some of the
best were soon published. Marshal Soult’s coach was built by Mr
Dalringen, at Paris. The body had four upper quarter glasses, with a
very elegant deep and pierced cornice of silver round the roof, there
were four lamps with large coronets on the tops, and the coach bore a
coronet on the roof also. The colour of the painting was a lovely blue,
such as was then called Adelaide blue; this had been varnished with
white spirit varnish, and seemed almost transparent in lustre. The whole
coach was ornamented with silver and was finished in great taste.
About this period a noted Coachmaker named Luke Hopkinson, of Holborn,
introduced the briska landau. The peculiar shape is now of little
consequence, but with this carriage commenced those improvements upon
landaus which have since rendered them so popular.
Up to this time the Landau head had opened just as it did in 1790, and
no more; the pillars which now lie nearly flat fell usually only at an
angle of forty-five degrees. Mr Hopkinson cut away the corners of the
back rails, which hindered the hoopsticks from lying on the elbows, took
away the heavy squabbing that bulged into the body when the head was
lowered, and lined the upper quarters with plain cloth only, as in a
briska head. He also made the seats and bottom to rise six inches when
the landau was open, to give the persons inside more air and freedom.
To Mr Laurie we must give the high credit of improving upon Mr
Hopkinson’s improvements, and persisting in seeing that his workpeople
kept on improving, instead of, as workpeople used to do in 1838, hinder
their employers by vexatious objections to all alterations.
This period was noted also by the patronage by the Duke of Wellington of
a vehicle called the equirotal, invented by Mr W. Bridges Adams. This
was a gig without a head, and a curricle with a head, made so that each
could be used with one or a pair of horses, or combined into a mail
phaeton by adding two couplings between the two bodies; the four-wheels
being of equal height, give it the name of equirotal. The invention has
some very good points, and may be revived some day, with a more perfect
connecting joint than Mr Adams attained in 1838.
But the greatest improvement of this period was the introduction of the
brougham. Lord Brougham and others had for some time used a one-horse
chariot. The Pilentum chariot for one horse had already been built at
Paris, and several other small close carriages called Clarences had been
constructed; but none of these, although some were really light enough
for one horse, took thoroughly the taste of the public. Mr David Davies
introduced some shapes, and Messrs Laurie and Marner perfected them. I
think it was in 1839 that the first vehicle which was nearly the shape
of the present Brougham, was built by Mr Robinson, of Mount Street, for
Lord Brougham. Messrs Thrupp built one in the following year, 1840, of
the same shape. In a few years they were built by nearly all
Coachmakers, and proved so convenient that they superseded even the
cabriolet for gentlemen’s use. The size of the first Brougham was much
as is now in vogue, about 4 feet long in the body, and the same breadth
outside measure, the wheels 2 feet 11 inches and 3 feet 7 inches, the
driving-boot was made without any arch, in a single sweep from the body
to the foot-board; it was hung on elliptic springs in front, and five
springs behind, without any body steps. This was preceded by the
pill-box Brougham, as it was called, with straight front pillars, and
the body very much contracted in front, to look light. A street cab was
the forerunner of both.
In a year or two, Mr Edward Lytton Bulwer (afterwards Lord Lytton) had a
small Clarence of the shape called Imperial Clarence which was painted
brown with white wheels, and had a small hammer-cloth of brown and
white; the whole was tastily fitted up and finished, but the attempt to
introduce a miniature chariot did not succeed, although it was built
with considerable care by Messrs Laurie and Marner.
In 1845, Waggonettes were built of some size; the first, it is said, was
made under the superintendence of the late Prince Consort, and was
successful as being the forerunner of a very large number of light,
roomy, and useful vehicles. Break waggonettes are also an improvement
upon the uncomfortable conveyances called Breaks in early days. The
principle of riding sideways was not new. The Irish car, the
four-wheeled Inside-car of the Westmoreland Lake district, the old
Break, and the Omnibus all contributed to the design of the modern
vehicle.
In the modern Waggonette we have not only a good looking, comfortable
carriage, but one which possesses the advantage of carrying a greater
number of persons than any other four-wheeled vehicle of the same weight
and size.
In 1846 was introduced and perfected by Messrs Hooper the system of
suspending carriages on a single wrought iron perch, supported by
horizontal undersprings. The perch being light, and to a certain extent
elastic, enabled all the beds and iron stays to be proportionately
reduced in weight; the wheels and axles, having less to carry, were also
made lighter. This system at first was only applied to broughams and
sociables, but it has gradually been applied to the largest carriages,
especially barouches and landaus, not only in England, but in all
countries where carriages are made, so that it is quite the exception
for a new carriage to be built with a perch that is not of solid wrought
iron. These connecting perches are not now made quite so light as at
first; it is found that unless the hind wheels follow steadily, not
only is the carriage heavier behind the horse, but the perch itself is
frequently bent against very small obstructions; a stronger and stiffer
perch is therefore now used, and it is found both easier to the horse
and to the occupants of the vehicle.
We have now reviewed the principal varieties of carriages introduced
into England during the present century; to enumerate the whole would be
tedious. At our great Exhibitions in London, Paris, Vienna, and other
cities, new shapes have continually appeared, and some have found
favour, and some have appeared no more. They are evidence that the
ingenuity of Coachbuilders is not less than the ingenuity of the workmen
in other trades. The history of the last twenty-five years is, however,
sufficiently fresh upon the memory not to require repetition. We have
already in the reports of the juries of those several Exhibitions, drawn
up by Mr George Hooper, a record of the most noteworthy objects. It
would be for the benefit of all persons engaged in Carriage-building if
those reports could be reissued with the addition of a report of the
interesting Philadelphia Exhibition now in progress. M. Guiet, of Paris,
will probably write a report for use in that city.
In Saint Petersburg the Russian Emperor had an Imperial carriage
factory, originally established in 1821. At these works, which now
belong to Messrs Brautigam, two hundred and fifty men are employed.
Fifty new carriages a year are built for the Royal family, besides the
repairing and altering of others. There is a steam-engine on the
premises. There is also at St Petersburg a museum, in which repose
travelling carriages on the ground floor, and State carriages on the
first floor. There are post-chaises of 1746 and 1762, and seven
carriages which were in use by the Empress Catherine, many decorated by
well-known painters, such as Watteau, Boucher, Gravelot, &c., and
superbly fitted up in the interior with velvet and silk. There are
twelve sledges of the elaborate build of former days.
I will here mention that, by the kind permission of Mr W. H. Smith, of
the Treasury, I am able to give some further returns of carriages paying
duty. Four-wheeled carriages amounted in 1834 to 49,000; in 1844,
62,000; in 1854, 68,000; in 1864, 102,000; and in 1874 there were
actually 150,000 four-wheeled carriages paying duty, but these last
numbers now include vehicles which were formerly taxed under the
Postmaster’s and Stage duties, and these vehicles in 1864 had amounted
to 25,000, still without them the increase in ten years is 23,000, quite
as many as were kept in the year 1814. In 1814, that is 23,000
four-wheeled carriages paid duty, and in 1874 they had increased to
125,000.
The return states there were of two-wheeled carriages in--
1834 50,000 including the tax carts.
1844 33,000 “
1854 137,000 “
1864 170,000 “
And in--
1874 285,000 two-wheeled carriages, including
basket and other four-wheeled
traps under 4 cwt.
Carriages of both sorts then have increased from about 60,000 in 1814 to
432,600 in 1874, a benefit to the general population it is clear, as
well as to the workmen.
It is a satisfaction that our trade contributes to the comfort,
happiness, and respectability of the community in general, and is also a
very healthy trade for the workmen.
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