COMMON STAGES AND HACKNEY COACHES. 



CHAPTER II. 



COMMON STAGES AND HACKNEY COACHES. 



The introduction of a regular system of carrying by 

 what are known as ' common stages ' and ' hackney 

 coaches,' 1 is noted by Fynes Moryson, who, in his ' Ten 

 Years of Travel through Great Britain and other Parts 

 of Europe,' published in 1617, says: ' Sixty years ago 

 coaches were very rare in England,' but in his own day, 

 pride was so far increased that there were few gentlemen 

 of any account (i.e. ' elder brothers,' as he parentheti- 

 cally explains), ' who had not their coaches, so that the 

 streets of London were stopped up with them.' 



We have ample evidence from other sources of the 

 annoyances caused to the ordinary dwellers in London 

 by the great amount of coach traffic through the narrow 



1 The term ' hackney coach ' is of French origin. In France a strong 

 kind of cob horse (hacquenee) was let out on hire for short journeys. These 

 were latterly harnessed, to accommodate several wayfarers at once, to a 

 plain vehicle called coche-a-hacquencc— hence the name. The legend that 

 traces their origin to Hackney, near London, is a vulgar error. They were 

 first licensed in 1662, and were at the same time subjected to regulations. 

 The number plying in London was fixed at 1,000. The fares were raised in 

 1 77 1. The number of coaches was increased in 1799, and frequently since. 

 The coachmakers became subject to a license in 1785, and the hackney 

 chariots, coaches, and cabriolets in 18 14. 



