What did our ancestors eat? What did they wear? What were their occupations? It is almost always the case (as it is today) that our ancestors lived close to their place of employment unless of course their occupation meant following work such as agricultural labourers. We tend to think of our ancestors as being quite 'static' but in fact they were extremely mobile and moved around much more than we do today. So how did they get around before the railroads were built?
It was not unusual for people to literally just walk 12 miles to the nearest market to sell their goods but for longer journeys horseback or a coach would be the main form of transport over land. By the mid 1800s there was a wide network of coach links between major towns.
Dean Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), the author of Gulliver's Travels, frequently travelled to and from Ireland on horseback. However, on one occasion he used the stagecoach to Chester. He wrote the following line recording his experience:
Roused from sound sleep - thrice called - at length I rise,
Yawning, stretch out my arms, half-closed my eyes,
By steps and lanthorn enter the machine,
And take my place, how cordially between
Two aged matrons of excessive bulk,
To mend the matter, too, of meaner folk;
While in like mood, jammed in on t'other side,
A bullying Captain and a fair one ride,
Foolish and fair, and in whose lap a boy-
Our plague eternal, but her only joy.
At last, the glorious number to complete,
Steps in my landlord for that bodkin seat;
When soon, by every hillock, rut, and stone,
In each other's faces by turn we're thrown.
This grandam scolds, that coughs, the Captain swears,
The fair one screams, and has a thousand fears;
While our plump landlord, trained in other lore,
Slumbers at ease, not yet ashamed to snore;
And master Dicky, in mother's lap,
Squalling, at once brings up three meals of pap,
Sweet company! Next time, I do protest, Sir,
I'd walk to Dublin, ere I ride to Chester!
Swift, true to his word, never made another coach journey. The following extract taken from The Coaching Era by Geoffrey Body and Roy Gallop recalls a journey from Bridgwater to Wells.
Born in 1746, William Holland became vicar of Overstowey at the age of 43. Sadly William, and Mary his wife, lost four children to an outbreak of scarlet fever in 1795. Two years later their pain was eased a little when 47-year old Mary gave birth to a son who they named after his father. When he reached the age of twelve a decision was taken to send young William to school in London then being run by his former master from Bridgwater. Not unnaturally, William and Mary were anxious about their son's impending travel adventure, especially as snow began to fall on the day before the journey was to take place.
The 12-year old Holland lad was booked to travel on Fromont's coach leaving Bridgwater at 3am on the morning of Sunday 15 January 1809. His mother had taken him to an inn in Bridgwater and someone had been paid to keep an eye on him until journey time. By all accounts the lad behaved well, was civil to his companions at breakfast and took up his inside seat in the coach in the best of spirits.
At the very last moment before departure another intending passenger arrived and claimed the seat that William was occupying. With or without his consent the boy was forced to surrender its relative comfort and manage as best he could in the basket where the luggage was carried. He must have been bruised, dispirited and near-frozen by the time the coach reached Wells and there was room for him to be taken back inside. Parson Holland was furious at what he called a 'cruel and brutal act'. Not sure whether to blame the book-keeper or the coachman he wrote a strongly-worded letter to the coach proprietor. What answer he got we do not know but the fact that his son's luggage also got lost cannot have help matters!In the 1800s stagecoaches were given names, a bit like today's numbered buses and trains. By 1830 Bridgwater had literally jumped on the bandwagon and were offering three long distance coaches and was the calling point for eight others.
The long distance coaches included the 10.30am daily service of the Hero which left The Globe Inn to London via Wells and Frome. The Globe Inn was situated in Eastover and was destroyed by a fire in 1875. The stagecoach the Duke of Wellington left the Bristol Arms Hotel at 10am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Bristol Arms Hotel was situated in High Street and was closed in 1981. The Industry, which operated the same days as the Duke of Wellington, left the London Inn for Minehead. The London Inn was situated near the former Y.M.C.A. building.
The Royal Mail left the Crown Inn daily headed for London. There was several Crown Inn's in Bridgwater around this time but we might assume this was what later became The Royal Clarence Hotel. The Royal Mail also departed from the Globe in Eastover at midnight daily.
Coach speeds in the 1830s averaged about 12mph and a journey from Bridgwater to London took about 14 hours. The Swiftsure left the Royal Clarence at 7.30am and arrived at the Bell and Crown, Holborn, London at 9pm. The average cost was 3d a mile for an inside seat and half that for an outside seat.
The opening of the first section of the Great Western Railway in 1838 saw the end of two centuries of stagecoaches in Somerset.
Resources:
The Coaching Era. Body, Geoffrey & Gallop, Roy. Kingsmead Press 2003.
Bridgewater Inns, Past & Present. Williams, David. Abbey Press 1997.
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