Marketing for Romance Writers Magazine May, 2020 Volume # 3, Issue # 5 | Page 23

MAY, 2020
GETTING AROUND IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND
By: Liese Sherwood-Fabré
The options for
transporting goods
and people changed
greatly from the be-
ginning to the end of
the 19 th century. As
road surfaces im-
proved in the early
1800s, long-distance travel depended
primarily on coaches. These large, en-
closed vehicles carried paying passengers
along set routes. Pulled by two horses,
the weight was great enough to require
them to change horses about every ten
miles (usually an inn was attached to
these designated stops) and the ride was
long, uncomfortable and expensive. The
wealthy, however, would have gone by
private coach and changed horses at simi-
lar stops along the route as well.
Coaches were replaced by railways
beginning in the 1840s. Besides being
much less expensive, the ride was more
comfortable and faster. Gentry would
ride first class, their servants and trades-
people in second, and the rest in third.
Over time, the sometimes roofless third
class was upgraded, and second class
coaches were eliminated. (1)
Even with the expansion of the rail
system, the horse remained the mainstay
of nineteenth century travel. Whether
pulling omnibuses (twelve-passenger
public coaches) in the cities or carriages
in the country, they kept the nation on
the move. At the same time, they were
expensive. Only about 100,000 of the 18
million living in England in 1848 had
their own horses. In the country, differ-
ent horses would have been kept for
work, carriages, or hunting, and ponies
and donkeys might pull a smaller, lighter
wagon, such as a dog or donkey cart, for
shorter visits or hunting. In the city, most
would have stabled their animals at a liv-
ery because of the care required. The
majority of city dwellers, however, would
have opted for renting a horse from such
stables—even if they had their own car-
riage. (2)
The type of carriage owned was a
simple social class marker. Closed car-
riages held the highest status, and those
with a coat of arms on the side com-
manded the right of way on the road.
Those pulled by four horses were more
prestigious than two, and one horse indi-
cated someone from the lower middle
class. (3)
For those without horses or carriages
and living in the city, the hansom cab was
the go-to vehicle for private travel. Be-
cause the driver rode behind the passen-
gers, an unmarried woman riding in one
with a non-relative of the opposite sex
could easily ruin her reputation. The pri-
vacy afforded the occupants permitted an
unseen kiss or two. (4)
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