The History of Coaches

by George Athelstane Thrupp

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.