In taking leave of the last of the old Mail Coach Guards we may quote from a recent issue of the Daily Telegraph the following paragraph relative to one who was perhaps the oldest surviving stage coachman:—
“One of the olden time has passed away in William Clements of Canterbury, who, before the present century had reached its twenties, drove the famous ‘Tally-ho’ Coach which plied between the Cathedral City and Gracechurch Street. More than once he had to run the gauntlet of robbers and highwaymen, of whom, however, he had a decidedly low opinion. Railways killed his Coach. Clements reluctantly admitted the superiority of the iron horse to his own teams, although he never relinquished the idea that England’s degeneracy commenced when the ‘Tally-ho’ and other coaches were vanquished by ‘Puffing Billy.’ He died in his ninety-first year, and perhaps is entitled to be called the ‘Last of the Whips.’”
Mr. Clements was not, however, the “Last of the Whips.” While these sheets were passing through the press we had the pleasure of an interview with another veteran, Mr. Harry Ward, of whom mention is made on page [35]. Mr. Ward states that he is 78 years of age, though, judging by his hale and active appearance, one would pronounce him to be ten years younger. He drove the London and Glasgow Mail so far back as the year 1833, at which time he was the youngest coachman on the road. Mr. Ward assures us that in all his fifty years’ experience he never had an accident to his coach. To the remark that this must surely be a unique record, he replied, with pardonable pride, that he was reckoned “the champion coachman” of his time. Such was his fame, indeed, that after the London and Exeter Coach had twice met with serious mishaps, some of the leading inhabitants of Devon and Cornwall sent a strongly worded memorial to the authorities, asking that Harry Ward might be placed on the box; and he was transferred accordingly. Mr. Ward, whose memory is wonderfully clear, has a distinct recollection of the great snow-storm of 1836, when his coach was one of several that were snowed up on Salisbury Plain. He, too, knew the members of the Beaufort family well; indeed it was he who taught the present scions of that house the “art and mystery” of four-in-hand driving. We are glad to be able to add that Mr. Ward is in good health, and still quite capable of managing a team.
Eyre and Spottiswoode, East Harding Street, E.C.