The fact of seven hundred and thirty coaches passing Hyde Park Corner in three days is chronicled by Horace Walpole as a most wonderful thing. It is interesting to note in the Report of the recent Royal Commission on London traffic, that during a certain day between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., 29,320 vehicles passed the Marble Arch.
| Traffic which passed Marble Arch from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on 6th July 1904. | |
|---|---|
| Omnibuses | 4,745 |
| Trade Vehicles | 7,314 |
| Cabs and Carriages | 13,135 |
| Barrows | 310 |
| Cycles | 3,816 |
| Total | 29,320 |
| Traffic which passed Hyde Park Corner from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on 26th July 1904. | |
| Omnibuses | 6,635 |
| Trade Vehicles, Selected Carriers | 714 |
| „ „ Others | 7,249 |
| Cabs, Two-wheel | 7,096 |
| „ Four-wheel | 2,654 |
| Carriages | 2,414 |
| 26,762 | |
| Barrows | 384 |
| Cycles | 2,140 |
| Total | 29,286 |
These numbers are much greater now—and the motors run into several thousands. Over 3000 vehicles pass the Marble Arch during a busy hour. More traffic passes the scene of old Tyburne in twenty-four hours than any other spot in London, and yet the police organisation is so perfect there is rarely a mishap.
Of the most famous highwaymen of former times succeeding chapters will tell. The great rendezvous of the footpads who preyed on the passers-by was at the “Halfway House” in Knightsbridge, and numerous attacks on people in Hyde Park were recorded.
“Lady Betty Waldegrave,” says her uncle, “was robbed t’other night in Hyde Park, under the very noses of the lamps and the Patrole.”
Horace Walpole and his relations seem to have been favourite prey for the highwaymen. Elsewhere a story of a tragic encounter is given, but there is a comic incident as well.
One night, about thirty years later than the period of which I am writing, he was driving with a lady to Twickenham, to some evening entertainment, when the coach was held up by a highwayman. With the greatest calmness and promptitude the lady at once handed the errant of the road her purse, bulging with money. The man seized it and rode off, well pleased with the spoil. But the lady was more happy still, for she had come provided for emergencies. The purse only contained counterfeit coin!
Towards the end of George II.’s reign two figures appeared in Hyde Park that startled Society—two fortuneless Irish girls, the daughters of an Irish squire, and nieces of Lord Mayo. Horace Walpole describes them as “the two handsomest women alive.” “Those goddesses the Gunnings” was Mrs. Montagu’s term for them.