Notes and Background Information



This is a page of notes and background information accumulated while studying the stage-coach timetables of 1830's Cheshire. In includes notes on:

  - The sources and resources used during the study.
  - The average speed of travel by stage-coach.
  - Destinations served by the port of Liverpool.
  - The cost of passages.

Sources and Resources

The main sources used for this study into the stage-coach timetables of 1830's Cheshire were:
- Pigot and Co's National Commercial Directory for 1828-9,
- Gore's Directory for Liverpool, 1829,
- Gore's Directory for Liverpool, 1832,
- Betts's British Stage Coach, Van, and Wagon Directory for 1831,
- Robson's London Directory for 1830,
- Pigot and Son's General Directory of Manchester and Salford for 1830,
- The Chester Chronicle, and Cheshire and North Wales Advertiser, 1828, 1829, and 1830,
- The Liverpool Mercury, and Lancashire General Advertiser, 1829 and 1830
- The Manchester Courier, and Lancashire General Advertiser, 1829 and 1830

Resources and help were provided by:
- Cheshire Archives and Local Studies office, Chester,
- Manchester Central Library, Local Studies Section,
- Liverpool Central Library, Local History Section,
- Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies library,
- Guildhall Library, London,
- Leicester University's Historical Directories Online project.

The Speed of Stage-Coach Travel

Having established the stage-coach schedules it was easy to calculate the scheduled speeds. The following averages are calculated using the timetables of all stage-coaches running in, to, and through Cheshire on a typical day in the spring of 1830. They are probably typical of England as a whole. The averages are calculated using the sum of all the outward journeys plus inward journeys in miles, divided by the sum of the same journeys in hours. For example, the average speed of all coaches, 12,715 miles out & return each day in 1608 hours = 7.91 mph. More averages are given in the table below:

Average Speeds (mph)       The Fastest   The Slowest
7.91   All stage-coaches-     -    
8.24   Mails only 9.14   Manchester-London   7.06   Manchester-Knutsford
  Excluding mails:-     -    
7.84     - all-     -    
8.34     - to London 8.73   The Defiance 7.88   The Herald
7.31     - other long-distance 8.74   The Magnet 5.38   The Owen Glyndwr
7.46     - local     11.00   The George IV 6.00   Parkgate Ferry coach
  Steam-packets:-     -    
4.95     - all-     -    
5.59     - using the tide  -     -    
3.73     - not using the tide  -     -    
  Horse-drawn packets:-     -    
3.40     - all-     -    
3.07     - hampered by locks-     -    
3.78     - unhampered by locks-     -    

Notes:
-Steam-packets using the tide, ran up-river with the rising tide and returned on the ebb.
-Steam-packets not using the tide, ran at a fixed time each day regardless of the tide.
-Some horse-drawn packets had to pass though locks on their journey, others didn't.
-By far the fastest coaches were the four daily Chester to Eastham Ferry coaches. The George IV, Lady Stanley, Royal Waterloo, and Royal Liverpool, all ran at 11 mph. Their route was short, and the road straight and level. There were no stops for horses, passengers or mail. This speed probably represent the real top speed of a coach over the ground. True stage-coaches were slower because they had to stop regularly for fresh horses, etc.
-As a rough rule of thumb, the above results indicate that the typical speed of travel in 1830's England was about 8 mph in an ordinary stage-coach, 9 mph in a fast Mail, and 11 mph in a coach over a short distance of good road.

Destinations Available From Liverpool

The following list gives a rough and ready indication of the destinations available by sea from the port of Liverpool in the spring of 1830. It uses readily available information, and not the result of a comprehensive study.

The information about steam packets was obtained from adverts in Liverpool newspapers. It shows the number of departures per week for each destination.

The information about sailing vessels was obtained from arrivals lists published in Liverpool newspapers between 1st February and 30th May 1830. For each destination it shows the total number of arrivals in Liverpool during that period.

By Steam Packet   sailings per week to:
UK
Dublin7(cabin fare 27 shillings and 6 pence)
Kingstown1
Belfast3
Londonderry1
Isle of Man3
Portpatrick1
Greenock1
Glasgow2
Beaumaris3
Bangor3
Hoylake7
Bagillt7

By Sailing Vessel   arrivals during Feb, March, April & May 1830 from:

Europe
Lisbon15
Seville8
Palermo5
Rotterdam5
Dordt5
Oporto5
Smyrna4
Naples and Gallipoli3
Messina3
Marseilles3
Antwerp3
Odessa3
Zante2
Triest2
Cadiz2
Bordeaux2
Ancona2
Anclam2
Leghorn2
Harlingen2
St Petersburg1
Gibraltar1
Hamburg1
Gothenburg1
Xabia1
Rostock1
Figuera1
Gallipoli1
Lubeck1
Charente1
Salon1

British America

St John, NB12
Newfoundland6
Halifax, NS3
St Andrew, NB2
Cornwallis, NS1
Liverpool, NS1
Quebec1

United States

Savannah41
New Orleans34
Charleston28
New York25
Mobile13
Philadelphia9
Virginia7
Baltimore4
Boston2
Richmond, Virginia2
Wilmington1
Petersburgh1
Norfolk1

West Indies

Demerara15
Barbadoes6
Jamaica4
Honduras2
Campeachy2
Nassau1
St Domingo1

South America

Pernambuco10
Maranham8
Buenos Ayres7
Bahia5
Paraiba3
Tampico2
Porto Barco, Brazil1
Valparaiso1
Rio Grange1
Puerto Cabello1
Savanilla1
Carthagena1
Aricati1
Aracati1
Montevideo1
Islay and Arica1
Macaio1

Africa

Africa8
Alexandria3
Sierra Leone2
Bonny1

Azores

St Michael8
Terceira4
Fayalt1

East Indies

Calcutta6
Bombay5
Mauritius1

The cost of travel.

It would have been interesting to know more about stage-coach fares, but these were not usually shown in the adverts and commercial directories of the period. An occasional fare was shown in an advert, but I suspect it was not representative, so I have not shown them on this web page.

Similarly, it would have been interesting to know the cost of passages from Liverpool. I didn't find those either, however I did find the cost of passages from Falmouth, a passenger port that competed with Liverpool. The following is an extract from Pigot's 1830 Directory for Cornwall.

Rates of Passengers by the Falmouth Packets.
Cabin         Steerage
£s£s 
To or from Falmouth and Lisbon161688

MEDITERRANEAN
From Falmouth to Cadiz or Gibraltar280150
From Falmouth to Malta450250
From Falmouth to Corfu550   300
To or from Gibratar and Malta210120
To or from Corfu300160
From Corfu to Falmouth550300
From Malta to Falmouth450250
From Gibratar or Cadiz to Falmouth280150

BRAZILS
From Falmouth to Maderia280150
From Falmouth to Teneriffe350160
From Falmouth to Brazils730360
Maderia to Teneriffe7040
Maderia to Brazils420210
Brazils to Falmouth800400

AMERICA
To or from Falmouth and Halifax400220
To or from New York direct400220
To or from New York, via Halifax450250
From Falmouth to Bermuda400220

JAMAICA
From Falmouth to Barbadoes or St Vincent450250
From Falmouth to Jamaica500280
From Jamaica to Falmouth450250

LEEWARD ISLANDS
From Falmouth to Barbadoes, St Lucia
or Martinique
450250
From Falmouth to Dominica or Guadaloupe460260
From Falmouth to Antigua480270
From Falmouth to Montserrat500280
From Falmouth to Nevis or St Kitts500280
From Falmouth to Tortola or St Thomas's520300
From any of the above islands to Falmouth420260

     Female servants pay as Cabin Passengers:   men servants,
accompanying their masters, pay as Steerage; children, under
twelve months old, go free of charge; under four years of age
pay as Steerage; above four years as Cabin Passengers.   The
Passengers by all,  except Lisbon Packets,   provide bedding;
and, from the West Indies, lay in their stock:  each Passenger
is allowed to carry any weight of linen, wearing apparel, and
and books, not exceeding 400lbs. Passengers not proceeding,
after taking their passage, forfeit half their passage money.

Carl's Cam, Coaches