Newspaper CuttingsA Flavour Of Life On The Highway.The Stockport Advertiser, Friday April 22nd 1825.
INDICTMENT OF ROADS. - At the late Chester Sessions
true Bills of Indictment were found against the Inhabitants
of the Townships of Offerton, Torkington, Marple, and
Disley, for not repairing the Road leading from this town
through those places to New Mills, and Heafield; and also
against certain persons liable by tenure to repair particular
parts of the same road. The state of this road has long
been the subject of great and just complaint, being almost
impassable, and in many parts very dangerous; owing as well
to its being unguarded where there are deep declivities, and
to many parts having slipped down, and made breaches in
the road of considerable magnitude. Some time ago a
loaded cart and horses rolled down one of these breaches in
Marple; two carts, with their horses, fell down one of
the breaches in Offerton, a depth of seven feet.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday May 13th 1825.
A considerable sensation was created on Thursday evening
se'nnight, by the arrival of the Manchester mail at the
Post-office (in Chester), without either the coachman or guard, and serious
apprehensions were for some hours afterwards entertained for their
safety. The coach was driven into town by a person who
encountered it near (Mickle) Trafford, jogging merrily along, as if nothing
was the matter; and here it was that the inside passengers, a
gentleman and an elderly lady, first became aware of the extent
of the danger they had passed. It was ten o'clock before the
guard reached the Post-office, from his account it appears
that, in making way for a cart to pass, a little on this side of
Frodsham, one wheel of the coach got upon a large lump of
frozen snow, scraped off the road, and the coachman was thrown
from his seat. The guard got down in order to take the reigns,
but the horses set off at full gallop, and he was unable to come
up with them afterwards. The coachman was not materially
injured by the fall. - Chester Courant.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday May 20th 1825.
Six Companies of the Seventh Royal Fusiliers marched
through here on Wednesday and yesterday, in two divisions,
from Manchester to Portsmouth, for embarkation it
is supposed.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday July 1st 1825.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday July 22nd 1825.
Coaches - A novel and unusual sight presented itself on
Monday afternoon in our streets. Five of the London and
Manchester Down-Coaches followed each other in close
succession through the town, viz. the Defiance, Telegraph,
Regulator, Independent, and Enterprize. The Lord Nelson,
had passed only a few minutes before, and the Champion,
also from Nottingham, followed within the same distance of
time after them. The circumstance is the more extraordinary,
as only three of them travel on the same road together until
the branches of the roads meet at Bullocksmithy. The
number of coaches and vans which may be said to run
through our streets daily is upwards of sixty - A list of them,
stating the times they go and return, may be had at the
Advertiser Office.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday July 22nd 1825.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday July 29th 1825.
Caution to Coachmen. A conviction took place at
Warrington, on Saturday last, before Thomas Lyon, Esq.,
of some consequence to those in the habit of travelling by
stage coaches. The driver of the Sovereign coach, from
London to Liverpool, was convicted in the mitigated penalty
of five pounds, for carrying twelve passengers outside,
with a very considerable quantity of luggage on the roof
of the coach. The object of the conviction was, to compel
the proprietors of coaches in Liverpool to abandon the
prevalent practice, of the illegality of which the public do
not seem to be aware, of carrying any luggage on the roof
with twelve outside passengers. The legislature, to secure
the safety of passengers, has directed, that no luggage
whatever, under such circumstances, shall be carried on the
roof: but, with only ten outside passengers luggage is
permitted, provided the extreme height of the same does
mot measure more than ten feet nine inches from the
ground. In the above case, the proprietors have thought
proper to direct the driver to enter into recognizances to
appeal at the Quarter Sessions in October next, when, we
have no doubt, the conviction will be confirmed.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday September 9th 1825.
Market Coaches. - We are happy to find that the system
of "Kedging" for passengers which has so long been practices
by the proprietors of the Manchester Market Coaches, is about
to be abolished. We have had occasion to reprobate this
practice, which certainly was one of most intolerable nuisances
to which the public are subjected; and we hope that the public
will not be backward in patronizing those coach proprietors
whose sense of propriety has induced them to discontinue the
disagreeable importunities, almost amounting to insult, of which
every one has had so much reason to complain. Probably this
system would not have continued so long had the police officers
possessed such control over the regulation of the town as the
provisions of a Police Act seem alone calculated to afford them.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday September 9th 1825.
False Reports. - We are authorised to contradict in direct
terms a malicious and ill-founded report which has been actively
circulated during the week, relative to the Despatch Liverpool
Coach, which is stated to have run over a person, near Warrington.
The fact is that a man fell off another coach, just at the
time the Despatch arrived on the spot, and this circumstance
has been maliciously perverted for the purpose of injuring the
high reputation enjoyed by Isaac Shuttleworth & Co.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday September 9th 1825.
COACH ACCIDENT. - On Wednesday evening, as the Defiance
London Coach was proceeding at a very slow pace down that
part of Lancashire Hill which is under repair, the wheels slipped
off the pavement into the lower part of the road, and the coach
was upset. Four of the passengers were very slightly wounded, and
Douglas, the coachman, was so severely hurt as to be incapable
of proceeding on his journey.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday September 16th 1825.
THE LATE COACH ACCIDENT. - We understand that one
of the individuals whom we stated to have been but slightly
injured by the overturning of the London Defiance Coach, was
on Tuesday removed by her husband to Dunstable, of which
place she was an inhabitant, and that the consequences of
the accident are likely to be fatal to her. The other individual
still lies at the Red Lion Inn, in a dangerous state, and
Douglas, the coachman is in a fair way for recovery.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday October 7th 1825.
FURIOUS DRIVING. - We understand that the drivers of
some of the Market Coaches are in the habit of driving at a
most furious rate down Lancashire Hill, to the imminent
risk of the lives and limbs of their passengers. We have
heard of one accident from this reprehensible practice, and
if we have any more complaints on this subject, we shall
take the liberty of publishing the names of the offending
parties, in order that the public may be on their guard.
The Stockport Advertiser, Friday January 12th 1827.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday March 9th 1827.
Melancholy Accident - On Sunday, 25th ult, as the Mail
was proceeding from Manchester to London, the horses took
fright about two or three miles beyond Leicester, and galloped
at a furious rate for several miles, the coachman having no
power or control over them. There were inside the coach four
gentlemen, two of whom were Mr G F Bury, a respectable
solicitor of Manchester, and honorary secretary to the Royal
Institution, and Mr Morton, secretary of the Manchester
Insurance Company. When the horses got as far as the village of
Great Glen, being six miles beyond Leicester, the coach overturned,
and with great difficulty they were stopped, the
roof of the coach having been torn off, and Mr Bury thrown
under it. We regret to state, the injury Mr Bury received was
so great that he lived but a few minutes after he was taken from
under the coach. Mr Morton and another gentleman, as well
as the coachman, were also severely injured. A coroner's jury
returned a verdict of accidental death, and affixed a deodand of
£4 on the horses, and £1 on the coach.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday August 24th 1827.
Coach Accident - On Sunday week the Royal George, Stockport market-coach,
was overturned on the new line of road near Heaton-lane. A
man named Robert Pollett, and a female named Mary Palfreyman,
were so much injured that their recovery is doubtful, and
several other passengers were seriously hurt.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday December 28th 1827.
Another Coach Accident - As the Eastham coach was
proceeding from that place to Chester, on Thursday, when near
Sutton, the axle-tree broke, and the coach upset; a number of
passengers were on the coach, and also inside, but we are happy
to state, though several were severely bruised, the whole were
able to persue their journey to Chester.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday February 22nd 1828.
Unfeeling Coachman - A female coming from Bury, on
Friday night last, to the Golden Lion, Dale-street, delivered
herself, on top of the coach, near the Old Swan, of a fine male
child. On telling the coachman her case, and asking him to stop,
he would not do so; neither would he grant her request to be put
into the inside of the coach, although he had no inside passengers.
On reaching the Golden Lion yard she was assisted home to
Johnson's-court, Edmunt-street, whither she walked, the child
being carried for her. The woman and the child are as well as
can be expected. - We want words to express our abhorrence of
the conduct of this libel on the character of man. Had the poor
woman, who was the object of his barbarous inhumanity, or her
child, perished in consequence of it, we suspect that he would
have cut rather a sorry figure before a coroner's jury. He richly
merits a sound portion of that discipline which he, no doubt,
administers to the cattle under his charge.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday February 29th 1828.
TO THE EDITORS GENTLEMEN. - A paragraph appeared in last week's Mercury, partly taken from another journal, to which I consider myself called upon to contradict, not only as a duty I owe to myself, and in exoneration of the coachman from the charge of unfeeling conduct which has been made against him, but also to convince you that the information was not only very incorrect, but that it must have arisen from some unfeeling and malicious source. The female alluded to came by the Neptune, from Rochdale. When the coach stopped at the Old Swan to leave a passenger, the woman requested the coachman not to stop long. He told her that he should proceed on, as soon as the passenger had left the coach. The coach again stopped at the Blue Bell, London-road, where she made the same request, and received the same answer. When the coach arrived at the Golden Lion yard, the coachman heard the infant cry. He then assisted her from the coach and offered to procure her a coach to carry her home, but she refused to have one. The landlady at the Golden Lion also begged of her to have a coach, but she still persisted in her refusal, and preferred walking home, accompanied by one of the waiters belonging to the Golden Lion. These are the simple facts of the case, which I can corroborate by the evidence of a resectable gentleman who was a passenger by the coach. Had the conduct of the coachman been such as was reported, he would then have merited the severe chastisement you awarded him, and, in addition, would have been excluded from ever again acting in my service, in any capacity whatever. I have long employed him, and consider him a very humane man. Yours, &c. PETER BRETHERTON The Liverpool Mercury, Friday September 19th 1828.
Coach Accident - On Friday, the 5th instant, the Bang-up
coach from Birmingham to Liverpool, was overturned on a
common between Newcastle and Brereton Green, about a mile
short of the latter place; and although there were sixteen
passengers, besides the coachman they all escaped without a single
fracture; some of them, however, suffered seriously from the
violence of the concussion and from bruises. The accident arose
solely from one of the horses being unruly; the passengers
concur in stating that the coachman was entirely free from
blame.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday October 31st 1828.
Kite Carriage - Yesterday week about one o'clock, the
inhabitants of Stockport were gratified with a view of one of these
curious conveyances. Mr William Yates, of Manchester, who
has made several excursions in his carriage with kites, made by
the patentee, Mr Pocock, of Bristol, passed along Wellington-road,
Stockport, on his way towards Buxton, accompanied
by Mr Samuel Lees, of Ardwick-place. The carriage proceeded
at a rapid pace along the road, and, it is understood
that sometimes they proceeded as quick as at the rate of fourteen
or fifteen miles an hour. The wind did not blow very steadily,
and entirely ceased when the travellers arrived at Disley, so that
they were compelled to return. - Manchester Guardian - One of
our contemporaries calls this "a striking exemplifiaction of the
fatal defect in the principle on which the invention is founded."
Undoubtedly, the want of wind is fatal to every species of
machine of which wind is the primum mobile; but why bring the
objection exclusively against kites? Without wind a ship
is becalmed, and with a contrary wind driven in the wrong
cource; but is the objection fatal? No, it is only partial.
When a vessel is becalmed, she cannot proceed at all; not so
with those who are becalmed with Mr Pocock's kites, as they
had only to apply a horse to the car, and proceed homewards.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday October 31st 1828.
Dreadful Coach Accident - About six o'clock on Monday
evening last, the Doctor, post coach, from Manchester for this
town, was proceeding up the hill to Eccles, on the Manchester
old road, when it was suddenly run against by the Volunteer,
which was proceeding to Manchester, and which coach had no
lamps lighted. Several of the Volunteer's passengers were
thrown into the road, and that coach, after being dragged some
distance, was overturned, and the coachman, George Robson
who fell under it, was so dreadfully crushed that he died the
same evening about eleven o'clock. Several of the passengers
were injured, some of the most dangerously so. From the
testimony of the passengers by the Doctor, no blame can be
attached to the driver of that coach, who was on his own side
of the road, and did his utmost to prevent the accident. The
driver of the Volunteer was disappointed in not being able to
procure lamps at Eccles, where they ought to have been ready
for him.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday November 7th 1828.
Disinterested Conduct - Mr Maitland, of great Crosshall-street,
having lost, from the top of the coach, on his way from
Preston to Ormskirk, a travelling bag, containing cash and
other articles, issued an advertisement describing his loss, and
proceeding back from Liverpool, in quest of his missing property.
It was returned to him by Miss Elizabeth Kemp, of Burscough-street,
Ormskirk, who had picked it up soon after it fell from
the coach; and who, in the most handsome and disinterested
manner, refused to accept the reward which Mr M had
promised. Mr G Allen, of the George and Dragon, and a clerk
at the coach-office, also behaved in a kind and disinterested
manner on the occasion.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday November 28th 1828.
Coach Accident - Yesterday se'night, the Bang-Up coach,
from this town to Birmingham, was upset at Knutsford, in
consequence of the pole breaking; fortunately, only one of the
passengers was hurt, and he not seriously.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday January 16th 1829.
Mr Gough's Steam-carriage - On Friday, the inhabitants
of part of the town of Salford were somewhat surprised to see a
very hansome vehicle, resembling a stage-coach, (except that it
had a chimney rising about six feet above the roof,) progressing
past their houses, without any visible means of propulsion.
Very few persons knew at first what it was, or whence it
came; but, on enquiry, it turned out to be a steam-carriage,
invented and constructed by Mr Nathan Gough,
which was making its first appearance on the road. Mr Gough set out from his factory about eleven o'clock; and the carriage having gallantly mounted a steep ascent into the roads, six persons mounted upon it, and Mr Gough, taking the helm, the carriage proceeded up Regent-road. The experiment, was, upon the whole, a most satisfactory one: the carriage, when passing over level ground, travelled at the rate of from five to six miles an hour. It was stopped or set in motion in an instant, was guided with the greatest facility, both in turning corners and travelling along the open road. Indeed, during the greater part of the journey, Mr Gough directed it with his feet. The appearance of the carriage is very good; the hind-boot, which is considerably larger than in a stage-coach, contained the coals, the boiler, the fire, &c; and the whole of the machinery is concealed from view. The carriage is mounted on springs like a stage-coach, and its motion seemed to be perfectly easy, either on the Macadamised road, or on pavement. The Liverpool Mercury, Friday January 16th 1829.
Coach Accident - The Umpire Liverpool coach was overturned
yesterday week at the Crescent Salford, in consequence
of the linch-pin slipping out from one of the hind wheels. The
coach was fully loaded, and came down with a dreadful crash;
luckily, however, no one was injured but the coachman, and he not severely.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday August 31st 1829.
New Stage-Coach - A stage-coach drawn by six horses, and
containing sixty persons, has been exhibited in Paris. It is
meant to run between Paris and Lyons.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday September 18th 1829.
Coach Accident - On Friday last considerable alarm and
excitement prevailed in the town, on account of the non-arrival of
the Liverpool and Birmingham mail. From information subsequently
received, it appears that the coach conveying it, whilst
passing a small bridge, called Smallwood-bridge, near Lawton
Gate, in Cheshire, which crosses a narrow but somewhat rapid
stream, flooded at the time by the late heavy and continued
rains, the bridge broke down, and the coach was precipitated
into the stream. The coachman with great difficulty succeeded in reaching the opposite side: the guard was hurried down the stream, but was saved, though with very great difficulty, by the persons who hurried to his assistance. Of the three inside passengers one, a slight-made, active young man, succeeded in effecting his escape through the window of the coach, but two others were drowned in the coach, being too bulky to avail themselves of the same means of escape. Their names, as entered on the way-bill, were Trueman and Bennett; they were booked at Birmingham, for Liverpool, to which latter place Mr Bennett belonged. There were no outside passengers. One horse was drowned, and two others were so much injured as to be rendered almost useless for the future. The coach was broken into pieces. The mail was recovered, and the letters and parcels were delivered, completely saturated with wet. The London mail which left this town on Thursday, would probably have experienced a similar fate, had not the surviving passenger walked to meet it, and informed the driver of what had occurred. The Liverpool Mercury, Friday October 9th 1829.
Shocking Accident - About two o'clock on Saturday morning
last, Mr John Hesketh, of Holt, a higler by trade, was drowned
with his horse in the river Dee, at Eaton Ferry. It seems
that the unfortunate fellow was returning from Liverpool
market in a state of intoxication, and asleep in his cart; for
when he approached the ferry, the boatman heard the cart
rapidly descending the hill, and called out to him to stop, as
the ferry boat was on the other side. The horse, however did
not stop, but went directly into the water; and when the boatman
had crossed the stream, neither the horse, cart, or driver was
to be seen. A few hours afterwards the body was found at
Eccleston-lane-ends, only a few roods from the boat; the horse
and cart were picked up at a greater distance from the spot
where the accident occurred.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday October 23rd 1829.
The Railroad - The result of the late experiments at Rainhill
has left no doubt of the success of the locomotive engines on the
railway; and one of the consequences which have immediately
resulted is, that the premium on shares in the Manchester and
Liverpool Railway has advanced, within the last ten days, from
38 to 50 per cent, a share.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday November 6th 1829.
Extraordinary Escape of Convicts - At a late hour last night
we heard the particulars recorded in the following paragraph,
which we give just as it was related to us by a gentleman, upon
whom we can fully rely:- "On Tuesday morning, about one
o'clock, a singular affair took place near Birmingham. A coach
conveying fifteen convicts from Chester to the Hulks was upset
by accident, in consequence of which the person who had the
custody of the convicts had both his thighs broken, one of which
was immediately amputated. During the confusion, one of
the convicts got possession of the keys of the manacles, and,
after the coach had started again, contrived in a short time to
release the whole of the convicts, who immediately pinioned the
coachman, stopped the horses, robbed the coachman, and the
three constables who had charge of them, and made their
escape in different directions."
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday December 4th 1829.
Coach Accident - On Saturday evening, as the Regulator
coach was on its way from this town to Manchester, a serious
accident happened to it near Hollins Green. During the thickness
of the fog the coachman, Wood, not perceiving a cart that
was coming in the opposite direction, and on the wrong side of
the road, drove straight against it. By the shock he was thrown
from his seat and seriously injured, and the traces having been
broken, all the horses got loose and gallopped off. They were
stopped by running against a cart, but one of them is so much
injured as to render him useless. The coachman, Wood, is
likely to recover. None of the passengers were hurt.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday December 25th 1829.
Mutinous Conduct of Convicts - It will be remembered, that
about a fortnight ago some convicts who were going from
Kirkdale Gaol to London by the Alliance stage coach, behaved
in a very mutinous manner on the road to the George Inn,
Knutsford, assulting their keepers, and attempting to overpower
them. It having been erroniously stated in some of the papers,
that the coachman had overturned the coach, and that the
convicts were drunk, we have been desired to correct the mistake,
and give a few particulars of the transaction. It appears that the mutinous convicts were the same who attempted to break out of goal a short time ago, and that previously to starting they had made a plot to attempt to effect their escape on the way. When the coach arrived at Hoo Green, they complained of being hungry, and of an insufficient breakfast, and the keeper told the coachman to stop at the next public-house and he would give them each some bread and cheese and a pint of ale. The coachman drew up accordingly, at the first public-house, and the keepers and convicts went in. One of the latter contrived to slip off his handcuffs and seized a poker, and the whole party, nine in number, fell upon the keepers; but they were soon disarmed and secured. They were got upon the coach and conducted to Knutsford, where the governor of the goal, Mr Christmas, behaved in a very hansom manner. He caused additional irons to be placed on the most riotous of the convicts, and sent one of his own turnkeys along with the coach for their better custody. We are informed that not the slightest blame is attached to either the keepers or the coachman on this occasion. The Liverpool Mercury, Friday April 9th 1830.
Dreadful Stage-coach Accident - On Tuesday night se'nnight,
the Standard, Liverpool and London coach, was overturned
shortly after having changed horses at Birmingham, in consequence,
it seems, of the irregular and unskilful driving of the
coachman. Of the six outside passengers four were severely
injured, and one of them died the next day. There was only
one inside passenger, Captain Ingram, and he had his collar-bone
broken. The coachman and guard, and the other passengers,
were all slightly injured.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday May 21st 1830.
Coach Accident - The Birmingham and Liverpool Mail was
upset about two o'clock in the morning of yesterday se'nnight,
at Lawton. The accident was owing to one of the horses
becoming unmanageable, and drawing up the coach against the
battlements of a small bridge. Two of the passengers were
injured, one of whom was cut and bruised, but fortunately had
no bones broken.
Advert in the Manchester Courier.
![]() ALTERATION OF TIME This coach does not carry convicts, nor has done so since the undersigned have been proprietors. There are but three coachmen and one guard to pay in the journey. The coaches are new, and though the proprietors are not in the habit of advertising or extolling, they feel called upon to say that the BRUCE yields to no Coach in celerity, regularity, accommodation, or safety - Performed by the Public's most obedient servants, Royal Hotel Coach-office, Manchester, 5th Aug, 1830.
The Liverpool Mercury, Friday November 19th 1830.
Liverpool and Manchester Mails - An arrangement has been
made for conveying these Mails by the Railway: and one of
the advantages of which will be, that the Irish letters will be
delivered in Manchester about half past 12 o'clock, which here
tofore did not take place till five....... . . .
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