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PRE-VICTORIAN TRAVEL
By Road
In
the year 1750, if a Harrogate man wished to travel in fair comfort,
if only to Knaresborough, he had to own a saddle-horse, or he .might
easily hire one from, say, the World's End, the Queen's Head or the
Granby. The moorland track that led there had not yet been changed
by Blind Jack Metcalfe into a good highway. At that time, a journey
by any sort of carriage, in almost any part of the country, was
always slow, and frequently came to a full stop in ruts or mire.
But
when England took to manufacturing, raw material had to be got more
quickly to factories and goods to customers, so Surveyors everywhere
set about in good earnest the re-making of roads. Between 1752 and
1777, three Turnpike Roads that came into the township of
Bilton-with-Harrogate were authorised by Acts of Parliament, and
made or rather, re-made. These were the Skipton Turnpike leading
west from High Harrogate; the Leeds Turnpike, going south from the
Great Pillar (as it is called in the township accounts) that still
stands near the Prince of Wales: and the Knaresborough and
Boroughbridge Turnpike that ran north-eastwards. The township lanes
(local highways other than turnpikes) were also largely re-made
between 1780 and 1820, judging by the large quantities of
road-making material listed in the township Surveyors' accounts.
The
old method of maintaining the roads was by every householder
performing his statute duty: that is, he gave three days' free
labour each year. By 1783, however, as a township Composition book
shows, everyone but those who had horses and men, available chose to
"compound" by money-payment instead of giving service. This highways
rate was not a strict money-equivalent .of the labour, but was
graded, more justly, according to the value of their house or
holding.
By
the Statute, three days' labour was demanded to maintain the new
Turnpike roads from every township through which they passed. The
inhabitants of Bilton-with-Harrogate, finding themselves called on
to perform the duty on no fewer than three separate Turnpikes,
appealed to the Justices. After a great deal of trouble, they
secured a judgment at a Special Sessions held at Knaresborough in
1786 freeing them entirely from service on the Leeds Turnpike and
reducing that on the Skipton Turnpike to a day and a half, that on
the Knaresborough and.Boroughbridge to one day. The remaining
half-day was to be devoted to the township highways, "under the
Direction and Inspection" (as the ruling puts it) "of the Surveyors
thereof." The Otley Turnpike, leading west from the Great Pillar,
existed already in 1774, but the township was at no time liable for
Statute duty on it.
The
Turnpike introduced the new source of revenue from tolls collected
from travellers at bars placed across the roads at strategic
.points. The Harrogate Bar was in Skipton Road, where the name
survives in a street and a church. Another was added later, near the
Cairn, for the Ripon Road. Other local bars were at Buttersyke and
Harewood, Killinghall, Grimbald Bridge and Flaxby. The tolls at
these happen to have varied widely - from Id. to 8d - but from the
many references to bars over a much wider area it appears that the
normal charge was about 3d. To pass one bar, therefore, was no great
matter, though money was worth a great deal more then than now. But
on a long journey, the bars became an appreciable item in one's
travelling expenses. For example, in 1836 those to Leeds and back
cost 2s; to Green Hammerton, 1s 4d.; to Wakefield or Knottingley,
4s. 6d.
The
country-wide development of the turnpike roads multiplied the
stage-coaches and enabled Harrogate, at the start of the nineteenth
century, to have two or three thousand summer visitors. By 1823, we
find the Telegraph calling daily on its way from Leeds to Newcastle,
the Union and Tallyho! on their way to Ripon. By 1834 have been
added The Mail, The Hero, The Times, The Courier and The Joint
Stock. These call at Gascoigne's (County). Hattersley's (Prince of
Wales), the Black Swan or the Wellington. In 1838, The Ruby and The
Brilliant actually start from Binns' Hotel (Lancaster) in Cold Bath
Road.
By
the 1820's, coach-builders had set up business here, becoming
partners with the inn-holders and keepers of lodgings (then a very
dignified term) in the prosperity of the town, and preparing the way
for the energetic nineteenth century stonemasons and builders. These
coach-builders made gigs and chaises, which were a popular means of
conveyance for visitors on their excursions to Fountains, Brim-ham
Rocks, Harewood, and so on. By 1820, there were four Posting Houses:
the Crown, Granby, Dragon and Hattersley's. Besides these there were
temporary livery-stables that appeared during the season where one
could get a horse, gig or chaise, and with the last even a Post Boy
who, quite possibly, in these lesser establishments, might be the
proprietor himself, for the excessive charge of five shillings was
sometimes made for his day's wages.
The
coach time-tables are given in the Hand-Books or Directories of the
period, but there is no information about fares or, what is equally
important to the traveller, the incidental expenses, Overseers' and
Constables' accounts, however, provide a host of such details. In.
1773, before the war against France, an Overseer travelled to Leeds
and back for 4s 6d, to Knaresborough and back for 1s. After
Waterloo, the cost of travel (as of many other things) had risen;
but prices then remained fairly stable till the Victorian period.
During the time thus covered the charge was invariably 2s for the
journeys to Knaresborough that township officers had so often to
undertake.
For
the longer journeys, sufficient information can be extracted from
Henry Peacock's accounts from 1825 to 1838. In one or other of his
offices, Workhouse Master or Assistant Overseer, he went with
paupers, sometimes far afield, to the township of their settlement,
or brought his own paupers home. Most of his journeys were of twenty
miles or less; but visits are recorded to Wakefield, Pontefract,
Hull, Richmond, Appleby. Once, he went to Manchester, of course by
coach, but from there (120 years. ago!) took the train to Wigan. In
.the bill that he presented to the township on his return we find
his coach fares, the cost of hiring a gig or taking a cab or an
omnibus, and also charges for food, drink, and lodging.
Peacock's many coach journeys to Leeds cost him, each way, 4s or 4s
6d as an Outside passenger, but. 6s (once even 7s 6d) when he became
a privileged Inside. He was what coachmen and guards would no doubt
call a good fare, for he invariably gave them a tip of at least 1s
on each journey. This extra outlay was considered a legitimate
expense: possibly the township bore in mind, his savings in paupers'
maintenance.
In
1832 he removed a pauper inmate from York Asylum to the one at
Wakefield. York had just decided that it would no longer receive
patients from the West Riding.
His
coach fares, with the tips (added. in brackets) that he considered
as the coachman's due, were:- Harrogate to York, 5s. (6d.); York to
Wakefield (with, of course, the pauper), 12s. (1s. 6d.); Wakefield
to Leeds, 2s. 6d. (1s.); Leeds to Harrogate (by The Times), 4s.
(1s.)
The
account he gives of another typical journey, one to Bradford in
1833, reads:- Coach Leeds 6s - Coachman 6d - Harwood 6d - Breakfast
at Leeds 1s 9d - Waiter 3d - Coach to Bradford 2s. 6d - Mail Inside
(that is, an inside seat in the mail-coach from Bradford to Leeds)
4s - Coachman 6d - Coach to Harrogate 4s - Coachman and Guard 1s -
Harwood 6d. The two entries of Harwood refer to the inn there, not
the bar, for a coach passenger had no toll to pay.
The
hire of a saddle-horse at this time seems to have depended on the
particular circumstances. It. varied widely - from 5s to 10s a day.
In 1794, before the rise in prices, an overseer had hired a horse at
half-a-crown a day, but he then rated his own lost time at only 2s,
But any sort of travelling that involved a horse brought with it the
provision of hay and corn at the inns, and also the tipping of the
ostler who by general custom .depended chiefly on these "wails" for
his livelihood. And, if the hired conveyance broke down, one was
apparently expected to meet small expenses at least. Peacock's
account for a journey to Beverley in 1833 includes the item, "Borobridge
wheel mending 1s 6d."
Travel by chaise, the "genteelest " mode, rarely came within the
scope of an Assistant Overseer: but the lawyers' bills have plenty
of examples. John. Firth, Harrogate solicitor in 1825, accompanied
his demand for re-imbursement from the township purse, for
chaise-hire, with a semi-apology. "Post Boy, tolls and expense on
serving the Magistrates and Solicitor - 15s. 6d - the Roads being
very slippery and no Saddle-Horse could be obtained."
A
final main expense of the traveller, the charges at inns for meals
and accommodation, can be got from the township officers' accounts
only with difficulty: there is often an "etc." added to Dinner or
Breakfast, which means probably not beer costing 2d a pint, but wine
or spirits. From innkeepers' bills, that give details, it seems one
might get a good dinner for 1s or little more. The cost of lodging,
so far as it can be gathered, was surprisingly low. Lawyers'
expenses at that time were not always a guide to the normal, even
though "allowed by two JP's" as in 1835 when "10 days Lodging and
Eating" at Sheffield cost £1 5s. But as in the same bill "Journeys
to Knaresbro" were charged at the standard rate of 2s, these
particular hotel expenses may be taken, perhaps, as reasonable, and
typical.
By Railway, River and Sea
When Peacock went by train from
Manchester
to Wigan in 1832, he obtained a time-table of the Manchester and
Liverpool Railway. No doubt he would show it with pride to his
fellow-townsmen. They were to wait another sixteen years for the
station intended to serve Harrogate, but at a discreet distance from
it, that was to be built at Starbeck, and quite near the Workhouse.
Incidentally, when the second thoughts wooden station was erected in
the same year, much nearer the spa, it took its name from the
Brunswick hotel, of which Peacock himself was to be the landlord.
The
time-table that he left among the township papers is concise and
comprehensive, almost beyond belief. On one side of a single sheet,
in a space measuring some eight inches by four, it gives a full list
of fares and trains and very much else. There were two classes of
train, and each contained two kinds of coach. First Class Trains had
Four Inside coaches and the cheaper Six Inside. Second Class Trains
had their Open Carriages, but also Glass Coaches for those who could
travel more expensively. Passengers were allowed 60lb of luggage and
were charged for excess at the rate of 3s. per cwt. The modern
traveller may be a little envious when he reads: "The Company
engages to transfer Passengers' Luggage, free of charge, from and to
any Hackney Coach, Car, Omnibus or other Carriage employed by
Passengers to convey them to and from the Railway Station; and no
gratuity is allowed to be taken by any Guard, Porter, or other
Servant of the Company."
Regulations intended to secure not only the passengers' comfort but
their good behaviour are quoted, supported by reasonable argument.
"No smoking will be allowed in any of the First Class Carriages,
even with the general consent of the Passengers present, as the
annoyance would be experienced in a still greater degree by those
who may occupy the same coach on the succeeding journey." The First
Class Trains (the present-day expresses. but with no 3rd class) make
one brief halt, but it is pointed out that this is only "for the
purpose of oiling and examining the machinery; as the Directors are
determined, by every means in their power, to prevent the practice
of supplying liquor on the road." The Company does not regard its
duty to its passengers as ending with the journey. The time-table
includes a list of legal fares for hired vehicles at the terminus. A
further note shows the link-up with road-travel: "Charge for
conveyance of Four-wheeled Carriages, 20s. Two-wheeled, 15s" To
think that Bradshaw grew out of this one sheet!
A
prospectus of 1834 is amongst the township papers, probably because
of Peacock's then keen interest in moneymaking schemes. It was
proposed to set up a "Joint-stock Company for conveying Goods by
Water, betwixt the towns of Ripon, Boroughbridge, and the City of
York." The scheme falls into place in the general pattern of events.
Besides the busy road-building of the later eighteenth century,
there were serious attempts to develop inland transport by water.
River traffic got a fillip, and canals were constructed. Two parts
of the Ure had already been linked by canal to provide a. navigable
water-way between Boroughbridge and Ripon. For use on this canal,
the new Company proposes to own two "Fly-boats, to be drawn by
horses at six miles an hour." This service is to connect up with a
steam-boat, also to be bought, plying between Boroughbridge and
York. Both Flyboats and steamer will carry goods and passengers. It
is not known whether the Fly-boats ever attained the speed
optimistically suggested in the prospectus. About ten years later,
this canal met the fate of so many others. It was acquired by a
Railway Company, which discouraged its use.
In
fulfilling their age-old duty to see that the able-bodied were set
to work. Overseers sometimes found jobs for their unemployed outside
the township, and a few papers even suggest the possibility of
assisted emigration. A receipt of 1791 is for the passage money
(2.15) for a man, his wife and his family. The schooner Active
(Patrick Drummond, Master) was to make the crossing from Hull to New
York. A generation later, in the 1830's. serious unemployment in the
West Riding towns made emigration quite popular. In a letter to
Peacock in 1831, the agent of a Liverpool Shipping Company says that
his company alone was shipping 500 people weekly to "New York and
other parts of America." Unfortunately, he gives no details of
costs, except to say that he will provide cheap lodgings in
Liverpool, and supply emigrants with stores “lower than any other
firm” - which is impressive, but hardly informative. It is not
likely that Harrogate had much unemployment in this period. Its most
profitable visitors came from the landed class, not, as yet, the
manufacturing. For the rest, it was a farming community.
An
agent's circular of 1848 gives a picture of emigration conditions
that were possibly a little better than those obtaining ten years
before. The packet-ship Queen of the West was to sail from Liverpool
to New Orleans that November. "Persons may work there all Winter and
Spring at Great Wages, and then be ready to proceed up the
Mississippi to Illinois or other Western States."Steerage is £3;
Second Cabin, £3 10s.; children under 14, £2 10s. These fares
include the provision for each passenger daily of "a good supply of
water " and 1lb of "bread stuff (bread, flour, oatmeal)" or 51b of
potatoes. There is also promised - perhaps rather ominously –
“Hospital Money, according to Act of Parliament." The emigrants
themselves will have to obtain "other necessary Sea Stores (e.g.,
tea, coffee, sugar, butter, cheap cooking utensils, beds and
bedding)." The Company has its own stores in Liverpool, where these
supplies may be bought, and "Draughts at Sight," for £1 and upwards,
may also be purchased, which will be cashed by the firm's branches
in America. The path of the emigrant was being smoothed; but
obviously a voyage to America in pre-Victorian days was not
something to be undertaken lightly.
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