Please be warned--this is not a cheerful topic today! But it is, I think, quite fascinating. I have been looking at carriage accidents.
We might tend to think longingly of the quieter life of Regency England; the slower pace of everything, including horses and carriages. But as these newspaper clippings show, carriage, cart and coach traffic was as dangerous as your local freeway and accidents could be deadly.
Inattentive drivers, equipment failure, speed and impairment all caused accidents, then as now. And there was the additional wild card of the horse--a temperamental, easily startled, sensitive creature entrusted with lives.
These clips require no explanation; they offer an interesting perspective on day to day life in Regency England.
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| Leicester Chronicle - Saturday 15 November 1817 |
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| Cambridge Intelligencer - Saturday 15 November 1800 |
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| Gloucester Journal - Monday 23 November 1801 |
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| Morning Advertiser - Monday 20 March 1809 |
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| Norfolk Chronicle - Saturday 10 June 1809 |
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| Oxford University and City Herald - Saturday 17 January 1807 |
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| Stamford Mercury - Friday 21 October 1814 |
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| Star (London) - Saturday 06 October 1804 |
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| Windsor and Eton Express - Sunday 04 February 1816 |
The facts speak for themselves--transportation traffic is dangerous and always has been. Although one hesitates to benefit from the tribulations of the people involved in these accidents, there is much material for story-telling in these newspaper clippings.
