Getting from Here to There -- Post Coaches

There were no trains, no cars, no airplanes. There were no inter-city buses, but there were plenty of post coaches in Regency England. For the vast majority of people, private carriages and chaises were out of the question. Public coaches were their only means of traveling around the country.

Mail coaches were the most well-known of passenger carriers. This advertisement (my apologies for the poor scan) shows the desirability of such reliable transport:

Gore's Liverpool General Advertiser - Thursday 09 January 1800

There were books like Cary's New Itinerary or Cary's Traveller's Companion which listed the schedules of mail coaches, stage coaches and post coaches to and from major cities. If you were lucky, the route you wanted to take was listed among Cary's timetables. But if you wanted really up-to-the-minute information on the coaches leaving your town, you could turn to the newspaper. There you would find advertisements from the local coach suppliers with their routes and all the other pertinent information for road travel.

Gore's Liverpool General Advertiser - Thursday 09 January 1800

Exeter Flying Post - Thursday 09 January 1800

The advertisements often listed the number of passengers accepted; some carried only four inside riders. This no doubt was an inducement for riders to enjoy greater comfort.

Cheltenham Chronicle - Thursday 13 August 1818

Hull Advertiser and Exchange Gazette - Saturday 03 January 1807

It is worth noting the illustrations accompanying the coaching advertisements. From 1800-1820 virtually the only illustrations in newspapers were in fire insurance adverts, where they displayed the fire company's badge, and in coach advertisements where the small, hurrying coaches are beautifully illustrated. The illustrations are almost all different.

Chester Courant - Tuesday 02 January 1810

Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser - Thursday 17 March 1814

Most advertisements carried a disclaimer stating that they accepted no responsibility for damage or loss of possessions, luggage or parcels. Later in the decade some illustrations displayed the outdoor passengers, paying less and suffering more for their transport.

Cheltenham Chronicle - Thursday 13 August 1818

Kentish Gazette - Tuesday 01 August 1815

Some advertisements employed a sort of 'hard sell' extolling their virtues with sometimes extravagant claims. But they hardly needed to--post coaches were the only means of convenient, semi-comfortable travel in a pre-railway world.

Leicester Chronicle - Saturday 24 June 1815

There are few things that underline the differences between the modern age and the Regency era as clearly as changes in transportation. It is tempting to assume private carriages were the norm; Regency fiction reinforces this belief. In fact, the post coaches made the world go round, and their confident advertisements indicate they knew the fact very well.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Credit: all newspapers excerpts from http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

Regency Gardening - Bulbous Roots for Sale

At this time of year--with two months of winter left where I live--my thoughts turn to my garden. I pore over seed catalogues looking for new flowers to try, new bulbs to plant.

It seems that during the Regency, garden lovers had exactly the same desire to plan their gardens. In the late fall, the newspapers offered advertisements from seedsmen and nurseries for the latest in Dutch 'bulbous roots'.

Carlisle Patriot - Saturday 10 October 1818

Dublin Evening Post - Tuesday 12 October 1819

Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser - Monday 21 October 1816

The Tyne Mercury; Northumberland and Durham and Cumberland Gazette - Tuesday 29 October 1816

Bristol Mirror - Saturday 23 October 1819

In January, the Hull Packet posted the advertisement below. Several familiar plants are on the list--I have an amarillis [sic] blooming in my dining room right now! And martagon lilies are now enjoying a resurgence in popularity...

Hull Packet - Tuesday 17 January 1815

By March the seedsmen were advertising. If I had a garden in Regency times, I would hope to be able to purchase one or two packets of new, different seeds to supplement those I had collected and that I traded with my neighbours.

The Suffolk Chronicle;  or Weekly
General Advertiser & County Express
Saturday 02 March 1816

 By spring and early summer the flower shows were beginning and competition was keen.

Saunders's News-Letter Dublin - Monday 05 April 1819

The Globe - London - Friday 03 May 1811

Durham County Advertiser - Saturday 07 June 1817

There were many astonishing botanical artists practicing during the Regency era. The illustrations in this post are by Pierre Jean Francois Turpin, one of the greatest. He probably became known and appreciated in England after the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

I must go and make up my order for seeds now from my new catalogues. It is nice to know I am continuing a tradition that dates back well before the Regency era.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Sources: 

British Newspaper Archive http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/

The Family Tradesmen's Directory 1808

In 1808, Duncan McDonald, the Head Cook of the Bedford Tavern and Hotel, thought he had something new to offer to the world of cookery and cookery books. He may well have been right. Certainly his book was comprehensive, and his 'directions for marketing' and listings of the markets in London were unusual in such books of the day.

 

 I found his "Family Tradesmen's Directory" quite fascinating. It is a glimpse into a frozen moment in time of the retail world of 1808 London. The listing is long but I am including it all here in the interest of research and curiosity.

From this first page above, I looked in the British Newspaper Archive to see if T. Aveling had advertised his services in the London papers. He had. I was particularly interested because I had discovered that an 'oil and Italian warehouse' was virtually the "deli" of the Regency era.

Morning Chronicle 14 April 1803

The breadth of his stock is impressive, and there are seven other such warehouses listed by Mr. McDonald. Obviously these emporiums were important to the households of London.

 Linen-drapers, mercers, and woollen-drapers are mentioned in McDonald's list although his interest is in household suppliers, not fashion or clothing merchants. Cater, Marshall & Co. (listed above) advertised in the Morning Post.

Morning Post 10 April 1805

Table linens, and sheetings are among the household items offered for sale. On this same page there is a Glass & Staffordshire Warehouse listed. There are many china and glass suppliers on McDonald's list.

Morning Post 29 October 1804

Mr. Goldicutt seems to supply everything a household could require.

 There are several 'oil and colourmen' listed by McDonald. These were the equivalent of our paint stores. Linseed oil, raw pigments and the necessities for mixing and fixing them were sold by these shops. But on the last page below there is a new sort of shop mentioned--Vanherman, Fores & Co., British Paint Manufactory.
 

Morning Chronicle 16 April 1808

House decoration was changing and moving into the new century.

There are very few luxury shops in Mr. McDonald's list. The requirements of a household were uppermost in his mind. But he did include a perfumer in his list.

 Morning Post 19 May 1807

Presumably Patey, Butts & Co. Wholesale Perfumers sold items necessary to a household, as well as their 'Circassian Water'.

I feel as though I have been shopping in Regency London after perusing this list. And it has led me to reflect on who did go shopping for the wide variety of items required by a household. The mistress of the house would acquire large and/or decorative items I am sure. The size of the household would dictate the shopper for other items. It might be a maid, or it might be a house steward. I can see another interesting line of research opening up!

Happy New Year!

'Til next time,
Lesley-Anne

Sources:
New London Family Cook - https://books.google.ca
Advertisements - http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk