PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Until the early years of the 19th century, the roads --- if indeed they could be termed as such -- were but muddy tracks, well worn by horses and rutted by the wooden wheels of the few farm wagons that existed. The roads from the Lower Market House in Tavistock to the Old Town Gate in the Borough of Plymouth, and the side-road from Manadon Gate to the Old Pound near Plymouth Dock, had both been improved under an Act of Parliament of 1804. In 1815 a new road across the marshland between Plymouth and East Stonehouse was constructed in order to save the tortuous journey along Stonehouse Lane. Aptly named as Union Road, the trustees were granted authority to levy tolls at the gate on the Plymouth / Stonehouse boundary, where the Palace Theatre was later built. Further improvements were made to the link between Plymouth and what was by now called Devonport in 1828 when the gradient from Stonehouse Bridge up to Dock was lowered. As this coincides with the start of the regular hackney cab service mentioned by Worth, it must have been an important and significant action. The birth of the English "Omnibus" In 1819 the Paris omnibuses had successfully re-started with vehicles carrying 16 to 18 people. Watching this was an English naval officer turned Parisian coach builder by the name of George Shillibeer. While building some "super" buses for a French operator he had felt that this idea might take on in England. He written to the Lords of the Treasury in 1828 soliciting their agreement to allow him to run three carriages on the most heavily used routes in London. He intended to operate under the name of "The Economist". The Treasury refused his request but undaunted he tried it out along the New Road from the "Yorkshire Stingo" public house in Marylebone Road, Paddington, to the Bank of England via the "Angel" at Islington, a route not subject to the law. The service started on July 4th 1829. One shilling was charged for the whole distance or 6d as far as Islington in each direction. Despite having the word "Omnibus" painted on the sides of the carriages, Londoners apparently called them "Shillibeers". Within nine months he had twelve omnibuses on the road. New routes were opened (though not necessarily by him) until by May 1830 there were 39 omnibuses running in London. The Stage Carriage Act 1832 The Stage Carriage Act 1832 did away with the monopoly formerly enjoyed by the hackney carriages in London and so opened up the whole of the centre of the Capital. This Act also set out what has become the standard bus seat dimension of a width of 16 inches for each passenger. George Shillibeer unfortunately ran into debt and was sent to Fleet Prison for several months. After his release he designed a new type of funeral carriage and became an undertaker instead, with considerably more success. This, coincidentally, forced the public to stop referring to his vehicles by his name since to ride on a "Shillibeer" now had a completely different meaning. Horse bus services in the Three Towns The horse bus services that operated in and from Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport, in order of commencement, were:
On December 5th 1888 it was announced that another horse bus operator, the Plymouth General Omnibus and Carrying Company Ltd, was to go into liquidation. Which services they operated is not clear. It would appear that their vehicles and horses were purchased by Mr R S Smith, who in 1889 founded the Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport 'Bus Company. That Company was put in to compulsory liquidation in July 1891 and its nine horse buses and 23 horses put up for sale, thus bringing an end to horse bus services between Plymouth and Devonport. The tramway system also expanded relentlessly at the same time, following the introduction of electric traction. Both spelled the end for the modest horse bus. It is not clear exactly when the last horse bus made its last journey in Plymouth but it is thought to have been around 1912.
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