Ancestors At Work
Jad Adams explains the evolution of the profession, and how you can research the cabbie in your tree
The quick route to find cabbies in your family
Cabmen were first licensed in Oliver Cromwell’s era, in a 1654 ‘Ordinance for the Regulation of Hackney-Coachmen in London and the Places Adjacent’. Hackney carriages were so called because Hackney, at that time on the outskirts of London, was where horses were raised before being sold to the cab trade.
‘Hackney hell carts’ could be found in the yards of principal inns. However, Hackney ranks on main thoroughfares gradually took over, particularly after an Act of George III forbade coaches to wait for hire in any place but licensed ranks. In a demonstration of class privilege, the laws made hackney coachmen liable to a fine of £5 for “not giving way to persons of quality and gentleman’s coaches”.
Hackney coachmen, or ‘jarveys’, prided themselves on being dashing fellows – they were fit, earned good money and were clearly doing a job requiring
skill and judgement. They were so popular with servant girls that a historian said, “girls of that class considered it the summit of happiness to be seen leaning on the arm of a hackney-coachman”.
Second-Hand Hackneys
A hackney had two horses, and had usually started out as a rich person’s private coach before being sold off – probably when it was near the end of its life. Indeed, hackney cabs often still bore the coat of arms of the previous owner, crudely painted over. Conditions were less than ideal; one passenger in 1825 complained of “stinking wet straw and broken windows, and cushions on which the last dandy has cleaned his shoes”.
A new sort of vehicle, the cabriolet (always shortened to ‘cab’), with two seats, two wheels and one horse, arrived in 1823. A later design improvement by Joseph Hansom in the 1830s led to their all being called hansom cabs. Old-style hackney coachmen jeered at the new cabs as a dangerous fad that would never catch on. Their coaches remained in service, as old people preferred them to the racy cabs. By the end of the 19th century there were still some grandmothers who would not get in a cab, and tutted when their granddaughters did so. The old carriages died out for the general trade, however, although there were still four-wheeled hackneys to be found with two horses stamping and snorting in wait for passengers with luggage at railway stations.
‘Grandmothers tutted when their granddaughters got in a cab’
In 1838 cabmen in London were compelled by the Home Office to be licensed and to wear a badge. The Metropolitan Police later took over licensing, while the rest of the country was licensed under the 1847 Town Police Clauses Act. The legislation provided a broad framework for the licensing of drivers, vehicles and operators, but the detail of how it was done, including standards and conditions, was (and still is) the responsibility of individual councils. Most hired their vehicles instead of owning them. Regular drivers got to choose their favourite horse, but newcomers took pot luck. There were endless superstitions, such as the belief that a grey horse would earn fewer fares than a brown one. The driver would leave his licence as security then drive off in search of passengers.
The rates from the middle of the century were 6p a mile within a four-mile radius of Charing Cross, 1s a mile thereafter. With the hire of a cab costing 5s, a cabman had to make at least 10 journeys before he covered his costs.
It took a lot of saving for a man
to buy a rig; horses cost £30 each in 1893, and would last for five or six years of hard work, while a new hansom cab cost £105.
Cabbies often had nicknames incorporating their ‘patch’, such as ‘Harry of Halfmoon Street’ and ‘Sloane Square Sailor Jack’. It was mainly a working-class occupation, although there were a few gentlemen who had come down in the world and took to driving to make a living.
Cabbies worked long hours in often awful conditions. A wet day was bad for business, because fewer people were outdoors, but a day of intermittent showers meant their services would always be in demand. Cab drivers were forbidden to leave their cabs unattended and take a break, so they could not go and get a hot meal. Philanthropists such as Lord Shaftesbury were concerned about their plight, and set up cabmen’s shelters – green boxes by cab stands where cabmen could get “good and wholesome refreshment at moderate prices”.
Bad Behaviour
Licences were annual, and could be revoked for infringements. There were penalties for being drunk; abusive language; insulting gestures; “wanton or furious driving”; “refusing to carry a reasonable quantity of luggage”; “refusing to drive as required or at proper speed”; and for failing to disinfect the carriage after carrying someone with “any dangerous, infectious disorder”.
Electrical cabs, called ‘hummingbirds’ after the whirring sound of their motors, were developed in the 1890s, principally by the London Electrical Cab Company – although the limited battery power at the time restricted their range. They were superseded early in the 20th century by the internal-combustion engine. In 1906 Conditions of Fitness were introduced for motorised cabs, including being able to “turn on a sixpence” – the celebrated 25-foot turning circle. Taximeters, which calculated fares based on distance and waiting time, were installed the following year, bringing in the abbreviation ‘taxi’.
The ‘black cab’ (the Oxford and the Austin FX3) became a familiar sight on London’s streets in the late 1940s. There was no requirement for a cab to be black, but black was the standard colour and few cabbies were prepared to pay the extra to have their cab painted differently. In many places the colour of the cab is still part of the regulation set by the local authority, such as yellow in Derby, silver in Portsmouth and white in Renfrewshire.