Coach (carriage)

A park drag coach in a coaching competition (2009)

Coach driving (1912)

The Diamond Jubilee, a state coach built in 2014

Coaches are horse-drawn carriages which are large, enclosed, four-wheeled, pulled by two or more horses, and controlled by a coachman or postilion (riders). If driven by a coachman, there is a raised seat in front for a coachman called a box, box seat, or coach box. A coach body typically has a door on each side, a forward facing seat, and frequently another seat facing it. Coaches were built for specific purposes which included transporting mail or travelers, privately owned coaches, and elaborate coaches for state occasions.

Types

Coaches were constructed for specific purposes. Below is a list of general types of coaches and their purposes.

• Private coach: Privately owned, usually by a noble family or high-ranking official.

• Public coach: Used in public service to carry mail, passengers, and parcels.

• Mail coach or post coach: A public coach contracted to carry mail along established routes, but also carried premium-fare passengers. The first mail coach in Britain traveled from London to Edinburgh in about 1785, and to Glasgow in 1788.

• Stage coach: A public coach for transporting passengers on a given road to a regular schedule, driving from stage to stage where horses were quickly changed and the coach continued to the next stage.

• Road coach: Used at first as a term for the public mail and stage coaches. After the railways took over the mail routes, some of the retired coaches were purchased by gentlemen or syndicates who ran some of the old routes for passenger travel. The term was later used to indicate these same types of coaches owned privately and driven for pleasure or show.

• Drag: Term used to indicate a private coach used as a sporting pleasure vehicle, usually used during driving club activities and painted in dark somber colors. It is constructed lighter than the robust mail and stage coaches which preceded them.

• State coach: An ornate or elegant coach used to carry very important persons, like visiting heads of state, royalty and high nobility. Some state coaches are used today for ceremonies and state occasions.

• Hackney coach: A public coach for hire in a similar manner to contemporary taxicabs. The use of these in England began in 1625.

• Cab: A for-hire public convenience; may be a carriage or a coach. Often these were purchased used from gentlemen when their coaches were worn out or no longer in style.

Others in the traditional coach family include:

• Berlin or Berline
• Brougham
• Clarence
• Concord
• Diligence
• Stagecoach
• Stage wagon or mud wagon (US)

The Barouche and Landau are considered in the coach family because they are built on a coach undercarriage and with the lower body of a coach, though they have falling hoods (folding tops). The chariot is also considered part of the coach family even though it is a shortened version (seats only two). The Omnibus, a long-bodied public vehicle used to transport many passengers in cities, is classified as a wagonette and not as a coach because passengers enter from the rear and seating is arranged lengthwise.

Individual coaches that operated on regular routes were usually given names. The Tally-Ho was a particular yellow-painted coach, but because sometimes a fleet of vehicles operating on the same route were painted with the same name, the term Tally-ho became a common term for any road coach.

• Types of coaches
• 
  A private coach
• 
  A mail coach
• 
  A road coach
• 
  A drag
• 
  An early 18th century state coach
• 
  An 1820s state coach still in use today

History

In the early 14th century England, coaches were still extremely rare. It is unlikely there were more than a dozen, and even then they were very costly until the end of the century. These coaches had four six-spoke, six-foot high wheels that were linked by greased axles under the body of the coach and they had no suspension. The chassis was made from oak beams and the barrel shaped roof was covered in brightly painted leather or cloth. The interior included seats, beds, cushions, tapestries and even rugs. They were pulled by four to five horses.

One source says that in, "1564, Boonen, a Dutchman, became the Queen's coachman, and was the first that brought the use of coaches into England." Another source says it was not until 1580, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, that coaches were introduced to England from France by Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel. These were designed to be pulled by a pair of horses. In 1619 George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham introduced the coach drawn by six horses.

This image of a 1760s coach shows the long leather straps which supported early coaches.

The bodies of early coaches were hung on leather straps. In the eighteenth century steel springs were also used in suspension systems. An advertisement in the Edinburgh Courant for 1754 reads:

The Edinburgh stage-coach, for the better accommodation of passengers, will be altered to a new genteel two-end glass coach-machine, hung on steel springs, exceedingly light and easy...

Strap suspension, called thoroughbraces or simply braces, were not comfortable for the passengers, and were replaced by various configurations of steel springs as each were invented. However, thoroughbraces didn't entirely disappear, and the 19th century American Concord coaches used leather straps in their suspension system.

In 1772, Robert Norris described the use of two coaches in Dahomey during a ceremonial procession. They were drawn by 12 men instead of horses probably as a result of the small number of horses in Dahomey.

In the 19th century the word "coach" was used for U.S. railway carriages, and in the 20th century to motor coaches.

Terminology

Kocs was the Hungarian post town in the 15th century onwards that gave its name to a fast light vehicle, which later spread across Europe. Therefore, the English word coach, the Spanish and Portuguese coche, the German Kutsche, the Slovak koč, Czech kočár, and Slovene kočija all probably derive from the Hungarian word "Kocsi", literally meaning "of Kocs".

Traveling by coach, or pleasure driving in a coach, is called coaching. The business of a coachman is to expertly direct and take all responsibility for a coach or carriage and its horses, their stabling, feeding and maintenance and the associated staff. A coachman holds a coachwhip with a long lash, and he might wear a box coat, a heavy overcoat with or without shoulder capes, in inclement weather. If driving a state coach, the coachman's seat would be covered with an ornamented fabric called a hammercloth. A guard on a horse-drawn coach is called a shooter. Instead of a coachman, a coach might be guided by postilion riders.

A coach might have a built-in compartment called a boot, used originally as a seat for the coachman and later for storage. A luggage case for the top of a coach is called an imperial; the top, roof or second-story compartment of a coach is also known as an imperial. The front and rear axles were connected by a main shaft called the perch or reach. A crossbar known as a splinter bar supported the springs.

A coach with four horses is a coach-and-four. A coach together with the horses, harness and attendants is a turnout. A cockhorse is an extra horse led behind a coach to be added to the hitch when an extra horse is needed in steep or hilly terrain.

A coach house is a special building for sheltering coaches, and a coaching inn or coaching house provided accommodation for travelers, and usually provided a change of horses and offered stabling.

Coach-building

Coach-building had reached a high degree of specialization in Britain by the middle of the 19th century. Separate branches of the trade dealt with the timber, iron, leather, brass and other materials used. And there were many minor specialists within each of these categories. The "body-makers" produced the body or vehicle itself, while the "carriage-makers" made the stronger timbers beneath and around the body. The timbers used included ash, beech, elm, oak, mahogany, pine, birch and larch. The tools and processes were similar to those used in cabinet-making, plus others specific to coach-making. Making the curved woodwork alone called for considerable skill. Making the iron axles, springs and other metal used was the work of the "coach-smith," one of the most highly paid classes of workmen in London. Lining the interior of the coach with leather and painting, trimming, and decorating the exterior required the work of specialist tradesmen. Building carts and wagons involved similar skills, but of a coarser kind.

Coach horses

A coach horse or coacher bred for drawing a coach is typically heavier than a saddle horse and exhibits good style and action. Breeds have included:

• Cleveland Bay
• Postier Breton: The lighter of the two subtypes of Breton
• German coach: large, rather coarse, harness horse; bay, brown or black in color.
• Hanoverian: developed by crossing heavy cold-blooded German horses with Thoroughbreds
• Holsteiner
• Oldenburger
• Percheron
• Yorkshire Coach Horse: large, strong, bay or brown; dark legs, mane and tail; derived largely from crossing Cleveland Bay horses with Thoroughbreds

See also

• List of state coaches
• Horse-drawn vehicle
• Driving (horse)

Further reading

• Kintrea, Frank (October 1967). "When The Coachman Was A Millionare". American Heritage. Vol. 18, no. 6.

External links

• Belgian coach museum in Bree
• Coaches 1750 to 1900. History Learning Site.
• The Coaches: 'Travellers in Eighteenth-Century England'. Civilization defined and explained in plain English: Library of mainly eighteenth century authors by P.Atkinson.
• Coaching History. By Anne Woodley. Also Coaching Accidents, Coaching Anecdotes and A selection of Georgian Coaches
• Coachman Driven Vehicles. Carriage Museum of America.
• H3875 Horse-drawn coach, mail and passenger coach, timber / metal / leather, made by Cobb and Co. Coach and Buggy Factory, Charleville, Queensland, Australia, 1890 – Powerhouse Museum Collection. Powerhouse Museum | Science + Design | Sydney Australia.
• The History of Coaching—Travelling in Old England—The First Coaches Introduced of The Mail-Coach System—Amateur Coachmen in the Olden Time—Early Coaching Parades—The Dangers of the Road—Highwaymen and Reckless Drivers. The New York Times, May 5, 1878, page 10.
• Col. Delancey Kane and "The Pelham Coach". Historic Pelham.
• Landscape Property|Regency|Georgian|history|lifestyle|house | Going By Coach. Jane Austen Centre Bath UK England.
• Some Coaching Costumes by Marie Weldon, The New York Times, Magazine Supplement, page SM4.