Hackney cab
Posted by P. Bingham on March 01, 1998 at 13:07:01:
In response to "Hackney", written by The Mysterious H.C. on February 28, 1998 at 13:11:30
The hackney carriages had a monopoly in London until 12 cabriolets were hired in 1823. The word "cab" would not have been used for hackneys until after that time as the name was taken from cabroilets being used as hackneys. On some of the cabriolets the driver's seat was built off on the side, between the body and the wheel, and a hood was fitted, so that the shape resembled a coffin on one end; hence they were known as coffin cabs. They were dangerous. If the horse fell or stopped suddenly the occupants would be thrown over the horse onto the street below. The carriages were eventually replaced by hansome cabs sometime after 1834.
This information was taken from A Hundred years of Coaching by Roy c. Anderson adn Joy Quicksilver.
Patricia
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