| 1610. |
Patent granted for an Edinburgh and Leith waggon-coach. |
| 1648. |
Southampton weekly stage casually mentioned. |
| 1657. |
Stage-coaches introduced: the London and Chester Stage. |
| 1658. |
First Exeter Stage. |
| ” |
First York and Edinburgh Stage. |
| 1661. |
First Oxford Stage. |
| ” |
Glass windows first used in carriages: the Duke of York’s carriage. |
| 1662. |
Only six stage-coaches said to have been existing. |
| 1665. |
Norwich Stage first mentioned. |
| 1667. |
Bath Flying Machine established. |
| ” |
London and Oxford Coach, in 2 days, established. |
| 1669. |
London and Oxford Flying Coach, in 1 day, established. |
| 1673. |
Stages to York, Chester, and Exeter advertised. |
| 1679. |
London and Birmingham Stage, by Banbury, mentioned. |
| 1680. |
“Glass-coaches” mentioned. |
| 1681. |
Stage-coaches become general: 119 in existence. |
| 1706. |
London to York in 4 days. |
| 1710 (about). |
Stage-coaches provided with glazed windows. |
| 1730. |
“Baskets” or “rumble-tumbles” introduced about this period. |
| 1734. |
Teams of horses changed every day, instead of coaches going to end of journey with same animals. |
| ” |
Quick service advertised: Edinburgh to London in 9 days. |
| 1739. |
According to Pennant, gentlemen who were active horsemen still rode, instead of going by coach. |
| 1742. |
London to Oxford in 2 days. |
| ” |
London to Birmingham, by Oxford, in 3 days. |
| 1751. |
London to Dover in 1½ days. |
| 1753. |
Outsides carried on Shrewsbury Stage. |
| 1754. |
London and Manchester Flying Coach in 4½ days. |
| ” |
Springs to coaches first mentioned: the Edinburgh Stage. |
| ” |
London and Edinburgh in 10 days. |
| 1758. |
London and Liverpool Flying Machine in 3 days. |
| 1760. |
London and Liverpool Leeds Flying Coach advertised in 3 days: took 4. |
| 1763. |
London and Edinburgh only once a month, and in 14 days. |
| 1776. |
First duty on stage-coaches imposed. |
| 1780. |
Stage-coaches become faster than postboys. |
| 1782. |
Pennant describes contemporary travelling by light post-coaches as “rapid journeys in easy chaises, fit for the conveyance of the soft inhabitants of Sybaris.” |
| 1784. |
Mail-coach system established. |
| 1800 (about). |
Fore and hind boots, framed to body of coach, become general. |
| ” |
Coaches in general carry outside passengers. |
| 1805. |
Springs under driving-box introduced. |
| 1819. |
“Patent Safety” coaches come into frequent use, to reassure travelling public, alarmed by frequent accidents. |
| 1824. |
Rise of the fast day-coaches: the Golden Age of coaching. |
| ” |
Stockton and Darlington Railway opened: first beginnings of the railway era. |
| 1830. |
Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened: coaching first seriously threatened. |
| 1838. |
London and Birmingham Railway opened: first great blow to coaching; coaches taken off Holyhead Road as far as Birmingham. |
| 1839. |
Eastern Counties Railway opened to Chelmsford. |
| 1840. |
Great Western Railway opened to Reading. |
| ” |
London and Southampton Railway opened to Portsmouth: coaches taken off Portsmouth Road. |
| 1841. |
Great Western Railway opened to Bath and Bristol: coaches taken off Bath Road. |
| ” |
Brighton Railway opened: coaching ends on Brighton Road. |
| 1842. |
Last London and York Mail-coach. |
| 1844. |
Great Western Railway opened to Exeter: last coaches taken off Exeter Road. |
| 1845. |
Railways reach Norwich. |
| ” |
Eastern Counties Railway opened to Cambridge. |
| 1846. |
Edinburgh and Berwick Railway opened. |
| 1847. |
East Anglian Railway opened to King’s Lynn. |
| 1848. |
“Bedford Times,” one of the last long-distancecoaches withdrawn. |
| ” |
Eastern Counties Railway opened to Colchester. |
| ” |
Great Western Railway opened to Plymouth. |
| 1849. |
Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway opened. |
| 1850. |
Chester and Holyhead Railway opened. |
| 1874. |
Last of the mail-coaches: the Thurso and Wick Mail gives place to the Highland Railway. |
