Horse traction in Victorian London

Journal of Transport History, The, Sep 2005 by Turvey, Ralph

The trade was always one of small proprietors. Among 3,168 proprietors with 10,806 cab licences in 1893, the seventeen largest had only 14 per cent of the total, in fleets ranging from fifty-two to 281. They may have bought good horses, but that does not necessarily mean that the horses were well looked after. Some cabs were drawn by dreadful old 'hacks'. The earnings of the driver depended partly on the state of his cab and horse, for a good cab got a better tip. 'Anyone choosing a cab looks even more particularly at the horse than at anything else, and finds, as a rule, that good cattle and good cabs go together.'11

Can and van horses

Cart horses were used in many trades-railways, breweries, distillers, millers, vestries, carriers and coal merchants being among the most prominent. These heavier horses used were largely Clydesdales and Shires. Lighter horses were used for parcels work by the Post Office, shops (Whiteley's had seventy), the railways and carriers. But the bulk of such horses were used by a whole multitude of businesses. Many of their drivers probably described themselves in their census returns as milkmen or bakers, so the numbers recorded in the censuses as 'carmen' and carters provide no useful clues.

Many of these horses were jobbed, even down to the butcher's cart and pony,12 and much of the work was done by contractors. Pickford's and Chaplin & Home, who were the two big 'wharfingers' and railway carriers, worked as agents for a number of railways, especially until the mid-18 70s.

Street cleansing and watering, and dust removal (so-called because ashes were the major part of Victorian domestic rubbish), were the responsibility of the City Corporation and of the parish vestries. Their horses were among the finest cart horses in London, but were outshone by the brewers, whose horses took the most prizes at the London carthorse parades. The brewers owned a large number of horses. Barclay Perkins, for example, had 154 in 1837 and 148 in 1883.13

Working life

The treatment of the brewers' horses, however, was exceptional. Since many drivers and stablemen were uninformed, and even human labourers were overworked and dismissed once they were 'worn out', it is not surprising that maltreatment of horses was common. A horse was regarded by many as no different from any inanimate piece of capital equipment, at least early during Victoria's reign, and was treated accordingly. Horses, like people, are prone to accidents and infectious diseases, so owners had to allow for both deaths and absenteeism among their stud; the larger owners ran hospitals for their horses. A foreman in charge of 1,000 omnibus horses, on a tour of inspection ordered 'a pint and a half of ale for one horse, mustard for another, a blister for another, poultices for two or three, and "a drop of whisky for the roan at the far end'".14

Horses were usually purchased by users at the age of around five. Some horses were kept until they died or had to be destroyed; others were kept for a shorter period, being 'cast', i.e. sold off, usually at auction, because they were unsuitable. Their working life for their first users in the case of brewers, vestries and railways, who looked after their horses well, averaged between five and eight years, though in 1890 five of the horses of St Mary Abbot's, Kensington, had done twelve or thirteen years of service for the vestry. In contrast, LGOC horses lasted only four and a half to five years in service on average, and tram horses lasted only four years: 'what kills the omnibus cattle is the continued pulling up and starting on the London stones, while the railway horses' work is steady pulling'.15