Northern Framland Carriers
as detailed in trade directories circa 1877.
Carriers formed a vital link between the scattered communities prior to the
coming of the railways in the late nineteenth century and even later in the
isolated rural communities, providing transport for goods and people between
the various locations.
Carriers have had a long history in England developing from the earliest times of the carrier with packhorse or pannier horses, through to the present day carrier and their diesel lorries and busses.
Many carriers were probably farmers etc. who required carts for their main business carrying their neighbours goods to market at the same time as their own. Carriers, as with many nineteenth century tradesmen, often had other occupations, some conveniently tied in with their practice of bringing coal, cloth, tea and various other small items required by the local villagers.
The basic farm carts used by early carriers later developed into covered carts with benches down either side allowing more comfort for passengers.
Prior to the Turnpike roads of the latter end of the 17th century carriers were faced with almost impassable winter roads as the poor surface turned into a quagmire.
Long distance carriers would break their routes into stages, in a similar way to stage coaches, with overnight stops at regular inns who would cater to the needs of their passengers.
Carriers were often used as the busses of yesterday with the passengers sharing the ride with an assortment of animals including chickens, rabbits, ducks and even occasionally goats and sheep.
Dependent on the location of a house there could be two or three carriers a day passing and the occupants of the properties adjacent to the carriers route would hang out a flag or other sign perhaps even a stone on a gatepost to alert the carrier that they wanted to travel with him or had some produce to be delivered.
Due to a law passed to prevent accidents (early precursor to present day tachographs) the carrier was not allowed to drive from the cart but had to walk or ride alongside the cart and lead his/her team from there.
The carrier would arrive and depart from a particular inn at a set time and day, timetables of carriers leaving and the places they served were posted in the 18th century but it is likely that such routes were common knowledge to the locals well before then.
Carriers in the main respected their chief asset (their horses) and it was not uncommon for passengers to be asked to get out and walk up the hills to save the horses.
Journeys by carrier were leisurely affairs with the cart not going above a gentle walking pace and making many stops enroute to collect or deliver produce.
It is worth noting the following definition from the Oxford English Dictionary.
Cadger A carrier; especially one who travels between town & country
with butter, eggs, etc. and shopwares; a hawker, a
street-seller
The following example gives a vivid description of the carrier and
his trade.1
The carrier on his own account also collected produce from local farms
to sell in nearby markets or in town shops on behalf of the farmer. Even
at the end of the nineteenth century one old Leicestershire carrier remembered
collecting thousands of eggs and a large quantity of poultry each week for
sale in the county town. At Christmas time rods or poles were fixed to the
top and sides of the cart and hundreds of birds suspended from them, for
eventual disposal to a shopkeeper with whom prior arrangements had been
made.
The routes shown on the map are those assumed (by consulting maps of the period) to be taken rather than definite designated routes, in many cases only the starting point and destination are fixed but is logical to assume that the carrier would take a more or less direct route whilst encompassing as many villages as possible.
It is supposed that the routes would vary slightly each trip, depending on whether a delivery or collection had to be made to a farm or village or not.
Red lettering unconfirmed information
Ab Kettleby
Thos. Martin, grocer, coal dealer & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Kings Head) Tuesday
To Nottingham Saturday
Asfordby
Thomas H Waterson, cartowner & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Eight Bells) Tuesday
Barkestone
William Shelbourne, farmer & carrier
To Grantham (Fox & Hounds) Saturday
George Cant, shopkeeper, coal dealer & carrier
To Nottingham Saturday
Mrs Mary, grazier & carrier and Thomas Hornbuckle, carrier
To Nottingham (Crown) Wednesday & Saturday
Bottesford
Thomas Blackbourn, carrier, High Street
To Grantham (Granby) Saturday
To Newark Wednesday
William Hand, grazier & carrier, Easthorpe
To Grantham (Blue Lion) Saturday
To Newark (White Horse)Wednesday
Martin John, grocer & Temperance Hotel,
Easthorpe
To Newark (White Hind) Wednesday
Whitehead John, farmer & grazier
To Newark (Generous Briton) Wednesday
Branston
Henry Ryder, shopkeeper & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Bishop Blaise) Tuesday
To Grantham (Blue Man) Wednesday & Saturday
Long
Enoch Patchett : Joseph Robinson : Harry Scarborough
To Melton Mowbray (White Lion) Tuesday
Enoch Patchett, draper & carrier
To Nottingham Saturday
Joseph Robinson, carrier
To Nottingham (Shoulder of Mutton) Wednesday & Saturday
George Stubbs, grocer & butter factor
To Nottingham (Black Bull) Wednesday & Saturday
Coston
Wm. Rose, farmer, grazier & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Bishop Blaise) Tuesday
Croxton Kerrial
Robert Farnsworth, carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Granby) Tuesday
Robert Farnsworth
To Grantham (Malt Shovels) Wednesday & Saturday
Edward Ward, grocer, coal dealer & carrier
To Grantham (Fox & Hounds) Wednesday & Saturday
Durrands
To Grantham (Malt Shovels) Saturday
Old Dalby (Dalby-on-the-Wolds)
John Woodford, carrier
To Leicester Saturday
To Loughborough (Unicorn) Thursday
To Melton Mowbray (White Lion) Tuesday
Eastwell
Richard Harrison
To Melton Mowbray (Half Moon) Tuesday
John Hubbard
To Melton Mowbray (Kings Head) Tuesday
Eaton
Richard Harrison, carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Half Moon) Tuesday
To Grantham (Fox & Hounds) Saturday
John Hubbard, carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Kings Head) Tuesday
To Grantham (Blue Bell) Wednesday &
Saturday
Edmunthorpe
Thomas Sleath, grocer, beer retailer & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Granby) Tuesday
Garthorpe
Wm. Rose (of Coston)
To Melton Mowbray (Bishop Blaise) Tuesday
Goadby Marwood
Hubbard
To Melton Mowbray (Kings Head) Tuesday
To Melton Mowbray (Half Moon)Tuesday
Harby
Thomas Kemp, carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Half Moon) Tuesday
Samuel Starbuck, farmer, grazier, cab proprietor, & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (White Lion) Tuesday
Thomas Kemp &
To Nottingham (Swan) Wednesday & Saturday
Samuel Starbuck
To Nottingham ((Wheatsheaf)) Wednesday & Saturday
Pick
To Nottingham (Golden Ball) Wednesday & Saturday
Hose
William & Walter Stubbs, coal merchant & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Jolly Butcher) Tuesday
To Nottingham (Black Bull) Wednesday & Saturday
Knipton
John Hubbard (of Eaton)
To Grantham (Blue Bell) Wednesday & Saturday
Henry Ryder (of Branstone)
To Grantham (Blue Man) Wednesday & Saturday
Muston
John Topps, carrier
To Grantham (Blue Lion) Saturday
Melton Mowbray
Durrands
To Grantham (Malt Shovels) Saturday
Everett
To Grantham (Malt Shovels) Saturday
Plungar
William Morris, cottager & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (White Lion) Tuesday
To Nottingham (Blacks Head) Saturday
Richard Dewey, carrier
To Newark (Robin Hood) Wednesday
To Nottingham (Durham Ox) Tuesday & Saturday
Redmile
Richard Copley, carrier
To Newark (Angel) Wednesday
To Nottingham (Crown) Saturday
Edward Roberts, carrier
To Bingham Thursday
To Grantham (Blue Man) Wednesday & Saturday
Saltby
John Duffin, farmer, grazier & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Peacock) Tuesday
Thomas Mount, farmer, grazier & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Granby) Tuesday & Friday
John Duffin & Thomas Mount
To Grantham (Blue Bull) Saturday
Saxelby
Woodford
To Melton Mowbray (White Lion) Tuesday
Scalford
William Allen
To Melton Mowbray daily
Somerby
Wm. Wheat, carrier
To Leicester Saturday
To Melton Mowbray (Crown) Tuesday & Thursday
Coddington
To Grantham (Blue Ram) Monday, Thursday & Saturday
Harwood
To Grantham (Malt Shovels) Saturday
Sentence
To Grantham (Blue Ram) Saturday
Sproxton
John Pick, grazier & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Black Swan) Tuesday
Geo. Everitt, carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Blacks Head) Tuesday
Geo. Everitt & John Pick
To Grantham (Malt Shovels) Saturday
Stathern
Thos Hall, coal dealer & carrier
To Grantham (Blue Bull) Tuesday & Saturday
Isaac Poyzer, grazier & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (White Lion) Tuesday
Edward & John Alderman, coal dealer & carrier : Isaac Woodcock,
postmaster & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Blacks Head) Tuesday
To Nottingham (Swan) Saturday
Edward Alderman, carrier
To Nottingham (Swan) Wednesday & Saturday
Stonesby
Henry Brewster, grazier & carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Black Swan) Tuesday
To Grantham (Blue Bull) Saturday
Waltham-on-the-Wolds
Thomas Mount (of Saltby)
Henry Ryder (of Branstone)
To Melton Mowbray Tuesday
John Hubbard (of Eaton)
To Melton Mowbray (Kings Head) Tuesday
Henry Brewster (of Stonesby)
To Melton Mowbray (Black Swan) Tuesday
Henry Brewster (of Stonesby)
To Grantham (Blue Bull) Saturday
Durrands
To Grantham (Malt Shovels) Saturday
Wymondham
Thomas Hickman, carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Bishop Blaise) Tuesday
William Shields, carrier & coal merchant
To Melton Mowbray (Blacks Head) Tuesday
Francis Shields, carrier
To Melton Mowbray (Crown) Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday
Thomas Hickman
To Grantham (Cross Swords) Saturday
Shields
To Grantham (Malt Shovels) Saturday
1.
Labouring Life in the Victorian Countryside author Pamela Horn published
by Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd. (isbn
0-86299-409-8) return
to
text
The
above illustrations by W.H. Pyne (cir 1802) as appears in The Turnpike Age,
published by the Luton Museum & Art Gallery
Copyright Guy Etchells © 2004
All rights
reserved.
Permission is granted for all free personal and non-commercial uses.
It is my intention to make all data contained herein freely available for
all private, non-profit and non-commercial uses. Commercial use of any portion
contained herein is expressly prohibited. |
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