Sedan Chairs in Britain
Writing from a London perspective, Withey says:
The use of sedan chairs was heavily regulated throughout the eighteenth century, with strict rules about pricing and location. Under Acts of Parliament, including one in 1800 under George III, operators of sedan chairs – called ‘Chairmen’ – in large towns such as London, Edinburgh and Dublin needed to have a licence from town authorities.In sharp contrast to those large cities on the British Isles, Boston didn’t try to regulate sedan chairs and chairmen. My search through the official records of the town and the colony turned up no attempt to control their operation and pricing. There was never a need.
Pricing, of course, varied according to the distance and duration of the journey. The physical effort involved in carrying a (potentially corpulent elite!) person, in a large box, several feet off the ground must have been huge. Inclines and hills, uneven pavements or muddy roads, moving laterally or stopping to avoid obstacles – not to mention the distance – all added to the strain.
The customer expected speed, no matter what the weather or conditions. This was a full-body workout. Try walking up and down the length of your gym carrying a 30kg dumbbell in each hand for 30 mins, wearing heavy clothes and a hat and that might begin to give an idea of the experience.
They certainly suited the urban environment. In crowded city streets they could move around more easily than coaches, possibly even reaching their destinations more quickly. Like modern taxi cabs they were generally single use, from one destination to another, rather than return journeys. But town regulations suggest that they could also be booked by the day to include multiple journeys.
The Glasgow Almanack of 1795 listed prices for common trips across the city. A basic price of sixpence was applied before you even went anywhere. Every mile from the ‘Cross of Glasgow’, for example was charged at two shillings. Prices for specific locations varied from sixpence to two shillings, based on the distance but also perhaps the nature of the roads and hills. A ‘chairman’ was able to charge sixpence for every hour they had to wait for a customer once engaged, and extra fees applied to trips made between 3pm and 11pm.
TOMORROW: Addressing the chair.
2 comments:
In his later gout ravaged years wasn't John Hancock sometimes carried in a sedan chair?
Nina Sankovitch’s American Rebels says that Hancock used a sedan chair when his gout was very painful, though being jostled against the sides of the compartment was even more painful. However, that book doesn’t cite a source for that vivid statement.
I can’t find any primary source or previous book with evidence that Hancock used a sedan chair. Several say he had a wheelchair at home, and during President Washington’s visit he was carried into the house.
Brooke Barbier’s King Hancock doesn’t mention a sedan chair.
Benjamin Franklin used a sedan chair in France and during the Constitutional Convention, and he wrote about his gout. It’s possible that some of his experiences got projected onto Hancock.
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