Regency Reader Question
what was the cost of changing horses at posting inns? how were these horses returned? how many of the ton had their own horses posted along a route they traveled?
| Source of Question | Research |
| Additional comments | have not found any references in your categories and would be much obliged to have such specific information concerning the length of travel and horses necessary to complete this travel. change of horses is mentioned frequently but little else is said aside from whether they are slugs or goers many thanks |
Oh Miriam, I am so glad you asked this! This is a great question I am sure many readers, including myself, have wondered about.
So two amazing historical romance authors that have a fantastic blog Two Nerdy History Girls answered a bit of this question several years ago. But I also did some more digging, too, to fully answer. I have a lot to share.
- Changing horses was typically done every ten to twelve miles, and quickly. This was also often true for saddle horses. Coachmen had to be extremely well versed in coaches and horses, and the change over would happen almost as quickly as a modern pit change for car races. Faster coaches required horse changes at 6 or 7 miles (Quicksilver: A Hundred Years of Coaching, 1973).
- Most leased horses were accompanied by a postilion or post boy whose job it was to return the horses to the stable when they were ready. It would have been uncommon for people to use their own horses for such long journeys. I would say it would be fairly rare for ton folks to use their own horses for the whole route, but they may leave their horses at the first stage for their return or send a servant after them.
- Most main coaching route inns kept a large supply of posting horses (Coaching Days and Coaching Ways, 1906). One of the more popular posting inns in London, the Swan with Two Necks (that you will see in the Coaching Database) had underground stables to house 200 horses in the early 1800s (Quicksilver: A Hundred Years of Coaching, 1973).
- Horses often were replaced every three years due to the exertions with fast coaches, and the retired coach horses often sold to farmers or traders for a slower pace of life. In 1821, 20 horses dropped dead on one mail coach route alone from exhaustion, leading to the phrase “die in harness”. The RSPCA would be founded in 1824 (Quicksilver: A Hundred Years of Coaching, 1973).
- Horses usually were made to trot (rather than a faster gallop) which equaled about 10 miles per hour (Quicksilver: A Hundred Years of Coaching, 1973). (Note, we calculated travel time in our Coaching Route database at 6 mph to account for change over times, consistent with the timetables/data)
- Coachmen, beginning in the 1800s, would be changed at intervals to avoid fatigue. In addition to the invention of springs under the driving box seat in 1805, coachmen started to be able to have safer, longer travels. Improvements to the roads in 1825 would further increase the speeds. (Quicksilver: A Hundred Years of Coaching, 1973).
- Coaches were generally forbidden to travel on Sunday, although sometimes this law would be disregarded (The Coaches: ‘Travellers in Eighteenth-Century England’ (ourcivilisation.com)).
You know I found a chart, dear Regency Reader, if you know anything about me and this blog, about the cost of hiring horses/post boys:
Yes, the data is a bit outside the Regency era, but it still gives you a general idea of what rates would be, adjusted for inflation. The New Encyclopaedia (1807) tells us the rate of posting was generally at 1 shilling to 1 shilling 3 pennies (d) per mile, so fairly consistent with the rates above.
Quicksilver is an amazing resource, as you will see above, that shared another delightful tidbit I want to include: “Runaway weddings were a frequent affair on the Great North Road and it was not unknown for the same post house to supply horses for pursued and pursuer, who sometimes arrived at the stage first with the result that the elopers were caught and the girl taken home by a determined father.”
I hope this answers your questions, Miriam, and I do thank you for asking. A lot of our Regency Readers are interested in the topic of travel, please keep the questions coming!
You can also add your two cents or more of research in the comments below.
You can also find more about travelling in Regency England from some of our older posts, including:
Regency Culture and Society: The Etiquette of a Carriage Ride
Regency Reader Questions: Yellow Bounders and the Four Horse Club
