Continuing Hazel’s wonderful discussion of transport in Jane Austen’s day. Find part 1 HERE.
I was delighted to be invited to offer Austen Variations part of my talk on Travel in Jane Austen’s time. My research came about through my own curiosity of the modes of transport Jane Austen gave her characters in the novels.
The Curricle
The curricle was another popular vehicle, a kind of early sports car for boy racers!
It was a light two-wheeled carriage, sometimes open but often with a top that could be lowered, and it was usually drawn by two horses. Willoughby shockingly drove Marianne in his curricle all over the neighbourhood of Barton.
Henry Tilney, driving Catherine from Petty-France to Northanger in his curricle, made her “as happy a being as ever existed.” All the curricle owners were young men: Mr. Darcy, Mr. Walter Elliot, Charles Musgrove, Henry Tilney, John Willoughby, and Mr. Rushworth.
Henry Austen must have owned a curricle as Jane Austen, when staying at Sloane Street stated in a letter dated 20th May 1813, that “we had no rain of any consequence; the head of the curricle was put half up three or four times.”
The Gig
A gig was similar to a curricle. Sometimes the names seem interchangeable, and a carriage-builder of the time, in a treatise on carriages, captioned this drawing “Gig Curricle.” The biggest difference between the two was that a curricle was normally pulled by two horses and a gig by just one, thus making it much more sedate with less speed and obviously less dashing. Only requiring one horse also makes it cheaper to keep.
Admiral and Mrs. Croft acquired a gig while at Kellynch Hall, and we know it could just accommodate three people as the Crofts were able to give Anne Elliot a ride to Uppercross in Persuasion.
John Thorpe, Mr. Collins, and Sir Edward Denham also owned gigs, and so did Jane Austen’s brother Henry. She mentions in a letter dated the 6 June 1811 to Cassandra “He travels in his gig, and should the weather be tolerable, I think you must have a delightful journey.” It is interesting that Jane Austen gave gigs to both John Thorpe and Mr Collins. It allowed her to maintain the disparity between these characters and those of Henry Tilney and Fitzwilliam Darcy with their superior sports cars. However it is also interesting that John Thorpe boasts to Catherine Morland, that his gig was ‘curricle hung’!
Henry Austen also had a gig. Jane Austen mentions in a letter dated the 6th June 1811 to Cassandra “He travels in his gig, and should the weather be tolerable, I think you must have a delightful journey.” It appears that Henry was not content to own a gig as we have already seen that by 1813 he was the owner of a curricle!
The Chair
The chair was smaller and lighter vehicle. It was also sometimes called a whiskey. It did not have a top, was pulled by one horse, and usually used just for recreation. A chair appears only in The Watsons, where it was owned by the Watson family, probably because it was cheaper than many other carriages. Jane Austen’s brother James owned a chair, showing his lower income as a cleric. His chair, according to a letter of 7th January 1807, appears to have been pulled by a horse named Ajax.
The Coach
Coach was a name generally given to large conveyances, but there was a vehicle known as a coach. Large families like the Bennets and the Musgroves, owned coaches, large vehicles which regularly held four to six passengers and on occasion even more. They were used for travelling large distances and would have looked similar to the mail and stage coaches. We have also heard that brother Edward had a coach that held five.
The Phaeton
Phaetons were another class of light vehicles. They were generally used for recreational drives rather than travelling long distances. There were very many styles of phaeton with either no top at all or one that could be put back when the weather was good enough to enjoy being seen! Mrs. Gardiner suggested that she and Elizabeth use a “low phaeton” for riding around the park at Pemberley. There were also high phaetons where the passengers were perched very high indeed. In Jane Austen’s novels only Miss De Bourgh actually owned a phaeton. Jane Austen mentions in a letter from Bath in May 1801 that she would like to go out in Mr Evelyn’s phaeton.
The Chariot
The chariot was another light vehicle. This was drawn by four horses and had a more unusual seating arrangement for the time, carrying four people on two seats facing forward, not facing each other. It looked a bit like a large post-chaise except that it had a coach-box, or seat for a driver, so postillions were not needed on the horses.
Mrs. Jennings had a chariot as well as a chaise. This shows that she was quite a wealthy as she could afford both vehicles and the horses and staff for a woman theoretically living alone. The dowager Mrs. Rushworth “removed herself, her maid, her footman, and her chariot, with true dowager propriety, to Bath” soon before her son’s rather ill-fated marriage. Mr. and Mrs. John Dashwood also owned a chariot, so it must have been the height of fashion.
The Landaulette
The landaulette was a small two-passenger, four wheeled vehicle with a top that folded back. Anne Elliot, once finally reconciled and married to Captain Wentworth owned “a very pretty landaulette.” These were normally pulled by two horses, so a very generous gift of independence by the Captain to his new wife!
The Barouche
The barouche was a vehicle very much enjoyed by the aristocracy. The Oxford English Dictionary refers to barouches used by a duchess, by titled ladies, and by dowagers. The carriage looked quite light but that was deceiving as in fact it required very heavy bracing and was pulled by four horses. In Sense and Sensibility, the Palmers owned a barouche and Fanny Dashwood wished her brother, Edward Ferrars, would own one to be smarter! In Mansfield Park, Henry Crawford (certainly not a titled lady or dowager!) makes much use of his barouche and Lady Dalrymple in Persuasion also owned the same equipage. The most famous owner of the barouche must be Lady Catherine de Bourgh who generously offers a place in hers to Elizabeth Bennet, shifting her servant to the box seat.
The Barouche-Landau
The Oxford English Dictionary has no separate entry for “barouche-landau” and its only reference is the quote from Emma. However, the Morning Post newspaper of the 5th January 1804 announced that ‘Mr. Buxton, the celebrated whip, has just launched a new-fangled machine, a kind of nondescript. It is described by the inventor to be the due medium between a landau and a barouche, but all who have seen it say it more resembles a fish-cart or a music-caravan.’
I must believe that Jane used this carriage as an insult to Mrs Elton in Emma. Was this carriage generally received as a joke? Did Jane purposely give the Sucklings this carriage for Mrs Elton to wax lyrical over? The author does not name many carriages in Emma but she mentions the barouche-landau four times in a single monologue of Mrs Elton’s.
I hope you have enjoyed this journey through the world of carriages in Jane’s time. I have always believed that Miss Austen never wasted a single word in her writing and, after my research; I believe she also thought very carefully about the recipient of each type of vehicle in her novels. The readers of her day needed no explanation as to why Mr. Darcy drove a curricle and Mr. Collins a gig but, as modern readers, a little knowledge in this area gives us much greater understanding and raised even higher my already exalted estimation of Captain Wentworth with his gift to Anne of the landaulette!
Selected bibliography
The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen Edited by R.W. Chapman OUP 1953
Jane Austen, her life and letters, a family record by William Austen-Leigh and Richard Austen Leigh 1913
http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/explore/history/mail-coaches/
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=kwq
A Treatise on Carriages: Comprehending Coaches, Chariots, Phaetons by William Felton , coachmaker William Felton Published 1794
www.stortfordhistory.co.uk/guide9/mailcoaches.html
www.jasnanorcal.org/ink9.htm Transports of Delight by Ed Radcliffe
About Hazel
Hazel Mills is a retired science teacher living in Cambridgeshire, England and is a founder member of the Cambridge Group of the UK Jane Austen Society. She discovered Austen as a Dorset schoolgirl who, after having been rendered totally depressed at the age of 12 by the death and destruction in Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, fell in love for the first time with Mr Darcy. This has since become a polygamous relationship including Captain Wentworth and Mr Knightly among others, and of course, the long suffering Mr Mills. Hazel normally writes and gives illustrated talks on a number of topics including Travel in Jane Austen’s time and The Illustrators of Jane Austen’s Novels, making use of her large book collection which includes over 200 different copies of Pride and Prejudice.
This article is from part of her talk, “Know your Phaeton from your Curricle” which also includes information such as about roads, turnpike trusts, maps and inns.
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This is fascinating, thank you!
Isn’t there reference to a chair in Persuasion? I am thinking that someone talks about calling a chair for Anne to take her home from somewhere…
Thank you Imelda. You are quite right, there is indeed a reference to a chair in Persuasion. It is when Anne is in Molland’s when it is raining and there is not enough room for her in Lady Dalrymple’s barouche. Captain Wentworth gallantly offers to get her a chair, but in this situation I think he is referring to a sedan chair. A chair carriage did not have a top so would not have offered her no protection from the rain. She of course refuses as she is waiting for Mr Elliot.
Fantastic information, Hazel. I shall never think about a Barouche-Landau again without chuckling!
Thank you Monica – my work is done!
Love the post. I now know more about the different types of vehicles. When I read I will understand what is being referred to.
Thank you Deborah, I am so pleased that you have found the article helpful.
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article
Thank you Michelle, I am very pleased that you enjoyed it.
Thank you so much for all the information! It is wonderful to finally have some idea of all the differences.
Thank you Madenna, I’m glad it has been useful.
Thank you, Hazel. Very enlightening. Sadly for me, all the pictures look similar and I still can’t tell what makes one different than the other, as far as implication is concerned. However, I really appreciate the explanation, because I agree with you that JA was making a judgment about the person whose vehicle she described. I suppose books written today would lose that same meaning for far-in-the-future readers, in the same way. If you were to describe Darcy driving a convertible or a minivan, one would get completely different images of him. But for readers not of our time, that distinction would be lost; the reader would probably realize that it meant something, but not know exactly what. Actually, the same thing could be said for clothes, too. If a book taking place in the eighties described someone wearing bell bottoms and a suede vest, one would know that that person was old fashioned, late to the picture, or just dorky. I wonder how well the term “high waters” will retain its meaning in the future!
I agree Ginna, that some of the pictures look very similar, such as the curricle and gig. Images are quite difficult to find especially those that are in the public domain. I am also sure there were many who couldn’t tell the difference in those days as there are now those you can’t tell one car from another! It’s very interesting what you say about the clothes too, I can imagine people in the future being flummoxed by fashions and terms we use today!
I suppose for Mrs. Elton today, JA could have had her in raptures about an Edsel or a Yugo!
I have now choked on my coffee. That was a fabulous comparison! LOL
That’s me – always trying to help out the dry cleaning industry!
Excellent Ginna! I have to admit though, as a Brit, I had to Google Edsel!
They all look lovely though some of the smaller versions might be considered dangerous with little protection from the elements or bouncing on ruts in the road, not to mention the horses kicking up the dust. Yet, on a pleasant day, who wouldn’t want to take a drive with Mr. Darcy!
Thanks, Hazel! I’ve enjoyed both of your informative posts!
Loved all of this information and especially the accompanying illustrations–very helpful! Thank you, Hazel! 🙂
Warmly,
Susanne 🙂
I guess things weren’t all that different in the Regency Era than they are today. Some people drive Jaguars and others drive VW Beetles. I always liked the quote about someone driving a “knowing rig.” Thanks for the info. Very interesting.
Now add to that the speed horses can travel at what gait, and you will realize that going further than 10 miles via horse and carriage was why people stayed at distant friends homes for months when visiting.
A horse can only trot at 6 – 8 miles per hour, but they can’t sustain that for lengthy periods of time. You wouldn’t canter or gallop them for any length of time without killing them. Canter is about 10-17 MPH, and a gallop is 25 to 30 MPH (race horses gallop) they can only sustain the pace for about 2 miles. Hence the many changes of horses to make a trip of 150 miles, and the fact that it took two or three days to cover that much distance, with over night stops.
The wheel horses pulling a carriage (4, 6 or 8 horse hitch) are larger than the lead horses. Carriage horses are smaller than the really large draft horses used for delivery wagons and farming, but larger and heavier than typical riding horses, although many of them are able to be ridden and pull a carriage. Large draft horses walk or trot typically, think the 8 horse Budweiser hitch pulling the beer wagon for deliveries. If you get a chance to see them perform please do. There is some video on YouTube. The coach men are fabulous, they can back up the wagon and move an 8 horse hitch out of the way as if they were doing a delivery on a narrow street, in the blink of an eye. The coachman of an 8 horse hitch is holding 4 lines per hand that weigh 40 lbs., with minimum pressure from the horses that increases to 75 lbs.
I couldn’t imagine traveling in cold, wet weather in a carriage as a passenger or the driver. It would be quite miserable. The roads we have now were invented for horses, Macadam roads were built to make it easier for the horses to pull the vehicles over the roads. Fewer ruts make for less broken wheels and axles.
Thanks for this article. Even though I have friends who drive their horses I never really paid attention to what the vehicles were called.
Thank you for more brilliant insight into the difficulties of travel. in the Regency era.
As a child in a six person car-less family from London’s East End in the 50s, I well remember our rare Sunday (when else?) Visits to grandparents to the wildest(!) parts of Rainham. The dreary journey, necessitatng three bus changes, and much waiting at bus stops, each way, exceeded visiting time by hours,., there being too many of us to stay the night . Fast backwards our family to the time of two feet or four, and we might, as children, have been unable to visit our grandparents for years…if ever?
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Fascinating! I stopped to check E-post before a very late bedtime, saw this article and just had to read both parts immediately.. Colourful, enlightening;. Such an easy journey. I loved it. Thank you, Hazel.
In light of your research I wonder how well Mrs Gaskell makes use of her vehicles as equippages for character? Thackeray?.. just thought of him… .and centuries later, vehicle for character, how is Georgette Heyer shaping up?
I am resisting reference to you taking the reins, but if you were so minded, it seems that a great many of us would be happy to be transported back and forth along any distance of literary history..
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Queen Victoria drove a low phaeton – it was a good way for an older or infirm person to get around, whereas you took your life in your hands with some of the high phaetons.
Have you read Jane Austen’s childhood effort, Memoirs of Mr Clifford? It’s an amusing story of a man with many vehicles who takes a journey. In fact, it’s so short that I can paste it in here. Anyone who plots the journey on a map will notice how short the distances travelled become with each successive leg of the journey:
Memoirs of Mr. Clifford: An Unfinished Tale
by Jane Austen
To Charles John Austen Esqre
Sir,
Your generous patronage of the unfinished tale, I have already taken the Liberty of dedicating to you, encourages me to dedicate to you a second, as unfinished as the first.
I am Sir with every expression
of regard for you and yr noble
Family, your most obedt
&c. &c. . . .
The Author
Mr Clifford lived at Bath; and having never seen London, set off one Monday morning determined to feast his eyes with a sight of that great Metropolis. He travelled in his Coach and Four, for he was a very rich young Man and kept a great many Carriages of which I do not recollect half. I can only remember that he had a Coach, a Chariot, a Chaise, a Landeau, a Landeaulet, a Phaeton, a Gig, a Whisky, an Italian Chair, a Buggy, a Curricle & a wheelbarrow. He had likewise an amazing fine stud of Horses. To my knowledge he had six Greys, 4 Bays, eight Blacks and a poney.
In his Coach & 4 Bays Mr Clifford sate forward about 5 o’clock on Monday Morning the 1st of May for London. He always travelled remarkably expeditiously and contrived therefore to get to Devizes from Bath, which is no less than nineteen miles, the first Day. To be sure he did not Set in till eleven at night and pretty tight work, it was as you may imagine.
However when he was once got to Devizes he was determined to comfort himself with a good hot Supper and therefore ordered a whole Egg to be boiled for him and his Servants. The next morning he pursued his Journey and in the course of 3 days hard labour reached Overton. where he was seized with a dangerous fever the Consequence of too violent Excercise.
Five months did our Hero remain in this celebratcd City under the care of its no less celebrated Physician, who at length compleatly cured him of his troublesome Desease.
As Mr Clifford still continued very weak, his first Day’s Journey carried him only to Dean Gate. where he remained a few Days and found himself much benefited by the change of Air.
In easy Stages he proceeded to Basingstoke. One day Carrying him to Clarkengreen, the next to Worting, the 3d to the bottom of Basingstoke Hill, and the fourth, to Mr Robins’s. …
Finis
This post is excellent, and definitely helped to answer most of my questions about Regency carriages. I got curious about this subject just recently, after Googling for information about curricles to find out why they were apparently so much more popular than other, somewhat similar types of vehicles. Well, I’m glad that I now understand the differences between gigs and curricles, chaises and chariots, etc., but this knowledge has also made me a bit frustrated with the blatant inaccuracies in some of the recent Jane Austen adaptations! 🙂 For example, both the 2008 BBC version of Sense & Sensibility and the 2007 ITV Northanger Abbey show four-wheeled carriages–driven by Willoughby and Henry Tilney, respectively–that are referred to onscreen as “curricles.” (S&S: http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5100000/Sense-and-Sensibility-2008-sense-and-sensibility-5177634-1024-576.jpg; NA: http://www.cap-that.com/austen/northangerabbey/2007/images/northangerabbey(2007)_2025.jpg.) But I have yet to find a reference to a curricle having more than two wheels! The Northanger Abbey example is even weirder, because it is being pulled by only one horse instead of a pair. (On a side note, I think that this is not the only carriage-related inaccuracy in the Northanger Abbey film–General Tilney’s conveyance is referred to by another character as a “chaise and four,” when it doesn’t look anything like a chaise, as far as I can tell. On the other hand, John Thorpe has what looks like a perfectly accurate gig–small, two-wheeled, and drawn by one horse.)
A few weeks back, I was interested in learning more about Regency dances, and found, to my slight disappointment, that most of the dances portrayed in film adaptations were actually popular around a hundred years BEFORE Austen started writing, and most likely would not have been performed by anyone in the Regency era. I suspect that filmmakers and choreographers like to use these dances because they look “elegant” and are easier for the actors to manage. So I’m aware that historical accuracy in film often takes a backseat to convenience and artistry. I also realize that the filmmakers on the two productions I mentioned, BBC’s Sense & Sensibility and ITV’s Northanger Abbey, were working with television budgets and may have had difficulty acquiring the correct carriages for filming. However, I’m really baffled as to why they did not simply change the scripts to reflect the fact that the carriages in use were not curricles. It wouldn’t have been difficult.
Anyway, thanks for the information! This will give me something new to think about when rereading Jane Austen.
[…] Hazel Mills just published a new blog post on Austen Variations about carriages and transport in Jane Austen’s time. I thought I was pretty well-versed about Regency carriages, but her posts opened my eyes to a never-before-thought-of possibility (look for the part about the donkeys). You can read her most recent post here. […]