London taxis are historically and still officially known as Hackney Carriages, derived from the French word ‘hacquenee’ – a small type of horse commonly used to pull the coaches. The taxi trade took off during the reign of Elizabeth I when innkeepers and merchants bought second-hand carriages to sell journeys to the public. By 1634 London’s first taxi rank was opened on the Strand by Captain John Bailey, who requested his men wear a livery uniform and charge a certain rate to the passenger(s). A speedy two-seater ‘cabriolet’ carriage was introduced around the time of George IV’s reign and this French word is why we call them cabs to this day. London taxi drivers today are world renowned for having undertaken the ‘knowledge’ test which takes on average 2-4 years to learn and includes 320 basic routes, 25,000 streets off those basic routes, and 20,000 places of interest within a six mile radius of Charing Cross.
Irina Hutanu
Monday Minstrel: Facts about the London ‘Cab’
by
Comments
21 responses to “Monday Minstrel: Facts about the London ‘Cab’”
-
-
Interesting post, Anne. I have some old family photos of ancestors in carriages. I do not know the manufacturer, but I do love the photos.
LikeLike
-
-
-
-
Hi Anne – this prompted me to look up “hackneyed,” which I used to see frequently in old history books, newspapers, etc. but that term is now falling out of use. And it is related, a “horse suitable for ordinary riding or driving,” then later the meaning shifted to mean trite and commonplace. I haven’t seen it, but Stephen Fry did a travelogue for the BBC, driving all over the U.S. in one of those London cabs, or I guess I should say, hackneys.
-
Amazimg. Thanks for that info.
LikeLike
-
-
That is such interesting information, Anne, thank you. I live in the uk, but have only been to London once. They should have traffic lights for pedestrians – I was totally panicked as I got carried along by the crowds of shoppers. lol I was brought up in Glasgow, Scotland and remember the black cabs there. It was a real treat for my brother and I to get a ride in one.
-
-
-
Anne – thanks for the splash of fun history to why we call
Them
Cabs today!
And I heard that in the 1800s when dickens was writing his books he saw the horse and carriage combo waning and made sure to
Preserve some of them in his writing – I guess the pick wick papers especially
Feature the carriages and horses to allow the guys to travel-
-
☀️☀️☀️
LikeLike
-
-
HorseAddict 
I’d love to hear from you!