Public carriages for hire, or hackney (q.v.) coaches, were first established in London in 1625. In 1635 the number was restricted to fifty. Still they increased, notwithstanding the opposition of the court and king, who thought they would break up the roads, till in 1650 there were as many as 300. In Paris they were introduced during the minority of Louis XIV. by Nicholas Sauvage, who lived in the rue St Martin at the sign of St Fiacre, from which circumstance hackney carriages in Paris have since been called _fiacres_. In 1694 the number in London had increased to 700. Many of these were old private coaches of the nobility and gentry, and it was not until 1790 that coaches on a smaller scale were built specially for hackney purposes (see COACH).
We are told that in 1673 there were stage coaches from London to York, to Chester and to Exeter, having each forty horses on the road, and carrying each six inside-passengers. The coach occupied eight days travelling to Exeter. In 1706 a coach went from London to York every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, performing the journey in four days. In the same year there was a coach from London to Birmingham starting on Monday and arriving on Wednesday. In 1754 a coach was started from Manchester called the flying coach, which was advertised to reach London in four days and a half. In 1784 coaches became universal at the speed of 8 m. an hour.
In the year 1786 the prince of Wales, afterwards George IV., began to erect the pavilion at Brighton, and this led to a great increase of traffic, so that in 1820 no less than 70 coaches daily visited and left Brighton. The number continued to increase, until in 1835 there were as many as 700 mail coaches throughout Great Britain and Ireland. The system of road construction introduced by Mr McAdam during this time was of great value in facilitating this development.
Notwithstanding the competition of the sedan-chair (q.v.), the hackney-coach held its place and grew in importance, till it was supplanted about 1820 by the _cabriolet de place_, now shortened into "cab" (q.v.), which had previously held a most important place in Paris. In that city the cabriolet came into great public favour about the middle of the 18th century, and in the year 1813 there were 1150 such vehicles plying in the Parisian streets. The original cabriolet was a kind of hooded gig, inside which the driver sat, besides whom there was only room left for a single passenger. For hackney purposes Mr Boulnois introduced a four-wheeled cab to carry two persons, which was followed by one to carry four persons, introduced by Mr Harvey, the prototype of the London "four-wheeler."
