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nebroadweHistory fascinates me, particularly the narrative sort, but I can also happily plunge into anything that gives me a sense of the "thereness" of a place-in-time. So I spent far too much time browsing William West's History, Topography and Directory of Warwickshire (1830) when I should have been cataloging it, and it is with great regret that I surrender it to the closed stacks.
First of all, there's the prose. Nobody writes like sentences these anymore -- where now such round phrases, such flowing periods? Who in this degenerate era would begin an exposition of demography on this wise?
Finally, all those who've ever stared at a taxi's price-for-mileage chart and tried to figure out whether the meter's rigged will appreciate the long pedigree such incomprehensible mathematical formulas have. I give you the pièce de résistance: Birmingham's regulations concerning carriages-for-hire.
HACKNEY COACH REGULATIONS
Drawn By Two Horses
For every hackney coach or other carriage, drawn by two horses, hired and taken any distance within and not exceeding half-a-mile ... 1 s. 0 d.
Exceeding half a mile and not exceeding a mile ... 1 s. 6 d.
Exceeding a mile but not exceeding a mile and a half ... 2 s. 0 d.
Exceeding a mile and a half and not exceeding two miles ... 2 s. 6 d.
Exceeding two miles and not exceeding three miles ... 3 s. 6 d.
Exceeding three miles & not exceeding four miles ... 5 s. 0 d.
Drawn By One Horse
For every coach or other carriage, drawn by one horse, hired and taken any distance within and not exceeding one mile ... 1 s. 0 d.
Exceeding a mile and not exceeding a mile and a half ... 1 s. 6 d.
Exceeding a mile and a half and not exceeding two miles ... 2 s. 0 d.
Exceeding two miles and not exceeding two miles and a half ... 2 s. 6 d.
Exceeding two miles and a half and not exceeding three miles ... 3 s. 0 d.
Exceeding three miles & not exceeding three miles and a half ... 3 s. 6 d.
Exceeding three miles and a half and not exceeding four miles ... 4 s. 0 d.
And for returning with the same fare, the driver of every such coach or other carriage shall be entitled to receive and take half the foregoing fares, to be computed as aforesaid.
For Time
And for every hackney coach or other carriage, hired and kept in waiting between the hours of nine in the morning and twelve o'clock at night, the several rates and fares following, viz:--
For any time exceeding fifteen minutes, and not exceeding twenty minutes, the sum of sixpence; exceeding twenty minutes, and not exceeding forty minutes, one shilling; and for every other period of time, not exceeding twenty minutes, to be computed from the expiration of the first forty minutes, the further sum of sixpence, during the time any such coach or other carriage shall be detained, engaged, or kept in waiting.
Night Fares
It is constituted, ordained, and provided, that for every coach or other carriage retained or employed after the hour of twelve o'clock at night, and before the six o'clock in the morning, between the 1st day of April and the 1st day of October, and after the hour of twelve and before the hour of seven, between the 1st of October and the 1st day of April, in each and every year, the driver or drivers of every such coach or other carriage shall be allowed and entitled to double the foregoing fares, to be calculated in manner aforesaid.
And that the driver of every such hackney coach or carriage shall be furnished with a list of the said fares, and shall, when upon duty, have such list of fares ready to produce, and shall produce the same (if required) to any person or persons having hired any such carriage, and in default thereof, shall forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding 20s for each offence.
Stands
It is constituted, ordained, and provided, that it shall and may be lawful to and for such licensed hackney coach or other carriage to stand and ply for hire in the following places, viz.--
New-street.--Five between the Free-School and Peck-lane; four between Peck-lane and King-street; four between the Post-office and Christ Church.
Paradise-street.--Six in the middle of Paradise-street.
Ann-street.--Four in the middle of the street opposite Christ Church; and four at the top of the street.
Temple-row.--Two opposite the Mining Companies' office.
Colmore-row.--Two at the gate near the Blue Coat School; one on each side the gate at the end of Church-street; two at the gate next Newhall-street.
Bristol-street.--Two, one opposite Mr. Bond's garden, and one opposite Cattell's wall.
Great Charles-street.--Two at the bottom of Great Charles-street.
Easy-row.--Two between Gt. Charles[-]street and Edmund-street.
Ah, the found poetry of lines like "Six in the middle of Paradise-street". Inspiring, isn't it? And what a fund of information for the budding historical novelist. (Mechanical timekeeping of reasonable accuracy is clearly assumed here, for instance.) Remember, research in primary source material such as this is your friend (as is the humble bibliographer, toiling in obscurity that these treasures might be opened unto you).
First of all, there's the prose. Nobody writes like sentences these anymore -- where now such round phrases, such flowing periods? Who in this degenerate era would begin an exposition of demography on this wise?
"Instances of persons living to a great age, are not particularly numerous or remarkable in Birmingham, considering the extent of the place; it would therefore appear that a less number of persons die here at an early or middle age, than in many other large towns, and that the general habits of industry, and the almost universal use of ale, instead of ardent spirits, are such, as to cause the great mass of inhabitants to live to the natural age of man."Note the assumption that the reader will have no trouble wending his or her way through all the coordinate and subordinate clauses to the meat of the sentence. These were the days when literacy really meant something. But it's not all about heigh stile. Want to get a feel for another time on the neighborhood level? Check out the Yellow Pages-equivalent for Birmingham, its "Directory," and take a walk through the socioeconomics of the first half of the nineteenth century via its lists of professions and those who profess 'em. Sure, you'll see plenty of carpenters and smiths, clothiers and fruiterers, but cheek-by-jowl with those pursuits sit ...
"Blind (Venetian) Makers," "Brass Moulding, Desk Railing, Stair Rod, and Astragal Manufacturers" (an "astragal" is a kind of column molding), "Cock Founders" (a branch of the gunsmithing trade -- what did you think?), "Compass and Pincer Makers," "Coral and Jet Carvers," "Die Sinkers" (engravers of printing dies), "Felmongers" (dealers in animal hide), "Felons' Iron Makers," "Gimlet Makers," "Glass Toy Chandelier Ornament, &c. Makers," "Hame and Chain Makers" (a "hame" is part of a horse collar), "Jack Makers" (probably roasting jacks), "Japanners" (artisans in black lacquer), "Mangle Makers," "Pearl Shell Delrs. (See also button mkrs. Pearl)," "Sovereign Balance Makers," "Straw, Chip, & Leghorn Hat Makers" (a category distinct from "Milliners"), "Tortoiseshell, Ivory, &c. Box, Case & Caddee Makers" ...and so on and so forth.
Finally, all those who've ever stared at a taxi's price-for-mileage chart and tried to figure out whether the meter's rigged will appreciate the long pedigree such incomprehensible mathematical formulas have. I give you the pièce de résistance: Birmingham's regulations concerning carriages-for-hire.
For every hackney coach or other carriage, drawn by two horses, hired and taken any distance within and not exceeding half-a-mile ... 1 s. 0 d.
Exceeding half a mile and not exceeding a mile ... 1 s. 6 d.
Exceeding a mile but not exceeding a mile and a half ... 2 s. 0 d.
Exceeding a mile and a half and not exceeding two miles ... 2 s. 6 d.
Exceeding two miles and not exceeding three miles ... 3 s. 6 d.
Exceeding three miles & not exceeding four miles ... 5 s. 0 d.
For every coach or other carriage, drawn by one horse, hired and taken any distance within and not exceeding one mile ... 1 s. 0 d.
Exceeding a mile and not exceeding a mile and a half ... 1 s. 6 d.
Exceeding a mile and a half and not exceeding two miles ... 2 s. 0 d.
Exceeding two miles and not exceeding two miles and a half ... 2 s. 6 d.
Exceeding two miles and a half and not exceeding three miles ... 3 s. 0 d.
Exceeding three miles & not exceeding three miles and a half ... 3 s. 6 d.
Exceeding three miles and a half and not exceeding four miles ... 4 s. 0 d.
And for returning with the same fare, the driver of every such coach or other carriage shall be entitled to receive and take half the foregoing fares, to be computed as aforesaid.
And for every hackney coach or other carriage, hired and kept in waiting between the hours of nine in the morning and twelve o'clock at night, the several rates and fares following, viz:--
For any time exceeding fifteen minutes, and not exceeding twenty minutes, the sum of sixpence; exceeding twenty minutes, and not exceeding forty minutes, one shilling; and for every other period of time, not exceeding twenty minutes, to be computed from the expiration of the first forty minutes, the further sum of sixpence, during the time any such coach or other carriage shall be detained, engaged, or kept in waiting.
It is constituted, ordained, and provided, that for every coach or other carriage retained or employed after the hour of twelve o'clock at night, and before the six o'clock in the morning, between the 1st day of April and the 1st day of October, and after the hour of twelve and before the hour of seven, between the 1st of October and the 1st day of April, in each and every year, the driver or drivers of every such coach or other carriage shall be allowed and entitled to double the foregoing fares, to be calculated in manner aforesaid.
And that the driver of every such hackney coach or carriage shall be furnished with a list of the said fares, and shall, when upon duty, have such list of fares ready to produce, and shall produce the same (if required) to any person or persons having hired any such carriage, and in default thereof, shall forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding 20s for each offence.
It is constituted, ordained, and provided, that it shall and may be lawful to and for such licensed hackney coach or other carriage to stand and ply for hire in the following places, viz.--
New-street.--Five between the Free-School and Peck-lane; four between Peck-lane and King-street; four between the Post-office and Christ Church.
Paradise-street.--Six in the middle of Paradise-street.
Ann-street.--Four in the middle of the street opposite Christ Church; and four at the top of the street.
Temple-row.--Two opposite the Mining Companies' office.
Colmore-row.--Two at the gate near the Blue Coat School; one on each side the gate at the end of Church-street; two at the gate next Newhall-street.
Bristol-street.--Two, one opposite Mr. Bond's garden, and one opposite Cattell's wall.
Great Charles-street.--Two at the bottom of Great Charles-street.
Easy-row.--Two between Gt. Charles[-]street and Edmund-street.
Ah, the found poetry of lines like "Six in the middle of Paradise-street". Inspiring, isn't it? And what a fund of information for the budding historical novelist. (Mechanical timekeeping of reasonable accuracy is clearly assumed here, for instance.) Remember, research in primary source material such as this is your friend (as is the humble bibliographer, toiling in obscurity that these treasures might be opened unto you).