Wednesday 2 February 2022

Stage Carriage Licence and Subpoenas from the Stamp Office, London, 1828 & 1831

Stage Coaches were licensed from 1776 onwards. Here is an example of a Supplementary licence from 1834.  The licence is A3 size and has been stamped with a one shilling embossed stamp.

It was not easy running a Stage Coach, as evidenced by this pair of subpoenas from the Stamp Office in London.

This first one, from September 1828, was for overloading the Coach, having 7 or 8 school boys inside when he was only licensed for 4.  The Stage Coach license stated how many inside and how many outside passengers they were allowed.

Stage Coaches also had to pay ½d per mile duty based on the number of miles they went with passengers.  The subpoena below is to recover arrears of Stage Coach Duty.




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