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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
113
In
1836,
there
were
fifty
four-horse
mails
in
England,
thirty
in
Ireland,
and
ten
in
Scotland.
In
England,
besides,
there
were
forty-nine
mails
of
two
horses
each.
In
the
last
year
of
mail-coaches,
the
number
which
left
London
every
night
punctually
at
eight
o'clock
was
twenty-seven;
travelling
in
the
aggregate
above
5,500
miles,
before
they
reached
their
several
destinations.
We
have
already
stated
how
the
contracts
for
horsing
the
mail-coaches
were
conducted;
no
material
change
took
place
in
this
respect
up
to
the
advent
of
railways.
Early
in
the
present
century,
it
was
deemed
desirable
that
the
mail-coaches
should
all
be
built
and
furnished
on
one
plan.
For
a
great
number
of
years,
the
contract
for
building
and
repairing
a
sufficient
number
was
given
(without
competition)
to
Mr.
John
Vidler.
Though
the
Post-Office
arranged
for
building
the
coaches,
the
mail
contractors
were
required
to
pay
for
them;
the
revenue
only
bearing
the
charges
of
cleaning,
oiling,
and
greasing
them,
an
expense
amounting
to
about
2,200l.
a-year.
In
1835,
however,
on
a
disagreement
with
Mr.
Vidler,
the
contract
was
thrown
open
to
competition,
from
which
competition
Mr.
Vidler,
for
a
substantial
reason,
was
excluded.
The
official
control
of
the
coaches,
mail-guards,
&c.,
it
may
here
be
stated,
was
vested
in
the
superintendent
of
mail-coaches,
whose
location
was
at
the
General
Post-Office.
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