Fly carriage drivers

[Spice.180]

Forgive me if this is the wrong place to post this but I was wondering if anyone had any Info on fly carriage driving or even better some photos from about 1880-1920 as my great grandfather and his family were in this business in St Leonards mainly and Hastings at this time
Thank you
Mark Spice

[Gerry Glyde]

There were many operators in Hastings & St L, with their horses stabling situated in Mews. There was a discussion on here about Mews near the Royal Victoria hotel some months ago. In Hastings there were a number of stables off of Cambrige Rd and Havelock Rd.

On the old pictures site here flys can be seen in some foreground/background of old postcards. If you flick through you should find them.

[Gerry Glyde]

Fly driving was quite a difficult job to have as there was a lot of competition for business.

I have extracted a few newspaper clips concerning the business that you may find interesting

[Gerry Glyde]

Two more clips

[Gerry Glyde]

Last two clips

The last clip is about the tradesmen who were seeking charitable assistance and the number in each category of employment is listed

If you have a name and date I might be able to find something on your relative

[Richard]

I am assuming one 'fly cab' looked much like another.
Also I will venture, until challenged, that they were a form of 'Hansom Cab', beloved of Sherlock Holmes, where the carriage for two was pulled by a horse controlled by a driver at the rear sitting on a mechanism of a sprung seat behind the carriage.
In the case of the 'Hansom' the driver could keep the doors locked until payment had been made through a hatch at the rear of the carriage.

As Gerry states there were numerous Mews all over HSL and Hotels would usually have owned stabling quarters to accommodate the needs of their customers.
'Skinners' was a company supplying stabling and carriages located in Western Road, St. Leonards.
In 1858 Mr Jeremiah Skinner took a 99 year lease on a large plot of land, the company later evolved into the Motor Trade until bankruptcy in c 1906, it was bought by Frank Hickman who was later to supply 7000 horses to the Army during WWI.

Image of a London Hansom and Cabman:

[Gerry Glyde]

I have not been able to find a picture of a vehicle that describes it as a "fly", neither have I found a postcard of a street scene with a fly with in it on the Past Times picture site. In my mind I have the view of a fly being similar to the modern day push bike rickshaw, that is a simpler type of conveyance than a covered cab.

I have the idea of a horse vehicle with a seat directly behind it for the driver and then two front facing seats for passengers, covered with a canopy but no other protection on two wheels.

[Richard]

One reference mentions the following:

"A 'Fly' was a light, sporty, one-horse covered carriage. It had been introduced at Brighton in 1816 and had at first been drawn by men, presumably being something like a rickshaw."

The rather later Hansom's (safety) Cab was not patented until 1834 and presumably was an attempt to replace the notoriously dangerous 'Fly'.

So it seems you were near the mark on that one Gerry!!