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William (Bill) Weller - Part 1
A 19th Century Shaker and Mover
By John G. Shragge
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This article is reproduced
with the author's kind permission. Some format changes have been made
but otherwise the article is unchanged. The original can be seen at his
site,
The Road
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Equally, passengers had to endure the crashing and bruising ride of
the leather strap-sprung coaches as they lurched from one sinkhole to
another. Even so, Weller became a joint proprietor of the York-Kingston
stage route in December, 1829 and by June 1830 had established his first
stage coach line from York to Prescott.
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Weller's "Royal Mail Line" stages as they came to be
called, managed to maintain reliable service. This demanded detailed
organization and management as post depots had to be maintained
every 15 miles with fresh horses.
In an early advertisement, Bill Weller assured his clients that
the stages would leave "...York every Monday and Thursday
at 4 a.m. arriving at Carrying Place in Prince Edward County in
the evening..." Passengers were to be met by the steamboat
Sir James Kempt (at 4 a.m.) which transported them the rest of
the way arriving in Prescott before nightfall. The fare for the
total route was £2 10s.
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Weller emphasized that "...the road (was) being very much
repaired and the line fitted up with good horses, new carriages
and careful drivers".
Hundreds of accounts penned by early travelers describe the travails
of stage travel. Adam Fergusson, a rather portly gentleman, left
a written account about a one-day stage coach trip from Cornwall
to Prescott in 1831 that became into a two-day trip. Soon after
leaving Cornwall, the splinter bar gave way on the coach and the
passengers had to wait for someone to come out to repair the damaged
rig. Further into the trip the coach became mired in the mud:
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"...In one very bad clay hole with a steep bank, our
machine fairly stuck fast and was all but upset...the coachman
was obliged to repair to a neighbouring farm for a team of oxen,
while some of the party provided themselves, sans ceremonie,
with stakes from the adjoining fence, to be ready with their
aid. In due time the oxen arrived, the body of the carriage was
lifted off the frame and the wheels extricated, the whole affair
being transacted without any symptoms of bad humour ... ".
Fergusson's main complaint was that the coach was not equipped
with a door and that it was difficult for a man of his dimensions
to climb in and out through the window.
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| Part 2 - Bill bets on the Governor |
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