ABSTRACT
originally a one-horse bright yellow two wheeled chaise for two passengers with a hood and apron. Cabs began to ply from a rank in Great Portland St. (London) in 1819, at 75% of the Hackney fare. Two-horse four-wheel broughams and Clarences supplemented them from 1836. They were called growlers because of the sound of their wooden shod brakes. (2) The hansom cab could carry two passengers. It was driven from a dickey with the reins over the roof, and the passengers were weather-proof, and could speak to the driver through a hatch above their heads. It was patented in 1834 and became progressively lighter and faster. From 1886 to 1896 there were about 4000 growlers and 7000 hansoms. The last hansom plied in 1951. (3) The hackney was a horse bred from a cross between a racehorse and a carthorse, especially suitable for use with carriages, and kept at livery stables for hire. Hence a hackney cab was one available for hire. (4) A taxi was originally any cab fitted with a taximeter to measure the fare by time or distance or, since the advent of the motor vehicle, a combination of both. Taxis began to drive horse cabs and hackneys out of business after 1897.
