A tilbury is a light, open, two-wheeled

carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...

, with or without a top, developed in the early 19th century by the London firm of Tilbury, coachbuilders in Mount StreetAt South Street, London in about 1820 according to Walrond, Sally: Looking at Carriages, p. 73. Pelham Books, London 1980 (see also

Stanhope (carriage) The stanhope was a gig, buggy, or light phaeton, typically having a high seat for one person and closed back. It was named after Captain Hon. Henry FitzRoy Stanhope (ca. 1754 - 1828, son of William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington), a well-known ...

). A tilbury rig is little more than a single "tilbury seat"—the firm's characteristic spindle-backed seat with a curved padded backrest— mounted over a raked luggage boot, and fitted with a dashboard and mounting peg, all on an elaborate suspension system of curved leaf springs above the single axle. The tilbury has large wheels for moving fast over rough roads. A tilbury is fast, light, sporty and dangerous: :"A bad accident happened yesterday afternoon to M. Adolphe Fould, son of the Minister. He was seized with giddiness while driving his tilbury in the Champs Elysees and fell out of the vehicle. He was taken up senseless and conveyed to the Palace of the Exposition." – ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 9 November 1857. There is no connection with

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

in Essex.

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Science and Society Picture Library - Search , Tilbury gig, c 1830 (illustrated)
Carriages

See also

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