Earlier vehicles of Salmons and Sons, Newport Pagnell
As fellow Newportonians (residents of Newport Pagnell) may be aware, Neil Cairns posted some old photos of Tickford and Salmons and Sons a few months ago on the I grew up in Newport Pagnell Facebook page. I got in touch with Neil, who kindly supplied a CD of the images.
One of the most interesting images of the collection, other than a few starring the car named after the town — the NP — was a form with an elaborate letterhead. It is dated January 01, 1902 and addressed to Mr Geo(rge) Salmons. The letterhead is quite large, as it contains illustrations of five types of carts and carriages that “Salmons & Sons, Carriage Builders” produced.

Of interest is that the letterhead asserts that Salmons was “Established 1820”. Joseph Salmons was an apprentice to Francis Warr (a wheelwright) in the early 1800s. Warr died and his widow sold the business to John Hopkins in 1823. Details are murky, but it seems that Joseph took over the business at some point in the late 1820s. In 1869 he thanked the public for 40 years of custom, which would mean that the Salmons business was established in 1829. It might be (using an advanced research technique called “guessing”) that 1820 related to when Joseph completed his seven-year apprenticeship, as he would have been about 24 at the time.
However, the reason that I have written this blog post is that in early August I visited Arlington Court (near Barnstaple, North Devon), home of the National Trust’s Carriage Collection. Unfortunately no Salmons and Sons vehicles were on display, so the search for existing S&S coaches, waggons and carts continues — but the collection is fascinating and is well-worth the trip. I thought that it would be interesting to identify the vehicles in the letterhead.
Bottom left
Because of the smaller wheels at the front and ‘flatter’ design, and the wide footwell in line with the axles meaning that the occupants would face each other, I’m tempted to say that this is a Barouche-Sociable. It was usually just known as a Sociable, or as the Vis-à-vis in the USA, because passengers faced each other. A folding hood would normally be expected, and the vehicle would be pulled by either one or two horses. Usually the Sociable could accommodate one owner-driver or two passengers, a driver, and the groom.
Top left
I think that this is a cabriolet or round-backed gig, without a visible hood or apron. Owner-driven with a single horse, it was the essential “bachelor cab”, able to take two up front (well-protected when using a hood and apron) and a groom behind (not protected from the elements).
Top right
This illustration looks like a Stanhope Gig, designed (perhaps unsurprisingly) by Captain Hon. Henry Fitzroy Stanhope sometime between 1800 and the 1820s. This was a fast carriage because it was only two-wheeled and used lighter telegraph springs. They were produced in large quantities, which made them relatively cheaper to buy and therefore popular. They could seat two (the owner-driver and passenger) and could be pulled by one or two horses.
Bottom right
The image is somewhat vague and could be of several designs, but I believe it to be a Single Brougham. It seems I’ve been internally mispronouncing it while reading Sherlock Holmes stories all these years — it’s apparently said the same as “Broom”. The name comes from the design, first commissioned by Lord Brougham in 1837. They could take two passengers in the cabin and could fit a groom next to the coachman on front. It would be pulled by one or a pair of horses.
Centre
The informal nature, entry via the back, and high seat ‘backs’ suggest that this is a Governess Cart (also known less elegantly as a Tub Cart). Designed for a single horse, a mother or governess could take children out for a drive (it would probably fit two adults and two children). The owner-drive would have been quite uncomfortable — their driving position was a seat which ran diagonally in the back-right corner!
Inferred market
What’s interesting about these advertised vehicles is that they’re all popular designs, usually for the driver-owners and commercial travellers of the middle- and upper-middle classes. The emphasis on the chassis may perhaps be to show the ‘cheapest version’ of what’s for sale, with bigger and better options (like hoods and skirts for weather-proofing) increasing costs. What this letterhead is not showing are the larger and more expensive coaches, despite the fact that Salmons and Sons are known to have produced at least one — there’s a photograph of a S&S coach from 1863 in the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies’ Photograph Archive, for example.
Dog Carts
There is the very slim possibility that the illustration in the top-right corner is in fact a two-wheeled dog cart. However, Dog Carts were usually four-wheeled for carrying a hunting party — three or four adults, equipment, and several dogs. The nearby Mossman Collection at Luton has quite a good example of a four-wheeled Rustic Dog Cart, for example.
I raise this simply because there were other Dog Cart designs, and potentially the body could contain an area for transporting dogs. But mostly it is because it would seem very strange for the company to include the text “Inventors and Sole Makers of the Newport Pagnell Dog Cart” without including an illustration of that Dog Cart!
Ascertaining the design of the NP Dog Cart is definitely an area worthy of further investigation.
