The stage-coach system of South Hampshire, 1775–1851

Little detailed academic research has gone into the development of the English stage-coach system. With the exception of the work of such writers as Jackman, Dickinson, Hart and Bagwell,^1] the history of coaching has suffered from a surfeit of romantic and antiquarian writing^2] and a deficiency of close studies of the primary sources of information. The aim of this paper is to examine the development of a stage-coach system at a regional level—in South Hampshire—in the hope of throwing new light on the subject as a whole, and of contributing to a fuller understanding of the region's changing geography during the period.