At twelve o’clock at noon, the lady went out of the parlour, telling her mother she was going to dress, but instead of doing so, went into the garden, got out the back way, crossed a field, and was helped over the pales by two gentlemen, who handed her into a post-chaise, and drove to Epping, where Mr H– was waiting in a post-chaise and four…
Derby Mercury, Thursday 21 September 1797
I get asked this question a lot. So what was a post-chaise, exactly?
A regular stage-coach, much lighter and faster than the ‘heavy’, which made several overnight stops and was otherwise known, ironically perhaps, as the Express.
A two-wheeled chaise carried two passengers and was pulled by two horses; a four-wheeled chaise carried four, with an additional passenger on the open dickey seat at the back, and it was pulled, as you might expect, by four horses.
A postilion (or post-boy) rode the lead horse and where additional speed was required, there might be two postilions on a four-horse chaise.
The chaise, horses, postilion and driver were privately hired from a coaching inn or coach company. It was not cheap. Elopers had to be prepared with a good supply of cash. Poverty-stricken John Giles borrowed £30 from a friend so that he could elope with heiress and Ward in Chancery Augusta Nicholson. He and his friend walked from Sevenoaks to Tunbridge Wells to hire a post-chaise, came back with it to Tunbridge to collect Augusta and went off to London, where they quickly ran out of money. Augusta’s friends caught up with her and Giles found himself in prison.
More about postilions and the postal service at Jane Austen’s World.