Leicester Tramways Company
History
In 1873, the Leicester Tramways Company Limited was formed with the express aim of financing and constructing a horse tramway system within Leicester. The men behind the LTCo were Daniel Busby and William Turton, two well-known tramway entrepreneurs, whose interests included several horse tramways in the north of England, most notably, those of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Salford. In exchange for the support of Leicester Town Council, however, Busby and Turton had been forced to agree to several concessions, including an annual payment to the council, a share in the profits above a certain threshold, and the right to purchase the tramway after 12 years had elapsed, rather than the usual 21 years stipulated by the Tramways Act of 1870.
Powers to build 4.43 miles of horse-drawn tramway were granted on the 28th July 1873 under the Leicester Tramways Order 1873, which was passed into law under the Tramways Orders Confirmation Act 1873.
The first line ran northeastwards from the Clock Tower along Belgrave Road to the Folly Inn, and was opened on the 24th December 1874. This was followed by lines running: roughly eastwards along Humberstone Road to a terminus at its junction with Ash Street (opened on the 22nd March 1875); and southeastwards along Gallowtree Gate, Granby Road and London Road to a terminus near the current Stoneygate Court (opened on the 13th August 1875).
The company experimented with steam traction during 1876, using a Hughes steam tram built at the nearby Falcon works at Loughborough; although reasonably successful, the company decided against introducing steam traction, and continued to employ horse traction right through to its takeover in 1901.
Further powers were obtained on the 2nd August 1877 under the Leicester Tramways Act 1877. The Act authorised the construction of 5.12 miles of new tramway, as well the reconstruction of the company, it becoming thereby, a statutory entity.
Some short extensions were opened in 1878, along with new lines running: southwestwards along Welford Road and Aylestone Road to the latter's junction with Grace Road (opened on the 7th June 1878); and northwestwards along Church Gate, Sanvey Gate and Woodgate to a terminus at Groby Road (opened on the 29th August 1878).
Although powers to build a further 2.7 miles of tramway were obtained on the 3rd July 1884 under the Leicester Tramways (Extensions) Order, which was passed into law under the Tramways Orders Confirmation (No.2) Act 1887, only one of these was constructed, an extension of the Humberstone Road line to the Great Northern Station on Uppingham Road. This took the standard-gauge horse-drawn tramway to its final size of 12.06 miles. At its maximum, the services were delivered using 46 horse trams.
In the mid-1880s (it is unclear exactly when), rather than build a tramway extension from the London Road terminus out to Oadby, for which it had obtained powers in 1884, the LTCo rather precipitately chose to introduce a horse omnibus service, one which directly competed with the omnibus service of Solomon Andrews, who had been operating in the town long before the tramway. Unfortunately for the company, Solomon Andrews was no local minnow who could simply be pushed aside, but a well-known Cardiff-based omnibus proprietor and entrepreneur. At this time, he was involved in several tramway/omnibus wars across the country, particularly with the Provincial Tramways Company, so knew what he was doing when it came to putting up a fight. He responded by introducing new omnibus services that directly competed with those of the tramway company, a move which quickly led to a significant downturn in the LTCo's takings (and presumably, profits). The situation was finally resolved in November 1887 when the LTCo reached agreement with Andrews, purchasing his Leicester assets and in so doing, considerably expanding its omnibus operations.
Despite the concessions wrung from the company by the council (by now a corporation), it still managed to pay respectable dividends every year (bar the four years from 1887 to 1890, when extensive track renewal took place), though never high enough to trigger additional payments to the corporation.
Whilst the corporation had the right to purchase the tramway 12 years after the passing of the 1873 Act (i.e., in 1884), it chose not to do so. The next date when it could compulsorily purchase the tramway fell in 1894 (i.e., 21 years after the enabling act), and though the council set up a Tramways Committee in 1893 to look into the pros and cons of municipalising the tramway, once again no action was taken. The council was, however, clearly intent on municipalising the tramway, obtaining powers to operate the tramway — by horse or mechanical power — via the Leicester Corporation Act 1897, which was passed into law on the 6th August 1897.
In 1898, matters came to a head, the Tramways Committee reaching provisional agreement with the company to take it over as a going concern — having presumably been instructed to do so by the council — rather than waiting for the next compulsory purchase window in 1901. The full council, however, subsequently baulked at the price that had been agreed, and refused to endorse the purchase, setting back all moves to modernise and expand the system by over three years.
The Tramways Committee next came together on the 3rd November 1899, its members embarking on an extensive fact-finding mission in May and June 1900 — both within the United Kingdom and on the continent — in order to better understand what type of tramway system (especially the mode of traction) would best serve the town; unfortunately, the committee members returned to a hale of criticism from others on the council for their 'jaunt', even though the trip undoubtedly allowed a more informed decision to be made. The Tramways Committee finally delivered its report on the 14th December 1900, coming out strongly in favour of overhead current collection as the most cost-effective and reliable mode of traction. Their recommendation was promptly opposed by the mayor and others, who objected to what they saw as the potential disfigurement of their town by overhead wires, and who favoured a much-less intrusive surface-contact or conduit system. The council thus found itself in a quandary, which it sought to extricate itself from by commissioning a second report, this time from an independent expert. Ironically, this not only cost the council yet more time and money, but then produced precisely the same recommendation. Although the opposition faction were still unhappy, they were eventually brought into line by the cost of their favoured alternative — conduit collection — which would have bumped up the overall price for the new tramway system to £1 million, over 50% more than for overhead current collection.
The corporation finally took over the horse tramway (including its horse omnibus operations) on the 31st December 1901, paying just £20,000 less than it had objected to paying three years earlier, and receiving a barbed comment from the LTCo to the effect that it had wasted those years, both in terms of the advent of electrification, and in terms of lost profits.
The corporation also spent an inordinate length of time deciding which lines to build, finally obtaining powers to construct 22.5 miles of electric tramway on the 31st July 1902, under the Leicester Corporation Act 1902. Work on the new tramway and conversion of the existing horse lines did not therefore start until early 1903, the first corporation electric tram service running on the 18th May 1904. The last horsecar service ran just over five months later on the 31st October 1904, the corporation having operated the horse trams for almost three years.
Uniforms
The Leicester Tramways Company operated horse-drawn trams for just over a quarter of a century, from 1874 through to the municipal take-over of 1901. In common with the majority of horse tramway operators in the UK, company drivers wore informal but smart attire — trousers, jackets, waistcoats, shirts and ties. Headgear appears to have largely followed the fashion of the day, predominantly the bowler hat, though later on, flat caps and straw boaters also made an appearance; neither the jackets nor the hats bore insignia.
Conductors on the other hand appear to have worn short jackets and kepi-style caps; the coats do not appear to have carried any insignia, and were probably not formal issues (different styles are seen in surviving photographs, implying that they were purchased by the employee rather than issued by the company). In the early days, the caps were tall and rigid, rather like Victorian postmen's kepis, but later on they were soft-topped and noticeably smaller in profile. It is currently impossible to say whether the caps carried any badges, though surviving photos would suggest not.
Both drivers and conductors wore round licence badges, which were suspended from their jackets by a leather strap; the licences were made of brass and carried the full company title and the grade around the outside ('DRIVER' and 'CONDUCTOR'), with a number in the centre.
Photographs of inspectors are unknown.
Further reading
For a detailed history of Leicester's tramways, see: 'Leicester's Trams in Retrospect' by M S W Pearson; Tramway Publications (1970).
Images
Drivers and conductors
A very early shot, circa 1875, of a Leicester horse tram at the Belgrave terminus. Photo courtesy of the Tramways and Light Railway Society, with thanks to David Voice.
An enlargement of the above photograph showing the crew in a little more detail. The conductor is wearing a tall cap, possibly issued by the company, whilst the driver has the standard horseman's tall bowler hat.
An unidentified horse car with its driver (left) and two conductors — photo undated, but probably taken in the late 1880s or early 1890s. Photo courtesy of the Tramways and Light Railway Society, with thanks to David Voice.
An enlargement of the above photograph showing the driver (with a small boy alongside him on the stairs, no doubt his son) and the two conductors; the other individual may well be a driver too, suggesting that two crews are depicted. Whilst the driver on the platform is wearing the tall bowler hat of the period, both the conductors are wearing soft-topped peaked caps; all three are also wearing licence badges.
Leicester Tramways Company driver's licence badge — brass. John Burford Collection.