MP offices: location 1800s

Always surprises me how low the entrances to coaching inn yards are. You can see them in the photo, then if you look at the size of a coach and four, I don't see how they would have got in.

There are quite a few paintings of coaches that passed through Coventry. Some may have just had a change of horses. Some yards had taller entrances than others.

Thanks Rob and yes, the pub page is excellent. Kaga, yes the various accounts of the 1820 election are fascinating. I've heard elections were often violent in Coventry and voters on both sides were commonly incentivised (£ and alcohol). I thought Cobbett's account sounded a bit improbable in parts eg. he didn't turn up to canvass voters at the critical time, then claimed it was because he'd lost his voice on account of the presence of a crowd of ruffians... hhhmmmm. Interesting that Ellice is described almost universally as a moderate and affable man, not one prone to aggression (there's a lot of material on him given he held a cabinet post, was married to the PM's younger sister and was instrumental in getting the Great Reform Act passed and into law).

The pub page is excellent, Rob. I went straight to it when Helen and Anne mentioned the Craven Arms. I also used it to help locate the site of the Butchers Arms. There was a confrontation there between the key prosecution witness (a stranger from out of town) and local weavers. I loved writing that scene. Punches are thrown and it's high drama as the locals accuse this fellow of being a liar.

I'm glad the pub website has proved useful, that's great to know. Credit must be given, however, to Fred Luckett and John Ashby for most of the research on all those pubs.

SGT, Yes, I had a few thoughts about the account. But it did turn bloody, and someone brought the alcohol. He did accuse Ellice in the Political Register of inciting the mob to murder him, both in the attack on Mr Sergeant's house on Earl St and at the election booth.

SJT Most prisoners were conveyed to London by the famous coach 'Eclipse' calling in at the Craven, or starting from the Craven. No one was more well known than Ned Hassall, driver & Tom Peck, the guard. They had been together for many years on the road, Ned from Brum, Tom from Cov. At one time they were conveying some prisoners from Chester to London, heavily ironed and chained - neither guard or driver liked the job, knowing the men would be hung or transported. Near Dunchurch a lonely part of the road, by some means they secured the keys and unlocked themselves, seized the warder, clambered on the coach and seized the guard and driver, tied all three securely to their seats, took the horses from the coach, mounting them two/three to each horse and fled. At Bourton they compelled a blacksmith to undo their fetters, and they made a clean escape. One frosty winter day as they arrived at the Craven, as the horses were changed, Peck was busy lifting heavy luggage from the coach at the rear, his foot slipped, he fell back on to the pavement, his head striking the kerb. His brains dashed out, he died on the spot. Ned, seeing his guard dead, feinted, was taken into the hotel. When he came round he was a helpless lunatic, and remained so the rest of his life.