Folks I have tried for some time to find information on costs of travel for poor people before the Railway Act of 1844. The reason for this stems from one of my ancestors. He was born and raised in the Hull area but in 1834 he married a woman from the Manchester area, in fact they married in Manchester Cathedral. My question is how did he travel back and forth between Hull and Manchester, some 100 miles? It would appear that he had 2 choices: stagecoach and barge. From the little data I have been able to gather stagecoach fares were quite expensive, certainly for a poor person. This leaves barges. However they were towed by horses and only managed some 3 m.p.h. Thus this method would take several days, depending on the number of locks. Since most barges were self-owned, I gather that fares were negotiated. Is this true? . If anyone has any info on this I would certainly appreciate it. -- Ernest Burniston Raleigh, North Carolina