Hello Dinah, I am coming in to this a bit late because I did not know the time frame. I wrote an essay on the changes that occurred in the town of Ashford, Kent, when it became a railway centre in the first part of the nineteenth century. Men were recruited from industrial parts of the country as boiler makers and iron workers but the work of painting the carriages and doing the upholstery seemed to fall to those who lived more locally. This would suggest that there were makers of carriages who lived in this area of Kent. Many of the middle class had carriages but few would have had their own coaches. There were, however, time-tabled coach services running in all parts of the country. These were only running for about thirty years before they were superseded by the new railway system. The coaches were able to run successfully once the road surfaces had been improved. best regards, Janet Heskins In a message dated 06/06/2012 01:56:49 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Thank you Alan and all who responded to my question about coach trimmers. It is very interesting, and Alan's is funny. I wonder if lots of folks had coaches in the 1800's or just the well off. I wonder if there is some way to find out if my ancestors trimmed any royal coaches. At any rate, I'll be researching that when I get to London in August. Happy Diamond Jubilee everyone. Dinah ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message