Stagecoach driver 1840s

[Claire64]

Can't seem to find an answer to this.  Would a stagecoach driver (Sheffield to Manchester, passenger coach) have carried a shotgun in the 1840s?  I have read that he did, but is this true?  All my searches seem to throw up the Wild West and Riding Shotgun and highwaymen.  Sometimes I spend too much time on the small details, but I have a very inquiring mind!!

[Jebber]

Look for a copy of ‘The Royal Mail’ by J. Wilson Hyde.

You should find a free digital copy on line,  it is over 400 pages so takes a while to download, it is full of fascinating information about the stagecoaches etc.

[Claire64]

found it, thanks!  Looks an interesting read.

[stanmapstone]

In "Stage and Mail Coaches" by David Mountfield, he says that "it seem likely that mail guards used their firearms more often against rabbits or pheasants , or even stray chickens than against highwaymen". There is also an illustration of a mail-coach guard with some of his equipment, including pistols and blunderbuss.

Stan

[Mercia118]

They certainly had firearms in 1828; I've a diary which recounts various trips on the stagecoaches and he mentions the driver taking pot-shots at something once 

[Claire64]

In "Stage and Mail Coaches" by David Mountfield, he says that "it seem likely that mail guards used their firearms more often against rabbits or pheasants , or even stray chickens than against highwaymen". There is also an illustration of a mail-coach guard with some of his equipment, including pistols and blunderbuss.

Stan

That makes a lot of sense!