FIBIS pays off! .....

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tishgibbons
Posts: 302
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:47 pm
Location: Galway, Ireland

FIBIS pays off! .....

Post by tishgibbons » Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:22 pm

Hi Folks,

just thought I'd let you know I've had some luck with research at FIBIS. I decided that I'm at a stage where I need to get some professional help on a few fronts. So I paid a small amount to FIBIS research three weeks ago and they have already found the death of William Leys in Calcutta(originally from Crathie) in 1909 and that he was a "Registrar, Hackney Carriages" (whatever that is or was!) and confirmed a marriage I was unsure of. There is more to come apparently. I hadn't had much luck with William Leys other than an inscription on a gravestone in Crathie Kirkyard. That inscription suggested that he was military but I could not get what I wanted chasing things up that way. It also confirmed that his son William George Leys married Evelyn Elizabeth Moyers in India - and there was me spending money on SP and Ancestry etc!!

Anyway, the moral of the story is - if you're far away from London, Edinburgh, etc., a small amount of money spent on research might just do the trick. It has worked for me at any rate.

Happy hunting folks,

Tish
Researching Mitchell Grassick Bowman Farquharson Wilson Allanach Leys Coutts Gauld McNerney from Crathie and Braemar, Strathdon and Glenbuchat and who moved on to Aberdeen, Glasgow, Ireland, Australia, India, Canada.

sporran
Posts: 496
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 11:40 pm
Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK

Re: Hackney carriages

Post by sporran » Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:27 pm

Hello Tish,


"Registrar, Hackney Carriages" obviously recorded births, marriages and deaths of taxis!


Regards,

John

tishgibbons
Posts: 302
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:47 pm
Location: Galway, Ireland

Post by tishgibbons » Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:30 pm

John,

Hope he kept better track of them than has been done with his own hatching, matching and dispatching!!!

Tish
Researching Mitchell Grassick Bowman Farquharson Wilson Allanach Leys Coutts Gauld McNerney from Crathie and Braemar, Strathdon and Glenbuchat and who moved on to Aberdeen, Glasgow, Ireland, Australia, India, Canada.

SarahND
Site Admin
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Location: France

Post by SarahND » Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:36 am

Good morning, Tish,
Having spent some time in Calcutta back in the 70's, my guess is that perhaps your William was in charge of a fleet of horse/human powered "taxis". The people who pull, cycle, or drive the horse that pulls the cab typically don't own the vehicle, but pay part of their earnings in rent to the person who does. I believe these have to be registered, to control the competition and keep the exploitation at a minimum, so perhaps he wasn't an owner, but was in charge of seeing that all the vehicles and "drivers" were registered.
That's off the top of my head!
Regards,
Sarah

Russell
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Post by Russell » Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:51 pm

Good description Sarah

Even now all passenger carrying vehicles have to be registered and inspected.
Licensed private cars have to carry a fixed plate with a number and only limited licences are issued. You can see the stencilled date on a bumper or wing showing when they are registered till.
Each district or council controls their local patch and decides on the number of licences to issue.
In Edinburgh licensed black (Hackney) cabs could be stopped at any time of the day or night by inspectors and, if they did not come up to standard were hauled in to their depot to be cleaned or fixed before they were allowed back out.
In London no cab driver is issued with a licence until he passes an exam to prove he has the 'Knowledge' i.e. knows the streets and all the shortcuts.
Way before the advent of the Hackney cab Edinburgh had a guild of Chairmen who carried folk through the filthy streets in sedan chairs.
No wheels, just poles at each end that allowed them to be lifted above the mire.
Passenger transport has a long and honourable history and has been regulated to some extent over all that time.

Russell
Working on: Oman, Brock, Miller/Millar, in Caithness.
Roan/Rowan, Hastings, Sharp, Lapraik in Ayr & Kirkcudbrightshire.
Johnston, Reside, Lyle all over the place !
McGilvray(spelt 26 different ways)
Watson, Morton, Anderson, Tawse, in Kilrenny

tishgibbons
Posts: 302
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:47 pm
Location: Galway, Ireland

Post by tishgibbons » Sat Sep 02, 2006 10:59 pm

Thanks Folks!

Yes, it does sound like he was the equivalent of what we call the PSV here - (public service vehicles or some such). I have a brother a taxi driver who does some complaining about that self same body!!! It sounds gruesome in today's world that individuals would carry people through the streets in rickshaws or whatever though I was shocked on a recent visit to Dublin lately where I saw a reincarnation of the self-same rickshaws - (mostly) immigrant workers hauling (mostly) drunken revellers through the trendy Temple Bar area - it was horrendous!

Tish
Researching Mitchell Grassick Bowman Farquharson Wilson Allanach Leys Coutts Gauld McNerney from Crathie and Braemar, Strathdon and Glenbuchat and who moved on to Aberdeen, Glasgow, Ireland, Australia, India, Canada.

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