Catalogue description Hackney Coach Board and predecessor: Hackney Carriage and Hawkers and Pedlars' Licence Duties

The Board of Commissioners of Hackney Coaches was created by an act of 1694 to regulate and license hackney carriages in the metropolitan area. Regulation had previously, since the early 17th century, been exercised mainly by the City Corporation and the magistrates in concert with, or on the order of, the Privy Council, or as a result of royal proclamation. In 1662 a licensing system was introduced, under a Board of Commissioners of Hackney Coaches, but this lapsed in 1679 after criticism of the expense of administering it. However, new commissioners were appointed by royal warrant in 1687 following complaints of the great obstruction to passage and trade due to lack of regulation.

For the first year of its existence the board's licensing powers, extended to stage coaches throughout England and Wales and, from 1711 onwards, sedan chairs plying for hire in London. Unlike other revenue boards the commissioners had powers to make byelaws, subject to ratification by any three of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper, Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal, the chief justices of the Common Pleas and King's Bench and the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. It controlled the numbers of coaches and chairs, enforced the statutory fares, and in addition, it shared summary jurisdiction over breaches of its bylaws and the Hackney Carriage Acts, and in disputes, with the city and county magistrates, although by the end of the 18th century most cases were heard by magistrates.

Following the second report of the Public Accounts Commissioners in 1781 Lord North prepared a bill to consolidate the board with one of the other revenue boards. This bill proved abortive and no alteration was made. In 1797 the matter was revived when the Finance Committee of the House of Commons recommended such an amalgamation but it was not until 1810 that the Hackney Coach Board took over the work of the Board of Commissioners of Hawkers and Pedlars.

In 1832 the Hackney Coach Board was abolished and its licensing powers and management of the licence duties passed first to the Board of Stamps and then, in 1833, to the Board of Stamps and Taxes. Its regulatory powers passed entirely to a metropolitan magistrate nominated by the Secretary of State for Home Affairs. In 1838 the Registrar of Metropolitan Public Carriages assumed responsibility for licensing, although the Board of Stamps and Taxes retained control over the duties levied until 1847 when they were transferred to the Board of Excise. In 1849 they were taken over by the newly-created Board of Inland Revenue. In 1870 hackney carriages were brought under a licensing system, based on fees, managed by the Metropolitan Police, under the authority of the Home Secretary.

Licences on hawkers and pedlars were first instituted in 1697 for a year to help pay the interest on the debt incurred on the transport services during the Irish campaign. Initially, they were managed under the control of the Board of Transportation but on their renewal in 1698 the Treasury appointed a new Board of Commissioners of Hawkers, Pedlars and Petty Chapmen. The duties were renewed for varying periods until 1716 when they were made permanent. In 1810 the Hawkers and Pedlars' Board was abolished and its work taken over by the Board of Hackney Coach Commissioners.

In 1832 licensing work passed to the Board of Stamps and the duties were successively administered by the Board of Stamps and Taxes in 1833 and the Board of Inland Revenue in 1849. In 1864 the stamp duties on hawkers and pedlars' licences were converted to excise licence duties and in 1870 these duties ceased to be levied on licences to hawkers on foot. Such traders were subsequently required to take out a certificate from the police under the Pedlars' Act 1870. The licence duties on other hawkers (e.g. those travelling with a horse) remained in force, collection having passed to the county councils under the Local Government Act of 1888. Administrative responsibility passed from the Board of Customs and Excise to the local authorities in 1950 following the Finance Act 1949. Hawkers' licences were finally abolished under the Local Government Act 1966.