George ShillibeerDied 22 Aug 1866 (born 1797).English pioneer of omnibuses. Having founded a coach-building enterprise in Paris (1825), he expanded to include buses. On 4 Jul 1829, he commenced the first regular bus service from London to Paddington, carrying up to 20 passengers and in a coach drawn by three horses. Shillibeer adopted the word omnibus. He boasted it offered a safer and more comfortable ride than ordinary stagecoaches, since all passengers would ride inside. He was followed by imitators then more competition from the discovery that a trolley running on tracks could pull twice the payload. Although Shillibeer had revolutionized London's transport, he went bankrupt and spent time in debtors' prison. He eventually converted his omnibuses into "Shillibeer's Funeral Coaches". |
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