Horse drawn stage-coaches were the principal method of travelling around England until the advent of the railways. The earliest reference of a stage-coach service to Leicester from London was recorded in the Flying Post on 22nd October 1700.
The service was part of the Nottingham group of coaches and was probably not a separate destination for long. The last stage-coach to have operated from Leicester was believed to have been in 1866.
The stage-coach network was probably at its peak by the mid-1830s and there were a set of 30 British Roadster stage-coach companions published each priced at 6d. Number 19 in the series covered the route from London to Northampton, Leicester and Nottingham is dated April 1834.
The small 12-page booklet gives some basic information about the towns, the departure information from London and a map of the route. The name of the stage-coach was the Union and this left from the Bull and Mouth, Aldersgate Street, London each evening at 7-30.
