Geelong and District Hackney Carriage Owners 1877

In 1877, there were 48 licensed Hackney Carriages operating in Geelong. This is based on entries in the Geelong Market Committee minute books in the archives at the Geelong Heritage Centre: GRS 853 Items 1-5 covering the years 1850-1956. Initially, this committee was responsible for the Markets and then the abattoirs, however, over the years the responsibilities of the Geelong Market Committee branched out into a number of diverse areas and the Hackney Carriages was one such area. It appears that Hackney Carriages were inspected on an annual basis and licensed for the following year. The Market Committee was made up of councillors of the Town of Geelong and as well as the annual inspection and licensing of the carriages, the committee dealt with complaints associated with the carriages and their drivers – bad language, drunkenness, fare disputes, carriage stands etc.