Now! Then! Mary Morellee of Birstwith (Nidderdale) is killed in a stagecoach race on Lofthouse Hill

23 July 1838: Mary Morellee of Birstwith (Nidderdale) is killed in a stagecoach race on Lofthouse Hill

George Roberts. 1882. Topography and Natural History of Lofthouse and Its Neighbourhood. London: D. Bogue. Get it:

Excerpt

Cumbersome stage wagons succeeded pack-horses, and often poor persons, sometimes women and children, travelled 200 miles in the tail-end of a wagon. This kind of travelling was, however, not destined to continue long. Vehicles with lighter wheels and swifter horses soon appeared. The business being new and lucrative there were soon many rival coaches. When they passed through a village at full gallop they formed quite a spectacle to the wondering villagers who had been accustomed to gaze through their windows at the slow-motioned wagons. Many of the drivers were daring and reckless men. On the 23rd of July, 1838, the Courier coach, which was racing at a fearful speed down Lofthouse Hill against the True Blue, was overturned at Lofthouse Gate, and one of the passengers, Mary Morellee of Birstwith was killed. The mails ceased running in 1840, but coaches and omnibuses continued on the road till the railway from Wakefield to Leeds via Ardsley was opened. The narrow part of the road at Lofthouse Gate, where the above-mentioned accident occurred, was widened and straightened, and the bridge altered, in 1860.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.
Abbreviations:

ER: East Riding
GM: Greater Manchester
NR: North Riding
NY: North Yorkshire
SY: South Yorkshire
WR: West Riding
WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

I haven’t found a Birtwith in Co. Durham, so assume it to be Birstwith in Nidderdale. I think Morellee is a mistake too, but haven’t looked for a Mark Morelli.

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Original

Cumbersome stage waggons succeeded pack-horses, and often poor persons, sometimes women and children, travelled 200 miles in the tail-end of a waggon. This kind of travelling was, however, not destined to continue long. Vehicles with lighter wheels and swifter horses soon appeared. A coach called the “Fly” commenced running between Leeds and London in 1768. The first mail coach started from Leeds to London in July, 1785, the distance being accomplished in about twenty-two hours, and the fare for each passenger inside being three guineas. The business being new and lucrative there were soon many rival coaches. When they passed through a village at full gallop they formed quite a spectacle to the wondering villagers who had been accustomed to gaze through their windows at the slow-motioned waggons. Many of the drivers were daring and reckless men. On the 23rd of July, 1838, the “Courier” coach, which was racing at a fearful speed down Lofthouse Hill, against the “True Blue,” was overturned at Lofthouse Gate, and one of the passengers, Mary Morellee, the wife of Mark Morellee, of Birtwith, in the county of Durham, was killed. The mails ceased running in 1840, but coaches and omnibuses continued on the road till the railway from Wakefield to Leeds via Ardsley was opened. The old ten o’clock Leeds and Barnsley ‘bus (Randall’s) ceased running on week days in December, 1860. The narrow part of the road at Lofthouse Gate, where the above-mentioned accident occurred, was widened and straightened, and the bridge altered, in 1860.

249 words.