Car proprieter (1891 census!)

[nicke20]

Hi all, long time since ive been here, its been a busy few years. Anyway ive gone back to my family tree and been researching a family rumour that i had a relative with one of the first motorised taxis in liverpool. What I have found is a family member who in the 1891 census is described as a car proprieter and in 1901 as a coach car proprieter
then in 1911 he is a car proprieter horse!
his name was george mason if this is of any use, what is a car proprieter in 1891??

regards Nick

[MaryA]

I'm suspecting he was a very forward thinking man and actually owned one of the early motor cars to use for trading, probably as a form of taxi. I wonder if this business evolved from either carting or was he a groom earlier?

It would be wonderful if you found a photograph of him with his car.

[Tina]

Welcome back Nick
In 1894 Kellys Directory we have
George Mason coach/cab proprietor
85 South St Tox Park
also
George Mason cab prop
102-106 Admiral St
also 22 Lestock St Tox Park.

There are 3 pages of coach/cab props in this Directory.

I think they were all horse drawn but stand corrected.

[dickiesam]

One of my paternal g.g.fathers was a horse-drawn cab driver in the 1860s and 70s. On the maternal side I have a g.g.father with a motor taxi from abt 1894 to 1904 when he died. Then his son, my mum's dad, appears to have taken over the hackney licence and was a Liverpool owner/proprieter cabbie until he retired in the 1950s. He had previously been a bread-van driver. His father had been a carter before getting a motor taxi-cab.

[nicke20]

Thanks all, the address of 106 admiral street is his address. What started me on this particular branch was a phone call from an american relative (a direct descendant of George Mason) who was in the uk for a week, she had last seen and spoken to me in 1968! when i was 3, and i remembered it
Georges sister, isabella married a Frederick Slater
now the census returns for them give
Frederick Slater born 1868
the 1901 census has him as a cab driver/ owner
and the 1911 census has him as a Car Proprietor
I do wish some of my relatives here still alive to flesh this out a bit!
back to the story, Isabella and jack had a daughter dorothy who married a joseph donnelly and the emigrated to the states on 15th july 1921 on the "Baltic"
any way Joseph died in i think 1931 and his body was sent back in one of the first hermeticaly sealed coffins and he is burried somewhere in the city
It was his grand daughter who got in touch with me
funny old world

cheers all, Nick

[Steve]

Hello,
Just as further information, my Great Grandfather Richard Tunnicliffe married George Mason's daughter Annie in 1898....George's profession on the wedding certificate is 'Car proprietor'.
My uncle (Richard's grandson) always told me that George Mason was the first to have a tram not drawn by horses. I've never found any evidence of this but I remember visiting a museum when I was much younger and there was a tram in there with 'Mason' written along the side (don't know whether this was horse drawn or not.
Annie Tunnicliffe was my GGrandfather's 2nd wife, they had 4 known children, only two surviving into adulthood. One of the children was Agnes Tunnicliffe who was (according to my parents) one of the founders of Colomendy (Liverpool Education Centre) in north Wales.
Annie died in the 1940s and is buried in Hanmer north Wales.

Steve.

[MaryA]

Hi and welcome to the forum, thanks for the update, the original poster has not remained a member of the Society, but they will get notification that you have responded and I hope they get in touch.