A George III trade card for William Boswood of London, stable keeper

A rather nice George III trade card of William Boswood advertising his services at the White Horse tavern, Oxford Street, London.   Boswood offers his services as "Serves waiting jobs by the month or year, likewise neat post chaises".   A Post chaise was a  four-wheeled, closed carriage, containing one seat for two or three passengers, that was popular in 18th-century England. The body was of the coupe type, appearing as if the front had been cut away. Because the driver rode one of the horses, it was possible to have windows in front as well as at the sides. At the post chaises front end, in place of the coach box, was a luggage platform. The carriage was built for long-distance travel, and so horses were changed at intervals at posts (stations).

Boswood was born in 1758 and married Frances Chapman on 21st April 1779.   He lived in Dean Street just off Oxford Street, London and records show him as a stable keeper through the 1780s.  

In 1791 The Church Wardens and Overseers of this Parish of Soho asked for a subscription from local residents to pay for 16 men to patrol the streets as a night watch, in the days before there was an organised police force.  Boswood paid just one shilling, one of the lowest subscriptions of any of the Soho residents.

The card was engraved by Shilfox of 372 Oxford Street, London, a short work from the White Horse tavern.    David Shilfox was an engraver and printer who was in business 1770-1798.  

Housed in a later frame.

Measuring: (sight in frame) 9 cm x 6 cm

London, 1790