The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-16 00:00:00

ORIGIN -OF THE MAIL COACH

SYSTEM

In the year 1780 Mr. John Anderson, of Fermoy,
the subject of our present memoir, removed from
Dumfries, where he originally resided, to the city of
Cork, and formed a commercial establishment at that
place, which ranked amongst the first houses in the
kingdom. Applying himself to business, h 6 perseve-
rance and industry , were rewarded, in the course of
a few years, by the acquisition of a large property,
•c‘hich enabled him to purchase the extensive Barry-
more property, consisting of the Buttevant, Castle
Lyons, and Carrickotoohill estates, and afterwards the
estate of Fermoy, in the county of Cork. There
he commenced improvements of an extensive and un-
common character, which afforded employment to
thousands of poor persons, who, at the time that
this field was opened to them, were destitute of all
means of living, and absolutely reduced to the last
necessity.* When Fermoy came into Mr. Anderson's
possession it was a miserable village, but, under his
creative hands, it soon became a flourishing town, hay-
in an extensive brewery,flour and paper mills, e,,and ma-
nufactories of various kinds, the largest internal corn
market in Ireland, a great military depot,•with a popu-
lation of 7,000 inhabitants. Mr. Anderson, having had
occasion to visit England, was struck with the great
public benefits arising from the mail coach establish
ment, then only in its infancy, and, animated by a
laudable zeal for the interests of his adopted country,
he conceived a wish to establish that great national
convenience in the Sister Kingdom. At this time, it
should be remembered, the journey from Dublin to
Cork, a distance of about 126 miles, occupied between
four and five days, while, during Mr. Anderson's life-
time, owing to the improvements made by him,
it was accomplished in 24 hours. On recommending
the project to the Government, they entrusted its
realisation solely to Mr. Anderson, and that gentle-
man, nothing daunted by the obstacles which he had
to surmount, entered on the undertaking forthwith.
His first line of operations was on the road between
Dublin and Cork, and, on achieving his object on
that road, he passed successively to the roads between
Dublin and Limerick, and Dublin and Galway, via
Mullingar. The road between Dublin and Water-
ford, and that, no less fraught with difficulty, between
Waterford and Cork, next claim7ed his attention ; and,
in fact (for it were tedious to particularise), to him
may be attributed the formation of mail coach roads
throughout Ireland.
When the French fleet arrived at Bantry Bay, the
kingdom was thrown into the greatest confusion and
alarm, and Lord Carhampton, the Commander of the
Forces, hastened to the south by forced marches. There
he endeavoured to find an eligible position for an en-
campment, but could not effect his wishes, which in-
volved such serious consequences, unless he consented
to pay an enormous sum under the name of rent. On
becoming acquainted with this circumstance, Mr.
Anderson offered Lord Carhampton the free and un-
conditional use of his splendid estate (Fermoy), or
any part of it, for the lodgment and accommodation of
the troops, and the offer was immediately accepted.
But winter was fast approaching, the troops required
to be lodged in barracks, and the Government, having
found Fermoy a convenient site for a military station,
wrote to Mr. Anderson to ascertain what he would
take for such portion of his estate as they might re-
quire. Mr. Anderson, with unprecedented liberality,
replied by presenting the Government with 26 acres
of his best land, worth about 2,0001., free, for ever.
At Buttevant, also, he gave 14 acres of land, worth
upwards of 1,0001., for a similar purpose ; and'
Sir Ralph Abercrombie, who commanded the forces
at the time, conceived such a high sense of his
munificence rind public' spirit, which was so particu
larly acceptable at that critical period, that he offered
him, by command of the Lord-Lieutenant, the appoint-
ment of Commissary-General. The emoluments of
this appointment, the most lucrative in the army,
amounted to seven pounds per day, and half-pay for
life; but as his whole attention was occupied in the
formation of the mail coach establishment, and his
other public works, Mr. Anderson declined it. When
the union of the two kingdoms began to be agitated,
his efforts to facilitate that object, then a very un-
popular one, were highly serviceable to the Govern-
ment, and he had the credit of sending the Minister of
the day the first petition agreed to at Cork in favour
of the measure, which was received. Lord .Melville
was so highly pleased with the strain in which it was
conceived, coming from such a quarter, that he read
it in the House as part of his speech, paying a compli-
ment to Mr. Anderson, the originator of the petition,
which few persons have ever had the honour to re-
ceive. During the Duke of Richmond's administra-
tion, the Prince Regent expressed his sense of Mr.
Anderson's public spirit, which had been productive
of such benefit to Ireland, by raising his son to the
dignity of a Baronet, an honour which Mr. Anderson
declined himself, but which he might be gratified to
see established in his family.
But the palmy days of his public usefulness have
passed away. After devoting the best energies of his
mind, and the most active era of his life, to the ad-
vancement of the solid interests of his country—after
applying the large property which he had accumu-
lated to the furtherance of great national ok,ects,
it is melancholy to reflect that, while the country is
hourly deriving substantial benefits from the plans of
this extraordinary man, who pushed in advance the

14 Mr. Palmer, who originated the mail-coach establishment
in England, received 3,000/. per annum, for its management,
and was afterwards awarded upwards of 60,0001. by Parlia-
ment ; while the Mr. Anderson referred to, for similar services
in Ireland, never received ore shilling, notwithstanding the
enormous sacrifices he ma le to carry out this object, and the
services he rendered to Lthe Goverment,