The Victoria is a four-wheeled carriage with a coachman's seat in front and a folding hood over the passengers. Developed in France, it was imported to Britain where it was named Victoria in honor of Queen Victoria. Drawn by one or two horses, it became a fashionable carriage for ladies riding in the park.
Design
The Victoria has a low curving body with open sides and a forward-facing seat for two passengers under a folding hood (retractable top). It has a raised driver's seat on an iron frame in front of a large curved dash. It is entered by a low step on the side, and there are large curved fenders to protect passengers from mud and splashes.
In the panel-boot Victoria, the large leather dash and ironworks coachman seat are transformed and combined into the wooden body of the carriage. It has an upright leather dash.
A Grand Victoria is a large version with a small fold-down rearward-facing seat behind the driver which can accommodate children, and a rear rumble seat for footmen.
Variations
A Peabody Victoria is a light, low Victoria popular in America.
A double Victoria was also called a sociable. Another double Victoria was called a Siamese Victoria.
A Victoria sleigh is a Victoria body on sleigh runners.
A Victoria-Hansom or Victoria cab is two-wheeled; a variant of the hansom cab with a folding hood.
A hantour or hantoor (حنطور, Arabic for horse-drawn passenger carriage) is an Egyptian version of the English Victoria, for hire and tourist rides, especially in Egypt and the Levant region.
Milord carriage
Carriage historians document that the milord (also spelled mylord) originated from the cab-phaetons and George IV phaetons of England. Imported to continental Europe, they became a popular aristocratic pleasure carriage, before falling out of favor when they became used as public hacks. The carriage was refined and rebranded as a Victoria, and reimported to England. According to Smith, the milord "represents a stage of development in the evolution of the Victoria". According to Berkebile, "the terms cabriolet, cabriolet-phaeton, cab-phaeton, Victoria, duc, and milord are often so loosely used as to be nearly synonymous."
Historical context
The Victoria has its origins from the four-wheeled cabriolet and owner-driven phaeton carriages that were exported to continental Europe where they were known as Milords. New carriage designs elevated it to a royal carriage by removing the driver's seat to guide it instead with postilion riders, and adding a large curved dash in front and occasionally a rear rumble seat for grooms. When the carriage became more common, an ironwork-supported coachman's seat was installed in front of the dash (called a skeleton boot). In 1869, the carriages were imported into England where they became popular with the aristocracy and was named Victoria after Queen Victoria. The original Victoria has a skeleton boot seat. Later, the seat and dash were built into the bodywork and the carriage called a panel-boot Victoria.
Modern usage
The elegant Victoria is still manufactured today for pleasure, tourist rides, the wedding industry, and historical reenactment. In the USA, the vis-à-vis is more popular for commercial rides, having seating for four.
See also Horse-drawn vehicle
References
According to Britannica, it developed in France.