This article was first published in the West Sussex Gazette on 29 April 1993

Excited by the sight of a Southdown bus photograph accompanying the Remember When article of 7 January, Barnham reader Sally Tilling--Stevens wrote in to say she had spotted her surname embossed on the 1923 bus's radiator and enclosed some family history explaining how Tilling--Stevens buses came about.

Well the story starts with her great great grandfather Thomas Tilling, who was born on his father's farm at Hendon, Middlesex as far back as 1825. He always had an overriding passion for horses right from an early age, so much so that by 1847 at the age of 22 he abandoned farming and pursued an idea which was to have a tremendous bearing on his future.

He owned a grey mare called Kitty which had been a gentleman's hunter, and with Kitty he journeyed to London where he invested his entire capital of £30 in purchasing a carriage. Entirely self-motivated, he started hiring out his services for weddings and other functions.

Success was quick and Kitty was soon joined by a stable mate by the name of Carrie, and later on by three more grey horses. Thus Thomas began to expand.

But disaster struck when all five horses died from a mysterious disease. Thomas was fortunate however when his fodder supplier lent him enough money not only to replace his horses but also to buy his first horse--drawn bus.

Ten years after his arrival in London, Thomas had managed to acquire over 70 horses, mostly greys which were to be the Tilling trademark.

His secret of success was his refusal to pick up passengers just anywhere: he worked out strategic pick-up points and set-down places in accordance with strict timetables, giving the public a far more reliable service, for up to the 1860s, many coachmen from other transport companies would wait until their buses were filled before embarking on their journey, thus leaving the traveller wondering when he might arrive at his destination.

When a customer once asked a Tilling conductor the times the buses leave for the city, he was told, 'A quarter 'arter, 'arf arter, quarter to, and at!'

Year by year the business grew and in 1886 Thomas Tilling supplied many horses and carriages for such prestigious events as the Lord Mayor's Show. Grey horses were supplied for Queen Victoria's Jubilee, and for many of the State Visits by Crowned Heads of Europe.

Whilst out driving in Hyde Park, Alexandra, Princess of Wales, fell in love with a handsome grey horse, and on enquiring to whom it belonged she bought the horse for her husband, Edward, Prince of Wales then later King Edward VII, from the Tilling Company.

With so much contact with the Royal Household, the Tillings were granted the honour of displaying the Royal coat of arms on their writing paper. Later they were approached by the Palace to supply all the horses and carriages for the use of the Royal Family, and the Tillings firm became Royal Warrant holders.

Omnibuses had however always represented the major part of the firm's activities, but when Richard and Edward Tilling joined their father's business things were vastly different from the early days.

Richard, the elder, started in 1867 as a clerk to his father at 10 shillings a week, a princely salary that gradually rose to £3. Five years later Edward began. Of him it was said he never forgot the individual qualities of each horse: a rare gift indeed. It was reported that when shown a pair of Cleveland Bays for sale, he declined to buy because one of them turned his toes in and went badly behind. A couple of years later Edward was shown this same pair again and immediately recognised them, saying, 'I saw this pair in Peckham two years ago, and the near side monkey turns both toes in.'

So obviously the horse buying was usually designated to Edward.

Read the next article in this memory - The business expands into motor omnibuses, and with the assistance of a new partner a petrol electric version is developed, and a character on the staff is banned from attending weddings. Also, who turned down a knighthood and who accepted one?