Sometimes when researching family history you find a tiny story which really has to be retold.
This is the story of William Henry Lanyon’s ‘Difficult Journey.’
William Henry was the son of Richard Lanyon and Susan Tucker of Acton Castle. He was the eldest son born in 1825 and appears to have been quite an unusual man. Although he was married and had a large family he chose to live apart from them.
He was a gunpowder manufacturer and merchant and evidently needed to travel to London on business.
The Royal Cornwall Gazette reports that on 24 June 1869 William contacted Mrs Dobb from the Royal Hotel and ordered a bus to call at his residence at Strangways Terrace in Truro to take him to the train station. Unfortunately his booking was forgotten, the omnibus didn’t call and he missed his train.
William then did something that many modern rail travellers wish they could do….he ordered a special train to be got ready which took him to Bristol to catch the train up to London! The Victorian equivalent of an Uber!
The cost of this special run was £68 and William planned to claim that from the landlady of the Royal Hotel, Mrs Dobb, who had taken the original booking.
William made it to London but sadly we don’t know if Mrs Dobb ever paid him the £68.
The Lanyons 