Busby, William & Daniel

William and Daniel Busby were born in Marylebone, London. Their father William moved with his family to Liverpool. Gore's Liverpool directory of 1825 and 1827 lists a William Busby, victualler, at 76 New Scotland Street. This is may William senior.

William and Daniel are first mentioned in 1839. Their brother Fredrick James Busby's wife Elizabth tried to shoot William with a pistol when looking for Fredrick. At the trial William described himself as a coach proprietor with two establishments, one at Fox Street and one at Everton Terrace. There was also an advert for a meeting of the Liverpool Association of Hackney Coach and Car Proprietors of which William was the president. William Busby is first described as an omnibus proprietor in 1845, when he appear as the defendent for a complaint about one of his coaches blowing it's horn when approaching a pick-up. The judge dismissed the case.

In November 1852 the William and Daniel had 2 omnbuses operating to Bootle and one to Club Manor. In addition there were 4 runs operated by 10 omnibuses with capacity for 30-36 people, jointly owned with John Philips. All the operators were charging a maximum fare of 2d. John Phillips died in March 1858 and the indication is that William and Daniel Busby took over the Phillips omnibus operations including the docks run.

In 1858 the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board took over operation of the docks from Liverpool Corporation. The omnibus operators working the docks run appear to have seen this as an opportunity to use the dock rail line to operate omnibuses on the rail line. Yates and Dolby applied in May 1859, W T Curtis and the Busby brothers applied in June 1859. W T Curtis was granted permission at the beginning of July and the Busby brothers a couple of weeks later. The advert opposite is from the Liverpool Mercury on 18 May 1859. This indicates that W T Curtis was running his service by May 1859, before formal permission was granted.

The indication is that both omnibuses were made by Robert Main of Birkenshaw. W T Curtis supplied plans for an omnibus that William and Daniel Busby were to pay for and provide W T Curtis with a royalty for use on the railway line. However W T Curtis got into dispute with Robert Main resulting in the Busby brothers pulling out of this deal and having their own omnibus built. Their omnibus had removeable patent flanges. W T Curtis paid for the omnibus he had issued designs for and made alterations. This omnibus would be the Enterprise.

This tramway operation, which predates the Birkenshaw Street Railway, was a success with William and Daniel Busby requesting to put another omnibus on the line in November. In January 1860 the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board decided to charge for the use of the railway line, the charge being stipulated at 1s for a return trip. The omnibus operators refused to pay the charge, stating that it had too much impact on their profit. The Busby brothers and Gates and Dolby sent the board a letter stating that they were stopping their rail line service at the end of January. George Train wrote to Board in February 1860 stating that he would accept their terms. On 6 March he published a letter in the Liverpool Daily Post about tramways that implied that the dock tramway operations were still running and that they would leave the rail line to proceed on the road. The indication is that the Board reached an agreement with the omnibus companies currently using the line to continue using it.

By March 1860 Busby brothers applied to Liverpool Corporation to build a tramline similar to the dock railway with one major difference, the omnibuses would only have the offside wheels guided by a rail (i.e. a single rail for each direction). This was based on the practice on the dock railway of waggons keeping one wheel on the railway as long as possible. This application was refused. To better promote their tramway interests, the Liverpool Road & Railway Omnibus Company was set up in April 1860 with William in charge. Although more omnibus operators were invited to participate in the company, the company was formed by a combination of the Busby, Gates and Lloyd operations.

Daniel later became involved in the initiation of tramways in Manchester.

The name City Omnibus on the Liverpool tokens suggests that they were issued after the take over of John Philips service some time around his death in March 1858.

Busby, William & Daniel
File:BUS.001.jpg
	Source	(Smith)
	Filename	BUS.001
	Value	0
	Add Desc.	Kirkdale and Bootle Lane Busby
	Size (mm)	22
	Manufacture	Brass
	Notes	Kirkdale and Bootle are adjacent eastern districts. The Bootle run had 2 omnibuses in 1852.
	Source	(Smith)
	Filename	BUS.002a
	Value	0
	Add Desc.	City Omnibus
	Size (mm)	28x19
	Manufacture	Oval Brass
	Notes	Issued circa 1858 to 1860
	Source	(Smith)
	Filename	BUS.002b
	Value	0
	Add Desc.	As above, counterstamped "C"
	Size (mm)	28x19
	Manufacture	Oval Brass
	Notes