Couriers In Service

[FredPuli43]

The old guest registers of Dublin's Shelbourne hotel are on display there. They date back to the C19. They have columns for recording the name of the principal guest and then "Number of adults", "of children", "of servants", "of couriers in service", "of dogs". All self-explanatory except "couriers in service". Who were they, what were their duties, and why was it necessary to list their number against the principal guest's name and the numbers of his or her entourage?

[Canary42]

Drivers/coachmen possibly ?

[Quizmonster]

Such a courier was a senior servant of the household, whose duty it was to make all arrangements for the efficient organisation of the journey...eg ensuring that accommodation was arranged, fresh horses were available for the onward journey and so forth.

[FredPuli43]

Ah,thanks QM. That makes perfect sense. The couriers would need to be known to the hotel so that they could give orders on behalf of their master in order to arrange feeding for horses, preparation of carriages and so forth. And they may well have required accommodation over or near the stable block, as was customary in grand houses, and they would certainly need an unchallenged right of access to stables and carriages.