Whilst looking through the Brighton street directories I came across the profession of Fly Proprietor. I hadn't heard of this before, but after checking up I discovered that 'fly' is one of several words used to describe a Hackney carriage. That led me to look into the history of coaching around Brighton, and it was soon clear that anyone travelling through Sussex before the time of the Regency was in for a comfortless and perilous journey.
