A funeral cortège set off today, 15th April, back in 1901. Nothing out of the ordinary in that, you might think, but instead of the usual glass-sided carriage pulled by black-plumed horses, the body of William Drakeford was carried in the first motor hearse to appear on the streets of Britain.
William had worked for the Daimler Motor Co Ltd in Coventry as a caretaker and the company adapted one of its cars to accommodate his coffin. The Motor-Car Journal was sufficiently impressed to report that, “It was painted black, and the body of the car was draped with black cloth on either side, which gave it a very sombre appearance.”
Not only was William’s body taken by motor car, but two more Daimlers were used to take his family to the service, following the coffin by car instead of following the tradition of walking behind.
