TheLondon General Omnibus Company orLGOC, was the principalbus operator inLondon between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, amotor bus manufacturer.[1]
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The London General Omnibus Company was founded in 1855 to amalgamate and regulate the many independent horse-drawn omnibus services then operating in London. Originally anAnglo-French enterprise, also known as theCompagnie Generale des Omnibus de Londres, the LGOC soon became the largest omnibus operator in London. It bought out hundreds of independently owned buses and established a consistent level of service for its fleet. Within a year, the LGOC controlled 600 of London's 810 omnibuses.[2]
Under its chairmanSir John Pound, in 1902 it looked at an option to purchase a competitor, theStar Omnibus Company, but it was unable to complete negotiations. LGOC began using motor omnibuses in 1902, and the last LGOC horse-drawn bus ran on 25 October 1911.[3]
In 1908 the LGOC bought theRoad Car Company, theVanguard Company, and its other main rivals, thereby gaining a virtual monopoly in London.[4]
The merger of these three companies (the Road Car Company was also known asUnion Jack owing to its habit of flying theBritish flag on its vehicles) gave the new and enlarged LGOC the most experienced operating and engineering personnel of any operator - and perhaps manufacturer - in the country at the time.[5]
The LGOC absorbed the Great Eastern London Motor Omnibus Company (previously known as London Motor Omnibus Company) in March 1911.[6]
In 1912, theUnderground Group, which owned most of theLondon Underground, bought the LGOC. This followed the start of negotiations between the two companies in 1910 that finally led to the publication of an official statement regarding the proposed terms of the merger on 19 January 1912.[7] By early February 1912 the majority of shareholders in the LGOC had accepted the terms.[8] This in time allowed increasing co-ordination between LGOC bus and tube services, with integrated fares, such as was seen with the opening of the bus station adjacent to Hammersmith station in April 1914.[7]
In 1933, the LGOC, along with the rest of the Underground Group, became part of the newLondon Passenger Transport Board. The name London General fell into disuse, and London Transport instead became synonymous with the redLondon bus.[9][10]
LGOC began producing motor omnibuses for its own use in 1909 at works established in premises inherited from Vanguard at Blackhorse Lane,Walthamstow,London. The first model built was theLGOC X-type, which was designed byFrank Searle, LGOC's chief engineer. The X-type was followed by theLGOC B-type, from the same designer.[9][11]
After the Underground Group's acquisition of the LGOC in 1912, the bus manufacturing elements of the LGOC were split out to create theAssociated Equipment Company (AEC).
In theprivatisation of London bus services in the 1990s, London Transport created a series of shadow bus operating companies with names of geographic or historic significance, and one of these was christenedLondon General in honour of the LGOC. The new London General was initially privatised bymanagement buy-out, and acquired by theGo-Ahead Group in 1996.
“Did you see that bus parked outside the theatre as you came in? It had ‘Private’ on the front. Looked very lonely, it did. I can remember when it was a General!” -Michael Flanders, "A Transport of Delight,"At The Drop Of A Hat, 1957
The London General Omnibus Company was featured in theopening ceremony of the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon.Isambard Kingdom Brunel, played by actorKenneth Branagh, was depicted arriving in a green horse-drawn London General Omnibus Company Limited bus at the start of the ceremony.[12]
In the video gameAssassin's Creed Syndicate published byUbisoft in 2015, assassins come to the aid ofEdward Hodson Bayley and company, who was said to be responsible for the founding of the united London General Omnibus Company in the storyline campaign, supplying omnibuses for the city.
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