Charles Webb Dance

Colonel Sir Charles Webb Dance (1785 – 13 November 1844) was a British Army officer during the  Napoleonic Wars and a pioneer of motoring in the first third of the 19th century. An enthusiastic motorist, he did a great deal to encourage engineers who were engaged in the invention and development of steam road vehicles.

He was the second son of George Dance the Younger and his wife, Mary Gurnell. His paternal grandfather was George Dance the Elder and his uncles included James Love, and Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland. Nathaniel Smith was both an uncle and cousin once removed. His cousins included William Dance and Sir Nathaniel Dance.

Biography
In May 1802, at the end of his school days, Dance went to Brasenose College, Oxford. However, he only stayed a year. It was apparent that an academic life did not suit him.

In July 1803, Dance joined the 3rd Dragoon Guards. He served under the Duke of Wellington in Portugal and Spain, and later in France and Belgium. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Talavera, where his horse was shot from under him and Dance was nearly killed as a bullet passed through the bearskin on his helmet but missed his head. After Talavera, the regiment returned to England but Dance remained in Portugal and commanded two squadrons of Portuguese Cavalry under General William Beresford.

In 1811, Dance was recalled to England to be transferred to the 23rd Light Dragoons. He was subsequently wounded at the Battle of Waterloo, whilst serving as a Captain in the Light Dragoons. In a letter to his father, Dance described his own wounds as “slight cuts to the flesh”.

In early 1809 Dance fought a duel with a lieutenant from the same Regiment who had challenged him. Each duellist fired seven times; Dance’ seventh shot hit the lieutenant in the groin. The lieutenant recovered within a month. Dance’s conduct was ‘much approved’ by the Senior Officers.

On return to England in 1816, Dance was appointed Major (24 July 1816) and Lieutenant -Colonel (27 March 1817) of the 2nd Life Guards. Later, during Earl Whitworth’s government in Ireland, Dance was appointed his aide-de-camp.

Dance held the silver stick at the coronation of George IV and was knighted on that occasion, 25 July 1821. In 1836, he was created a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order.

In August 1822 Dance retired from the army on half pay. His commissions were dated:

• Ensign 7 September 1804

• Lieutenant 5 September 1805

• Captain in 23rd Regiment of Light Dragoons, 9 April 1807

• Major (Army) 20 June 1816 and Major 2nd Life Guards 24 July 1816

• Lieutenant Colonel (Army) 27 March 1817 and Major and Lieutenant Colonel 2nd Life Guards 27 March 1817

• Colonel 10 Jan 1837

Family life
In 1805, Dance was besotted with Eliza Scott Evans an adventuress who was then deporting herself for a part of each evening as a Columbine in Ashley’s Theatre. Dance married her in haste on 28 July 1805 without his father’s knowledge. Dance soon discovered his mistake and her continuing association with other men forced him to leave her. Divorce proceedings were concluded in spring of 1812. Eliza died shortly thereafter.

Dance may have had a son, George, by a Susan Griggs in late 1812. Nothing further is known of mother or son.

Finally on 17 December 1816, at St Pancras Parish Church, Middlesex, England, Dance married Isabella Anne Cooper, who was born in 1796. Her father was Allan Cooper, a Captain in the army of the East India Company. Together they had four sons and five daughters.

Motorist enthusiast
He was financially interested in several of the companies which were organized to run steam coaches over the common roads. He was the backer of Goldsworthy Gurney, and was also engaged in building for himself. His most famous car was a coach that ran every day from the Strand, London, to Brighton. This was an engine mounted on four wheels with a tall rectangular funnel that narrowed towards the top. Above the engine were seats for six or seven persons besides the driver. On the roof there were places for four passengers, and on a board behind stood the footman. The carriage was one of the spectacular sights of London at that time and great crowds gathered in the Strand every day to witness its departure.

On 12 August 1829, Dance was one of a party including the Duke of Wellington who witnessed, at Hounslow Barrack Yard in London, the operation by Goldsworthy Gurney of the latter’s steam carriage. The. carriage operated with a variety of loads and speeds up to 17 miles an hour. It is not known whether at this stage Dance was more than an interested spectator.

However, by October 1830, Dance had the principal interest in a patent relating to steam coaches and was reported to be in Cheltenham for the purpose of making arrangements for a steam coach through Cheltenham.

On Friday 23 August 1833, Dance accompanied by several gentlemen took a trip from London to Brighton in an open carriage drawn by a steam carriage. The party started at 11 am and took 3 hrs 26 minutes to travel 34 miles.

A regular service was in place by September 1833 using a drag and omnibus attached, a speed of sixteen miles per hour being attained.

Dance ran Gurney's coaches on the road between Cheltenham and Gloucester until public opposition compelled his withdrawal, but after that he was a joint patentee with Joshua Field of an improved boiler. This was applied to the road carriage above mentioned and the first trips were made in September 1833, with a drag and omnibus attached, a speed of 16 mph being attained.

On the first trip from London to Brighton, fifteen passengers were carried and the distance of 52 mi was covered in five and a half hours, the return journey completed in less than five hours.The coach ran every day from the Strand, London, to Brighton. This consisted of an engine mounted on four wheels with a tall rectangular funnel that narrowed towards the top. Above the engine were seats for six or seven persons in addition to the driver. On the roof there were places for four passengers, and on a board behind stood footmen. The carriage was one of the spectacular sights of London at that time and great crowds gathered in the Strand every day to witness its departure.

At the middle of October the steam drag and omnibus were put on the road between Wellington Street, Waterloo Bridge and Greenwich, where it continued to run for a fortnight, with a view of showing the public in London what could be done in this direction. The proprietor had no intention of making it a permanent mode of conveyance, and therefore kept the company as select as he could by charging half a crown for tickets each way.

The trustees of one of the roads on which the carriage travelled covered part of the road with gravel in an attempt to stop the carriage. In the middle of October 1833 the steam drag and omnibus were put on the road between Wellington Street, Waterloo Bridge and Greenwich, where it continued to run for a fortnight, with a view of showing the public in London what could be done with a steam carriage. It seems there was no intention of making it a permanent mode of conveyance, and therefore kept the company as select as possible by charging half a crown for tickets each way.

Death
Dance died on 13 November 1844, aged 58, at his residence, Barr House, Bishop’s Hull, Somerset after a long illness. He was survived by his widow, son George born 1818, daughters Isabella Matilda born 1822 and Marianne born 1828.