In message
,
Tristán White writes

Oooh, earliest reference I've found in Hansard of "tube railways" being
mentioned as an expression together and then referred subsequently as
"tubes" is from 7 March 1901

The term "tube" was used to refer to (bored) underground railways in
1859, when The London Pneumatic Despatch Company proposed a scheme of
railways in tubes under London, operated by compressed air, for the
delivery of parcels. This eventually became the original (1863) Post
Office Railway. The author of "Engineering Facts and Figures for 1864"
referred to "the contract for the tube railway".

When the City and South London Railway (now part of the Northern line)
opened in 1890, the Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times of
Nov. 8th 1890 described going "through the tube under the River Thames".

But it was probably just after the opening of the Central London Railway
in 1900 that the expression became widely used.
--
Paul Terry

In message
,
Tristán White wrote:
Oooh, earliest reference I've found in Hansard of "tube railways"
being mentioned as an expression together and then referred
subsequently as "tubes" is from 7 March 1901

However, this is referring to true tubes like the Northern Line, not the
subsurface lines.

in a speech given by the delightfully named "Chairman of Ways and
Means" which I guessed was some old title that no longer exists but I
subsequently found that indeed it still does exist and is in fact one
of the Speaker's three deputies,

From the Parliament web site:

"Ways and Means comes from a committee of the House of Commons which
used to sit to consider the 'ways and means' or taxation needed to raise
revenue for the Government. The Chairman of Ways and Means is a senior
member of the House of Commons who acts as one of the Speaker's three
deputies. In addition he or she always acts as Speaker during Committees
of the Whole House, and is in charge of Private Bill procedure. Today
the Chairman of Ways and Means still occupies the chair when the budget
statements are made or finance bills discussed."

[The Speaker is, in theory, the Monarch's representative and is
therefore forbidden to be involved in financial matters. So the Chairman
of Ways and Means deputises for him in these cases.]

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
Mobile: +44 7973 377646 | Web: http://www.davros.org
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is:

On 2011\09\07 17:54, Paul Terry wrote:
In message
,
Tristán White writes

Oooh, earliest reference I've found in Hansard of "tube railways"
being mentioned as an expression together and then referred
subsequently as "tubes" is from 7 March 1901

The term "tube" was used to refer to (bored) underground railways in
1859, when The London Pneumatic Despatch Company proposed a scheme of
railways in tubes under London, operated by compressed air, for the
delivery of parcels. This eventually became the original (1863) Post
Office Railway. The author of "Engineering Facts and Figures for 1864"
referred to "the contract for the tube railway".

When the City and South London Railway (now part of the Northern line)
opened in 1890, the Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times of
Nov. 8th 1890 described going "through the tube under the River Thames".

But it was probably just after the opening of the Central London Railway
in 1900 that the expression became widely used.

The Metropolitan Railway only became part of London Underground in 1933,
and I thought it unlikely that anyone using the phrase "The Tube" would
have included the Met as part of that before that date... but it looks
like I am wrong, judging by this 1912 map "How To Reach Harrods By Tube"
http://www.londonancestor.com/maps/l...und-map-th.htm

On Sep 8, 12:03*am, Basil Jet wrote:
On 2011\09\07 17:54, Paul Terry wrote:

The Metropolitan Railway only became part of London Underground in 1933,
and I thought it unlikely that anyone using the phrase "The Tube" would
have included the Met as part of that before that date... but it looks
like I am wrong, judging by this 1912 map "How To Reach Harrods By Tube"http://www.londonancestor.com/maps/london-underground-map-th.htm- Hide quoted text -


That is odd - I guess though it's like including DLR on the tube maps
after the DLR was launched. But yes, it is odd.

I mean, the Met even had it's own lozenge for a logo back then
(lozenge being to rhombus what roundel is to circle, if I'm not
mistaken)
http://www.ltmcollection.org/images/...o/i000009o.jpg for a copy
of the Met's lozenge on their 1916 timetable.

On 2011\09\14 17:37, Tristán White wrote:
On Sep 8, 12:03 am, Basil wrote:
On 2011\09\07 17:54, Paul Terry wrote:

The Metropolitan Railway only became part of London Underground in 1933,
and I thought it unlikely that anyone using the phrase "The Tube" would
have included the Met as part of that before that date... but it looks
like I am wrong, judging by this 1912 map "How To Reach Harrods By Tube"http://www.londonancestor.com/maps/london-underground-map-th.htm- Hide quoted text -


That is odd - I guess though it's like including DLR on the tube maps
after the DLR was launched. But yes, it is odd.

I mean, the Met even had it's own lozenge for a logo back then
(lozenge being to rhombus what roundel is to circle, if I'm not
mistaken)
http://www.ltmcollection.org/images/...o/i000009o.jpg for a copy
of the Met's lozenge on their 1916 timetable.

Like the clock at Willesden Green station.
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=51.5490... 99,,1,-11.11