hackney chairn.
/ˈhaknɪ tʃɛː/, U.S. /ˈhækni ˌtʃɛ(ə)r/ Now historical.
A sedan chair or (in later use) a bath chair, which is available for public hire.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles (plying) for hire > [noun] > chair plying for hire
hackney chair1685
1685 tr. G. de Courtilz de Sandras Amorous Conquests Alcander 105 The Dutchess..arrived there all alone in a Hackney Chair [Fr. en chaise à porteurs].
1695 Case Hackney-coachmen (single sheet) There are a great many Hundred Gentlemens Coaches and Hackney Chairs set up since the making of the said Act.
1761 Scots Mag. Sept. 496/1 Their Lordships caused an order to be published by the commissioners for licensing hackney coaches and chairs.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations II. v. ii. 460 The tax..upon every hackney coach, and upon every hackney chair.
1822 Scotsman 24 Aug. 268/2 Almost all the coaches, and every hackney chair in Edinburgh, were in requisition.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xvi. 21 Long stands of hackney-chairs and groups of chairmen..obstructed the way.
1913 Eng. Hist. Rev. 28 246 He fled to the house of the duke of Devonshire, penniless and unescorted, making the journey..in a common hackney chair.
1995 V. P. M. Baker-Smith Life Anne of Hanover vii. 75 He had summoned a hackney chair to take him across Horse Guards Parade.
2006 Times (Nexis) 2 Dec. 23 At the State Opening of Parliament, he tried to avoid his waiting tormentors by leaving incognito in an ordinary hackney chair.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1685