Who was the first bus conductress?
The first Bus CONDUCTRESS was Miss Kate Barton, who began working for her father’s bus company, Barton Transport of Beeston, Nottinghamshire, on the Long Eaton—Nottingham route in 1909. Her sisters Ruth and Edith jointed the firm as conductresses in 1911, after trying factory-work and domestic service and finding neither to their liking. They wore long green coats on duty and Kate Barton sported a male conductor’s peaked cap, the other girls preferring to go bareheaded as they were proud of their long hair. As long hours on cold buses were considered bad for them, an improvised heating system was installed in one of the Durham Churchill buses operated by Barton’s, the exhaust-pipe being run through the interior of the bus to radiate the passenger compartment. Late-night runs were unpopular, Edith recalled, as they had to contend with drunks; at other times it was over-amorous passengers that provided a hazard. Kate Barton left the buses when she married in 1918, and her sisters shortly afterwards.
The first conductresses employed on London buses were recruited in February 1916 as a wartime measure to enable more men to be released for the Services.
