Shillibeer pioneering omnibus, London, 1829

George Shillibeer (1797 - 1866) was an English coachbuilder who started working for the coach company Hatchetts in Long Acre, the coach-building district of London. In the 1820s he was offered work in Paris where he was commissioned to build some unusually large horse-drawn coaches of novel design. The aim was to design a coach capable of transporting a whole group of people, perhaps two dozen, at a time. Shillibeer's design was successfully introduced in Paris in 1827. Shortly afterwards, Shillibeer was commissioned to build another by the Newington Academy for Girls, a Quaker school in Stoke Newington near London; this had a total of 25 seats, and entered history as the first school bus.

While in Paris, Shillibeer concluded that operating similar vehicles in London, but for the fare-paying public with multiple stops, would be a remunerative enterprise, so he returned and his first London 'Omnibus' began service on 4 July 1829 between Paddington (The Yorkshire Stingo) and "Bank" (Bank of England) via the "New Road" (now Marylebone Rd), Somers Town and City Rd. Four services were provided in each direction daily. This service was described in the first advertisements as being "upon the Parisian mode" and that "a person of great respectability attended his vehicle as Conductor".