IT WAS the first local case of its kind in the 20th century when cart owners sued Southampton Corporation following a collision with a tram at the junction of Shirley High Street and Malmesbury Road.

In a counter claim lodged at the town’s county court in 1913, the corporation sought £2 4s for damages.

The plaintiffs, Messrs Fuller, Smith and Turner of the Cobden Bridge Brewery blamed the mishap on the inexperience of the tram driver who was speeding.

Frederick Wilmot, a former sergeant instructor in the Army, described how he took the cart out of Malmesbury Road when the tram was about 15 yards away.

“The gong was not sounded, which I presumed indicated I had preference on the road but it did not stop or pull up and I pulled the horses back. One was knocked over and the pole was broken.”

The drayman estimated the tram was going about eight or nine mph at the time of the impact and the horses were walking.

An eye witness, who was about 25 yards away, confirmed the speed of the horses and tramcar. The gong was not sounded and the drayman pulled the horses to the right but not sufficiently enough to avoid the collision.

“The man was not dozing on the box of the dray,” he said to bring a moment of light relief in the case.

The tram driver was adamant he had sounded the gong and Judge Gye took his side, ruling the drayman should have kept a sharp look out to his right, the direction from which the tram was coming, to be able to see the tram and not until it was 15 yards away.

The judge observed: “The man on the dray walked into the lion’s mouth. This is the most careless accident I have ever tried.”

After he dismissed the case, the corporation’s lawyer confirmed it would not pursue the counter claim.