Rebecca Seear
The Coachman's Daughter
I Grew Up Here
My father and grandfather drove their carriages here in Windsor, as generations of coachmen had before them. My childhood was spent in that world. My father was known for decades as the last Windsor Coachman, and much of what I share with guests today comes from the stories he told me, the stories my grandfather passed down, and my own life spent living and working here.
Over time, I have taken those stories and that inherited knowledge and shaped the way Windsor Carriages works today. From the way we restore our historic carriages, to how we manage the working hours of our horses, the people we choose to work alongside, the places we visit and even the British Estate produce we serve, every detail is considered.
I want our guests to understand not just what they are seeing, but why it matters. That is the part I love most: sharing the Windsor I know, the people who make it special, and the stories that would otherwise be very easy to pass by.
The Art of Living
Travelling by carriage gives us time to share the Windsor we know: its landscape, its working traditions and the stories passed down to There is no rushing from one location to the next, collecting photographs and ticking things off a list. This is travel in its most authentic sense: the discovery of a place through its landscape, its people, its stories and the unexpected things encountered along the way.
The pace of the carriage leaves room for the small detail. Time for conversation. Time to notice what is around us from the wildlife to the British landscapes unchanged for centuries. Time to hear a story properly, to meet someone who knows this place intimately, or to stop because something has caught our attention. The places matter, but so do the people who bring them to life. Our coachmen, guides, hosts and friends across Windsor each carry different knowledge, memories and stories of the town and estate.
That is often what guests remember most. Not how many places they managed to see, but how they felt while they were here. And perhaps that is one of the great pleasures of being looked after well: you do not need to navigate, organise or constantly decide what comes next. We take care of those things. Phones tend to stay away. Photographs can often be taken for you. Conversation takes their place. For a little while, there is simply the pleasure of travelling slowly, being curious and seeing where the story leads.
The People and Horses Continuing the Story
Today, Windsor Carriages brings together a much wider family of coachmen, horsemen, guides, historians and friends whose own stories are every bit as fascinating as ours.
Some come from families who worked London’s horse-drawn market carts around Spitalfields. Others come from generations of horsemen working in film and stunt work. These are not characters we have assembled to recreate the past. They are real people carrying skills, memories and stories that have travelled through generations. Spend time with them and one story invariably leads to another. That is very much the world I grew up in. So, step into our world. Meet the horses. Meet the people. Listen to the stories.
And allow us to show you Windsor as we know it.
Our Head Coachman brings generations of commercial coachmanship, traditional horsemanship and experience
From local favourite Joey, whose calm character helps introduce new generations to horses, heritage and the living carriage tradition
Held For The Next Generation
A tradition like this is never truly owned by one person or one family. Each generation looks after it for a time, protecting the knowledge, standards and responsibilities entrusted to them before passing them forward.
That is what my father did for me. Today, it is a responsibility shared with the people working alongside Windsor Carriages.
Our Head Coachman, Jonathan Edwards, comes from generations of working coachmen and horsemen. His knowledge was learned through family, practice and a lifetime around horses, and it now forms an important part of how the Windsor tradition continues.
The next generation is already finding its way into the driving seat. Jonathan’s three daughters are learning to carriage-drive with their miniature pony Bailey, developing the confidence, patience and horsemanship on which the future of the craft depends.
They are affectionately known as The Coachman’s Daughters—a lovely reminder that a living tradition survives not by standing still, but because another generation grows up wanting to carry it forward.
A Tradition That Kept Moving
The world around the carriage changed. The motorcar arrived. Roads changed. Bridges closed. Windsor became increasingly pedestrianised. And yet the trade survived. Not by pretending nothing had changed, but by adapting carefully while protecting the things that mattered: the horsemanship, the traditions, the stories and the welcome.
Continuing a tradition is not simply about preserving what came before. It is about making thoughtful choices that allow it to have a meaningful and responsible place in the world today. The welfare of our horses, our relationship with the Windsor community and the effect we have on the landscape around us shape every decision we make. They are not separate from the tradition. They are how we ensure it deserves to continue.
The carriage trade has always belonged to Windsor’s community. Sharing its stories with children, supporting local causes and giving something back remain central to its purpose today.
Kindness to the world around us shapes the smallest details and our longer-term ambitions, from reusable polycarbonate glassware and local sourcing to measurable carbon-reduction goals.
