3-025-070 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

Putney High Street, Putney, Wandsworth, Greater London Authority, 1909. Alfred Vanderbilt driving his coach 'Venture' along Putney High Street. The American businessman Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt (1877-1915) was enormously wealthy. A keen sportsman, he had a particular interest in horses and traditional coaching skills. He spent a great deal of time in Britain and by 1908 was running two coach services from central London to Brighton, driving one of them himself. Vanderbilt caused much excitement in the British public, with fans waiting patiently by the roadside for the coach, driven by Vanderbilt, to pass. Alfred Vanderbilt died aboard the RMS Lusitania, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat in May 1915.