Great North Road (Great Britain) not compete with the new railways. The last coach from London to Newcastle left in 1842 and the last from Newcastle to Edinburgh in July 1847. The highwayman Dick Turpin's flight from London to York in less than 15 hours on his mare Black Bess is the most famous legend of the Great North Road. Various inns along the route claim Turpin ate a meal or stopped for respite for his horse. Harrison Ainsworth, in his 1834 romance "Rookwood", immortalised the ride. Historians argue that Turpin never made the journey, claiming that the ride was by John Nevison, "Swift Nick",
Claude B. Duval resumed his Houma law practice, which became Duval, Funderburk, and Sundbery. Stanwood Duval established a successful insurance agency. Both were active in their community. In 1957, Claude Duval was named president of the Houma branch of Rotary International. In 1963, Duval ran for lieutenant governor on the intraparty "ticket" of former New Orleans Mayor (and also former Ambassador to the Organization of American States) deLesseps Story Morrison, Sr. He was presumably the "conservative" balance to the more "moderate" Morrison. In his own race, Duval was pitted against his St. Mary Parish neighbor and the sitting lieutenant governor, Clarence C. "Taddy"