[Note 030.2]
Of the towns mentioned, Wolverhampton (Hampton) is the furthest distant, some 15 miles away. A round trip of 30 miles (48 kilometers) on foot was not exceptional at the time but it did mean that ordinary people had to give up a day's wages in order to attend the event.
The poet is almost certainly meaning a journey by steamboat. Regular services from London to Margate were well established by 1830.
It is not clear whether the poem is referring to a steam coach of the sort that carried fare-paying passengers in the manner of an omnibus or to a small steam carriage designed as a private vehicle for a family or small group. The later line "Gilpin was at the helm" suggests a smaller vehicle.
The idea that someone "in_trade¹" should aspire to send their son to Harrow would have been inherently comical to the readership of the Christian Observer
Stamford Mercury 4th January 1907 p2 - "bodies of those killed, were removed from the Drill Hall at Arbroath to the railway station for conveyance to their homes"