Bibliography
This list does not contain a complete record of all the authorities consulted. It merely brings together, with a fuller statement of title, the more important references scattered through the footnotes. Unless it is otherwise stated, London is to be understood as the place of publication for the English books here cited.
PRINTED RECORDS—PARLIAMENTARY
DOCUMENTS—REPORTS
Acts of Parliament.
Acts of the Parliament of Scotland. 12 vols., 1814-75.
Acts of the Privy Council of England. New Series, ed. J. R. Dasent. 32 vols., 1890-1907.
Calendar of Border Papers.
Calendar of State Papers, America and West Indies.
Do., Colonial.
Do., Domestic.
Do., Foreign.
Do., Ireland.
Calendar of Treasury Books.
Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers.
Calendar of Treasury Papers.
Finance Reports, 1797-98.
Hansard. The Parliamentary Debates. 422 vols., 1803-91. 41 vols., to 1820; “New Series,” 25 vols., to 1830; Third Series, 356 vols., to 1891. The work has been continued under other management since 1891, as Parliamentary Debates, Fourth and Fifth Series.
Howell, T. J. A Complete Collection of State Trials [to 1820]. 34 vols., 1816-28.
Journals of the House of Commons.
Journals of the House of Lords.
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII.
[Cobbett, William.] The Parliamentary History of England, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803. 36 vols., 1806-20.
Parliamentary Papers. Since 1831 the volumes for each year have been arranged regularly in four series, as follows:—
1. Bills Public.
2. Reports from Committees.
3. Reports from Commissioners.
4. Accounts and Papers.
The volumes are ordinarily quoted, under each year, according to their consecutive numbering; but each series is also numbered separately.
Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England. Ed. Sir Harris Nicholas. 7 vols., 1834-37.
Reports of the Postmasters-General on the Post Office. Beginning with 1854-55. These may be quoted either according to their consecutive numbering, or by years: 1st report = 1855; 51st report = 1905, etc.
Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. Reports.
Scobell, Henry. A Collection of Acts and Ordinances made in the Parliament held 3 Nov. 1640 to 17 Sept. 1656. 1658.
OTHER BOOKS
Blomefield, F., and Parkin, C. An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk. 2d ed., 11 vols., 1805-10.
Cunningham, W. The Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times. 3 vols., Cambridge, 1896-1903.
De Laune, Thomas. Angliae Metropolis: or, the Present State of London. 1681.
Dictionary of National Biography.
Eaton, D. B. Civil Service in Great Britain. New York, 1880.
Froude, J. A. A History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. 12 vols., New York, 1870.
Gairdner, J., editor. The Paston Letters. 3 vols., 1872-75.
Green, E. Bibliotheca Somersetensis. 3 vols., Taunton, 1902.
Joyce, H. The History of the Post Office from its Establishment down to 1836. 1893.
Knight, Charles. London.. 6 vols., 1841-44.
Latimer, John. The Annals of Bristol in the XVIIIth Century. Bristol, 1893.
Lewins, William. Her Majesty’s Mails. 2d ed., 1865.
London and its Environs described. 6 vols., 1761.
Macaulay, T. B. History of England from the Accession of James II. 4 vols., 1849-56.
Macpherson, David. Annals of Commerce, Manufactures, Fisheries, and Navigation. 4 vols., London and Edinburgh, 1805.
Maitland, William. The History and Survey of London. 2 vols., 1760.
Malden, H. E. The Cely Papers: Selections from the Correspondence and Memoranda of the Cely Family, Merchants of the Staple, A. D. 1475-88. 1900.
May, T. E. Constitutional History of England. 1882.
Noorthouck, John. A New History of London. 1773.
Ogilby, John. Itinerarium Angliae. 1675.
Roberts, George. The Social History of the Southern Counties of England in Past Centuries. 1856.
Rothschild, Arthur de. Histoire de la Poste aux Lettres, depuis ses Origines les plus Anciennes jusqu’à nos Jours. 2d ed., Paris, 1873.
Sharpe, R. R. London and the Kingdom. 3 vols., 1894-95.
Stow, John (1525-1605). A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, improved and enlarged by John Strype. 2 vols., 1720.
Thornbury, W., and Walford, E. Old and New London. 6 vols. [1873-78.]
PERIODICALS
The Economist.
The London Times.
Notes and Queries.
With reference to the foregoing bibliography, the “Letters and Papers of Henry VIII” and the “Calendar of State Papers” have formed the basis of this sketch of the British Post Office during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with many references to the papers of private individuals and institutions collected by the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. The “Proceedings and Ordinances and the Acts of the Privy Council” contain important orders issued to the Postmaster-General or the postmen during the sixteenth century as well as complaints from the postmen and the public. From the beginning of the eighteenth century the chief sources of information are the historical summaries appended to the “Reports of Committees and Commissioners” compiled during the first half of the nineteenth century. Of these, the “Report of 1844” is the most important. The “Journals of the Lords and Commons” throw some light upon the history, purpose, and intent of the various acts of Parliament dealing with rates and finance. “The Financial Report of 1797,” various returns submitted to the House of Commons, and the reports contained in the “Accounts and Papers” for the first part of the nineteenth century are chiefly concerned with the financial side of the history of the British Post Office. Since 1840 the most important sources of information are the yearly reports of the Postmasters-General, dating from 1854, and the voluminous reports of committees appointed to investigate debated points in the organization and policy of the Post Office as well as to advise upon matters which had produced friction between the department and its employees.
Of the secondary works there is little to be said. The only one from which any important information has been obtained is Joyce’s “History of the British Post Office to 1836.” This book contains a great deal of valuable matter arranged in rather a haphazard fashion and with no references. Writing as a Post Office official at the end of the nineteenth century, Joyce hardly appreciated the conditions which his predecessors had to meet. In Stow’s “London” are found some interesting facts about the London Penny Post, in Blomefield’s “Norfolk” early postal conditions in Norwich are described. The other books of the same description contain only incidental references to minor points of Post Office development.
Abuses in the Post Office, 42-46, 127, 128.
Allen, Ralph, 36, 37, 37 note.
American colonies, Post Office in, 32, 33, 59.
American Express Company, 70.
Annuities, 74. See also Savings Bank Department.
Arlington, Lord, 27.
Arundel, Earl of, 11.
Assurance facilities, 74. See also Savings Bank Department.
Bennett, Sir John, 27.
Billingsley, 11, 19.
Bishop, Henry, 24, 25.
Book Post, 68, 173. See also Halfpenny Post and Rates, Book Post.
Bower, Sir George, 80.
Bradford Committee, 84, 85.
British and Inland Magnetic Telegraph Company, 202, 206, 208.
Burlamachi, Philip, 17, 18.
Buxton, Sydney, 85, 87, 88.
Bye-letters, 35 note.
Bye-posts, 36, 39, 144;
receipts from, 185, 186.
Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 134.
Carteret, Lord, 42.
Cash on delivery, 70, 71.
Chamberlain, A., 83.
Chesterfield, Countess of, 25.
Clerks of the road, 38, 50.
Coaches. See Mail Coaches and Post Coaches.
Coke, Sir John, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 111, 112.
Competition in carrying letters, 191-197.
Competitive examinations, 87.
Compulsory prepayment. See Prepayment of rates.
Cotton and Frankland, 31, 115.
Cromwell, orders to the postmasters, 23.
Cross-posts, 140, 144. See also Bye-posts.
Cross-post letters, 35 note, 36. See also Post-roads, Cross-posts.
Cunard Steamship Company, 132, 133, 134.
Customs duties, 125.
Dead Letter Office, 50.
Delivery of letters, 9, 38, 39;
rural, 65, 66;
express or special, 67, 68.
Departmental committee, 82.
De Nouveau, 114.
De Quester, 10, 12, 135.
De Taxis, 112, 114.
Dockwra, William, 28, 30.
Double letter, 13 note.
Dublin Penny Post, 30 note, 54, 150.
Edinburgh Penny Post, 54.
Edison Telephone Company, 219.
Electric and International Telegraph Company, 202, 205, 206, 208.
Embossed stamps. See Stamps.
Employees, postal, appointment brought under civil service examination, 78, 79;
report of Bradford committee, 84, 85;
of departmental committee, 82;
of Hobhouse committee, 86-88;
civil rights, 82;
postal unions, 85;
wages, 80, 83;
Tweedmouth settlement, 81, 82;
strike, 81;
grievances, 80, 82, 83;
increase in wages, 81, 82.
Evasion of rates, 197-201. See also Monopoly, attempts to break.
Express delivery. See Delivery of letters.
Farmers of the Post Office, 21, 22, 36, 37.
Fawcett, Henry, 74, 75, 80, 81.
Fees, 9, 15, 45, 49.
Fifth-clause Posts, 65.
Finances of Post Office, 180-188.
Foreign connections: Belgium, 111;
France, 111, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 120;
Germany, 111;
Holland, 111, 114;
Italy, 111, 115;
United States and the colonies, 120 note;
stages settled on the continent, 112.
See also Rates and Sailing Packets.
Foreigners’ Post, 6, 7.
Franking, 159-172;
by members of Parliament, 25;
of newspapers, 48.
Franking department, 57.
Frankland. See Cotton and Frankland.
Freeling, Sir Francis, 52.
Frizell, 11, 18, 24.
Grimston, 205.
Halfpenny Post, 68, 69, 197.
Hall, John, 1.
Hamilton, Andrew, 3.
Hanbury, 82.
Hicks, James, 19, 20, 24, 26, 27, 112.
Hill, Sir Rowland, 59-61, 187.
Hobhouse committee, 86-88.
Inman Steamship Company, 132, 133.
Insurance facilities, 74. See also Savings Bank Department.
Ireland, Post Office in, 31, 57. See also Post-roads, Rates,
and Sailing Packets, Ireland.
Letters, number of, 63.
London and Globe Telephone Company, 220.
London District Post, 71.
London District Telegraph Company, 202.
London Penny Post, 28-30, 34, 35 note, 51, 52;
receipts from, 185.
See Twopenny post.
Mail coaches, 40, 41, 55, 104, 105.
Manley, John, 22, 23.
Marconi Company, 213, 214.
Mason, Sir John, 7, 8.
Merchant Adventurers’ Post, 6, 11.
Messengers, 3, 5, 67.
Money Order Office, 50, 71.
Money orders, 176-180;
number of, 71-73.
See also Rates, money orders.
Monopoly, attempts to break, 191-197;
in carriage of letters and packets, 189-191, 195, 196.
See also Telegraphs, monopoly.
Mowatt, Sir F., 81.
National Telephone Company, 222-224, 229, 231, 233.
Neale, Thomas, 33.
Newspaper Office, 49.
Newspapers, chargeable and free, 68;
franking of, 48;
impressed stamps on, 68;
number of, 68.
See also Rates, newspapers.
New Telephone Company, 223.
Norfolk, Duke of, 8 82.
O’Neale, Daniel, 25.
Opening and detaining letters, 16, 18, 21, 26, 46-48, 196.
Packet list, 48.
Packets. See Sailing Packets.
Paget, 7.
Palmer, John, 40-42, 44.
Parcel Post, 70, 174. See also Rates, Parcel Post.
Patronage, 78, 79.
Pattern and Sample Post, 69. See also Rates, patterns.
Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company, 132.
Penny Post. See London Penny Post.
Penny Postage, 59-62, 158-160.
Pensions, sailors’, 127.
Pitt, William, 43.
Plague, 26.
Political patronage. See Patronage.
Postal establishment, in seventeenth century, 27;
in eighteenth, 38, 44;
in nineteenth, 57.
Postcards, 174;
number of, 69, 69 note;
use of, 69.
See also Rates, postcards.
Post coaches, 40.
Post horses, 5, 8;
fee for their use, 89, 90, 92;
licences and taxes, 94, 95, 95 note;
monopoly in letting, 92, 94;
number to be kept, 92, 93;
supply of, 89, 90.
Postmarks, 29.
Postmen’s Federation, 95 note.
Post offices, number of, 71.
Post-roads, 13;
cross posts, 103;
in sixteenth century, 97, 101;
in seventeenth century, 9;
maps, 101;
re-measured, 103, 104;
in north of England, 102, 104;
in south, 102;
in Ireland, 102, 104;
in Scotland, 103.
Prepayment of rates;
compulsory prepayment inadvisable, 26, 26 note;
unpopularity of, 64.
Prideaux, Edmund, 18-21, 136.
Raikes, 81.
Railways, 107, 108;
amounts paid for conveyance of mails, 56, 78;
authority of Postmaster-General over, 77;
principles involved in estimating tollage for conveyance of mails, 77.
Randolph, Thomas, 7, 8.
Rates, for letters, 13, 23, 62-64;
by weight, 157;
re-directed, 173;
ships’ letters, 143, 148, 153.
In England, 136, 137, 141, 142, 145-148, 150, 151, 158;
Ireland, 136, 137, 141, 142, 146, 151, 152, 158;
Scotland, 136-139, 141-143, 145-148, 150, 151, 158;
United Kingdom, 159, 172, 174.
To Austria, 135, 149, 150;
Belgium, 135, 143, 149, 150, 155 note, 157, 176;
Cape of Good Hope, 153, 154;
Channel Isles, 148, 150;
Denmark, 137, 143, 149, 150, 155, 155 note;
East Indies, 153, 154;
Egypt, 155 note, 156;
France, 155, 137, 143, 149, 149 note, 150, 155, 155 note, 176;
Germany, 135, 137, 143, 149, 150, 155 note, 157;
Gibraltar, 155 note;
Greece, 155 note, 156;
Holland, 135, 143, 149, 150, 155 note, 157;
Italy, 115, 135, 137, 143, 149, 150, 155 note, 156, 176;
Malta, 155 note;
Mauritius, 153, 154;
Mexico, 155 note, 157;
Norway, 155 note, 157;
Portugal, 143, 147, 149, 150, 155 note;
Russia, 155 note;
South America, 155 note, 157;
Spain, 137, 143, 149, 150, 155 note, 157, 176;
Sweden, 137, 143, 149, 150, 155 note, 157;
Switzerland, 155 note, 157;
Syria, 156;
Turkey, 137, 149, 150, 155 note, 156;
North American colonies, 143, 146, 147;
United States, 155 note, 175.
In North American colonies, 140, 141, 144, 146;
West Indies, 140, 140 note, 143, 146.
To the colonies, 159, 175;
to foreign countries, 159, 176.
Book Post, 173;
money orders, 71, 72, 176 et seq.;
newspapers, 153, 154, 173, 175, 176;
Parcel Post, 174;
patterns, samples, and writs, 145, 173;
postcards, 174, 176.
Registered letters, 50, 64, 173, 174.
Returned Letter Office, 57.
Roads. See Post-roads.
Royal Mail Steamship Company, 132.
Royal Post, 3, 6.
Sailing Packets, abuses in connection with, 127 et seq.;
British and foreign vessels, 123;
cost of, 128, 134;
customs difficulties, 125;
number of, 120, 121;
ownership transferred to Admiralty, 129, 130;
steamships, 121-123, 131;
subsidies for, 130, 131-134;
use of private ships, 120 note, 123, 124.
To Cape of Good Hope, 120;
Deal and the Downs, 110;
East Indies, 120;
France, 111, 115, 116;
Gibraltar, 116;
Holland, 115-117;
Ireland, 109, 110, 121;
Malta, 116;
Isle of Man, 110;
Mauritius, 120;
Mexico, 120;
Portugal, 115;
Scotland, 109-110;
South America, 120;
West Indies, 118 et seq.
St. Martin’s-le-Grand, 57.
Sample Post. See Pattern and Sample Post.
Savings Bank Department, 73, 76;
annuity and assurance facilities, 74-77;
criticism by “Economist,” 75 note.
Scotland, Post Office in, 31, 32, 34, 59. See also Post-roads,
Rates, and Sailing Packets, Scotland.
Scudamore, 203-205, 208.
Shipping list, 48, 49.
Single letters, 13 note.
Smith, Llewellyn, 81.
Special delivery. See Delivery.
Speed, 14;
in sixteenth century, 98;
in seventeenth century, 98, 99, 100 note;
in nineteenth century, 104, 105, 105 note, 106;
by use of railways, 107, 108;
delays and attempts to remedy them, 100;
delays between England and Ireland, 107;
means for securing speed, 106.
Stamps, 65, 68.
Stanhope, Charles, 8, 17, 24.
Stanhope, Lord John, 8, 10, 135.
Stanley, Lord, 83-85, 203.
Steamships. See Sailing Packets, Steamships.
Strangers’ Post. See Foreigners’ Post.
Sunday posts, 55, 79, 80.
Tankerville, Earl of, 42-44.
Telegraphs, cost to Government of, 205, 206, 208, 209;
finances, 216, 218;
government ownership proposed, 203-205;
international agreement, 211-214;
messages sent, 202, 215;
monopoly, 207-208;
press messages, 209, 217;
private companies, 202, 203;
railway interests in, 206, 207, 209;
rates, 202, 203, 209, 210, 213;
relations with Marconi Company, 213, 214;
underground lines, 211.
Telephones, call offices, 224, 227;
exchange areas, 224;
finances, 236;
government, 220, 221, 225, 228;
inter-communication, 224, 229, 232, 234;
licences, 220-222, 224;
municipal, 226, 228-230, 235;
purchase agreement, 232 et seq.;
rates, 227, 230, 232, 234, 235;
trunk lines, 221, 225;
underground wires, 231, 232, 234;
way-leave powers, 221, 223, 224, 232, 235.
Threepenny Post, 52-54.
Thurloe, 23, 24.
Travellers’ Post, 89;
abuses by postmasters, 93;
by travellers, 91, 91 note;
trials of travellers, 91.
Triple letters, 13 note.
Tuke, Sir Brian, 4-7.
Tweedmouth, Lord, 81.
Tweedmouth settlement, 81, 82.
Twopenny Post, 52-54, 149.
Unions. See Employees, Postal Unions.
United Kingdom Telegraph Company, 203, 206, 208.
United Telephone Company, 220, 222.
Universal Private Telegraph Company, 208.
Wages, 4, 6 note;
arrears in, 8, 25, 92, 99.
See also Employees.
Walpole, Spencer, 81.
Ward, 87.
Warwick, Earl of, 18, 19.
White Star Steamship Company, 133.
Windebank, 16, 17.
Witherings, Thomas, 11, 13-19, 24, 111, 112, 135, 137, 138.
York, Duke of, 25, 30.
The Riverside Press
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U.S.A.
Footnotes
1 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 21.
2 Notes and Queries, 1st series, iii, p. 266.
3 These letters were sent principally between London and different places in Norfolk.
4 The Paston Letters, ed. J. Gairdner, 1872, nos. 34, 305, 435, 609, 624, 663, 905.
5 Ibid., nos. 540, 688, 723, 727.
6 Ibid., nos. 656, 905.
7 Ibid., nos. 688, 723, 745.
8 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 96 (68).
9 Cely Papers, ed. H. E. Malden, 1900, nos. 41, 72, 123, 124, 129, 132.
10 L. & P. Hen. VIII, ii, pt. 2, p. 1454.
11 Rep. Com. 1844, xiv, app., p. 21 (8).
12 Ibid., 1844, xiv, app., p. 32 (7).
13 L. & P. Hen. VIII, 1515-18, 64; ibid., 1526-28, 4359, 4406; ibid., 1540-41, 540.
14 A. P. C., 1542-47, p. 20
15 L. & P. Hen. VIII, 1535, p. 27.
16 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 32 (7). A. P. C., 1542-47, p. 20.
17 A. de Rothschild, Histoire de la poste aux lettres, Paris, 1873, pp. 95-97, 114-15.
18 L. & P. Hen. VIII, xiii, 226; A. P. C., 1547-50, pp. 111, 278, 307, 319, 413.
19 L. & P. Hen. VIII, x, 33, 136; xvi, 202, 236, 284; P. & O. P. C., vii, p. 72; A. P. C., 1550-52, pp. 56, 79, 108, 225, 270, 298.
20 L. & P. Hen. VIII, xvi, p. 540; P. & 0. P. C., vii, p. 133; A. P. C., 1558-70, p. 238.
21 L. & P. Hen. VIII, xi, 726; A. P. C., 1547-50, p. 360; ibid., 1592, pp. 128, 150; Cal. S. P. D., 1547-80, pp. 599, 637, 677.
22 A.P.C., 1558-70, pp. 39, 58, 111, 207, 216, 257, 258.
23 L. & P. Hen. VII, xvi, 540; A.P.C. 1556-58, pp. 248, 309.
24 A.P.C., 1556-58, pp. 136, 188, 385. For instance, in 1557 the Council issued orders to increase the wages of the London-Berwick posts from 12d. to 16d. and eventually to 20d. a day; but as soon as their work had again become normal, their wages were reduced to the old rate.
25 W. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, 1896, i, pp. 305-306.
26 J. A. Froude, History of England, 1862, i, p. 127.
27 Cunningham, i, p. 430.
28 Stow, London, 1720, bk. v, p. 401. Cal. S.P.D., 1547-80, pp. 312, 321, 432. There was considerable rivalry between them concerning those nominated for Postmaster-General. See Cal. S.P.D., 1547-80, pp. 312, 314.
29 Stow, London, bk. v, p. 401.
30 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 36 (14).
31 A. P. C., 1542-47, p. 267; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 21 (8).
32 Ibid., 1844, xiv, app., p. 21 (11).
33 A. P. C., 1547-50, p. 360.
34 Cal. S. P. D., 1547-80, p. 306.
35 Cal. B. P., 1560-94, p. 299.
36 Cal. S. P. D., Add., 1580-1625, pp. 75-76.
37 Cal. S. P. D., 1581-90, p. 676; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 22 (13).
38 Cal. S. P. D., 1619-23, pp. 238, 404.
39 Ibid., pp. 568, 572. A postmaster’s salary at this time was about 5s. a day. (Ibid., 1623-25, p. 130.)
40 Ibid., 1623-25, pp. 117, 130, 153.
41 Ibid., 1619-23, pp. 567-68.
42 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 38 (18).
43 Cal. S. P. D., 1611-18, p. 601.
44 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. 15, app., pt. 7, p. 63.
45 Cal. S. P. D., 1629-31, pp. 71, 247.
46 Ibid., 1625-26, p. 231.
47 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 48 (26).
48 Ibid., 1844, xiv, app., p. 49 (27); Cal. S. P. D., 1625-26, p. 478; Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. 12, app. 1, p. 295; Cal. S. P. D., 1627-28, p. 405.
49 Cal. S. P. D., 1627-28, pp. 436, 591.
50 Ibid., 1625-49, p. 332; 1628-29, pp. 46, 427, 558; 1631-33, p. 384.
51 Cal. S. P. D., 1603-10, pp. 162, 397, 426, 491, 512, 521, 545, 576, 583, 588, 611.
52 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 45 (23).
53 Ibid., 1844, xiv, app., p. 45 (23).
54 Cal. S. P. D., 1623-25, p. 131.
55 Ibid., 1625-26, p. 30; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 48 (25).
56 Cal. S. P. D., 1634-35, pp. 11, 38, 48, 389.
57 Ibid., 1625-49, p. 489.
58 Ibid., 1635-36, p. 32; 1634-35, p. 48.
59 See chapter IX.
60 Cal. S. P. D., 1580-1625, p. 360.
61 Ibid., 1580-1625, p. 630.
62 Ibid., 1625-26, p. 366. A single letter consisted of one sheet of paper, a double letter of two, and a triple letter of three sheets.
63 Rep. Com., xiv, app., p. 55 (35). Cal. S. P. D., 1635, p. 166. Letters were to be carried to and from important places at some distance from the main roads by post-horses. See Cal. S. P. D., above.
64 Rep. Com., xiv, p. 5; app., p. 57 (36); Cal. S. P. D., 1635-36, p. 32.
65 Cal. S. P. D., 1635, p. 299.
66 Ibid., 1637, p. 527; ibid., 1636-37, p. 524.
67 Ibid., 1638-39, p. 119.
68 Ibid., 1637-38, pp. 52, 53, 394.
69 Cal. S.P.D., 1637-38, p. 238.
70 Ibid., 1640-41, p. 340. As early as 1639 persons were not allowed to have letters back when once posted. (Ibid., 1639, p. 279.)
71 Ibid., 1637, p. 255.
72 Ibid., 1639, p. 279; Rep. Com., xiv, app., p. 58 (37).
73 Cal. S.P.D., 1637-38, p. 51.
74 Ibid., 1637-38, p. 52.
75 Ibid., 1639, p. 295.
76 Ibid., 1639-40, p. 116.
77 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. 12, app., pt. 2, p. 236.
78 Cal. S. P. D., 1637, p. 338.
79 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 59 (39).
80 Ibid., 1844, xiv, app., p. 22 (19); Cal. S. P. D., 1636-37, p. 534; ibid., 1637-38, p. 51.
81 Ibid., 1636-37, p. 530.
82 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. 7, p. 154.
83 Cal. S. P. D., 1640-41, p. 315.
84 Jo. H. C., 1640-42, p. 81.
85 Cal. S. P. D., 1640-41, p. 453; Jo. H. C., ii, p. 500; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 60 (40).
86 Cal. S. P. D., 1640-41, p. 557.
87 Ibid., 1640-41, p. 536.
88 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 101 (74).
89 Ibid., 1844, xiv, app., p. 101 (74).
90 Jo. H. C., 1640-42, p. 722; Jo. H. L., 1642-43, p. 343.
91 Jo. H. C., 1640-42, p. 500.
92 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 10 (40); Jo. H. C., 1642-43, pp. 387, 388, 469, 470, 471, 473-74, 508, 512; ibid., 1640-42, p. 899.
93 Ibid., 1640-42, p. 899.
94 Cal. S. P. D., 1645-47, p. 461; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 68 (43); Jo. H. L., 1645-46, pp. 579, 588, 637.
95 Cal. S. P. D., 1652-53, pp. 159, 367; ibid., 1653-54, pp. 21, 22, 297; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 69 (44); Jo. H. C., 1651-59, p. 192.
96 Cal. S. P. D., 1641-43, p. 501; ibid., 1644, pp. 6, 29.
97 Jo. H. C., 1642-44, p. 426.
98 Cal. S. P. D., 1644, p. 400.
99 Ibid., 1644-45, p. 503; ibid., 1644, pp. 25, 144, 447.
100 Jo. H. C., 1642-44, p. 477; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 67 (41).
101 Cal. S. P. D., 1644, p. 477.
102 Ibid., 1644-45, p. 170.
103 Ibid., 1649-50, pp. 13, 147.
104 Jo. H. C., 1648-51, p. 385.
105 Ibid., 1648-51, p. 126; Cal. S. P. D., 1649-50, pp. 56, 533, 535, 541; 1650, pp. 7, 223; 1651-52, p. 216.
106 Ibid., 1649-50, p. 381.
107 Ibid., 1651-52.
108 Ibid., 1651-59, p. 192.
109 Cal. S. P. D., 1652-53, p. 449. The following is a list of the contractors, with the yearly amounts offered by each:
| Ben Andrews for Inland Office | £3600 |
| Ben Andrews for Foreign Office | 3500 |
| Henry Robinson for both offices | 8041 |
| Ben Andrews for both offices | 9100 |
| John Goldsmith for both offices | 8500 |
| Ralph Kendall for both offices | 10103 |
| John Manley, with good security | 8259 |
| Rich. Hicks | 9120 |
| Rich. Hill | 8160 |
—Cal. S. P. D., 1652-53, p. 450.
110 Cal. S. P. D., 1658-59, p. 371.
111 Ibid., 1653-54, pp. 27, 328.
112 Cal. S. P. D., 1653-54, p. 328.
113 Scobell’s Collect., p. 358.
114 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 71 (48); Cal. S. P. D., 1655, p. 138.
115 Ibid., 1655, pp. 285 f.
116 Scobell, Collect., pp. 511-13 (1656, c. 30).
117 Cal. S. P. D., 1657-58, p. 81. In January of 1660 the Council took the Post Office under its own control for a short time. Jo. H. C., 1651-59, p. 81; Cal. S. P. D., 1659-60, p. 303.
118 Cal. S. P. D., 1660-61, p. 178; Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. 7, p. 109.
119 Cal. S. P. D., 1660-61, pp. 93-100, 301.
120 Ibid., 1660-61, pp. 37, 82.
121 The act of 1660 (12 Ch. II, c. 35) passed in pursuance of this agreement added nothing of importance to the act of 1657, except on the question of rates. See below, chapter VIII.
122 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., pp. 75, 76 (52, 53).
123 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 7, p. 140.
124 Cal. S. P. D., 1663-64, p. 122; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., pp. 86, 91 (60, 64).
125 Ibid., 1844, xiv, app., p. 91 (64). Confirmed in 1685 (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 11, app., 2, p. 315; 1 Jas. ii, c. 12).
126 Cal. S. P. D., 1664-65, p. 376; 1666-67, p. 567.
127 Cal. S. P. D., 1664-65, p. 457. Although letters might be prepaid, it was not compulsory that they should be, and the vast majority were not.
128 Joyce, p. 46.
129 Cal. S. P. D., 1667, p. 80.
130 Ibid., 1664-65, p. 51.
131 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 12, app., pt. 7, pp. 14, 93; Cal. S. P. D., 1665-66, p. 14. Cal. S. P. D. Add., 1600-70, p. 713.
132 Cal. S. P. D., 1665-66, p. 573.
133 Ibid., 1667, p. 260.
134 Stow, London, bk. ii, p. 163.
135 Notes and Queries, series 9, i, p. 122; Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 15, app., pt. 2, p. 19; Cal. S. P. D., 1670, p. 578.
136 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 15, app., pt. 2, p. 19.
137 Stow, London, bk. v, pp. 403-04; Thos. DeLaune, Present State of London, 1681, pp. 346-47; W. Thornbury, Old and New London, ii, p. 209; Noorthouck, Hist. of London, 1773, p. 252. Noorthouck is mistaken in making Murray the promoter of the London Penny Post, although the idea may have originated with him.
138 Notes and Queries, ser. 6, xi, p. 153; Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 10, app. 4, pp. 125, 132; Joyce, p. 38.
139 DeLaune, Present State of London, 1681, p. 345.
140 Cal. B. P., 1697-1702, xliv, 56.
141 Two men living in Limerick and Tipperary claimed in 1692 that they had organized a Penny Post in Ireland (Cal. S. P. D., 1691-92, p. 449). In 1704 the Countess Dowager of Thanet petitioned to be allowed to establish a Penny Post in Dublin, but nothing was done (Cal. T. P., 1702-07, lxxxix, 305).
142 Cal. T. P., 1697-1702, lxxi, 40; Charles Knight, London, 1842, iii, p. 282.
143 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 12, app., pt. 7, p. 262; Cal. S. P. D., 1690-91, p. 50; Hist. MSS. Com., Rep.,15, app., pt. 9, pp. 144, 180; Cal. T. P., 1557-1696, p. 284.
144 Cal. S. P. D., 1689-90, pp. 59, 74; Cal. T. P., 1557-1696, p. 203.
145 Stow, London, bk. v, p. 401; DeLaune, Present State of England, ed. 1690, p. 343.
146 Cal. T. P., 1557-1696, pp. 369, 461.
147 Acts of Parliament of Scotland, ix., pp. 417-419 (5 Wm. III).
148 Cal. S. P. D., 1574-1660, p. 273.
149 Joyce, pp. 196, 300.
150 Cal. S. P. Am. and W. I., 1693-96, p. 637.
151 Cal. T. P., 1697-1702, lx, 77.
152 Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii, 707.
153 See Appendix: Tables I, II.
154 In 1765 the maximum weight for articles passing wholly by the Penny Post was lowered from 16 to 4 ounces (5 Geo. III, c. 25).
155 9 Anne, c. 11.
156 A bye-letter was the name given to a letter carried over one of the great roads but not passing to, from or through London. A cross post letter passed not over the great roads, but over subsidiary or minor roads.
157 Joyce, p. 136.
158 Cal. T. P., 1714-19, cxc, 26; ccvi, 29.
159 Joyce, p. 146.
160 Cal. T. B. & P., 1731-34, p. 539; W. Thornbury, Old and New London, ii, p. 209; W. Lewins, Her Majesty’s Mails, ed. 1865, pp. 104-12.
161 Joyce, pp. 155, 162.
162 Cal. T. B. & P., 1730-41, pp. 449-450.
163 Country letters were those sent through London. Cal. T. B. & P., 1739-41, p. 450.
164 Cal. T. B. & P., 1734-41, pp. 445, 450; W. Thornbury, Old and New London, ii, p. 209.
165 He is the man to whom Pope alluded in the couplet,
“Let humble Allen, with an honest shame,
Do good by stealth and blush to find it fame.”
Allen and the poet had a falling out just before the death of the latter. In his will, Pope left his quondam friend £150 to pay a “few little debts.” Allen is said to have remarked that if Pope had added another figure, it would have represented better the “few little debts.” W. Lewins, Her Majesty’s Mails, pp. 104-12.
166 Cal. T. B. & P., 1742-45, pp. 102-235; Maitland, Survey of London, p. 998; Noorthouck, Hist. of London, 1773, p. 658.
167 J. Latimer, Annals of Bristol, 1893, p. 235; London and its Environs, 1761, v, pp. 209-222.
168 Cal. T. B., 1697-1702, lxiv, 17; ibid., 1702-07, lxxxvi, 134.
169 E. Green, Bibliotheca Somersetensis, 1902, i, p. 108; Joyce, pp. 107-108; Latimer, Annals of Bristol, p. 416.
170 D. N. B., xliii, p. 140; Knight, London, 1842, iii, p. 280.
171 Parl. Papers, 1812-13, Rep. Com., ii, pp. 4, 36, 37, 98; Fin. Rep., 1797, no. 7, p. 114; D. N. B., xliii, p. 140.
172 Fin. Rep., 1797, no. 7, pp. 82-83; Joyce, pp. 251, 275.
173 Fin. Rep., 1797, no. 7, p. 127; Jo. H. C., 1796-97, p. 581.
174 Cal. T. B. & P., 1739-41, p. 234; 5 Geo. III, c. 25. The Post Office occasionally made good the loss of valuables from theft or robbery, but as a rule refused to do so. Cal. T. P., 1729-30, p. 75; Cal. T. B. & P., 1731-34, p. 74.
175 Jo. H. C., 1787, p. 800.
176 Ibid., 1787, p. 800.
177 Jo. H. C., 1787, p. 800.
178 Fin. Rep., 1797, no. 7, pp. 82-83; Jo. H. C., 1787, p. 817.
179 Fin. Rep., 1797, no. 7, pp. 3, 66-83.
180 Ibid., no. 7, pp. 52-65.
181 Ibid., no. 7, pp. 52-65.
182 Ibid., no. 7, pp. 8, 52-65.
183 Fin. Rep., no. 7, p. 130.
184 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, pp. 9-11; app., p. 105 (78); app., p. 107 (79); app., p. 111 (83).
185 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 112 (84); Cal. T. B. & P., 1742-45, p. 669.
186 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 112 (85); Howell, State Trials, xix, col. 1369. This was in 1758.
187 Joyce is of opinion that such practices were very common. So also is May (T. E. May, Constitutional History of England, 1882, iii, pp. 44-49; D. B. Eaton, Civil Service in Great Britain, New York, 1880, p. 115).
188 35 Geo. III, c. 62.
189 Rep. Commrs., 1829, xi, pp. 215-222.
190 London Times, 1829, Oct. 6, p. 2; ibid., 1832, March 14, p. 1.
191 Parl. Deb., 3d ser., xxiv, col. 875.
192 Acc. & P., 1817, pp. 4-16; Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 8th rep. app., nos. 12, 13, 14.
193 Ibid., 1837, xxxiv, 8th rep., app., no. 12.
194 Acc. & P., 1837-38, xlv, 265, p. 5.
195 Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 8th rep., app., no. 3.
196 Rep. Commrs., 1829, xi, p. 214.
197 Parl. Papers, 1812-13, Rep. Com., ii, p. 87.
198 Fin. Rep., 1797, no. 7, pp. 82-83.
199 W. Thornbury, Old and New London, ii, p. 212.
200 Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 8th rep., app., no. 3.
201 London Times, 1832, Apr. 27, p. 3; 5 and 6 Wm. IV, c. 25; 3 and 4 Vict., c. 96.
202 London Times, 1837, Jan. 26, p. 5; Dec. 13, p. 4; Acc. & P., 1841, xxvi, 221, no. 6.
203 Joyce, p. 302; Fin. Rep., 1797, no. 7, p. 83.
204 34 Geo. III, c. 17.
205 Parl. Papers, 1812-13, Rep. Com., ii, p. 94.
206 Joyce, pp. 196, 300.
207 41 Geo. III, c. 7.
208 45 Geo. III, c. 11.
209 Acc. & P., 1817, pp. 15, 16; Rep. Commrs., 1829, xi, pp. 10, 136.
210 Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 9th rep., app., no. 1; ibid., 1829, xi, pp. 310-311; London Times, 1825, Dec. 6, p. 2.
211 London Times, 1835, Jan. 24, p. 3.
212 Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 9th rep., app., nos. 30, 63, 64.
213 Ibid., 1837, xxxiv, 9th rep., app., no. 1; London Times, 1835, Jan. 24, p. 3.
214 Rep. Commrs., 1829, xi, p. 50; Parl. Deb., 1st ser., xxxi, col. 943; Acc. & P., 1826-27, xx, p. 397.
215 Ibid., 1837-38, xlv, 265, p. 6.
216 Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 9th rep., app., no. 1.
217 Ibid., 1829, xii, p. 73; 7 Wm. IV, and 1 Vict., c. 34.
218 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, 2d rep., app. E, no. 31.
219 Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 9th rep., app., no. 14.
220 Ibid., 1837, xxxiv, 7th rep., p. 7, and app., nos. 46, 47, 48.
221 Acc. & P., 1837, l. 316.
222 Ibid., 1837, xlvi, 176.
223 Parl. Deb., 1st ser., xlvi, coll. 206, 332.
224 London Times, 1839, June 1, p. 7.
225 Parl. Papers, 1811, Rep. Com., p. 9; Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 7th rep., apps. 5, 7, 26, p. 71; London Times, 1832, Apr. 27, p. 2; Acc. & P., 1837-38, xlv, 265, p. 3: 265, p. 4; Rep. Commrs., 1829, xi, p. 294.
226 Parl. Papers, 1811, Rep. Com., pp. 10, 32, 50, 51.
227 Ibid., 1811, Rep. Com., p. 1; Parl. Deb., 1st ser., xix, col. 683; Wm. IV and I Vict., c. 33.
228 Rep. Commrs., 1829, xi, p. 34; ibid., 1837, xxxiv, 7th rep., app., nos. 30, 31.
229 Parl. Papers, 1811, Rep. Com., p. 1; 43 Geo. III, c. 28; Rep. Com., 1831-32, xvii, pp. 336, 338, 339; Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 7th rep., app., no. 31.
230 Ibid., 1837, xxxiv, 7th rep., app., nos. 12, 13. The first day coach left London in 1837, connecting at Birmingham with the railway to Hartford, Cheshire. (London Times, 1837, Sept. 5, p. 4; Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, pts. 1 and 2, 2d rep., app. E, No. 48; pt. 1, p. 469, no. 17.)
231 Acc. & P., 1841, xxvi, 221, no. 5.
232 Parl. Papers, 1813-14, Rep. Com., p. 35; Acc. & P., 1817, pp. 4-16; Rep. Commrs., 1829, xi, p. 137.
233 Parl. Papers, 1813-14, Rep. Com., pp. 11-16.
234 24 Geo. III, c. 6.
235 Rep. Commrs., 1829, xii, 253, pp. 7, 8, 15-84; ibid., 1837, 7th rep., app. nos. 22, 68; 7 and 8 Geo. IV, c. 21.
236 Rep. Commrs., 1829, xii, 253, pp. 7, 8; 1831-32, xvii, p. 325.
237 48 Geo. III, c. 48; Parl. Papers, 1821, xix, 286.
238 Rep. Commrs., 1829, xii, 353, p. 8; Parl. Papers, 1821, xxi, 423.
239 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, pts. 1 and 2, 2d rep., app. E, no. 42; 4 and 5 Wm. IV, c. 7.
240 Since 1823 there had been only one Postmaster-General, as the dual system was abolished in that year.
241 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, pt. 1, 3d rep., 708, p. 3.
242 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, pt. 1, p. 13; xx, questions 113, 128, 129, 548.
243 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, pt. 1, p. 13; ibid., xx, qs. 113, 128, 129, 548.
244 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, qs. 750-59, 890-92.
245 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, qs. 114, 11092-97; pt. 1, 3d rep., 708, p. 5; pts. 1 and 2, 2d rep., app. E, no. 58.
246 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, qs. 3116, 4599, 8137, 9770; 3d rep., p. 44.
247 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, 3d rep., pp. 35, 38; qs. 113, 620, 621.
248 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, pt. 1, pp. 48, 59, 424; pts. 1 and 2, 1st rep., no. 25, p. 508.
249 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, qs. 6682, 7093.
250 Ibid., q. 7668.
251 Ibid., qs. 7671, 7721.
252 Ibid., q. 10,059.
253 Ibid., qs. 6951, 10,305.
254 Ibid., qs. 2923, 5522-54, 5443-54, 6703, 7961.
255 Ibid., qs. 7991, 9840-42.
256 Ibid., qs. 8126, 8130 (Lord Ashburton).
257 Ibid., pt. 1, pp. 9, 434; ibid., pt. 2, pp. 59, 658; app., p. 58; ibid., pts. 1 and 2, 3d rep., p. 19.
258 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, pt. 1, 3d rep., p. 10.
259 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, 2d rep., app., p. 3; Parl. Deb., 3d series, xlvii, col. 1231.
260 Ibid., 3d series, xlvii, coll. 278-84, 293.
261 Acc. & P., 1841, xxvi, p. 53; 1839, xlvi, p. 568.
262 Parl. Deb., 3d series, li, col. 227; 3 and 4 Vict., c. 96.
263 The Rt. Hon. Thomas Spring Rice.
264 Joyce, pp. 427-28.
265 Rep. P. G., 1855, p. 65; 1881, app., p. 11; 1891, app., p. 16; 1901, app., p. 25.
266 Colonial legislatures were given the power in 1849 to establish posts of their own and to fix the inland postal rates (12 and 13 Vict., c. 26).
267 Rep. P. G., 1892, p. 7.
268 Ibid., 1899, pp. 4, 6-7.
269 10 and 11 Vict., c. 85; Rep. Com., 1852, xv, 386, p. 150; Rep. P. G., 1859, p. 25.
270 Rep. Com., 1852, xv, 386, pp. iii-iv.
271 4 Edw. VII, c. 14.
272 Established by agreements between the Postmaster-General and the inhabitants of small towns and villages.
273 Rep. P. G., 1898, pp. 32-39; 1860, pp. 9 f.; 1864, p. 15.
274 Their extended licence will expire in 1922 (Rep. P. G., 1901, p. 2).
275 Parl. Deb., 3d series, cccli, col. 1751; Rep. P. G., 1901, p. 2; 1892, p. 7; 1891, pp. 4 f.; 1893, p. 7; 1894, p. 6; 1899, pp. 2, 3.
276 Ibid., 1894, p. 5.
277 Ibid., 1891, p. 5.
278 Rep. P. G., 1893, p. 10; 1897, p. 3; 1901, app., p. 28.
279 Free newspapers also included those coming from abroad on which no charge was made in the United Kingdom.
280 Rep. P. G., 1896, p. 2; 1859, pp. 28 f.; 1881, app., p. 12; 1891, app., p. 17; 1901, app., p. 27.
281 Rep. P. G., 1896, p. 2; 1903, p. 5; 1904, p. 5; 1881, app., p. 12; 1891, app., p. 17; 1901, app., p. 27.
282 Ibid., 1864, p. 29; 1896, p. 2; Acct. & P., 1871, xxxvii (pp. 1-2).
283 Charge on unpaid inland post cards reduced to 1d. each in 1896.
284 They increased from 248 millions for the postal year 1893-94 to 312 millions during the ensuing year.
285 Rep. P. G., 1896, p. 2; 1882, p. 4; 1895, p. 18; 1900, p. 1.
286 Rep. P. G., 1897, p. 5.
287 Ibid., 1881, app., p. 12; 1891, app., p. 17; 1901, app., p. 27.
288 Ibid., 1881, p. 4; 1885, p. 4; 1886, p. 5; 1895, p. 21; 1905, p. 7; The Economist, 1881, Nov. 5, p. 1369; 1882, July 29, p. 939.
289 Rep. P. G., 1904, pp. 4-5.
290 Ibid., 1855, p. 12; 1856, p. 9; 1860, p. 8.
291 Ibid., 1855, p. 21.
292 Ibid., 1855-59.
293 Rep. Commrs., 1829, ii, p. 137; Rep. P. G., 1855, p. 20; 1881, app., p. 16; 1891, app., pp. 34-35; 1901, app., p. 50.
294 Rep. P. G., 1896, pp. 28-32; 1897, pp. 10-11; 1881, app., p. 37; 1891, app., p. 53; 1901, app., p. 69; 1907, p. 74.
295 Rep. P. G., 1891, app., p. 59; 1901, app., p. 77; 1907, p. 84.
296 Ibid., 1891, app., pp. 52-53; 1892, p. 12.
297 24 Vict., c. 14.
298 Rep. P. G., 1897, app., pp. 32-36.
299 Rep. P. G., 1897, app., pp. 32-38. The insurance and annuity business of the Post Office has been described by the Economist as a practical failure because of the government’s refusal to solicit business (Economist 1881, Nov. 5, p. 1369).
300 Rep. P. G., 1897, app., pp. 32-36; 1906, pp. 12-13; 56 and 57 Vict., c. 59.
301 Ibid., 1881, app., pp. 32-33; 1891, app., p. 46; 1901, p. 60; 1907, p. 67.
302 Ibid., 1891, app., p. 47; 1901, app., p. 62.
303 Rep. P. G., 1891, app., p. 48; 1901, app., p. 63.
304 Rep. Com., 1854, xi, 411, pp. 370-371.
305 Ibid., 411, p. 14.
306 Rep. Com., 411, p. 280; 1 and 2 Vict., c. 98.
307 56 and 57 Vict., c. 38.
308 56 and 57 Vict., c. 38; Rep. P. G., 1898, pp. 9 f.; 1907, p. 3.
309 Parl. Papers, 1852-53, xcv, p. 3; Rep. P. G., 1861, p. 20; 1872, pp. 26-27; 1884, p. 56; 1893, p. 78; 1896, p. 86; 1906, p. 92.
310 Less than £120 in England, less than £100 in Scotland and Ireland.
311 D. B. Eaton, Civil Service in Great Britain, New York, 1880, pp. 75, 307, 308; Parl. Deb., 3d ser., ccxxxix, col. 211; cclv, col. 1575; ibid., 4th ser., clix, col. 397; clxx, col. 641.
312 Acct. & P., 1872, xxxvi, 337, pp. 1-2; Rep. Commrs., 1872, xviii [c. 485], pp. 1-5; Rep. P. G., 1872, p. 6; Parl. Deb., 4th ser., xciv, coll. 1358-60, 1364-65.
313 Rep. P. G., 1859, pp. 40-43; Parl. Deb., 3d ser., clix, coll. 211-214; clxviii, coll. 675-82.
314 Rep. P. G., 1895, pp. 9-11; 1891, p. 3; Parl. Deb., 3d ser., cccxviii, coll. 537, 1549; cccxlix, col. 213.
315 Rep. P. G., 1895, pp. 9-11.
316 Rep. P. G., 1897, pp. 27 f.
317 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., viii, col. 673; xxix, col. 117; lxxxii, coll. 199 f.; xciv, coll. 1357 f.; cvi, coll. 660-683, 715, 747; cxxi, coll. 1021-64; cxlviii, coll. 1367-69, 1382.
318 Rep. Commrs., 1904, xxxiii, 171, pp. 5-26.
319 Acc. & P., 1905, xliv, 98, pp. 3-6; Parl. Deb., 4th ser., cxlviii, col. 1363.
320 In connection with such appeals both sides of the House as represented by their leaders had in 1892 advised that members should pay no attention to them (Parl. Deb., 4th ser., v, coll. 1123 f.).
321 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., cxxxix, coll. 1633-34; cxlviii, coll. 1350, 1357-61, 1365; the London Times, 1904, Oct. 11, p. 4; Oct. 18, p. 4; Oct. 22, p. 10; 1905, Jan. 16, p. 7; Apr. 7, p. 11.
322 The Postmen’s Federation was established in 1891 and a journal, the Postman’s Gazette, representing their views, was started in the following year (Postman’s Gazette, May 28, 1892; Post Office Circular, no. 1702).
323 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., cliv, col. 202; clix, col. 396; clxxiv, col. 387; the London Times, 1906, June 9, p. 9.
324 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., cliii, coll. 323-38, 354-58; Rep. Com., 1907, 266.
325 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., clxxxiv, coll. 1058-59, 1061-66, 1080; cxcii, coll. 1175, 1173; the London Times, 1907, Aug. 19, p. 17; Aug. 20, p. 2; Oct. 16, p. 12.
326 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., clxxxiv, coll. 1058-70; cxcii, coll. 1120-21. It has been estimated that the recommendations adopted by the Postmaster-General will entail upon the country an additional cost of about £600,000, rising to £1,000,000 (Parl. Deb., 4th ser., cxcii, col. 1156).
327 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep., 14, app., pt. 8, p. 35; P. & O. P. C., vii, p. 350.
328 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 32 (7).
329 L. & P. Hen. VIII, xvii (1542), p. 484.
330 A. P. C., 1542-47, pp. 164, 333, 465, 469, 527; 1547-50, p. 505.
331 Ibid., 1550-52, p. 452; 1542-47, p. 384.
332 Ibid., 1558-70, p. 326.
333 Cal. S. P. D., 1547-80, p. 612.
334 Ibid., 1547-80, p. 362.
335 F. Blomefield, Norfolk, 1806, iii, p. 294.
336 A. P. C., 1571-75, p. 181.
337 A. P. C., 1577-78, p. 219. A particularly violent man roused the ire of the Mayor of Guildford, who wrote to Walsingham asking for damages to a gelding killed by a Mr. Wynckfeld, riding post from Guildford to Kingston. The gelding stumbled and fell on the road and Wynckfeld thrust his dagger into him, beat the guide and threatened to kill the constables on his return (Cal. S. P. D., ii, p. 529).
338 A. P. C., 1577-78, p. 219.
339 Ibid., 1588-89, p. 206.
340 Ibid., 1577-78, p. 62; 1580-81, p. 203.
341 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., pp. 38, 39, 40 (18).
342 Macaulay, Hist. of England, 1849, i, p. 387.
343 Cal. S. P. D., 1629-31, p. 193.
344 19 Geo. III, c. 51.
345 Cal. S. P. D., 1581-90, p. 131.
346 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 42 (20).
347 Cal. S. P. D., 1619-23, p. 517.
348 Ibid., 1619-23, p. 86; 1635, p. 18; 1631-33, p. 257.
349 Ibid., 1635, p. 299.
350 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 57 (36); Cal. S. P. D., 1637, p. 338.
351 Scobell, Collect., 1656, c. 30.
352 12 Ch. II, c. 35.
353 9 Anne, c. 11.
354 Jo. H. C., 1745-50, p. 830.
355 22 Geo. II, c. 25.
356 19 Geo. III, c. 51.
357 20 Geo. III, c. 51.
358 25 Geo. III, c. 51.
359 27 Geo. III, c. 26.
360 48 Geo. III, c. 98.
361 4 Geo. IV, c. 62:—
For every horse let to hire by the mile at the ordinary rate, 1½d.
For no greater distance than eight miles, one fifth part of the sum charged or 1s. 9d.
For no greater distance than eight miles and when the horse or horses shall not bring back any person nor deviate from the regular road, 1s.
For every horse let for a period less than twenty-eight successive days and not let according to the terms given above, one fifth part of the sum charged or 2s. 6d. for each day not exceeding three days and 1s. 9d. for each day exceeding three days but not exceeding thirteen days and 1s. 3d. for each day exceeding thirteen but not exceeding twenty-eight days.
For every horse let for twenty-eight successive days or for a longer period, one fifth of the sum charged or 2s. 6d. for each day not exceeding three and 1s. 9d. for each day exceeding three days but not exceeding thirteen days and 1s. 3d. for each day exceeding thirteen and less than twenty-one days.
362 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 32 (7).
363 L.& P. Hen. VIII, vii, pt. 2, p. 1444.
364 A. P. C., 1556-58, pp. 249-309.
365 Ibid., 1571, 75, p. 201; Cal. S. P. D., 1547-80, p. 265.
366 Cal. S. P. Ire., 1574-85, p. 176; A. P. C., 1580-81, p. 131.
367 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 13, app., pt. 4, p. 89.
368 A. P. C., 1580-81, p. 211.
369 Cal. S. P. D., 1581-90, p. 712; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 43 (21).
370 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 14, app., pt. 8, p. 35.
371 L. & P. Hen. VIII, 1543, p. 4.
372 Cal. S. P. D., 1547-65, p. 360.
373 Ibid., 1566-79, p. 109.
374 Ibid., 1580-1625, p. 278.
375 Hist. MSS. Com., Hatfield House, pt. 7, pp. 174, 168, 332, 358.
376 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., pp. 38-40 (28).
377 Six days from London to Holyrood House (Cal. S. P. D., 1611-18, p. 44). Five hours from Sittingbourne to Canterbury (12 miles) (ibid., 1619-23, p. 610). Nine hours from Sittingbourne to Dover (ibid., 1625-26, p. 256).
378 Cal. S. P. D., 1619-23, p. 564.
379 Ibid., 1625-26, pp. 43, 168.
380 Ibid., 1627-28, p. 307.
381 Ibid., 1623-25, p. 141; 1627-28, p. 307.
382 Ibid., 1628-29, p. 184.
383 Ibid., 1629-31, p. 379.
384 Ibid., 1652-53, p. 312.
385 Cal. S. P. D., 1652-53, p. 449.
386 Ibid., 1655, pp. 285-86.
387 Ibid., 1661-62, p. 385.
388 Ibid., 1665-66, p. 19.
389 Ibid., 1666-67, p. 384.
390 Ibid., 1667-68, p. 116. From copies of these labels made out in 1666 and 1667 we know exactly how long it took to convey the mails between London and the important cities of the kingdom although the time varied more or less at different trips and different seasons.
| Between | Hours | ||
| London and | Yarmouth | From 29 | to 32 |
| Plymouth | 50 | 58 | |
| York | 39 | 42 | |
| Chester | 30 | 56 | |
| Bristol | 25 | 30 | |
| Gloucester | 20 | 26 | |
| Portsmouth | 15 | 23 | |
| Edinburgh | 73 | 103* | |
| Newcastle | 57 | 81 | |
| Manchester | 32 | 48 | |
| Preston | 47 | 58 | |
| Dover | 19 | 22 | |
| Southampton | 18 | 23 | |
(Cal. S. P. D., 1667-68, pp. 117, 118, 120, 121; 1666-67, pp. 388, 389.)
* Reproved for slowness.
391 Cal. S. P. D., 1673-75, p. 494.
392 John Ogilby, Itinerarium Angliae, 1675.
393 Cal. S. P. D., 1667-68, p. 543.
394 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 91 (64).
395 Joyce, p. 53.
396 Cal. T. B. & P., 1739-41, p. 240; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 94 (67); Acts of the Parl. of Scotland, ix, p. 417 (5 Wm. III).
397 Cal. T. P., 1697-1702, p. 280.
398 Ibid., 1657-96, p. 55.
399 Latimer, Annals of Bristol, p. 488.
400 Cal. T. P., 1697-1702, pp. 21-22.
401 Ibid., 1697-1702, p. 56.
402 Ibid., 1702-07, p. 26.
403 Ibid., 1702-07, p. 134.
404 9 Anne, c. 11.
405 45 Geo. III, c. 43.
406 46 Geo. III, c. 134.
407 53 Geo. III, c. 146.
408 London Times, 1817, Aug. 28, p. 2.
409 Rep. Commrs., 1830, xiv, p. 347; 1831-32, xvii, p. 7.
410 London Times, 1819, July 17, p. 2. Yarmouth is distant from London 124 miles.
411 Ibid., 1821, Aug. 23, p. 3.
412 Acc. & P., 1836, xlv, 364, pp. 2 f. The following times are given in Rep. Commrs., 1830, xiv:—
| p. 348 | London to Liverpool | 22 hrs. | 7 min., | distance | 202 miles |
| p. 349 | London to Bristol | 13 | 14 | 122 | |
| p. 350 | Bristol to Milford | 19 | 38 | 149 | |
| p. 351 | London to Carlisle (via Leeds) | 34 | 7 | 311 | |
| p. 352 | Carlisle to Portpatrick | 11 | 32 | 85 | |
| p. 353 | Bristol to Birmingham | 10 | 29 | 87 |
413Acc. & P., 1836, xlv, 364, p. 4. The following times are given in Rep. Commrs., 1830 xiv:—
| p. 354 | Dublin via Cashell to Cork | 22 hrs. | distance | 126 miles | |
| p. 355 | Cork to Waterford | 12 hrs. | 4 min. | 72 miles | |
| p. 356 | Dublin to Belfast | 13 | 15 | 80 miles | |
| p. 356 | Donaghadee to Belfast | 22 | 24 | 14 miles |
414 Acc. & P., 1836, xlv, 364, p. 7.
415 Ibid., 1836, xlv, 364, p. 5.
416 Rep. Commrs., 1831-32, xvii, pp. 7, 373-74.
417 Ibid., 1831-32, xvii, pp. 373-74.
418 Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 7th rep., app., nos. 40-45.
419 Ibid., 1837, xxxiv, 7th rep., app., no. 11. The packet leaving Holyhead at 6.30 p.m. carried letters from Birmingham, brought by the coach from that place, but took no London letters (Acc. & P., 1841, ix, p. 9).
420 Rep. Commrs., 1831-32, xvii, p. 325.
421 Ibid., 1837, xxxiv, 7th rep., app., no. 11.
422 Ibid., 1831-32, xvii, pp. 5-9; Acc. & P., 1841, xix.
423 Rep. Commrs., 1831-32, xvii, pp. 5-9.
424 Sometimes the packet left Dunmore. See Rep. Commrs., 1831-32, xvii, pp. 373-4.
425 Ibid., 1831-32, xvii, pp. 5-9, 373-74.
426 Ibid., p. 325.
427 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, pt. 1, p. 469, no. 17.
428 Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 7th rep., app., no. 13.
429 1 and 2 Vict., c. 98; 7 and 8 Vict., c. 85; Rep. Com., 1854, xi, 411, p. xiii; Rep. P. G., 1857, p. 7.
430 Cal. S. P. Ire., 1574-85, p. 401.
431 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 37 (15).
432 Cal. S. P. D., 1598-1601, p. 107.
433 Ibid., 1648-49, p. 210.
434 Jo. H. C., 1648-51, p. 385.
435 Cal. S. P. D., 1644, pp. 6, 29; 1641-43, p. 501.
436 Cal. S. P. D., 1652-53, pp. 312, 449.
437 Cal. T. P., 1557-1696, p. 308.
438 24 Geo. III, c. 6.
439 Joyce, pp. 380-83; 55 Geo. III, c. 145.
440 Cal. S. P. D., 1667-68, pp. 248, 249; Joyce, p. 46.
441 7 Geo. III, c. 50.
442 Rep. Commrs., 1830, xiv, app., nos. 78, 80.
443 Cal. S. P. D., 1581-90, p. 485.
444 Cal. S. P. For., 1553-58, pp. 239, 341.
445 Cal. S P. D., 1580-1625, p. 188; 1581-90, p. 84; L. & P. Hen. VIII, i, 3639.
446 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 12, app., pt. 1, p. 478.
447 Cal. S. P. D., 1631-33, p. 242; Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 12, app., pt. 2, p. 103.
448 Cal. S. P. D., 1631-33, p. 522.
449 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 12, app., pt. 2, p. 6.
450 Cal. S. P. D., 1634-35, p. 193.
451 Cal. S. P. D., 1644, pp. 6, 29.
452 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 58 (37).
453 Cal. S. P. D., 1639-40, p. 457.
454 Ibid., 1640, p. 163.
455 Ibid., 1660-61, p. 82.
456 Cal. S. P. D., 1661-62, p. 56.
457 Ibid., 1664-65, p. 489.
458 Ibid., 1693, p. 57.
459 Ibid., 1667, p. 440.
460 Ibid., 1667-68, p. 428; 1672, p. 189.
461 Ibid., 1690-91, p. 119.
462 Ibid., 1690-91, p. 552.
463 Joyce, p. 77.
464 Ibid., p. 139.
465 Cal. S. P. D., 1691-92, p. 97.
466 Cal. T. P., 1702-07, p. 94.
467 Ibid., 1702-07, p. 145.
468 Joyce, pp. 75, 76. Mr. Vanderpoel, postmaster at the Brill, was appointed by the king to take charge of all letters and despatches sent by or to their Majesties by the Harwich boats (Cal. S. P. D., 1691-92, p. 404; Cal. T. P., 1702-07, pp. 19, 33).
469 Cal. T. B. & P., 1742-45, p.509.
470 Cal. T. P., 1708-14, p. 3.
471 43 Geo. III, c. 73.
472 London Times, 1812, Aug. 31, p. 2.
473 Ibid., 1813, Aug. 22, p. 2.
474 Ibid., 1813, Nov. 29, p. 3.
475 Rep. Commrs., 1829, xi, p. 232; Acc. & P., 1817, p. 11; London Times, 1814, April 18, p. 3.
476 Rep. Commrs., 1830, xiv, app., no. 78.
477 London Times, 1830, May 21, p. 3.
478 Post nights were probably on Wednesday and Saturday nights.
479 London Times, 1837, Jan. 14, p. 7.
480 Rep. Commrs., 1836, xxviii, 6th rep., p. 5.
481 Ibid., 1836, xxviii, 6th rep., p. 5.
482 Ibid., 1836, xxviii, 6th rep., p. 7.
483 5 and 6 Wm. IV., c. 25.
484 London Times, 1836, June 20, p. 5. In accounting to France for letters sent there postpaid, England agreed to consider as a single letter any enclosure or enclosures weighing not more than a quarter of an ounce, according to the French method.
485 Cal. T. P., 1702-07, p. 64.
486 Ibid., p.57.
487 Joyce, pp. 79, 81.
488 Cal. T. P., 1702-07, p. 105.
489 Ibid., 1702-07, p. 29.
490 Ibid., 1708-14, p. 45.
491 Cal. T. B. and P., 1742-45, pp. 705, 707.
492 Jo. H. C., 1787, pp. 816, 817.
493 48 Geo. III, c. 116.
494 5 Geo. IV, c. 10.
495 6 Geo. IV, c. 44.
496 55 Geo. III, c. 153.
497 Letters were sent to the colonies by private vessels. The method used for sending letters to America was as follows. Masters of vessels bound for America used to hang up a bag in the coffee-houses, in which letters were placed. A fee of one penny was charged for a single letter and 2d. for a double letter or parcel in excess of a single letter (Cal. T. P., 1697-1702, p. 77).
498 Thos. DeLaune, Present State of London, 1681, p. 343.
499 Cal. S. P. D., 1689-90, p. 301.
500 Cal. T. B. and P., 1742-45, p. 518.
501 Ibid., 1742-45, p. 523.
502 Rep. Commrs., 1830, xiv, p. 7.
503 Parl. Papers, 1822, vi, 417, pp. 117 f.
504 Joyce, pp. 384-85. In a debate in the House on the Holyhead rates, Parnell said that they limited the use of the steamboats to the rich (Parl. Deb., 3d ser., x, coll. 684-85).
505 Acc. & P., 1834, xlix, pp. 1, 156.
506 Rep. Commrs., 1830, pp. 22, 36, 40.
507 Acc. & P., 1826-27, xx, p. 6.
508 Rep. Commrs., 1830, xiv, app., no. 78.
509 Ibid., 1830, xiv, p. 72.
510 Ibid., 1836, xxviii, 6th rep., app., p. 28.
511 Acc. & P., 1834, xlix, p. 1; Rep. Commrs., 1831-32, xvii, pp. 358-60.
512 Acc. & P., xlvi, 281.
513 Rep. Commrs., 1836, xxviii, pp. 14-16.
514 Ibid., 1836, xxviii, 6th rep., p. 18.
515 Ibid., 1836, xxviii, 6th rep., p. 6.
516 Ibid., 1836, xxviii, 6th rep., p. 8.
517 Cal. S. P. D., 1671, p. 203. In 1793, owing to a scarcity of English vessels and as a war measure, permission was given to send English letters to Spain and Portugal by means of Spanish ships (33 Geo. III, c. 60).
518 Joyce, p. 73.
519 It is true that by the act of 1711, a penny was to be charged for every ship letter; but this was to go to the master of the ship.
520 39 Geo. III, c. 76.
521 2 Wm. IV, c. 15.
522 5 and 6 Wm. IV, c. 25.
523 Cal. S. P. D., 1650, p. 540.
524 Ibid., 1691-92, pp. 29, 137.
525 13 and 14 Chas. II, c. 11.
526 Goods were not supposed to be carried unless such a licence had been obtained. Some Jews, coming from Calais on the packet boat, had brought a few spectacles with them, on the sale of which they said that their support depended. The spectacles were confiscated (Cal. T. B. and P., 1739-41, p. 61).
527 Cal. T. P., 1708-14, p. 74.
528 Cal. T. B. & P., 1731-34, p. 223.
529 Ibid., 1731-34, p. 242.
530 Ibid., 1731-34, p. 234.
531 24 Geo. III, session 2, c. 37.
532 Cal. T. B. & P., 1742-45, p. 55.
533 Joyce, pp. 95 f.
534 Fin. Rep., 1797, no. 7, p. 5.
535 Jo. H. C., 1787, p. 116.
536 Jo. H. C., 1787, pp. 815-16.
537 Ibid., 1787, pp. 815-16. Anthony Todd, Secretary of the Post Office, writing to Charles Cox in Harwich said that “several persons going from Helvoetsluys to Harwich, who are well able to pay full fare, have given money for half, free and poor passes, and larger sums have been taken for passes than are allowed by the Postmaster-General” (Jo. H. C., 1787, p. 805).
538 Ibid., 1787, p. 205.
539 Fin. Rep., 1797, no. 7, pp. 52-65.
540 Ibid., no. 7, p. 131.
541 Fin. Rep., no. 7, p. 119.
542 Ibid., no. 7, p. 118.
543 Ibid., no. 7, pp. 122-23.
544 Ibid., no. 7, p. 117.
545 Ibid., no. 7, p. 116.
546 Rep. Commrs., 1830, xiv, app., no. 78; Acc. & P., 1834, xlix, p. 3; Joyce, pp. 398-99.
547 Acc. & P., 1834, xlix, p. 49. Three of the boats wrecked were on their way to or from Halifax, N. S.
548 7 Wm. IV and I Vict., c. 3.
549 Acc. & P., 1837-38, xlv, pp. 1, 2.
550 7 Wm. IV and I Vict., c. 34.
551 7 Wm. IV and I Vict., c. 36.
552 Rep. Com., 1860, xiv; Acc. & P., 1852-53, xcv, 1660, pp. 1-7.
553 Rep. Com., 1849, xii, p. iii.
554 Acc. & P., 1852-53, xcv, 1660, p. 37.
555 Rep. Com., 1860, xiv, p. 17; 23 Vict., c. 46; Parl. Deb., 3d ser., clxi, col. 830; cxciv, col. 1281; cxcvii, col. 1818.
556 Acc. & P., 1852-53, xcv, 1660, pp. 37-43.
557 Parl. Deb., 3d ser., ccxxxviii, coll., 1633-36.
558 3s. a lb. for letters; 1s. 8d. when carried by other lines (Rep. Com., 1860, xiv, p. 5; 1868-69, vi, pp. iii-v; Rep. P. G., 1887, pp. 4-5; Acc. & P., 1887, xlix, 34, pp. 3-4; Parl. Deb., 4th ser., cxxii, coll. 385-401).
559 Acc. & P., 1852-53, xcv, 1660, p. 59; 1887, xlix, 34, p. 7; Rep. P. G., 1907, pp. 5-6.
560 Rep. P. G., 1907, pp. 5-6, 52-53.
561 Rep. Commrs., 1830, xiv, app., p. 376; 1847, lxii, pp. 5-6; Rep. P. G., 1868, p. 28; 1875, p. 39; 1901, app., p. 82; 1907, p. 95.
562 The rate from Venice had been 16d. By a single letter is meant one piece of paper.
563 Cal. S. P. D., 1625-26, p. 523.
564 Ibid., 1628-29, p. 538.
565 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 48 (25).
566 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 57 (36).
567 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 58 (37).
568 Joyce, p. 29.
569 Cal. S. P. D., 1651-52, p. 507.
570 Cal. S. P. D., 1652-53, p. 449.
571 Scobell, Collect., pt. ii, pp. 511-13. Inland letters containing more than two enclosures but weighing less than an ounce were charged according to the number of enclosures.
572 Scobell, Collect., pt. ii, pp. 511-13.
573 12 Chas. II, c. 35.
574 One shilling Scotch was equal to one penny English.
575 Wm. III, 1st parl., 5th session (Scotland), c. 31.
576 Cal. T. P., 1697-1702, 48; 1702-1707, 101.
577 Joyce, p. 78.
578 Cal. T. P., 1702-07, 46.
| Single letter | Double letter | Per ounce | |
| Rates to the islands were | 9d. | 18d. | 32d. |
| In 1705 increased to | 15d. | 30d. | 72d. |
| Rates from the islands in 1705 | 18d. | 36d. | 72d. |
—Stow’s London, bk. v, p. 400.
579 Joyce, p. 111.
580 Joyce, p. 113; Cal. T. P., 1697-1702, 77.
581 Joyce, p. 128.
582 Double letters were charged twice as much as single letters.
583 When the rates for single letters only are given it is understood that double and triple letters paid two and three times as much respectively. Letters weighing an ounce or more paid a single letter rate for each quarter of an ounce.
584 Joyce, p. 145.
585 9 Anne, c. 11.
586 Jo. H. C., 1745-50, pp. 751-2.
587 26 Geo. III, c. 13, secs. 7, 8.
588 5 Geo. III, c. 25. The principle of payment in advance was not popular. A man in England writing to his brother in Virginia in 1764 says, “Very often of late I have been so foolish, I should say unfortunate previously to pay for the letters coming to you.... To my great concern I have been since assured that such letters never go forward but are immediately thrown aside and neglected. I believe I wrote to you three or four times this last winter by this method and am since informed of this their fate. You may form a great guess of the truth of it by or by not receiving them” (Notes and Queries, 4th ser., xii, p. 125).
589 24 Geo. III, sess. 2, c. 37.
590 27 Geo. III, c. 9. In 1767 a rate of 2d. for a single letter was established between Whitehaven (Cumberland) and the Port of Douglas (Isle of Man) (7 Geo. III, c. 50).
591 37 Geo. III, c. 18.
592 33 Geo. III, c. 60.
593 39 Geo. III, c. 76.
594 When the temporary peace of Amiens was concluded in 1802, the rates for single letters from London to France were reduced to 10d., from London to the Batavian Republic to 12d. (42 Geo. II, c. 101).
595 41 Geo. III, c. 7.
596 The Irish penny was of the same value as the English penny.
597 43 Geo. III, c. 28.
598 Parl. Deb., 1st ser., iii, col. 550.
599 45 Geo. III, c. 11.
600 45 Geo. III, c. 21.
601 Single letters written by or to non-commissioned officers, privates, and seamen must be on their own business, and if sent by them must bear their own signatures and the signature of their superior officer with the name of their regiment or ship (46 Geo. III, c. 92).
602 52 Geo. III, c. 88.
In 1806, the rate for a single letter between Falmouth and Gibraltar was fixed at 21d., between Falmouth and Malta 25d., between Gibraltar and Malta 6d. (46 Geo. III, c. 73).
In 1808, the rate for a single letter between Falmouth and Madeira was fixed at 18d., between Falmouth and Brazil 29d. (48 Geo. III, c. 116).
603 50 Geo. III, c. 74.
604 53 Geo. III, c. 58.
605 54 Geo. III, c. 119.
606 54 Geo. III, c. 169. Enacted for Ireland the following year (55 Geo. III, c. 103).
607 55 Geo. III, c. 153. This act, although repealed for Great Britain by 59 Geo. III, c. 111, still remained in force in Ireland (5 and 6 Wm. IV, c. 25).
608 London Times, 1814, Oct. 8, p. 3; 1815, Jan. 19, p. 3.
609 Parl. Deb., 1st ser., xxx, col. 766; xxxi, col. 220.
610 Joyce, p. 363.
611 The Calcutta Monthly complained that the new rates had rendered correspondence less frequent. “The so-called packet boats are often two or three months slower than private vessels” (London Times, 1818, Oct. 30, p. 3).
612 59 Geo. III, c. 111; London Times, 1820, Jan. 24, p. 3.
613 7 and 8 Geo. IV, c. 21. The postage between Liverpool and Dublin for a single letter was 13d., made up as follows:—
| Inland postage to Holyhead | 9d. |
| For the Conway Bridge | 1d. |
| ″ ″ Menai ″ | 1d. |
| Sea postage | 2d. |
In 1820, the sea rate between Portpatrick and Donaghadee had been raised by 2d. for a single letter, between Liverpool and the Port of Douglas by 4d. (1 Geo. IV, c. 89; 3 Geo. IV, c. 105).
614 7 and 8 Geo. IV, c. 21; 1 and 2 Geo. IV, c. 35, secs. 19-20; 6 Geo. IV, c. 28.
615 6 and 7 Wm. IV, c. 5.
616 Acc. & P., 1837, l. 106. Rates on foreign letters before, and after the French treaty:—
| Between England and | Before | After | |
| France | 14d. | 10d. | |
| Italy | } | ||
| Turkey | } | 23 | 19 |
| Ionian Isles | } | ||
| Spain | 26 | 19 | |
| by packet | 26 | 26 | |
| Portugal via France | 26 | 19 | |
| by packet | 30 | 30 | |
| Germany via France | 20 | 14 | |
| Switzerland | 20 | 14 | |
| Holland | 16 | 16 | |
| Belgium | 16 | 16 | |
| Russia | } | ||
| Prussia | } | ||
| Norway | } | 20 | 20 |
| Sweden | } | ||
| Denmark | } | ||
| Germany | } | ||
| Gibraltar | 34 | 34 | |
| Malta | } | ||
| Ionian Isles | } | 38 | 38 |
| Greece | } | ||
| Egypt | } | ||
| Brazil | 42 | 42 | |
| Buenos Ayres | 42 | 41 | |
| Madeira | 31 | 31 | |
| Mexico | } | ||
| Havana | } | 36 | 27 |
| Colombia | } | ||
| San Domingo | 26 | 27 | |
| United States and foreign West Indies | 26 | 26 |
617 This followed to a certain extent the French system of charging postage, which depended more upon weight and less upon the number of enclosures than the English method.
618 7 Wm. IV and 1 Vict., c. 34.
619 In 1838, it was enacted that the postage on a single letter (not from the United Kingdom or going there) between any two Mediterranean ports or from a Mediterranean port to the East Indies should be 6d. via the Red Sea or Persian Gulf. The Gibraltar rate remained the same (1 and 2 Vict., c. 97).
620 7 Wm. IV and 1 Vict., c. 34.
621 7 Wm. IV and I Vict., c. 34.
622 2 and 3 Vict., c. 52.
623 Acc. & P., 1841, xxvi, 53, pp. 1-7.
624 Additional exceptions were made later in the case of
1. Reissuable country bank notes delivered at the General Post Office in London.
2. Deeds, legal proceedings and papers.
3. Letters to and from places beyond the seas.
4. Letters to and from any government office or department (or to and from any person having the franking privilege by virtue of his office).
Acc. & P. 1841, xxvi, 53, p. 4.
625 Double rates were charged when the postage was paid on delivery.
626 3 and 4 Vict., c. 96.
627 Cal. S. P. D., 1651-52, p. 507.
628 Cal. S. P. D., 1652-53, p. 449.
629 Parliamentary History of England, iv (1660-88), col. 163.
630 Cal. T. P., 1557-1696, p. 281.
631 Cal. T. B. & P., 1731-34, pp. 208, 210, 218, 268.
632 Cal. S. P. D., 1667, p. 248.
633 Cal. S. P. D., 1666-67, p.386.
634 Jo. H. C., 1714-18, p. 303.
635 Cal. T. P., 1714-19, p. 287.
636 Cal. T. P., 1720-28, p. 77.
637 Jo. H. C., 1732-37, p. 393.
638 Ibid., 1732-37.
639 Jo. H. C., 1732-37, p. 476.
640 Jo. H. L., 1736-41, p. 259.
641 Ibid., p. 529.
642 One man in five months counterfeited 14,400 franks of members of Parliament. Counterfeits of names of 27 members were shown. A regular trade in buying and selling them had sprung up (Jo. H. C., 1761-64, p. 998). Several Lords certified that their names had been counterfeited. Lord Dacre’s name had been counterfeited 504 times (Jo. H. L., 1760-64, p. 534).
643 Cal. T. B. & P., 1739-41, p. 450.
644 Joyce, p. 189.
645 4 Geo. III, c. 24.
646 Jo. H. C., 1761-64, pp. 1000-1001.
647 Ibid., p. 999.
648 Jo. H. C., p. 999.
649 Ibid., 1761-64, p. 1001.
650 Ibid., 1780-82, p. 537.
651 22 Geo. III, c. 70; 23 Geo. III, c. 69.
652 Jo. H. C., 1790-91, p. 468.
653 Ibid., 1784-85, p. 383. The Lords also agreed to this resolution (ibid., p.411; 24 Geo. III, sess. 2, c. 37).
654 For the years 1783 and 1784, the number of free letters arriving in London, exclusive of the state’s letters, averaged over 800,000 a year and those sent from London averaged over 1,000,000. In 1785, they had fallen to 514,000 and 713,000 respectively (Parl. Papers, 1812-13, Rep. Com., ii, 222, p. 95).
655 24 Geo. III, c. 6; Jo. H. C., 1795-96, p. 588.
656 35 Geo. III, c. 53. After 1786 the number of franked letters had gradually increased until checked by this act. In 1795 the number of franked letters delivered in London was 1,045,000, the number sent from London 1,195,000. In 1796, the inward and outward free letters amounted to 737,000 and 787,000 respectively. In 1797 the numbers were 696,000 and 721,000. These restricting acts of 1784 and 1795 had a more important effect than Joyce leads us to suppose (Parl. Papers, 1812-13, Rep. Com., ii, 222, p. 95).
657 Those officials in the General Post Office who had no franking privilege were reimbursed the amount of postage paid by them on inland single letters (Rep. Commrs., 1837, xxxiv, 8th rep., app., no. 2).
658 42 Geo. III, c. 63.
659 43 Geo. III, c. 28.
660 Parl. Deb., 1st ser., iii, col. 570. The following are a few of the statutes enacted which extended franking: 46 Geo. III, c. 61; 50 Geo. III, c. 65, sec. 19; c. 66; 51 Geo. III, c. 16, sec. 17; 52 Geo. III, c. 132, sec. 16; c. 146, sec. 11; 53 Geo. III, c. 13; 54 Geo. III, c. 169; 55 Geo. III, c. 1, sec. 10; c. 60, secs. 41-42; 56 Geo. III, c. 98, sec. 24.
661 6 Geo. IV, c. 68, sec. 10.
662 6 Geo. IV, c. 68; London Times, 1825, June 11, p. 3; July 29, p. 2.
663 7 and 8 Geo. IV, c. 21.
664 5 and 6 Wm. IV, c. 25. Before the passage of this act newspapers passed free by the packets and posts to and from Hamburg, Bremen, and Cuxhaven (London Times, 1834, Oct. 30, p. 2).
665 6 and 7 Wm. IV, c. 25.
666 In Great Britain re-issuable notes of country banks paid in London were conveyed by the post to the issuing bank at one quarter the regular rates for letters, but parcels of notes had to exceed six ounces in weight and contain no other matter (5 Geo. IV, c. 20).
667 7 Wm. IV and 1 Vict., c. 34.
668 7 Wm. IV. and 1 Vict., c. 36.
669 5 and 6 Wm. IV, c. 25.
670 7 Wm. IV and 1 Vict., c. 34. Maximum increased to thirty ounces by 7 Wm. IV and 1 Vict., c. 25.
671 53 Geo. III, c. 89; 7 Wm. IV and 1 Vict., c. 32.
672 Wallace, the postal reformer, declared that other members had been in the habit of receiving more than fifteen free letters in a day and that, too, with Freeling’s consent (Parl. Deb., 3d series, xxiv, col. 1001).
673 7 Wm. IV. and 1 Vict., c. 35.
674 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, 2d rep., app., p. 109.
675 Ibid., xx, 3d rep., p. 62.
676 3 and 4 Vict., c. 96. Recent attempts by certain members of Parliament to revive the franking privilege have fortunately been unsuccessful (Parl. Deb., 4th ser., lxxxi, col. 1407; civ, col. 360).
677 But in 1861 the registration fee was reduced from 6d. to 4d. and a double fee charged for compulsory registration (Rep. P. G., 1862, pp. 9-10).
678 Rep. P. G., 1866, p. 12.
679 Ibid., 1870, pp. 3-5; 1897, p. 5; 1896, p. 2; 1898, pp. 1-2.
680 3 and 4 Vict., c. 96; 10 and 11 Vict., c. 85; 23 and 24 Vict., c. 65.
681 Rep. P. G., 1892, p. 8; 1894, p.2; 1895, p. 4; 1901, p. 4.
682 Rep. P. G., 1862, pp. 9-10; 1879, p. 13; 1897, p. 5.
683 Ibid., 1896, p. 3; 1882, p. 3; 1906, p. 1.
684 Ibid., 1896, p. 2; 1889, p. 2; 1897, p. 5; 1895, p. 18.
685 Ibid., 1903, p. 5.
686 Rep. P. G., 1885, p. 14; 1898, pp. 1-2.
687 Even at this time (1850) the shilling rate was the rule.
688 Acc. & P., 1852-53, xcv., 204, pp. 2-3; Rep. P. G., 1855, pp. 36-37; 1858, p. 20; Rep. Com., 1868-69, vi, p. iv; Rep. P. G., 1871, app., p. 29; 1870, pp. 6-7.
689 Ibid., 1891, p. 6; app., p. 39.
690 Ibid., 1899, p. 7; 1906, p. 1.
691 Rep. P. G., 1907, pp. 4-5.
692 Ibid., 1864, p. 21; 1859, pp. 19-20.
693 Ibid., 1875, p. 13.
694 Ibid., 1892, p. 8; 1906, pp. 1-2.
695 Rep. P. G., 1896, pp. 26-32; 1897, pp. 10-11; 1904, pp. 11-12; 1906, p. 1.
696 Ibid., 1897, pp. 10-11.
697 Rep. P. G., 1896, pp. 30-32.
698 Rep. P. G., 1896, pp. 28-30; 1897, pp. 10-11; 1904, p. 11; 1906, p. 1.
699 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 48 (25).
700 L. & P. Hen. VIII, ii, pp. 1444-51-53-57-58-60-62-63-66-72; A. P. C., 1547-50, pp. 111, 278, 307, 319, 413; 1552-54, pp. 74, 137, 402.
701 Cal. S. P. D., 1623-25, pp. 55, 285; 1628-29, p. 184; 1629-31, pp. 379, 440.
702 The proceeds from de Quester’s rates, which went into effect from this year, may possibly have gone to the Post Office. After Witherings’ rates were announced in 1635, they certainly did.
703 Cal. S. P. D., 1603-10, p. 9.
704 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 43 (21).
705 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 12, app., pt. 4, p. 472.
706 Cal. T. P., 1697-1702, p. 289.
707 Cal. S. P. D., 1641-43, p. 213.
708 Jo. H. C., 1648-51, p. 385.
709 Cal. S. P. D., 1653-54, p. 365.
710 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 15, app., pt. 1, p. 97.
711 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 76 (53).
712 Cal. S. P. D., 1661-62, pp. 122, 245.
713 15 Chas. II, c. 14.
714 Cal. S. P. D., 1663-64, p. 598.
715 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 13, app., pt. 5, p. 81.
716 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 13, app., pt. 5, p. 362.
717 Hist. MSS. Com., Rep., 13, app., pt. 5, p. 406.
718 Hist. MSS. Com., House of Lords, i, pp. 84-87.
719 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, app., p. 93 (66).
720 Cal. T. P., 1708-14, p. 20.
721 For the gross product, net product, and expenses for each year, see Appendix, pp. 243, 244, 245, Tables I, II.
722 Rates were increased in 1784.
723 Hist. MSS. Com., Dropmore, i, p. 179.
724 Parl. Papers, 1812-13, Rep. Com., ii, 222, p. 93.
725 Parl. Papers, 1812-13, Rep. Com., ii, 222, p. 91.
726 See Appendix, p. 246, Table III; p. 247, Table IV.
727 See Appendix, p. 248, Table V.
728 Ireland had paid for mail coach tolls from the first and this partly explains the relatively high expenditure.
729 See Appendix, p. 248, Table V.
730 See Appendix, pp. 249, 250, 251, Table VI; p. 252, Table VII.
731 G. Roberts, Social History of the Southern Counties of England, 1856, p. 508; Joyce, p. 4.
732 Cal. S. P. D., 1581-90, p. 131.
733 Cal. S. P. D., 1581-90, p. 228; 1598-1601, p. 427; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, 601, p. 4.
734 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, 601, p. 4; app., p. 36 (14).
735 By “Posts for the Queen’s immediate service” was probably meant the special messengers attached to the Court.
736 Cal. S. P. D., 1547-65, pp. 215-77; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, 601, app., p. 42 (20).
737 Letters carried by a friend or special messenger or a common carrier were excepted.
738 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, 601, app., p. 42 (20).
739 Ibid., 1591-94, p. 401.
740 Ibid., 1627-28, pp. 511-22.
741 The House had already shown its interest in postal affairs by summoning postmasters before the Committee of Grievances in 1624 (Jo. H. C., 1547-1628, pp. 689-774).
742 Cal. S. P. D., 1628-29, p. 177.
743 Ibid., 1625-49, p. 367; 1629-31, p. 200.
744 Cal. S. P. D., 1633-34, p. 39.
745 Ibid., 1637-38, pp. 22, 171, 177, 183.
746 Ibid., 1637-38, p. 193; Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, 601, app., p. 58 (37).
747 Jo. H. C., 1640-42, p. 722.
748 These were the same judges who had decided in favour of Stanhope’s patent in Stanhope v. Witherings.
749 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, 601, app., p. 67 (42).
750 Chas. Knight, London, 1842, iii, p. 276; R. R. Sharpe, London and the Kingdom, 1894, pp. 322-23.
751 Joyce, p. 29.
752 Cal. S. P. D., 1653-54, pp. 22-24, 372. See p. 33, note.
753 Cal. S. P. D., 1652-53, p. 456.
754 Ibid., 1653-54, p. 372.
755 Ibid., 1653-54, p. 177.
756 Ibid., 1653-54, p. 25.
757 Ibid., 1652-53, pp. 109-110.
758 Scobell, Collect., pt. ii, pp. 511-13.
759 12 Ch. II, c. 35.
760 Cal. S. P. D., 1660-61, p. 475.
761 In 1659 a book was published by John Hill, entitled A Penny Post—A vindication of the Liberty of every Englishman in carrying merchants’ and other men’s letters against any restraints of farmers of such employments (Notes and Queries, 6th ser., xi, p. 37).
762 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, 601, app., p. 82 (57).
763 Cal. S. P. D., 1663-64, pp. 8, 18.
764 Ibid., 1663-64, p. 145.
765 Ibid., 1663-64, p. 402.
766 Rep. Com., 1844, xiv, 601, app., p. 88 (61).
767 Cal. S. P. D., 1668-69, p. 285.
768 Cal. S. P. D., 1668-69, p. 376.
769 Ibid., 1672-73, p. 64.
770 Knight, London, 1842, iii, p. 282; Joyce, pp. 121-23.
771 Joyce, p. 329.
772 9 Anne, c. 10; 42 Geo. III, c. 81; 46 Geo. III, c. 92; 53 Geo. III, c. 58; 5 Geo. IV, c. 20.
773 7 Wm. IV and 1 Vict., c. 33.
774 7 Wm. IV and 1 Vict., c. 36.
775 Acc. & P., 1834, xlix, 19, pp. 2-7.
776 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, pt. 1, pp. 17, 23.
777 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, questions 234, 2883, 4692, 10870-74; rep. 1, app., pp. 427, 431, 433; rep. 2, p. 32.
778 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, qs. 3452, 3754-56, 4330-33, 4152, 6059, 6204, 6971, 8051, 9122-30, 10481, 5486-92-95, 4934-45, 5536, 3953, 6174-87. By this means Dr. Dionysius Lardner sent and received the greater part of an extensive literary correspondence (qs. 5487-96).
779 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, qs. 3206-07, 3368-69, 3516-45, 3872, 4080, 4116-17, 4906, 5434, 6895, 7740, 7742-50, 7242-48.
780 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, qs. 3923, 6683, 7419-23.
781 Ibid., qs. 3212-13, 3924-28, 3377-81, 3879-82, 4504, 6928, 7867-82, 5613-18, 4074, 4873-90, 3520, 7327.
782 Ibid., rep. 1, 9, p. 427.
783 Ibid., qs. 2265, 2279.
784 Ibid., 1837-38, xx, qs. 2697, 2699, 2703.
785 Ibid., qs. 4229
786 Ibid., qs. 5125-26. In Walsall not 1-50 part of the letters sent to and from neighbouring places went by post (qs. 5681-5789).
787 Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx, qs. 4195-96, 4205.
788 Ibid., qs. 3550, 4065, 4194, 6947.
789 Ibid., qs. 5257-59.
790 Ibid., qs. 5265.
791 Ibid., qs. 6716, 10371.
792 Ibid., qs. 6514.
793 Ibid., qs. 497, 3008, 5525-26, 5329, 5186-88, 5983, 8962, 10,021; app. to part 2, p. 34.
794 Ibid., pt. 1, pp. 195-99, 204-30, 346, 351, 431.
795 Ibid., pt. 1, pp. 195-99.
796 Ibid., pt. 1, p. 364.
797 Acc. & P., 1867-68, xli, 202, pp. 43, 73, 74.
798 Acc. & P., 1867-68, xli, 202, pp. 87-88, 126; Rep. Com., 1867-68, xi, 435, pp. 31, 68.
799 Receiver and Accountant-General of the Post-Office.
800 Rep. Com., 1867-68, xi, 435, p. 108; Acc. & P., 1867-68, xli, 202, p. 7.
801 In another place his estimate for gross revenue was £608,000; annual charge £105,000 on a purchase price of £3,000,000 with expenses for improvement; working expenses £425,000, and surplus £77,750 (Acc. & P., 1867-68, xli, 202, pp. 145-47).
802 Ibid., pp. 7-39.
803 Parl. Deb., 3d ser., ccxxviii, col. 215; cxcii, coll. 747-751.
804 Acc. & P., 1867-68, xli, 202, p. 131.
805 31 and 32 Vict., c. 110.
806 32 and 33 Vict., c. 75.
807 Rep. Com., 1867-68, xi, 435, p. 162; 1868-69, vi, 348, p. 11; 1867-68, xi, 435, p. 217; 1873, xxxix, 316, pp. 762-64; 1873, vii, 290, p. 95; Parl. Deb., 3d ser., cxcii, coll. 747-751, 1303-04. According to figures furnished by Mr. Fowler in a speech in the House of Commons in 1868, the value of the capital and the debentures of the Electric and International at that time was £1,240,000 while the capital value of the British and Irish Magnetic was £534,000; of Reuter’s Company, £266,000; of the United Kingdom Electric, £350,000, and of the London and Provincial, £65,000 (Parl. Deb. 3d ser., cxcv, coll. 747-751).
808 Rep. P. G., 1876, p. 10; ibid., 1883, p. 9.
809 31 and 32 Vict., c. 110.
810 Rep. P. G., 1895, app., pp. 33-35; 1889, p. 13.
811 Ibid., 1890, p. 7.
812 Rep. P. G., 1892, p. 20; 54 and 55 Vict., c. 46.
813 Rep. P. G., 1900, p. 15; 1898, p. 19; 1906, pp. 1, 15.
814 Ibid., 1900, p. 15; 1902, p. 13; 1905, app., p. 99; 1906, p. 16.
815 Acc. & P., 1876, lxxxiv [c. 1418], pp. 116-119.
816 Rep. P. G., 1904, pp. 15-22.
817 Rep. P. G., 1897, pp. 40-42; 1879, p. 21; 1886, p. 10; 1892, p. 19; 1900, p. 10.
818 Rep. P. G., 1893, pp. 19-22; 1903, pp. 15-18; 1905, pp. 16-18; 4 Edw. VII, c. 24; 6 Edw. VII, c. 13.
819 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., clxxix, coll. 841-858; cxcii, col. 1116, London Times, 1906, Nov. 5, p. 5; 1907, July 1, p. 14.
820 Parl. Deb., 3d ser., ccxxviii, coll. 172 f.; Rep. Com., 1876, xiii, 357, pp. i-xiii, 147, 240.
821 Rep. P. G., 1891, app., p. 40; 1901, app., p. 57; 1907, app., p. 61.
822 Ibid., 1881, app., p. 53; 1891, app., p. 66; 1901, app., p. 83; 1905, app., p. 99.
823 Between 1870, when the telegraphs were taken over by the state, and 1873, the number of employees was more than doubled, although, during the same period, the number of messages—not including news messages—increased only from ten to fifteen millions (Rep. Com., 1876, xiii, 357, pp. 18, 90, 232, 240).
824 Rep. P. G., 1895, pp. 37-38.
The proportion of the amount spent on salaries and wages which in 1881, before Mr. Fawcett’s revision, stood at about 55 per cent, increased, as a result of that revision and Mr. Raikes’ revision in 1890, to about 65 per cent.
825 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., clix, col. 389; Economist, Sept. 21, 1907, p. 1576.
826 Rep. Com., 1895, xiii, 350, pp. 1-6; Law Reports, Queen’s Bench Division, vi, p. 244; Parl. Deb., 3d ser., cclxxxviii, col. 1053.
827 Rep. P. G., 1883, p. 6; 1885, p. 9; 1886, p. 10; Rep. Com., 1898, xii, 383, pp. 3, 57; 1895, xiii, 350, pp. 1-6; Parl. Deb., 3d ser., cclxxii, col. 712; cclxxxviii, coll. 1056-57, 1060-61; cclxxxix, coll. 82.
828 Rep. Com., 1884-85, xii, p. 63; 1892, xvii, 278, sess. 1, pp. 3-5; 1895, xiii, 350, pp. 1-6, 92, 188-93; 1898, xii, 383, p. 12; Parl. Deb., 3d ser., cclxxxviii, coll. 1052 f.; cccxxxvi, col. 1809; cccxxxvii, col. 1435; cccxlvi, col. 908.
829 Only five years before, Mr. Raikes, the Postmaster-General, said in the House of Commons: “I am inclined to think that it is extremely doubtful whether there would be much public advantage in establishing telephonic communication generally between those [the principal] towns” (Parl. Deb., 3d ser., cccxix, col. 664).
830 Rep. Com., 1892, xvii, 278, sess. 1, pp. 17-18; 1895, xiii, 350, pp. 8, 34; Rep. P. G., 1896, pp. 16, 17; Rep. Com., 1898, xii, 383, pp. 35-37, 40; 1905, vii, 271, pp. 233-235; 55 and 56 Vict., c. 59, 59 and 60 Vict., c. 40; Parl. Deb., 4th ser., iii, coll. 168, 186, 196.
831 Ibid., 4th ser., iii, coll. 166 f.
832 Rep. Com., 1895, xiii, 350, pp. iii, 25-27, 60-62, 87, 90-91, 163, 176, 221, 223, 275, 281-82, 321-22; Parl. Deb., 4th ser., xxxi, coll. 207 f.; xlviii, coll. 463-66.
833 Rep. Com., 1898, xii, 383, pp. iii-xiii.
834 62 and 63 Vict., c. 38.
835 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., cxxiv, coll. 781-82; cxv, col. 841; cxvi, coll. 915-17.
836 Parl. Deb., 4th ser., lxxxii, coll. 168-186; cliv, coll. 1067-68; clxiv, col. 87; London Times, 1906, July 6, p. 10; 1907, Jan. 3, p. 8; Feb. 9, p. 3; Mar. 22, p. 4.
837 Rep. Com., 1905, vii, 271, pp. 10, 76, 79, 233-235.
838 Acc. & P., 1902, lv, 25, pp. 4-10; Rep. Com., 1905, vii, 271, pp. 1-3, 53-54, 233-235; Parl. Deb., 4th ser., lxxxii, coll. 183; ci, coll. 1002-03; cxxxii, coll. 422.
839 Ibid., 4th ser., ci, coll. 976-993.
840 Acc. & P., 1905, xliv, 16, pp. 3-23; Rep. Com., 1905, vii, 271, pp. iii-xi.
841 Rep. P. G., 1905, app., pp. 90-92; 1907, pp. 21-23, 93.
842 Parl. Papers, 1812-13, Reports from Committees, ii, pp. 60-61.
843 Reports from Com., 1837-38, xx, pt. r. p. 509. Before 1797, the loss on returned letters seems to have been included in the Charges of Management.
844 First payment of tolls amounting from £16,000 to £20,000 a year. 2d Rep., app. no. 39, Rep. Com., 1837-38, xx.
845 Three quarters only. 1st Rep., app. no. 28.
846 1st Rep. P. G., 1855, p. 68. 20th Rep. P. G., 1874, app., p. 46.
847 Expenditure for sailing packets in 1858 was £935,883.
848 Postage ceased to be charged on government departments early in 1868.
849 10th Rep. P. G., 1864, pp. 32-38; 18th Rep. P. G., 1872, pp. 26-27. Until 1858 revenue does not include revenue from impressed newspaper stamps nor does expenditure include cost of packet service until 1861.
850 In 1876 the beginning of the financial year of the Post Office was changed from 1st January to 1st April.
851 27th Rep. P. G., 1881, app., p. 52.
852 37th Rep. P. G., 1891, app., p. 64.
853 Including estimated value of services to other departments from 1891-1892 on.