Fascinating collection
At the latest meeting of the Scarborough Philatelic Society a visiting speaker, Peter Chadwick f rom the Stockton society, gave us a display of British postal history, the likes of which we never expect to see again.
The first half of his display was of letters sent before the introduction of postage stamps.
Before 1635 there was no organised postal service; messages had to be sent by courier – we were shown such a letter to Italy.
From 1635, letters could be s ent by the King’s messengers, an intermittent and costly service as messengers travelled only when needed by the administration. Messages aroused suspicion so letters were likely to be ‘inspected’.
In 1660 regular mail by the King’s messengers began on the six post roads – the roads are still numbered A1, A2 and to A6. Special date- stamps marked the letters. All letters had to go on a post road so had to go to London to get on a route to a different part of the country, and the recipient of the letter had to pay the charges for each post road journey.
In 1688, by- posts, linking towns with the nearest post road, started. In 1696 cross posts were introduced and cross country letters no longer had to go via London. Letters surviving from these years show figures representing mileage travelled, charges and tax, and marks indicating their origin.
Later a private penny post for letters within central London and a tuppenny post to outer London started, then towns further away demanded s i milar s ervices. These enterprises were soon taken over by the Government, convenient services to tax, especially to pay towards the Napoleonic wars.
Peter showed letters illus- trating all these services. Old letters, sheets of paper folded and sealed, may look very similar to the uninformed, but when their history is unravelled, one can appreciate their interest and rarity.
After a break we were shown letters that had gone through the post later in the 19th century. The Uniform Penny Post was introduced on January 10,1840. One penny envelopes were sold to carry letters and prepay postage. These beautifully illustrated imperial envelopes were designed by William Mulready. Gummed postage stamps were introduced on May 6, 1840, and were immediately preferred. Mulready’s envelopes were ridiculed and alternative envelopes with caricatures, cartoons, lampoons and propaganda appeared, a favourite subject in Peter’s collection. Later envelopes showed a variety of markings, some characteristic of individual towns, all telling their stories.
It was a treat to see Peter’s very special collection and hear the fascinating history associated with his letters.
The society meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 pm in Scarborough Library. Next month’ s meeting on Tuesday November 3 will be competition night for the society’s cups. Visitors interested in stamps and postal history are welcome to come to see how absorbing entries for competitions can be.