Page 1 of 1

Two Penny Post Mystery 1836

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:51 pm
by earsathome
Hi all,
Can anyone help us with the following:-

Letter dated July 4th 1836 from Haute Ville Boulogne, to The Honourable Col. Townshend, 25 Bolton Street Piccadilly. The postmarks are obviously the Twopenny post and the transfer stamp looks to be dated JY 5 4 Eg .
This is a mystery, as there does not seem to be an explanation for the French address, as everything else points to it being a Twopenny Post letter.

Haute Ville, Boulogne,
July 4th
Sir,
You are just in supposing your name was well known to me, having frequently heard my excellent and beloved Brother in law mention you. Pray accept my thanks for your consideration in writing to me; tho’ the intelligence your letter contained has as you may imagine, greatly distressed me & my children. May I further intrude on your goodness & request you to tell me if you think my presence would be any alleviation to an afflicted friend? I have written a few lines to him saying I will immediately go to him & if he will allow me to offer what consolation the society of my children & self might occasionally afford him, I should feel most happy, & thankful. I entreat therefore you will have the kindness to find out from my dear Brother whether he would wish to see me. I cannot help flattering myself with the expectation & hope that the use of his Lands may be restored to him. His servant I am sure will be all attention to his good Master, & in you I know he has a true & valued friend, which must be an inestimable blessing in his dependant situation.
Believe me Sir
Your obliged
Alicia …..thorpe


Queries.

1) Is this likely to have been sent from Boulogne on the 4th and arrived in London on the 5th and if so, why is there no stamp to show it is a foreign letter? The address inside appears perfectly legible as Haute Ville Boulogne, but it is 2 penny post item lodged in Oxford St CO and had no country of destination in the address it is a mystery. Can anyone interpret the senders address in any other way?
Is it possible that it could have been carried privately from Boulogne to London and then put into the Oxford St Receiving office? But surely not within one day?
Is there a blindingly obvious answer to this question?
2) The only word we cannot read is the signature, does anyone have any suggestion as to what this may be?
- Could it be Scunthorpe? Grimthorpe? But there is no dot above the middle letter H…Thorpe?

Re: Two Penny Post Mystery 1836

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 8:34 pm
by Winston W
Eunice,

Re question 1, I would have thought given the regular cross channel steam service then running, it could easily have been privately carried over by a passenger who arrived in London the next day and put it in the post to catch the 4 o'clock afternoon post.

You might even be able to give a good guess on what ship it was carried if you look in British newspapers of the day, like the London Shipping Gazette.

Winston

Re: Two Penny Post Mystery 1836

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:04 pm
by earsathome
Thanks for the response Winston,
That's good thinking about the shipping gazette and we will give it a go.
Best wishes.
Eunice and Ron