How did the early post messenger system work?
Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:00 pm
I’ve read in a number of books about how postmasters used to be under contract to the Crown to provide horses for post messengers, or to provide messengers and horses, to move mail along the post roads.
How did the postmasters get their horses back if they just provided horses ? Who looked after the horses (eg. feed and stabling) when the messenger had finished the stage (10 to 20 miles I understand) and got a fresh horse from the next postmaster ?
What did the messenger do when he’d handed the mail over to the next messenger ? Did he just set off back to where he came from or did he wait for a post coming the other way ? If so where did he stay, who paid for his meal ( and his horse’s feed and stabling) ?
Was all of this covered in the contract that the postmaster signed, and if so what were the details ? Have any contracts survived ?
How did the postmasters get their horses back if they just provided horses ? Who looked after the horses (eg. feed and stabling) when the messenger had finished the stage (10 to 20 miles I understand) and got a fresh horse from the next postmaster ?
What did the messenger do when he’d handed the mail over to the next messenger ? Did he just set off back to where he came from or did he wait for a post coming the other way ? If so where did he stay, who paid for his meal ( and his horse’s feed and stabling) ?
Was all of this covered in the contract that the postmaster signed, and if so what were the details ? Have any contracts survived ?