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Postage Act 1802
(42 Geo 3 c.101, 26th June 1802)

An Act for repealing the Rates and Duties of Postage upon Letters to and from France and the Batavian Republick from and to London, and for granting other Rates and Duties in lieu thereof; and for exempting from the Duty of Tonnage the Ships and Vessels to be employed in conveying the Mails of Letters from France to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
[ 26th June 1802 ]

WHEREAS by an Act, passed in the ninth Year of the Reign of her late Majesty Queen Anne, intituled, An Act for establishing a General Post Office for all her Majesty's Dominions, and for settling a weekly Sum out of the Revenues thereof for the Service of the War, and other her Majesty's Occasions, certain Rates of Postage were authorized to be taken for the Port of Letters and Packets from France unto London, and from the United Provinces unto London; and by an Act of Parliament, passed in the forty-first Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, An Act for repealing the Rates and Duties of Postage in Great Britain, and granting other Rates and Duties in lieu thereof, and on Letters conveyed to or from any Part of the United Kingdom from or to any Place out of the said Kingdom, and by Packet Boats from or to the Ports of Holyhead and Milford Haven, certain additional Rates of Postage were granted for the Conveyance of Letters and Packets to or from any Part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, from or to any Places out of the said Kingdom, not within his Majesty's Dominions: And whereas it is expedient that the Rates of Postage upon Letters from France to London and from London to France, should be equalized, and that the Rates of Postage from the Batavian Republick to London and from London to the Batavian Republick, should also be equalized; be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That the Rates of Postage now payable on the Conveyance of Letters and Packets to or from France and the Batavian Republick from or to London, shall, from and after the passing of this Act, cease and determine; save and except in all Cases relating to the demanding, recovering, receiving, paying, or accounting for any Arrears thereof respectively, which may at the Time of the passing of this Act remain unpaid, or any Fine, Penalty, or Forfeiture respecting the same, which shall have been incurred at any Time before the passing of this Act.

II. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the pasting of this Act, it shall be lawful for his Majesty's Postmaster General, and his Deputy and Deputies by him thereunto sufficiently authorized, to and for the Use of his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, to demand, have, receive, and take for the Conveyance of all Letters and Packets which shall be conveyed, carried, or sent by Post from London directed to any Part of France, and from any Part of France unto London, according to the several Rates and Sums herein-after mentioned, the same being rated by the Letter or by the Ounce; (that is to say,) for every single Letter ten Pence, for every double Letter one Shilling and eight Pence, for every treble Letter two Shillings and six Pence, and for every Ounce in Weight three Shillings and four Pence; and for the Conveyance of all Letters and Packets which shall be conveyed, carried, or sent Post from London, directed to any Part of the Batavian Republick, and from any Part of the Batavian Republick unto London, according to the several Rates and Sums herein-after mentioned, the same being rated by the Letter or by the Ounce; (that is to say,) for every single Letter one Shilling, for every double Letter two Shillings, for every treble Letter three Shillings, and for every Ounce in Weight four Shillings.

III. And be it further enacted, That all the Monies to arise by the Rates aforesaid, except the Monies which shall be necessary to defray such Expences as shall be incurred in the Collection and Management of the same, shall be appropriated and applied to such and the same Uses to which the like present Rates of Postage are by Law appropriated and made applicable.

IV. And whereas an Act, passed in the present Session of Parliament, intituled, An Act for granting to his Majesty certain Duties on Goods imported into and exported from Great Britain, and on the Tonnage of Ships and Vessels entering Outwards or Inwards in any Port of Great Britain to or from Foreign Parts: And whereas it is expedient to exempt Ships and Vessels employed by the French Republick to convey the Mails of Letters between the two Countries from the Duties on Tonnage granted by the said Act on Ships and Vessels entering Inwards; be it therefore further enacted, That, from and after the passing of this Act, so much of the said last recited Act as grants any Duties on the Tonnage of Ships and Vessels entering Inwards, shall be, and the same is hereby repealed as to all Ships and Vessels which now are or hereafter shall be employed by or under the Authority of the French Republick in conveying Mails of Letters from France to any Part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, whilst actually employed in conveying such Mails.