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Postage Act 1802
(42 Geo 3 c.63, 22nd June 1802)

An Act to authorize the sending and receiving of Letters and Packets, Votes, Proceedings in Parliament, and printed Newspapers by the Post, free from the Duty of Postage, by the Members of the two Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and by certain publick Officers therein named; and for reducing the Postage on such Votes, Proceedings, and Newspapers when sent by any other Persons.
[22nd June 1802]

'WHEREAS it is expedient that the Members of the two Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland should send and receive Letters and Packets by the Post free from the Duty of Postage, within the said United Kingdom, under certain Regulations and Restrictions:' May it therefore please your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it 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 he Authority of the same, That, from and after the passing of this Act, so long as the Revenue arising in the General Letter Office or Post Office, or Office of Postmaster General, shall continue to be carried to and made Part of the Consolidated Fund of Great Britain, it shall and may be lawful to and for each and every Member of the two Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to send by the Post to Places within the said Kingdom, free from the Duty of Postage, during the sitting of any Session of Parliament, or within forty Days before or forty Days after any Summons or Prorogation of the same, any Number of Letters and Packets not exceeding ten Letters or Packets in any one Day, so as none of such Letters or Packets shall exceed the Weight of one Ounce, and so as each of them be superscribed or directed in Manner herein-after mentioned; and also that it shall and may be lawful to and for each and every Member of both Houses of Parliament of the said United Kingdom, during the sitting of any Session of Parliament, or within forty Days before or forty Days after any Summons or Prorogation of the same, to receive by the Post, from Places within the said United Kingdom, any Number of Letters and Packets not exceeding fifteen Letters or Packets in any one Day, so as each such Letter and Packet do not exceed the Weight of one Ounce, and be directed to the Member at the Place where he shall actually be at the Time of the Delivery thereof, or at his usual Place of Residence in London, or at the House of Parliament, or the Lobby of the House of Parliament of which he shall be a Member.

II. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That no Letter or Packet whatsoever, directed by any Member of either of the two Houses of Parliament of the said United Kingdom, shall be exempted from the Payment of Postage, unless the whole Superscription upon every such Letter or Packet so sent shall be of the Hand Writing of the Member directing the same, and shall have endorsed thereon the Name of such Member, together with the Name of the Post Town from which the same is intended to be sent, and the Day, Month, and Year when the same shall be to be put into the Post Office; the Day of the Month to be in Words at length, and the Whole to be of the Hand Writing of the Member; and also unless every such Letter or Packet shall be put into the General Post Office, or other Post Office, or into any receiving House or Place appointed by his Majesty's Postmaster General for the Receipt of Letters and Packets, to be forwarded by the Post on the Day of the Date put upon such Letter or Packet, and unless the Member whose Name shall be endorsed thereon shall actually be in the Post Town into the Post Office of which every such Letter or Packet shall be put, or within twenty Miles of such Post Town, on the Day, or on the Day before the Day, on which such Letter or Packet shall be put into the Post Office.

III. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That whenever the Number of Letters or Packets, not weighing more than one Ounce each, sent or received by any Member of either of the two Houses of Parliament of the said United Kingdom, in any one Day, shall exceed the Number herein-before permitted to pass free from the Duty of Postage, and the Rates of Postage on the said Letters or Packets respectively, or any of them, shall differ, then such of the said Letters or Packets as would be chargeable with an higher Rate of Postage than the Remainder, shall be included in the Number so exempted in Preference to any which would be chargeable with a lower Rate of Postage; and the Remainder of such Letters or Packets shall be chargeable with the several Rates of Postage respectively to which such Letters or Packets would by Law be chargeable, and sent or received by any Persons not entitled to send or receive Letters or Packets free from the Duty of Postage.

IV. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Lord High Treasurer or Commissioners of the Treasury, the Secretaries to the Treasury, the Lord High Admiral or Commissioners of the Admiralty, the Secretaries of the Admiralty, his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, their Under Secretaries, the Clerks of his Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, his Majesty's Secretary at War, the Deputy Secretary at War, his Majesty's Postmaster General, the Secretary to such Postmaster General, the Deputy of the Postmaster General forScotland, his Secretary, the Surveyors of the Post Office, the Paymaster General of the Forces, the Commander in Chief, the Secretary to the Commander in Chief, the Adjutant General of the Forces, the Comptroller of Army Accounts, all within Great Britain; his Majesty's Lieutenant General or other Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland, and his or their Chief Secretary his or their Secretary for the Provinces of Ulster and Munster in Ireland, his or their Secretary residing in Great Britain, the Under Secretary for the Law Department of the Chief Secretaries Office, the Under Secretary and First Clerk for the Military Department of the Chief Secretaries Office, the Lord High Treasurer or Commissioners of the Treasury, the Secretary to the Treasury, his Majesty's Postmaster General, all within Ireland, and for the Time being, to send and receive Letters and Packets by the Post, free from the Duty of Postage in the United Kingdom, in the same Manner and under such Restrictions as Persons heretofore or now authorized to send or receive Letters free from the Duty of Postage, either in Great Britain or Ireland respectively, do now send and receive Letters free from the Duty of Postage.

V. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Clerk of the Parliaments, the Clerk Assistant, and the Reading Clerk of the House of Peers of the said United Kingdom, and the Clerk of the House of Commons, the Deputy to the Clerk of the House of Commons, the two Clerks Assistant of the House of Commons, and the Chief Clerk without Doors of the House of Commons of the said United Kingdom (who receives the Fees, and pays them to the Officers of the said House), to send and receive Letters and Packets within the said United Kingdom, free from the Duty of Postage, in the same Manner and under such Restrictions as the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House of Commons are now authorized to send and receive the same withinGreat Britain.

VI. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful to and for the Treasurer or Paymaster of the Navy, and Inspector of Seamen's Wills, appointed under an Act of Parliament made in the twenty-sixth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty for the Time being, to send and receive Letters within the said United Kingdom, free from the Duty of Postage, in the same Manner and under such Restrictions as they were by Law authorized, previous to the passing of an Act, made in the thirty-fifth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, An Act for further regulating the sending and receiving Letters free from the Duty of Postage, for allowing Non-commissioned Officers, Seamen, and Private Men, in the Army and Navy, whilst on Service, to send and receive Letters at a low Rate of Postage, and for permitting Patterns and Samples of Goods to be transmitted by the Post at an easier Rate than is now allowed by Law.

VII. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Lord High Chancellor, the Lord High Treasurer or Commissioners of the Treasury, the Secretary to the Treasury, the Quarter Master General, the Chief Commissioner of the Barrack Board, the Assistant Under Secretary for the Law Department of the Chief Secretaries Office, the First Clerk of the Civil Department in the said Office, the Treasurer or Receiver General of the Post Office, the Comptroller of the Sorting Office in the Post Office, and the Surveyors of the Post Office, all within Ireland, for the Time being, to send and receive Letters and Packets by the Post in Ireland, free from the Duty of Postage, in the same Manner and under such Restrictions, as certain Officers in Ireland have been accustomed in respect of their Offices, to send and receive Letters and Packets, under and by virtue of an Act of Parliament, made in the fortieth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, for granting certain Duties and Rates upon the Postage and Conveyance of Letters and Packets in Ireland.

VIII. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for his Majesty's Postmaster General of Ireland for the Time being to authorize under his Hand and Seal, any Persons, not exceeding two in Number at one Time, to send by the Post Letters and Packets which shall concern the Business of the Post Office only, free from the Duty of Postage, so as such Persons, so to be authorized, do make and subscribe an Indorsement upon each Letter or Packet, signifying that such Letter or Packet is upon his Majesty's Service, and to seal the same with the Seal of Office; which Persons are hereby strictly forbid so to endorse and seal any Letter or Packet whatsoever, unless such only concerning which they shall receive the special Direction of their superior Officer, or which they shall themselves know to concern the Business of their respective Offices; and if any such Person, so to be authorized, shall knowingly make and subscribe such Indorsement, or procure the same to be made, upon any Letter or Packet which does not really concern the Business of the Office, in respect of which he is authorized to make the same, he shall for the first Offence forfeit and pay the Sum of five Pounds, to be recovered and applied in such Manner as by the Act of the ninth Year of the Reign of Queen Anne, for establishing a General Post Office is directed with respect to Penalties inflicted by the said Act, and for the second Offence shall be dismissed from his Office.

IX. Provided also, and be it further enacted, That in case any Person entitled to send any Letters or Packets free from the Duty of Postage, being, by bodily Infirmity, disabled from writing the whole Superscription of such Letters or Packets, shall chuse to authorize and appoint some one Person on his Behalf, and in his Stead, to sign his Name upon, and write the Superscription of such Letters and Packets, and shall cause Notice thereof in Writing under his Hand and Seal, or under the Hand and Seal of any Person authorized by him so to notify the same, such Authority being to be certified and attested by the Signature of any Witnesses who shall have been present when such Authority was given, and who shall subscribe such Notice, to be transmitted to his Majesty's Postmaster General, all such Letters and Packets so signed and superscribed by the Person so authorized and appointed, shall be allowed to pass free of the Duty of Postage, and shall in all Respects be proceeded with as if the whole Superscription had been of the Hand Writing of the Person by whom such Authority was given as aforesaid.

X. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for every Member of both Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and the said respective Clerks of the two Houses of Parliament herein-before mentioned, to send by the Post, within the said United Kingdom, any printed Votes, Proceedings in Parliament, or printed Newspapers, free from the Duty of Postage, so as the same be sent without Covers, or in Covers open at the Sides, which shall be signed on the Outside thereof by the Hand of any Member of Parliament, or either of the said respective Clerks, in such Manner as hath been heretofore practised; and also that it shall and may be lawful to and for each and every Member of both the said two Houses of Parliament, and for each and every of the said respective Clerks, to authorize printed Votes, Proceedings in Parliament, and printed Newspapers, to be sent by the Post, free from the Duty of Postage, addressed to him at such Place and Places within the said United Kingdom as he shall have previously given Notice in Writing, to the Postmaster General, either at London or Dublin.

XI. And be it further enacted, That the several Persons who, by virtue of any Act or Acts of Parliament passed in the Parliament of Great Britain, or in the Parliament of Ireland, and now in force, are authorized in respect of their Offices to send Votes, Proceedings in Parliament, and printed Newspapers, free from the Duty of Postage, shall and may send the same within the United Kingdom, in such and the like Manner as they have heretofore been accustomed to do.

XII. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for his Majesty's Postmaster General in England and Ireland respectively, or any of the Officers employed under him or them respectively, to examine and search any Packet sent without a Cover, or in a Cover open at the Sides, in order to discover whether any other Paper or Thing whatsoever be inclosed or concealed in or with such printed Paper, as is hereby permitted to be sent free of Postage without a Cover, or in a Cover open at the Sides, and in order to discover whether such printed Newspapers shall have been duly stamped; and in case any such other Paper or Thing whatsoever shall be found to be inclosed or concealed in or with such printed Paper as aforesaid, or in case there shall be any Writing other than the Superscription upon such printed Paper, or upon the Cover containing the same, the Whole of such Packet shall be charged with Treble the Duty of Postage; and in case any such Newspaper shall appear not to have been duly stamped, every such Officer is hereby required to stop the same, and send it to the Commissioners of the Stamp Duties, either at London or Dublin, as the Case may be.

XIII. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any Person whatsoever to send any printed Votes, Proceedings in Parliament, and printed Newspapers, by the Post to Ireland, at the Rate of one Penny only for the Carriage of each printed Vote and Proceeding in Parliament, and each printed Newspaper, and also for any Person whatsoever to send any printed Newspaper by the Post from Ireland to England and Scotland, at the Rate of one Penny only for the Carriage of each printed Newspaper; such printed Votes, Proceedings, and printed Newspapers when so sent to be open at both Ends; the said Sum of one Penny to be paid when the said printed Votes, Proceedings in Parliament, and printed Newspapers shall be put into the Post Office; which printed Votes, Proceedings in Parliament, and printed Newspapers shall, on such Payment as aforesaid, be marked Post paid, and the Money received thereon in Great Britain shall be carried to the Revenue of the Post Office of Great Britain, and the Money received thereon in Ireland shall be carried to the Revenue of the Post Office of Ireland.

XIV. And be it further enacted, That if any Person whatsoever shall, from and after the first Day of July One thousand eight hundred and two, forge or counterfeit the Hand Writing of any Person whatsoever in the Superscription of any Letter or Packet to be sent by the Post, in order to avoid the Payment of the Duty of Postage, or shall forge, counterfeit, or alter, or shall procure to be forged, counterfeited, or altered, the Date upon the Superscription of any such Letter or Packet, or shall write and send by the Post, or cause to be written and sent by the Post, any Letter or Packet, the Superscription or Cover whereof shall be forged or counterfeited, or the Date upon such Superscription or Cover altered, in order to avoid the Payment of the Duty of Postage, knowing the same to be forged, counterfeited, or altered, every Person so offending, and being thereof convicted in due Form of Law, shall be deemed guilty of Felony, and shall be transported for seven Years.