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Postage Act 1805
(45 Geo 3 c.21, 25th March 1805)

An Act for repealing certain Duties upon Letters and Packets sent by the Post within Ireland, and granting other Duties in lieu thereof.
[ 25th March 1805 ]

WHEREAS by an Act, made in the Forty third Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled An Act for granting to His Majesty certain Rates and Duties upon Letters and Packets sent by the Post within Ireland, certain Duties of Postage were imposed within Ireland; and it is expedient that the said Rates and Duties (except as hereinafter mentioned) should cease and determine, and other Rates and Duties be granted in lieu thereof: 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 the Authority of the same, That from and after the Expiration of Ten Days after the passing of this Act, the Rates and Duties for the Postage and Conveyance of Letters and Packets sent by the Post in Ireland, granted by the said recited Act, (except the Rates and Duties by the said Act granted on Letters and Packets conveyed by the Penny Post in Ireland) shall cease and determine; and that from and after the Expiration of Ten Days after the passing of this Act, it shall and may be lawful to and for the Postmaster or Postmasters General of Ireland for the time being, and his or their Deputy or Deputies, Servants and Agents, to and for the Use of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, to demand, have, receive and take for the Portage and Conveyance of all Letters and Packets which he or they shall convey, carry or send Post to and from Places within Ireland, according to the several Rates and Sums of Money, Irish Currency, hereinafter mentioned; that is to say,

For the Port and Conveyance of every Single Letter or Piece of Paper from the Office in Ireland, where such Letter or Piece of Paper shall be put in, to any Distance within the same, not exceeding Fifteen Miles, Irish Measure, the Sum of Three Pence; and to any Distance exceeding Fifteen Miles, and not exceeding Thirty Miles, the Sum of Four Pence; and to any Distance exceeding Thirty Miles, and not exceeding Fifty Miles, the Sum of Five Pence; and to any Distance exceeding Fifty Miles, and not exceeding Eighty Miles, the Sum of Sixpence; and to any Distance exceeding Eighty Miles, the Sum of Seven Pence:

And for the Port or Conveyance of every Double Letter, double the said Sums respectively; and for every Treble Letter, treble the said Sums respectively; and for every Ounce Weight, Four Times the said Sums respectively; and so in Proportion for any greater Weight than One Ounce, reckoning every Quarter of an Ounce equal to a Single Letter:

And that all Letters and Packets directed from any Place in Ireland to any Part or Parts in Great Britain or beyond the Seas, or received in Ireland from Great Britain or any Part or Parts beyond the Seas, shall be charged and pay for their Portage and Conveyance within Ireland, from or to Dublin, Waterford or Donaghadee, or any other Port where Packet Boats for the Conveyance of Letters to and from Ireland are or may be established, as they shall respectively be shipped from or landed in any of the said Places according to the Rates aforesaid:

And that every Letter or Packet passing through the General Post Office in the City of Dublin, from any Place within Ireland not less distant than Four Miles from the General Post Office in the said City, to any Place within Ireland not less distant than Four Miles from the General Post Office in the said City, shall be charged and pay according to the Distances hereinbefore mentioned to Dublin, and be further charged and pay according to the said Rates from Dublin:

And that for every Letter or Packet directed on board, or brought or sent from on board any Ship or Vessel riding or stopping in any Port within Ireland, there shall be charged and paid to His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, over and above the Rates aforesaid, the Sum of One Penny.

II. And be it further enacted, That the said Rates and Duties hereby granted shall be raised, levied, collected, managed, recovered and applied under such and the like Powers and Authorities, Rules, Regulations and Restrictions, Penalties and Forfeitures, and subject to the like Provisions, Exemptions and Exceptions, and Privileges, as are mentioned, expressed and contained in the said recited Act of the Forty third Year aforesaid, or in any other Act or Acts in force in Ireland relating to the Rates and Duties on Letters and Packets sent by the Post within Ireland; and that all and every the Clauses, Matters and Things, in the said recited Act of the Forty third Year aforesaid, mentioned, expressed and contained, or in any other Act or Acts in force in Ireland, relating to such Rates and Duties, shall be applied and extended, and shall be construed to apply and extend to this present Act, as fully and effectually, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had been particularly repeated and re-enacted in this present Act; save only so far as respects the Amount of the Duties under the said Acts, or any of them.

III. And be it further enacted, That this Act may be altered, amended or repealed, by any Act or Acts to be made in this present Session of Parliament.