Delivery in rural areas in the 18th century
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 7:00 pm
Can anyone help us with this please :
We have been asked when delivery of mail began - outside of London, and have
been unsuccessful in finding out this information - none of our reference
books (including Oxley's The English Provincial Local Posts 1765-1840 )
give this information.
We have information about the Penny Posts and in various County Directories
of the 1820s- 1840s, there is always information about the times of the
mails but nothing about delivering letter/parcels.
The latest query we have had involves a letter of 1688 in Salisbury
addressed to London. We know that this letter would have had to be lodged at
the Receiving Office or Post Office, but what about the delivery of the
reply?
We have read in some instances where the postmaster arranged delivery by his
employee, and charged a penny for the service, but we have been unable to
find out whether that applied as early as 1688, and whether this was in
force over the whole of England.
Do we have any experts who can point us to any other reference books please?
We have been searching for this information ourselves for years.
Eunice and Ron in Queensland.
We have been asked when delivery of mail began - outside of London, and have
been unsuccessful in finding out this information - none of our reference
books (including Oxley's The English Provincial Local Posts 1765-1840 )
give this information.
We have information about the Penny Posts and in various County Directories
of the 1820s- 1840s, there is always information about the times of the
mails but nothing about delivering letter/parcels.
The latest query we have had involves a letter of 1688 in Salisbury
addressed to London. We know that this letter would have had to be lodged at
the Receiving Office or Post Office, but what about the delivery of the
reply?
We have read in some instances where the postmaster arranged delivery by his
employee, and charged a penny for the service, but we have been unable to
find out whether that applied as early as 1688, and whether this was in
force over the whole of England.
Do we have any experts who can point us to any other reference books please?
We have been searching for this information ourselves for years.
Eunice and Ron in Queensland.