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Postage Act 1763
(4 Geo 3 c.24, 1st January 1763)

An Act for preventing Frauds and Abuses in relation to the sending and receiving of Letters and Packets free from the Duty of Postage.

WHEREAS, under Colour of the Privilege of sending and receiving Post Letters by Members of Parliament, free from the Duty of Postage, many great and notorious Frauds have been and still are frequently practised, as well in Derogation of the Honour of Parliament, as to the Detriment of the Public Revenue; divers Persons having presumed to counterfeit the Hand, and otherwise fraudulently to make use of the Names, of Members of Parliament, upon Letters and Packets to be sent by the Post, in order to avoid the Payment of the Duty of Postage: And whereas the Allowance of sending and receiving Letters and Packets free from the Duty of Postage, heretofore granted to, or customarily exercised by, certain Persons not being Members of Parliament, in respect of their Offices, has not been sufficiently confined to such Letters and Packets only as relate to the Business of their respective Offices, and may therefore, if continued without further Restrictions and Limitations, be liable to great Abuse: In order, therefore, to put the more effectual Stop to these and the like Frauds and Abuses, and at the same Time to ascertain, for the better Guidance and Direction of His Majesty's Post Master General, and the Officers to be employed under him, in the Performance of their Duty, by what Persons only, and under what Regulations or Restrictions, the Privilege or Allowance of sending and receiving Letters and Packets free from the Duty of Postage shall thenceforth be enjoyed and exercised, May it 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 First Day of May one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, so long as the Revenue arising in the General Letter Office or Post Office, or Office of Post Master General, shall continue to be carried to, and made Part of the Aggregate Fund, no Letters or Packets sent by the Post, to or from any Place whatsoever, shall be exempted from paying the Duty of Postage, according to the Rates established by the several Acts of Parliament now in Force; other than and except such Letters and Packets as are hereinafter excepted, and in such Manner, and under such Restrictions, as are herein after declared and enacted concerning the same; that is to say, except all such Letters and Packets as shall be sent from or to the King's most Excellent Majesty; all Letters and Packets, not exceeding the Weight of two Ounces, sent from and to any Places (within the Kingdoms of Great Britain or Ireland) during the Sitting of any Session of Parliament, or within forty Days before or forty Days after any Summons or Prorogation of the same, which shall be signed, on the Outside thereof, by any Member of either of the two Houses of Parliament of Great Britain, and whereof the whole Superscription shall be of the Hand Writing of such Member, or which shall be directed to any Member of either House of the Parliament of Great Britain, or at any of the Places of his usual Residence, or at the Place where he shall actually be at the Time of the Delivery thereof, or at the House of Parliament, or the Lobby of the House of Parliament of which he is a Member; all Letters and Packets, not exceeding the Weight of two Ounces, sent from and to any Places within the Kingdom of Ireland, during the Sitting of any Session of Parliament of Ireland, or within forty Days before or forty Days after any Summons or Prorogation thereof, which shall be signed, on the Outside thereof, by any Member of either of the two Houses of the Parliament Ireland, and whereof the whole Superscription shall be of the Hand Writing of such Member, or which being sent, during such Time as aforesaid, from any Part of Great Britain or Ireland to any Part of Ireland, shall be directed to any Member of either House of the Parliament of Ireland, at any of the Places of his usual Residence, or at the Place where he shall actually be at the Time of the Delivery thereof, or at the House of Parliament, or the Lobby of the House of Parliament of which he is a Member; all Letters and Packets directed to the Lord High Treasurer, or Commissioners of the Treasury, or the Secretaries to the Treasury; to the Lord High Admiral, or Commissioners of the Admiralty, or the Secretaries of the Admiralty; to his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, or their Under Secretaries; to the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, or their Secretary; to his Majesty's Secretary at War, or the Deputy Secretary at War; or to 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 that Kingdom, his or their Secretary residing always in Great Britain, the Under Secretary and First Clerk in the Office in Ireland of the said Chief Secretary, the First Clerk in the Office in Ireland of the said Secretary for the Provinces of Ulster and Munster; or to his Majesty's Post Master General, or to the Deputy of the Post Master General, for that Part of Great Britain called Scotland, for the Kingdom of Ireland, or for his Majesty's Dominions in America respectively; or to the Secretary of such Post Master General, or Deputy of the Post Master General, or to the Farmer of the Bye and Cross Road Letters, or to any of the Surveyors of the Post Office, all for the Time being; and all Letters and Packets sent from any of the said Officers for the Time being, which shall be signed, on the Outside thereof, by such Officer, and whereof the Whole Superscription shall likewise be of the Hand Writing of such Officer; and also except all Letters and Packets sent from the Treasury, the Admiralty Office, the Office of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, the Plantation Office, the War Office, or from the General Post Office at London, or from any of the Chief Offices at Edinburgh, at Dublin, or in America, and which shall appear by an Indorsement made thereupon by some Person properly authorized as herein after mentioned to make the same, to be upon his Majesty's Service, and shall be sealed with the Seal of the Office, or with the Seal of the Principal Officer in the Office or Department from which they are sent.

II. And, for more effectually preventing all such Frauds and Abuses as might otherwise be practised under colour of the Allowance hereby granted and continued, of sending Letters and Packets from the several Offices and Officers herein before mentioned, free from the Duty of Postage; Be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for the Lord Treasurer, or Commissioners of the Treasury, the Lord High Admiral, or Commissioners of the Admiralty, his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, his Majesty's Secretary at War, his Majesty's Post Master General, and the Deputies of the Post Master General herein before mentioned, all for the Time being, to authorize and direct certain Persons in each of their Offices or departments respectively, a List of whose Names shall be from time to time transmitted, by the Principal Officer or Officers authorizing the same, to the General Post Office in London, to make and subscribe an Indorsement upon each Letter or Packet which shall concern the publick Business of their respective Offices, signifying that such Letter or Packet is upon His Majesty's Service, and to seal the same with the Seal of such Office or Officer respectively; all which Persons are hereby strictly forbid so to indorse 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 Person employed in any of the said Offices, 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 the Penalties inflicted by the said Act; and for the Second Offence, shall be dismissed from his Office.

III. Provided always, That the Number of Persons so to be appointed, in each of the Offices above mentioned, to make and subscribe such Indorsement as aforesaid, shall not exceed two in any one Office or Department, except only in the Admiralty Office and the War Office; and that the Number so to be appointed in the Admiralty Office shall not exceed eight in Time of Peace, or twelve in Time of War; and that the Number so to be appointed in the War Office shall not exceed six in Time of Peace, or ten in Time of War.

IV. Provided also, and be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That in case any Person intitled to send Letters or Packets free of 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, to be transmitted to His Majesty's Postmaster General; all 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.

V. Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted, That nothing herein contained shall extend to charge with the Duty of Postage, any printed Votes, or Proceedings in Parliament, or printed News Papers, being 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, in such Manner as hath heretofore practised, or which shall be directed to any Member of Parliament, at any Place whereof he shall have given Notice in Writing to the Post Master General, or to his Deputy at Edinburgh or Dublin respectively, but that all such Votes, Proceedings, and News Papers, so sent and signed directed as aforesaid, shall be received free of the Duty of Postage; any thing in this or any former Act to the contrary notwithstanding.

VI. And forasmuch as it hath been usual for the Clerks in the Offices of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, and also for certain Officers in the Office of his Majesty's Post Master General, to frank printed Votes, and Proceedings in Parliament, and printed News Papers, to be sent by the Post; Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for such Clerks and Officers as aforesaid, being thereunto licensed by his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, or his Majesty's Post Master General respectively, to continue to frank such printed Votes, and Proceedings in Parliament, and printed News Papers, in such Manner as they have heretofore been accustomed to frank the same; provided that such printed Votes, Proceedings, and News Papers, shall be sent without Covers, or in Covers open at the Sides.

VII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for his Majesty's Post Master General, or any of the Officers employed under him, 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 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 thereof, the Whole of such Packet shall be charged with the Duty of Postage, according to the Rates established by the several Acts of Parliament now in Force for that Purpose.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Person shall, after the First Day of June one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, 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, every Person so offending shall be deemed guilty of Felony, and shall be transported for Seven Years.