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The History of the British Post Office

Name: The History of the British Post Office
Author: Joseph Clarence Hemmeon

by Joseph Clarence Hemmeon

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Postal service -- Great Britain -- History

In: History - British·History - Modern (1750+)

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #42983.

About this book

The work is a scholarly survey of the British Post Office from its earliest royal messengers through the nineteenth‑century reforms that produced penny postage and the expansion into telegraph and telephone services. Hemmeon begins by stressing the need to judge each historical phase on its own terms, acknowledging the “conditions and prejudices” that shaped policies before cheap postage. He outlines a dual structure: the first four chapters follow a chronological narrative, while later chapters treat specific topics such as rates, monopoly, and the telegraph in thematic depth. The opening pages already reveal a meticulous reliance on primary sources from libraries in Boston, Harvard, Canada, and the British Museum, and a candid admission of the difficulty in balancing “dry details” with a cohesive story.

The author writes in a measured, academic prose typical of early‑20th‑century historical monographs, with frequent asides about fiscal considerations and governmental influence. Readers who appreciate exhaustive institutional histories, the evolution of public services, or the interplay of economics and technology in Victorian Britain will find Hemmeon’s detailed, source‑driven approach rewarding, even if they must tolerate occasional digressions into legislative minutiae.

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In justice to those principles which influenced the policy of the Post Office before the introduction of penny postage, it is perhaps unnecessary to call attention to the fact that no opinion as to their desirability or otherwise is justifiable which does not take into consideration the conditions and prejudices which then prevailed. Some of the earlier writers on the Post Office have made the mistake of condemning everything which has not satisfied the measure of their own particular rule. If there is anything that the historical treatment of a subject teaches the investigator it is an appreciation of the fact that different conditions call for different methods of treatment. For example, the introduction of cheap postage was possibly delayed too long. But during the era of high postal rates a large net revenue was of primary importance, nor were those conditions present which would have made low rates a success.

The consideration of such debatable subjects as the telegraph system of the Postal Department and the department's attitude toward the telephone companies, as well as the intention of the Post Office to acquire the business of the latter, must necessarily give rise to controversy. Thanks to the magnificent net revenue obtained from letters in the United Kingdom the department has been able to lose a good deal of money by the extension of its activities into the realm of affairs not purely postal. Possibly a democratic type of government should, from the financial point of view, interfere least in the direct management of economic institutions, on account of the pressure which can easily be brought to bear upon it for the extension of such institutions on other than economic grounds. If non-economic principles are to be substituted in justifying the initiation or increase of government ownership, a popular form of government seems the least suitable for the presentation of such as shall be fair to all concerned, not to mention the difficult problem of dealing with those members of the civil service who do not hesitate to make use of their political power to enforce their demands upon the government.

In the treatment of a subject so complex as the history of the British Post Office it is not easy to decide how far its presentation should be strictly chronological or how far it should be mounted in "longitudinal sections," exposing its most salient features. Both methods have their advantages and their disadvantages. In order to obtain what is useful in both, I have described chronologically in the first four chapters the progress of the Post Office, while in the remaining chapters I have examined separately some of the more important aspects of postal development. But I am aware that by this compromise I have not entirely escaped the dangers of abrupt transitions from subject to subject and of the accumulation of dry details. I can only plead in extenuation, in the first place the nature of my subject, an institution with a long and varied history, characterized by the steady extension of its field of activity, and in the second place my desire to make my study as thorough as possible, even at the risk of some sacrifice of unity and interest of treatment.

The material for this sketch has been obtained from the Harvard University Library, the Boston Public Library, and the Canadian Parliamentary Library. Work was also done in the Library of the British Museum. I wish to acknowledge the help I have received from the advice and criticism of Professor Gay, under whose supervision the larger part of this history was prepared.

J. C. HEMMEON.

Methods of postal communication in vogue before the establishment of the Post Office. The first Postmaster-General and his duties. Alternative systems. The posts in Elizabeth's reign. Appointment of a Foreign Postmaster-General. Rivalry between the two Postmasters-General. Witherings as Foreign Postmaster-General.

Condition of the postal establishment at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Witherings' project adopted. Disturbance produced in the Post Office by the struggle between the two Houses of Parliament. Rival claimants for the office of Postmaster-General. The Civil War and its effects upon the Post Office. The Post Office during the Commonwealth. Farming of the Post Office. Complaints about the delivery of letters after the Restoration. Condition of the postal establishment at the close of the seventeenth century. Dockwra's London Penny Post. Extension of the foreign postal service. Conditions in Ireland, Scotland, and the American Colonies.

The Post Office Act of 1711. The Post Office as a whole ceases to be farmed. Allen undertakes the farm of the bye and cross posts. Improvements in postal communications during the first half of the eighteenth century. Controversy over the delivery of letters. Competition from post coaches. Establishment of mail coaches by Palmer. Abuses in the Post Office and their reform. Opening and detention of letters. Franking of newspapers in certain cases and other privileges abolished. The Newspaper and Dead Letter Offices. Registration of letters. Money Order Office. Changes in the London Penny Post. Consolidation of different branches of the Post Office in London. Dublin and Edinburgh Penny Posts. Question of Sunday posts. Conditions under which mail coaches were supplied. Conveyance of mails by railways. Condition of the postal establishment during the first half of the nineteenth century. Irish Post Office and postal rates. Scotch Post Office. Sir Rowland Hill's plan. Investigation of postal affairs by a committee. Report of committee. Adoption of inland penny postage.

The Travellers' Post and Post Horses 89

Horses provided by the postmasters. Complaints concerning the letting of horses. Monopoly in letting horses granted to the postmasters. Reforms during Witherings' administration. Fees charged. Postmasters' monopoly abridged. Licences required and duties levied. These duties let out to farm. Licences and fees re-adjusted.

Roads and Speed 97

Post roads in the sixteenth century. Speed at which mails were carried in the sixteenth century. Abuses during first part of the seventeenth century. New roads opened. Roads in Ireland and Scotland. First cross post road established in 1698. Improvement in speed. Delays in connection with Irish packet boats. Increased speed obtained from use of railways.

Sailing Packets and Foreign Connections 109

Establishment of first regular sailing packets. Sailing packets in the seventeenth century. Difficulty with the Irish Office. Postal communications with the continent during the sixteenth century. Witherings improves the foreign service. Agreements with foreign postmasters-general. Expressions of dissatisfaction. Treaties with France. King William's interest in the Harwich sailing packets. Effect of the war with France. Postal communications with France improved. Dummer's West Indian packet boats. Other lines. Increase in number of sailing packets. Steam packets introduced by the Post Office. They are badly managed and prove a financial loss. Report against government ownership of the steam packets. Ship letter money. Question of carriage of goods. Trouble with custom's department adjusted. Methods of furnishing supplies for the packet boats. Abuses in the sailing packet service reformed. Expenses. Sailing packets transferred to the Admiralty. Committee reports against principle of government ownership of packet boats and payment of excessive sums to contractors. Abandonment of principle of government ownership. General view of packet services in existence at middle of the nineteenth century. Contracts with steamship companies. Controversy with the companies. General view of the packet service in 1907 with principles adopted in concluding contracts. Expenses of sailing packets.

Rates and Finance 135

Foreign rates, 1626. First inland rates, 1635. Rates prescribed by Council of State, 1652. Rates collected by the Farmers of the Posts. First rates established by act of Parliament, 1657. Slightly amended, 1660. Separate rates for Scotland, 1660. Scotch rates, 1695. Rates to and within Jamaica. In American Colonies, 1698. Increased rates, inland, colonial and foreign, 1711. Controversy over rates on enclosures. Slight reductions in rates, 1765. Increases in 1784, 1796, 1801. In Ireland, 1803. For United Kingdom a further increase, 1805. Culminating point of high rates, 1812. Changes in Irish rates, 1810, 1813, 1814. Rates on "ships' letters," 1814. Irish rates to be collected in British currency, 1827. Reduction in rates between England and France, 1836. Consolidating act of 1837. Rates by contractors' packet boats, 1837. Rates charged according to weight in certain cases, 1839. Inland penny postage adopted and basis of rate-charging changed to weight, 1840. Franking privilege, 1652. Abused. Attempt to curtail the use of franks only partially successful. Curtailment so far as members of Parliament are concerned. Estimated loss from franking. Enquiry into question of franking. Further attempts to control the abuse prove fruitless. Extension of franking privilege especially on newspapers. Abolition of franking privilege, 1840. Reductions in letter, newspaper, and book post rates. Re-directed letter and registration fees. Inland parcel post established. Postcards introduced. Concessions of 1884 and Jubilee concessions. Foreign and colonial rates reduced. Reductions in money order and postal note rates. Telegraph money order rates.

Finances of the Post Office before the seventeenth century. From beginning of seventeenth century to Witherings' reforms. From 1635 to 1711. During the remainder of the eighteenth century. Finances of Scotch and Irish Posts. Of the London Penny Post. From bye and cross post letters. Finances of the Post Office from the beginning of the nineteenth century to 1840. Since the introduction of inland penny postage.

The Question of Monopoly 189

Rival methods available for the conveyance of letters. Government's monopolistic proclamation the result of an attempt to discover treasonable correspondence. Competition diminishes under Witherings' efficient management. House of Commons declares itself favourable to competition. Changes its attitude when in control of the posts. Monopoly of government enforced more rigorously. Carriers' posts largely curtailed. London's illegal Half-penny Post. Attempts to evade the payment of postage very numerous during the first half of the nineteenth century. Different methods of evasion outlined.

The telegraph companies under private management. Proposals for government ownership and Mr. Scudamore's report. Conditions under which the telegraph companies were acquired. Public telegraph business of the railways. Cost of acquisition. Rates charged by the government. Reduction in rates in 1885. Guarantee obligations reduced. Underground lines constructed. Telegraphic relations with the continent. Position of the government with reference to the wireless telegraph companies. Attempts to place the government telegraphs on a paying basis do not prove a success. Financial aspect of the question. Reasons given for the lack of financial success.

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