Page 5 - British Post Office Notices 1666 to 1799

The Notices allow us to follow the early history of postal experiments in Great Britain. -
Dockwra's independent mail service, his condemnation and the start of the Government Penny Post
on December 11, 1682 provides the subject of many Notices. Povey and his little-known "Half-Penny
Carriage" is also mentioned. Each year, during the summer, a post was organized between London
and Tunbridge Wells for the benefit of those going there to "take the waters." Occasionally, the
nomination of a postmaster or a letter receiver is the topic of a Notice.

In June, 1711, an Act of Parliament officially established the Post Office and a proclamation by
Queen Anne appeared on the front page of The London Gazette, this is reproduced at the end of the
volume. The entire text of the Act is also reproduced to help the reader appreciate the thoroughness
and the language of this important Act so often quoted but never reproduced, to my knowledge, in
philatelic literature. In the Act itself, the rates for double, treble and ounce letter for foreign letters
are indicated. In order to save space, I have not indicated them in pages 213-215 assuming the reader
will simply multiply the single letter rates by two, three or four respectively. I hope the reader will
forgive me for this slight deviation from the official text.

Since the beginning of the Post Office, mail robberies were frequent because highwaymen knew
that the post boys were unarmed and that their bags carried many banknotes and bills of exchange
which could easily be traded. Many effort by the banks and the Post Office were aimed at
discouraging such a practice. Several methods were used to discourage the practice: cutting the bills
in half and sending each half separately, having notes payable three days after sight, and heavy rewards
set by act of Parliament for citizens assisting in the apprehension of mail robbers.

Many innovations were implemented during these early years. Some appear of limited
importance. Others, however, appear crucial steps in the development of the theory and practice of
governmental responsibility to regulate the mails such as the granting to Ralph Allen of the Farming
of the Cross Roads in England and Wales which is the topic of a Notice in April, 1720. Mail coaches
were introduced on Monday August 2, 1784, under a plan developed by John Palmer. The office of
Secretary to the Post Office at this time was usually an appointment for life. Anthony Todd,
Secretary to the Post Office (1768-1798), had a long and prosperous career that included advice to
Benjamin Franklin, the Colonial Ambassador in 1774 and onetime Postmaster of Philadelphia.

Under Miscellaneous, at the end of this volume, I could not resist inserting one of several Notices
issued by William Dockwra who started a Penny Post in London in 1680 and who is well known to
postal historians. This is reproduced courtesy of the British Museum.

Julian versus Gregorian calendars.

While many European countries had switched to the Gregorian calendar, England continued to
use the Julian calendar until 1752. The calendar reform had been introduced by Pope Gregory XIII
in 1582, and by 1587, all of Catholic Europe has adopted the new dating (Spain, Portugal, France,
Catholic Germany, Catholic Switzerland, Italian States, Hungary, anc;l Poland). Protestant Germany, -
Holland, and Denmark converted to the new dating in 1700, followed by Protestant Switzerland in
1701. Sweden followed England in 1753, but Russia had to undergo its Socialist revolution to convert
in 1918. Greece followed in 1923. The authorization to convert to the Gregorian calendar is found
in Parliamentary Act 24 George 2, Cap. 23. The isolation of Great Britain from general European
practice had been very impractical for the British merchants who regularly traded with the other
countries of Europe. This can be seen in documents and newspapers which will name· the dates
between January 1 and March 25 with both years such as January 24, 1748-1749 meaning 1748 of the -
Julian calendar but 1749 of the Gregorian calendar. In the Notices, it will be referred to occasionally
as Old Style or O.S. (meaning Julian calendar) or New Style or N.S. (meaning Gregorian -
calendar). In this volume, when Notices were issued between January 1 and March 25, The date in
the two calendars are clearly indicated.