Page 8 - British Post Office Notices 1666 to 1799

A NOTE TO THE READER

These volumes are provided with a numbering system of my own invention. It was constructed
by combining a symbol denoting the century, the last two digits of the year and a two digit sequential
number. Permission is hereby granted to future writers to use this system as reference provided the
numbers are prefaced by my initials, MR.
In this numbering systems, the references before 1700 are preceded by a star sign followed by
two digits indicating the year. The following two digits are a sequential number within the year. For
example,* 8 7 0 3 means the third notice in the year 1687. For Notices between 1700 and 1799, the
first character is a minus sign followed by the last two digits of the year followed by a sequential
number within the year. Thus we read the post 1700 reference - 2 3 0 2 to mean the second notice in
the year 1723. These date references are in boldface.

- distinction by one of the following three references.
My sources extend beyond the material in the Archives, and the entries will indicate this
Number = from microfilm, the number indicating the shot number (Postal Archives, London)
NEWS = reproduced from a London newspaper
OTHR = other source, usually from a Post Office Notice found elsewhere than in the Postal
Archives, London
The numbers that follow the date reference <for example, - 9 415 0023 (November 22, 1794)>
indicate the source of information, most frequently the archival number. The 0031 corresponds to
the frame number on the microfilm copy of the Post Office Notice in the British Postal Archives in
,. London.
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The date is either of two types, between parentheses if it is on the Post Office Notice itself or
between brackets if it is from another source and therefore lacking the precision of primary source
reference.
An index has been added for quick reference. I am hopeful that it will satisfy most readers'
needs. I am equally sure that some readers will wish that other items had been included. To the
latter I can only offer my apologies and suggest that they contact me with their suggestions as quickly
as possible. I may be able to incorporate additional subjects in the index to the subsequent volumes
in this series.
-- year and are sometimes not even consistent within a document. Obvious typographical errors,
The spelling and the punctuation correspond to the original documents which vary from year to

however, have been corrected. Capitalization of words, so popular in the 19th century, has been
preserved. Most notices have "By command" or "By command of the Postmaster General" at the
beginning or the end of the notice. In order to streamline the presentation of the notices and to avoid
duplication of routine phrases, this is omitted from the text. I have listed the individuals whose names
appear at the bottom of each postal notice under the rubric "Signatures." Most often the names are
those of the Secretary to the Post Office.

During the period of the book, the pound was comprised of 20 shillings and a shilling equalled 12
pence. The Guinea comprised 21 shillings. The abbreviation for shilling is the forward slash (/ or
s.) and the sign for the penny is (d.).
M.M.R.