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1697 'Free' Letter from England into Scotland
? May 1697. Letter from John Bell, Postmaster of Newcastle upon Tyne, to John Symmer,
a merchant in Edinburgh, sent under the franking privilege and delivered free of charge.
The letter is headed 'Letter Office Newcastle' and is written by John Sunshon, John Bell's
clerk and franked on the lower left of the address panel 'J. Bell'. This is not an abuse of the
franking privilege as franked letters were permitted even if written by the sender's clerk.
The only postal marking is a cipher on the reverse of the letter which has been seen on a
number of Edinburgh letters of this period and is therefore attributed to that post office
although its meaning has not yet been established.
