How Did the System for Sending Post Start?
Despite the increasing use of email and letters, sending post is still an integral part of our lives. The system for sending and delivering post seems as if it has always been here, but in fact it developed over centuries.
The first use of couriers to deliver written messages that we know of was in Egypt almost 3,500 years ago. The ancient Persians used horses stationed throughout their empire to both deliver mail and gather information in 500 BC, as did the Mauryan Empire in India from 322 BC. In Europe, the Romans had a postal service known as a cursus publicus, established by Augustus Caesar around 2000 years ago. While the service was originally just for government and military use, a civilian service was then added.
The history of the UK postal service begins in the reign of Henry I, who established a messenger service for government letters. Later kings supplied uniforms and "posting houses", where the messengers could change horses and Henry VIII appointed the first "Master of the Postes" for his newly established Royal Mail. It was not until the reign of Charles I, 500 years later, that provision was made for civilian letters with the establishment of the General Post Office. From this time until the mid-19th century, it was most common for the recipient to pay for the letter, rather than the sender, although from 1680 there was a 'penny post' for London, where letters and small parcels could be delivered throughout London for the price of one penny.
In the mid-19th Century, the financial troubles of the Post Office spurred the "Great Post Office Reform" which instituted a flat rate of postage for delivery anywhere in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Postage could still be paid by the recipient but pre-paid letters cost half the price. This flat-rate system made it easy to dispense with handling money, and so in May 1840, a few months after the reforms, the first postage stamp was introduced - the Penny Black. The black stamp featured the profile of Queen Victoria, but its colour made cancellation marks difficult to see, so it was replaced by brick-red Penny Reds in 1841. Perforated stamps became standard in 1854.
Installation of private letterboxes for receiving post were encouraged by the Post Office from 1849, as they made it easier to deliver post. Styles such as cast iron post boxes and metal designs became popular in later years.
Originally, people would take their letters to their local post office or letter receiving house, which was usually a coaching inn where the Royal Mail would pick up and drop off passengers. Post boxes removed this necessity. The first post box (also known as pillar boxes) was erected in Jersey in 1852, with others following in mainland Britain the next year. The first wall boxes came a few years later in Shrewsbury and Market Drayton. Bicycles began to be used to deliver mail in 1880 and served for 130 years before being phased out in 2010 due to concerns over health and safety. The parcel post began in 1883 and the first airmail service began in 1919. Airmail had its own blue letter receiving boxes until the start of WWII, when they were discontinued.
From 1857, Postal Districts were used for London and other large cities, with numbered subdivisions beginning to be used in 1917, but postcodes as we know them today were not introduced until 1959, and were not fully implemented for 15 years.
The postal system we have today is the end result of centuries of innovation, experimentation and development, all designed to connect us to each other.
The first use of couriers to deliver written messages that we know of was in Egypt almost 3,500 years ago. The ancient Persians used horses stationed throughout their empire to both deliver mail and gather information in 500 BC, as did the Mauryan Empire in India from 322 BC. In Europe, the Romans had a postal service known as a cursus publicus, established by Augustus Caesar around 2000 years ago. While the service was originally just for government and military use, a civilian service was then added.
The history of the UK postal service begins in the reign of Henry I, who established a messenger service for government letters. Later kings supplied uniforms and "posting houses", where the messengers could change horses and Henry VIII appointed the first "Master of the Postes" for his newly established Royal Mail. It was not until the reign of Charles I, 500 years later, that provision was made for civilian letters with the establishment of the General Post Office. From this time until the mid-19th century, it was most common for the recipient to pay for the letter, rather than the sender, although from 1680 there was a 'penny post' for London, where letters and small parcels could be delivered throughout London for the price of one penny.
In the mid-19th Century, the financial troubles of the Post Office spurred the "Great Post Office Reform" which instituted a flat rate of postage for delivery anywhere in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Postage could still be paid by the recipient but pre-paid letters cost half the price. This flat-rate system made it easy to dispense with handling money, and so in May 1840, a few months after the reforms, the first postage stamp was introduced - the Penny Black. The black stamp featured the profile of Queen Victoria, but its colour made cancellation marks difficult to see, so it was replaced by brick-red Penny Reds in 1841. Perforated stamps became standard in 1854.
Installation of private letterboxes for receiving post were encouraged by the Post Office from 1849, as they made it easier to deliver post. Styles such as cast iron post boxes and metal designs became popular in later years.
Originally, people would take their letters to their local post office or letter receiving house, which was usually a coaching inn where the Royal Mail would pick up and drop off passengers. Post boxes removed this necessity. The first post box (also known as pillar boxes) was erected in Jersey in 1852, with others following in mainland Britain the next year. The first wall boxes came a few years later in Shrewsbury and Market Drayton. Bicycles began to be used to deliver mail in 1880 and served for 130 years before being phased out in 2010 due to concerns over health and safety. The parcel post began in 1883 and the first airmail service began in 1919. Airmail had its own blue letter receiving boxes until the start of WWII, when they were discontinued.
From 1857, Postal Districts were used for London and other large cities, with numbered subdivisions beginning to be used in 1917, but postcodes as we know them today were not introduced until 1959, and were not fully implemented for 15 years.
The postal system we have today is the end result of centuries of innovation, experimentation and development, all designed to connect us to each other.
