Rowland Hill's Reforms
The reforms introduced by Rowland Hill in the Victorian period changed the face of the British postal service for ever. He opened up what had been a complex and expensive system to a much wider public. This coincided with an increase in literacy and together with this, resulted in greatly increased communication.
The reforms introduced by Rowland Hill in the Victorian period changed the face of the British postal service for ever. He opened up what had been a complex and expensive system to a much wider public. This coincided with an increase in literacy and together with this, resulted in greatly increased communication.
Before the Reforms
Before 1840, the British postal system was highly complex and very expensive. Letters were charged by distance and the number of sheets of paper they contained. Normally, the charge was paid by the recipient. As a result people often 'cross-wrote' their letters to save money. However, a large number of items travelled free, especially a certain number of letters to and from Members of both Houses of Parliament, and things such as newspapers. There were also a lot of anomalies and a number of local systems with different charges. The system was widely abused and ripe for reform.
After the Napoleonic Wars postage rates were high. They were designed as a tax to raise revenue. A typical single letter from Dublin to London would cost 1s 3d - a lot of money in those days. Two sheets of paper doubled the cost, three tripled it. However, there were a lot of local services – Penny Posts – which charged an extra 1d for delivery, although only 1d in total was charged for mail within the extent of the local post. In the case of some cities this area was quite large, Glasgow, Manchester and Dublin being particular examples. The London area was originally a Penny Post but by this time the charge had risen to 2d, or 3d for outlying country areas. In Scotland there was an additional charge of ½d for all letters carried by mail coaches, and similar tolls were levied for certain bridges such as the Menai Bridge. All Members of Parliament, Commons and Lords, had the right to frank and receive a number of letters free. This also applied to others by virtue of their position. As a result, correspondents frequently asked their MP to frank their post so that it travelled free. Various ideas were proposed to improve the system and various official inquiries took place. Nothing happened, despite the best efforts of Robert Wallace, a persistent parliamentary critic.
Robert Wallace (1773 – 1855) was a Scottish politician. He was an electoral franchise reformer and agitator for postal service reform. He was elected to the Westminster Parliament as the member for Greenock in 1832, sitting for that constituency until 1845.Robert Wallace was the founder of the campaign for cheap postage. He appeared in 1835 before the commission of enquiry set up to consider postal service reform.
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| A Cross-written Letter |
After the Napoleonic Wars postage rates were high. They were designed as a tax to raise revenue. A typical single letter from Dublin to London would cost 1s 3d - a lot of money in those days. Two sheets of paper doubled the cost, three tripled it. However, there were a lot of local services – Penny Posts – which charged an extra 1d for delivery, although only 1d in total was charged for mail within the extent of the local post. In the case of some cities this area was quite large, Glasgow, Manchester and Dublin being particular examples. The London area was originally a Penny Post but by this time the charge had risen to 2d, or 3d for outlying country areas. In Scotland there was an additional charge of ½d for all letters carried by mail coaches, and similar tolls were levied for certain bridges such as the Menai Bridge. All Members of Parliament, Commons and Lords, had the right to frank and receive a number of letters free. This also applied to others by virtue of their position. As a result, correspondents frequently asked their MP to frank their post so that it travelled free. Various ideas were proposed to improve the system and various official inquiries took place. Nothing happened, despite the best efforts of Robert Wallace, a persistent parliamentary critic.
Robert Wallace (1773 – 1855) was a Scottish politician. He was an electoral franchise reformer and agitator for postal service reform. He was elected to the Westminster Parliament as the member for Greenock in 1832, sitting for that constituency until 1845.Robert Wallace was the founder of the campaign for cheap postage. He appeared in 1835 before the commission of enquiry set up to consider postal service reform.
Source: http://postalheritage.org.uk/page/rowlandhill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wallace_%28MP_for_Greenock%2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wallace_%28MP_for_Greenock%2
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