Treasury Competition
To implement the new forms of pre-paid postage, a competition was organised by the Treasury (the governing body of the Post Office) asking the public for ideas. Some 2,600 letters of suggestion were received, a few with examples of the method of prepayment proposed. These are now known as Treasury competition entries or essays. Rowland Hill's report on the competition used some of the suggestions submitted to reiterate his ideas for prepayment, the 'stamps' to be in four forms: lettersheets, envelopes, adhesive labels and stationery handed in by the public to be stamped to order. In his report Hill decided that postage should be prepaid by means of stamped covers, stamped envelopes, adhesive stamps and stamps struck on paper submitted by the public.
To implement the new forms of pre-paid postage, a competition was organised by the Treasury (the governing body of the Post Office) asking the public for ideas. Some 2,600 letters of suggestion were received, a few with examples of the method of prepayment proposed. These are now known as Treasury competition entries or essays. Rowland Hill's report on the competition used some of the suggestions submitted to reiterate his ideas for prepayment, the 'stamps' to be in four forms: lettersheets, envelopes, adhesive labels and stationery handed in by the public to be stamped to order. In his report Hill decided that postage should be prepaid by means of stamped covers, stamped envelopes, adhesive stamps and stamps struck on paper submitted by the public.
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| Essay Competition submitted by James Chalmers in 1839 |
The Need for Security
These needed to be designed with security uppermost in mind. The covers and envelopes were created by William Mulready with an imperial design which was widely caricatured when it was issued and had to be withdrawn. Adhesive stamps were based on an engraved head of Queen Victoria as this was the most difficult image to forge successfully. All items, with the exception of the stamped paper submitted by the public, became valid for postage on 6 May 1840. The most important and successful were the labels, the Penny Black and the Twopence Blue, the world’s first adhesive postage stamps.
Uniform postage charged by weight was first introduced on 5 December 1839 when it was reduced to 4d anywhere outside London. It was immediately successful, so much so that uniform penny postage was introduced on 10 January 1840. At the same time free franking was abolished, including that of Queen Victoria as an example to others.
These needed to be designed with security uppermost in mind. The covers and envelopes were created by William Mulready with an imperial design which was widely caricatured when it was issued and had to be withdrawn. Adhesive stamps were based on an engraved head of Queen Victoria as this was the most difficult image to forge successfully. All items, with the exception of the stamped paper submitted by the public, became valid for postage on 6 May 1840. The most important and successful were the labels, the Penny Black and the Twopence Blue, the world’s first adhesive postage stamps.
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| The Penny Black and Two Pence Blue |
Uniform postage charged by weight was first introduced on 5 December 1839 when it was reduced to 4d anywhere outside London. It was immediately successful, so much so that uniform penny postage was introduced on 10 January 1840. At the same time free franking was abolished, including that of Queen Victoria as an example to others.
Outcomes of the Reform
Postal reform was an immediate success. The number of chargeable letters in 1839 had been only about 76 million. By 1850 this had increased to almost 350 million and continued to grow dramatically. Revenue was initially cut but with the increase of letters it soon recovered. Adhesive postage stamps were gradually introduced throughout the world. With the change to charging by weight envelopes became normal for the first time.
Source: http://postalheritage.org.uk/page/rowlandhill
http://postalheritage.org.uk/page/The-Treasury-competition-2
http://postalheritage.org.uk/page/The-Treasury-competition-2
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