[Hugh]

Great Britain has a fascinating philatelic history since the introduction of the adhesive stamp in 1840. The period before this reform is equally fascinating.

Here's a prepaid cover from Plymouth to London in the winter of 1828.

It was sent to R[obert] S[amuel] Palmer, Esq., 1 New Boswell Court, Lincoln's Inn, London. Robert S. Palmer (1800-1891) was a barrister, originally from Devon, who had chambers on a short cul-de-sac against the west wall of Lincoln's Inn.

On the front of the cover there is a manuscript 11 in red ink. This would indicate that the postal rate of 11d from Plymouth to London was paid in advance. This is confirmed by the handwritten p.p'd' [Postage Paid], written in the lower left corner as well as the red single line tombstone postmark marked C / PAID / 20 JA 28 / [1]828. The C in the postmark would be the sorting desk. The single line indicates that it was applied in the morning. [Whitney, 1/32]

The tombstone postmark has a 'pen cancel'. I wonder if this could be considered an early security measure to ensure that the paid tombstone could not be reused?

The inland rate, at the time, for a single sheet letter travelling 170-230 miles was 11d.

   

On the back of the cover, there is a postmark from Plymouth in black ink - in an arc PLYMOUTH with JAN 21 / [1]8[2]8 / 218. 218 would be the mile marker between Plymouth and London. Again, confirming the postage as 11d.

   

There is a remnant of a black, wax seal. The word FIDELITY (mirror reversed on the seal itself) is at the top of the impression. Underneath there is a slim, long-tailed hound a common sigil at that time. 

   

The cover is constructed from a single sheet of folded wove paper 37x23cm (Imperial Post Quarto). Using a light-table a watermark is visible reading B.E.& S., BATH, 1825. This would be the De Montalt Mill, Combe Down, Bath. It was owned by John Bally, William Ellen and George Steart. The artist Joseph Mallord William Turner was known to favour their paper. The firm specialized in fine writing and artists' paper.

   

The inside sheet contains two letters ... both written on the same day, January 20, 1828, at 1 George Place, Plymouth by Thomas and Mary Colby. The first (2 pages) is a friendly covering note to Robert Palmer. The second is a more formal (1 page) letter providing instruction to their two trustees Palmer and Charles William Johnson (in connection with the estate of a relative (which probably explains the black wax). This second letter The shorter, tells their trustees to “sell out the stock belonging to us in the 3 percent Consols and invest the same in the 3½ percent Reduced.”

Why? In 1827 the Treasury converted part of the National Debt into a new 3½% bond issue. Investors could exchange their low-yield 3% Consols (a perpetual, no-maturity, government bond created in 1751 when Parliament consolidated war debts into a single 'stock'. It paid a fixed 3% interest payment every six months) for the new, higher-paying 3½% at par, improving income without touching capital. The Colbys are simply asking Palmer and Johnson to execute that government-backed swap. The stock itself was just an entry on the Bank of England’s ledger. Ownership was transferred by a clerk writing your name in the ledger book. This was the job that Palmer & Johnson were being asked to do for the Colby's. ['Consols' meant Consolidated Annuities]

A nice little pre-paid cover dealing with the housekeeping of a Regency era trust fund. In short, the government got cheaper debt in the long run while investors enjoyed an immediate boost in income.

That's one of the reasons I like postal history. It's a fossil record of the grand sweep of history and how it affected the daily lives of the people who lived through it.

[Hugh]

What would we do without commercial and legal correspondence? Since they tend to be kept in old files and records, they tend to survive. And, because they survive, we have all of these old postal markings to explore.

Here's a rather mundane letter about a writ of Fieri facias -- that is, a writ of execution following a judgement in a legal action. It's just one line.

   

Dear Sir,
Houghton cause v Hall [This would appear to be the name of the parties involved - 'cause' would mean action or case]

We send you levy. [This is the 'one line' -- the entire content of the letter]

Yours truly,
Aspoden & Shutteworth
Preston, 23 Feby 1803

It was folded into a cover and mailed to a Mr. Brown, atty [= attorney) in Prescot.

There is a wooden hand-stamp with the town name and a London mile marker. It was normal practice at that time for the town hand-stamp to show the number of miles to the city of London -- even if the letter wasn't going anywhere near the city.

The town name, where it was mailed, is clear enough, PRESTON. Now a city, at that time Preston was a large market town (pop ~11,000) on the north bank of the River Ribble, in Lancashire. It's on the post road between London and Lancaster. According to John Cary's "New Itinerary and Accurate Destination of the Great Roads" published in 1802, Preston was 217 miles to London. This is the same number on the hand-stamp. 

   

Prescot, a market town in 1802, is now incorporated into the borough of Merseyside (Liverpool). The distance between the two towns was about 27 miles. The postal rates (41 Geo III c.7, August 12, 1801) would suggest that the postal rate for a single sheet letter should have been 4d. If I squint and assume a very casual hand is doing the writing, I guess I can see a manuscript '4' on the left of the cover. I've seen worse handwriting (but not often)

I'd welcome any other insights on the rate written on the cover. 

Cheers, Hugh