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Auction: 11027 - The Chartwell Collection - Great Britain Line-Engraved Essays, Proofs, Stamps & Covers Part 1
Lot: 1001

Pre-Stamp Essays A large, colourless embossed Royal coat of arms on soft card (103x111mm), clean and fine. Possibly produced by Kendall and Son. An ideal frontispiece to any collection Estimate £ 250-300 Rowland Hill and Postal Reform The origins of the Post Office date from 1635 when King Charles I opened the Royal Post to the public. This was conceived as a way of generating extra revenue for a service which was already in operation for the sovereign´s mail. The rate of postage was calculated by the distance the letter was carried and this service was very expensive to send a letter. It may be for this reason that the postal system developed in a haphazard manner. With the introduction of mail coaches, in the 1780´s the calculations of postage became even more complicated. The very high cost of sending letters was compounded by the free franking privileges of members of both houses of parliament and the fact that the postage was paid by the recipient; if a letter was refused there was no income generated for the Post Office. Rowland Hill studied the costs and revenue of the Post Office and in 1837 published his radical ideas for postal reform. The corner stones of his proposals were the abolitions of the free privileges and a prepaid uniform postage of one penny, regardless of distance.

Sold for
£520