Royal Mail – from 1516 AD to Present Day
Royal Mail from 1516 AD to Present Day
Royal Mail from 1516 AD to Present Day
The Royal Mail here in the UK is one of the most iconic British institutions and as such I thought it would be an idea to write about this great icon. The Royal Mail traces its history back to 1516, when Henry VIII established a "Master of the Posts", a post which eventually evolved into the office of the Postmaster General. The Royal Mail service was first made available to the public by Charles I on 31 July 1635, with postage being paid by the recipient, and the General post office (GPO) was officially established by Charles II in 1660.
Between 1719 and 1763, Ralph Allen, Postmaster at bath, signed a series of contracts with the post office to develop and expand Britain's postal network. He organised mail coaches which were provided by both Wilson & Company of London and Williams & Company of Bath. The early Royal mail Coaches were similar to ordinary family coaches but with Post Office Livery.
In December 1839 the first substantial reform started when postage rates were revised by the short-lived Uniform Fourpenny Post. Greater changes took place when the Uniform Penny Post was introduced on 10 January 1840 whereby a single rate for delivery anywhere in Great Britain and Ireland was pre-paid by the sender. A few months later, to certify that postage had been paid on a letter, the sender could affix the first adhesive Postage Stramp, the Penny Black that was available for use from 6 May the same year. Other innovations were the introduction of pre-paid William Mulready designed postal stationary letter sheets and envelopes.
As the United Kingdom was the first country to issue prepaid postage stamps, British stamps are the only stamps that do not bear the name of the country of issue on them.
By the late 19th century, there were between six and twelve mail deliveries per day in London, permitting correspondents to exchange multiple letters within a single day.
Royal Mail Time Line
1516: Royal Mail established byHenry VIIIunder Master of the Posts.
1635: Royal Mail service first made available to the public byCharles I.
1654:Oliver Cromwellgrants monopoly over service in England to "Office of Postage".
1657: Fixed postal rates introduced.
1660:General Post Office(GPO) officially established byCharles II.
1661: First use ofdate stamp. First Postmaster General appointed.
1784: FirstMail coach(betweenBristolandLondon).
1793: First uniformed delivery staff. Post Office Investigation Branch formed, the oldest recognised criminal investigations authority in the world.
1830: Firstmail train(onLiverpool and Manchester Railway).
1838: Post OfficeMoney ordersystem introduced.
1839:Uniform Fourpenny Postintroduced.
1840:Uniform Penny Postintroduced.
1840: First adhesivestamp(thePenny Black).
1852: First Post Officepillar boxerected (inJersey).
1853: First post boxes erected in mainland Britain.
1857: Firstwall boxesinstalledShrewsburyandMarket Drayton
1870: Post Office beginstelegraphservice.
1870: Post Office Act banned sending of `indecent or obscene` literature; introduced the d rate for postcards; banned the use ofcut-outsfrompostal stationery; introduced the d rate for newspapers; provided for the issue ofnewspaper wrappers.
1880: First use ofbicyclesto deliver mail.
1881:Postal orderintroduced.
1882: Army Post Office Corps formed from GPO employees (seeBritish Forces Post Office)
1883:Parcel postbegins.
1894: Firstpicture postcards.
1912: Post Office opens nationaltelephoneservice.
1919: First internationalairmailservice developed byRoyal Engineers(Postal Section) andRoyal Air Force.
1941:Airgraphservice introduced between UK and Egypt. The service was later extended to: Canada (1941), East Africa (1941), Burma (1942), India (1942), South Africa (1942), Australia (1943), New Zealand (1943) Ceylon (1944) and Italy (1944).
1941:Aerogramservice introduced.
1968: Two-class postal system introduced. National Giro bank opens.
1969:General Post Officechanges from government department to nationalised industry.
1971: Postal services in Great Britain were suspended for two months between January and March as the result of anational postal strikeover a pay claim.[19]
1974:Postcodesextended over all UK.
1981: Telecommunications services split out asBritish Telecom. Remainder renamed as "Post Office".
1986: Separated businesses of delivering letters, delivering parcels and operating post offices.
1988: Postal workers hold their firstnational strikefor 17 years after walking out over bonuses being paid to recruit new workers in London and the South East.
1989: Royal Mail establishes RoMec (Royal Mail Engineering & Construction) to deliver Facilities Maintenance services to its business. RoMec becomes owned 51% Royal Mail and 49% Haden BML in a joint venture.
1990:Girobanksold to theAlliance & LeicesterBuilding Society.
1990: Royal Mail Parcels re-branded asParcelforce.
1999: A new business: Royal Mail ViaCode - or ViaCode Limited - was launched. This wholly-owned subsidiary of the Post Office offered online encryption services to businesses, using "digital certificate" technology. The short-lived venture was wound up in 2002.[20]
2004: Reduction of deliveries to once daily.Travelling post office("Mail Trains") end.[21]SmartStampis introduced.
2005: Mail Trains re-introduced on some lines.
2006: Royal Mail loses its monopoly when the regulator,[22]PostComm, opens up the Postal Market 3 years ahead of the rest of Europe.[23]Competitors can carry mail, and pass it to Royal Mail for delivery, a service known asDownstream access. Also introducesPricing in Proportion(PiP) for first and second class inland mail.
2006:Online postageallows Royal Mail customers to pay for postage on the web, without the need to buy traditional stamps.
2007: Royal Mail Group PLC becomes Royal Mail Group Ltd in a slight change of legal status.
2007: Official Industrial Action takes place over pay, conditions and pensions.
2007: Sunday collections from pillar boxes end.[24]
2009: (September)CWUopens national ballot forindustrial action.[25]
2010: Bicycles begin to be phased out, 130 years after they were first used.
The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.
Please visit my Funny Animal Art Prints Collection @ http://www.fabprints.com
My other website is called Directory of British Icons:http://fabprints.webs.com
Copyright 2010 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.
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