Royal Mail - Great Fire of London postmarks (5th August 2016)
How to Read and Code 19th-Century British Postmarks in TEI
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Transcript of How to Read and Code 19th-Century British Postmarks in TEI
The Postmarks ofMitford’s Letters,
including sample images and
TEI markup
Version 1.1By Greg Bondar
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
Typical Mitford address leaf, with the usual stamps and “folded by nines”
Typical Mitford address leaf, with the usual stamps and “folded by nines”
MileageDelivery
Franking
Sample TEI Describing Postmarks
<p>Folio sheet of <material>paper</material> folded in half to form four quarto pages, with correspondence on 1-3 and address leaf on page 4, then folded in thirds twice more and sealed for posting.</p>
<p>Address leaf bearing the following postmarks: 1) black circular mileage stamp <!-- Applied upon deposit of letter at local PO -->
reading <stamp>READING<lb/><unclear><gap quantity="1" unit="chars" reason="illegible”/></unclear></stamp>.
2) Red double circle duty stamp Applied upon arrival in London --> reading <date when="1821-11-01"><stamp>B<lb/>1 NO 1<lb/>1821</stamp></date>.
3) Sepia-inked oval Delivery stamp <!-- Applied upon transfer from Inland Mail to London's local Penny Post for delivery. -->reading <stamp><time>10 o'Clock</time><lb/><date>* NO * 1 *</date><lb/><date>1821</date> F.N<hi rend="superscript">n </hi></stamp></p>
<p>A large 7 denoting the fee for a single-sheet letter has been written in black ink by the postal service across the address leaf.</p>
<teiHeader> <sourceDesc> <msDesc> <physDesc> <objectDesc> <supportDesc> <support>
See this letter imaged on the next slide
DeliveryDuty
Mileage
Fee
Mileage Stamp1) black circular mileage stamp
<!-- Applied upon deposit of letter at local PO ie. This stamp bears the date the letter was mailed -->reading <stamp>READING<lb/><unclear><gap quantity="1" unit="chars" reason="illegible”/></unclear></stamp>.
42 miles from Reading to London April 14, 1818
October 22, 1819
Mileage StampThe distance, or mileage, a letter travelled determined the
postage, multiplied by the number of sheets, paid by the recipient.
Rates for 1812: (after Staff 1964, page 72)
Distance Rate
Up to 15 miles 4d.
15-20 miles 5d.
20-30 miles 6d.
30-50 miles 7d.
50-80 miles 8d.
80-120 miles 9d.
120-170 miles 10d.
170-230 miles 11d.
230-300 miles 1s.
300-400 miles 1s. 1d.
Over 400 miles +1d. for every 100 miles
Duty Stamp2) Red double circle Duty stamp
<!--Applied upon arrival in London --> reading <date when="1821-11-01“><stamp>B<lb/>1 NO 1<lb/> <!--Day MONTH Day-->1821</stamp></date>.
NOTE: The date on this stamp is usually later than the date on the Mileage Stamp! Also, Letters that have been franked will not receive a Duty Stamp [which indicates that payment is owed?]
Duty Stamp• As unpaid mail arrived by mail coach at the Chief
Office in London in the morning, it was stamped with a morning duty stamp, including the date of arrival and a letter designating the sorting table. Mail left London on mail coaches in the evening and received the evening duty stamp. Morning and evening duty stamps were introduced in 1795 in order to identify the individual clerk who stamped a specific piece of mail.
Duty Stamp
Alcock & Holland 1940:22 , Fig. 28, call these examples morning duty stamps, while Cameron 1961:919 calls them evening duty stamps (with the double rim). According to Paterson 1811:533, the mail coach both arrives and departs Reading at 1:20am, presumably as a result of a morning arrival and an evening departure from the Central Office in London. As a result, these are most likely to be morning duty stamps.
Mitford writing to London: Are these morning or evening duty stamps?
Evening duty stamps fromTalfourd in London sendingto Mitford in Reading.
Evening Duty stampfrom MRM in London
writing to mother at Bertram House
Irish Duty Stamp• Special stamp for unpaid letters
passing through Dublin
Bound for Castle Martyr, Ireland via Dublin
Mileage Stamp(From Reading)
Irish DutyStamp
Irish Mileage Stamp(Dublin to Castle Martyr)
Frank
Delivery Stamp3) Sepia-inked oval Delivery stamp
<!-- Applied upon transfer from Inland Mail to London's local “Twopenny Post” for delivery. -->reading <stamp><time>10 o'Clock</time><lb/><date>* NO * 1 *</date><lb/><date>1821</date> F.N<hi rend="superscript">n </hi></stamp></p>
Abbreviations of Delivery times:F.N.n = Forenoon
N.T = Night
Delivery Stamp• Usually stamped in red ink, rarely black.• “PAID” indicates that the postal fee was paid by the sender.
The absence of “PAID” on the Delivery Stamp indicates an “Unpaid” stamp and the fee is to be paid by the recipient upon delivery.
• When a letter was transferred from the Twopenny Post to the General Post Office for delivery, an additional fee was owed as indicated by:
Delivery Stamp• 1794-1834:Chief Office=Mo Day; Westminster= Day Mo
• 1795-1824:Westminster= Indented rim
• 1801-1819:Chief Office=single-rim; Westminster=no border• 1819-1834: Chief Office=dbl-rim; Westminster=single-rim
Delivery Stamp(Charge Marks)
• Letters not prepaid were liable to an additional charge when entering London’s Twopenny Post system for delivery:
Here a 2d. Charge Mark has been crossed-out and replaced with one for 3d.
Receiving House Stamp• Stamped when a letter was submitted at a
Receiving House of the Two-Penny Post, either to be mailed or delivered.
Franking stamps, Fees, and indications of payment
<p>A large 7 denoting the fee for a single-sheet letter has been written in black ink by the postal service across the address leaf.</p>(42 miles from Reading to Londonwould have cost 7d.)
Franking Stamps
This letter cost Haydon 7 pence to read
Ireland
Some of Mitford’s seals
1825
1835
Mitford’s “Mary” seal
1819
1824Jan 1812
Dec 1811
Dec 1812
July 1813
Oct 1813
Mar 1814
Mitford’s “Familie” seal
1823
July 1811
Aug 1813Jan 1814
Oct 1806 Jan 1811
Jan 1816
Mar 1818
Mitford’s ‘Sword & Dog’s-head’ seal
Feb 1810
Mar 1814
Mitford’s ‘Cupid’ seal“UN ME SUFFIT” = “ONE IS ENOUGH”
Jan 1812
May 1815
References
• Alcock, R. C. and F. C. Holland. The Postmarks of Great Britain and Ireland. Cheltenham, England: Alcock, Ltd., 1940.
• Cameron, Kenneth Neill. “Postmarks and the Dating of Manuscripts”. Shelley and his Circle, Volume 2: 914-25. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1961.
• Peterson, Daniel. A New and Accurate Description of All the Direct and Principal Cross Roads in England, Wales, and Part of Scotland, 15th edition. London: Longman, 1811.
• Staff, Frank. The Penny Post 1680-1918. London: Lutterworth Press, 1964.
Jan 1814
June 1814
Aug 1810
Dec 1820
July 1815