On the 350th anniversary of the Royal Posts being made available to the public in Britain the modern Post Office celebrated by issuing this set showing Royal Mail services which has recently come into my possession.
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| Great Britain - Royal Mail - 350 Years of Service. |
Issued 30 July 1985
It was on the 31 July 1635 that Charles I issued a proclamation from his Court which extended the use of the Royal Mail to the public. This enabled private letters to be carried along State correspondence. Fixed postal charges were introduced to finance the Royal Posts. For more than two centuries the cost of sending a letter was beyond the means of ordinary people until Rowland Hill's proposals for a Penny Post were adopted by The Post Office in 1840.
To see what others have chosen this week link up at Viridian's Sunday Stamps-96
8 comments:
A very colourful set, as usual it's only the 17p, ie the lowest value, that I remember seeing many of.
I didn't know the postal service went back that far. One hears of nobility franking letters for their guests in the 19th century.
Lovely stamps, with the iconic red post boxes!!!
Thank you for participating.
Hi Bob .. so interesting to read - had forgotten that the Royal Mail actually carried the post before the Penny Post came in .. loved the photo too .. cheers Hilary
It was one of those generous proclamations of giving something to the people, but making sure they could never actually use it...
I have always had a fondness for the post box in the wall.
I wish to receive those colorful stamps in the future.
My Sunday Stamp #42:South Arabia
Nice stamps... but for some reason they remind me of Postman Pat (and his black and white cat)!
We sometimes forget how far back a posting system existsed and this set of stamps are a colourful reminder. I seem to recall an earlier set of postal history stamps but they must have been for the Penny Post onwards I assume.
Ann
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