The History of the Post Office, from Its Establishment Down to 1836

by Herbert Joyce

INDEX

Abdy, Sir Robert, [38]
Abercorn, James, Earl of, his unreasonable complaint, [153]
Absenteeism, in England, [231];
in Ireland, [371]
Alien Office, assists the Post Office in procuring foreign newspapers, [347]
Allen, Ralph, postmaster of Bath, takes in farm the bye and cross-post letters, [147];
conditions of his contract, [147];
success of his enterprise, [148];
is thwarted by the postmasters, [149];
his contract renewed, [150];
nature of his plan and his special qualifications for carrying it into effect, [155];
his local knowledge, [157];
his difficulties with the postmasters, [157] seq.;
as a means of check lays down certain propositions, [161];
instances of imposition practised by postmasters, [163];
by post-boys, [164];
by carriers and others concerned in the illegal conveyance of letters, [165];
the liberality of his arrangements, [166];
his course of procedure contrasted with that of the postmasters-general, [168];
pays higher rent and increases the frequency of the post every seven years when his contract is renewed, [169];
his injunction about the use of expresses, [182];
his death, [185];
his character, [186];
is an object of jealousy to Palmer, [230]
Alphabet, [374];
ingenious one in use at Belfast, [375]
Althorp, John Charles, Viscount, urges on Post Office improvements, [415];
fixes the limits of the general post delivery, [416];
throws the packet service open to public competition, [417];
abolishes the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads, [418];
contemplates apparently a reduction of postage, [419]
America, posts set up in, [110];
first postmaster of New York, [111];
and of Virginia and Maryland, [111];
establishment of what was virtually a penny post between England and America, [113];
American posts become self-supporting, [116];
postmasters ejected from their offices, [207]
Amsterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, [174]
Anne, Queen, treatment of letters for, when in residence at Newmarket, [98]
Antelope packet, Captain Curtis, gallant action with privateer, [321]
Apertures, introduction of, on the outside of post offices, [180]
Argyll, John, Duke of, [64]
Arlington, Henry Bennet, Earl of, appointed postmaster-general, [34]
Armit, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, displaced by Lees, [221]
Ashburnham manuscripts, [20]
Ashurst, Mr. Justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of letters, [200]
Aston, Mr. Justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of letters, [200]
Attorneys, their provisional resolution to withhold postage on writs, [178];
hold appointments in the Dublin Post Office, [371]
Auckland, William Lord, postmaster-general, his pleasantries, [333]
Auditors of the imprests, [256] note
Austria, liberties taken with post-horses by travellers in, [5] note
Aylsham, Norfolk, post established to in 1733, [167]

Baker, Sir George, physician to George the Third, [252]
Bank of England notes, robbery of, from mail evokes important legal decision, [183];
origin of cutting bank notes when sent by post, [206];
contemplated reduction of postage on letters containing second halves of bank notes, [298]
Bankers' franks, meaning of term, [315] note
Barbutt, John David, secretary to the Post Office, [185]
Barclay, Captain, of Ury, high speed of his coach, [426]
Barclay's plot, expresses sent on discovery of, [63]
Barham, Edmund, packet agent at Dover, terms of his agreement with Walcot, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, [222]
Barlow, clerk in the secretary's office, modifies the practice of the Dead Letter Office, [308]
Barnstaple, private post set up to Exeter in 1633, [17]
Bath asserts its right to a free delivery, [198];
right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, [202];
slowness of post between Bath and London, [208];
amount of toll between the same towns, [210];
Post Office Establishment at Bath and amount of the postmaster's salary in 1792, [292]
Beccaria, Bonesana, his essay on Crimes and Punishments, [245]
Belfast, ingenious "alphabet" in use at, [375];
peculiar usage of delivery, [375]
Belgrave Square, included in the limits of the general post delivery, [416]
Bell, Colonel, comptroller of the Inland Office, particulars of charge against, [185] note
Bells, letters collected by ringing of, introduction of system, [121];
and its termination, [123] note;
bellmen in England and in Ireland paid on different principle, [367] ([196], [221], [257])
Bernard, Sir Robert, [192]
Besant's patent coaches, [282]
Bethnal Green, a second penny on penny post letters improperly charged at, [203]
Bianconi, Charles, his enterprise, [376]
Bigg, Stephen, his enterprise as a farmer of the posts, [60]
Billingsley, Henry, a broker, carries letters of foreign merchants, [13];
and is consigned to prison, [14]
Bills of exchange and of lading to and from foreign parts exempt from postage until 1801, exemption then withdrawn, [331]
Birmingham, one of many towns in which a free delivery of letters had ceased, [197];
free delivery restored and letter-carrier appointed, [202];
salary of postmaster in 1792, [293];
penny post opened at, [300]
Bishopp, Henry, farmer of the posts, [33], [34]
"Black-box"; the box in which the correspondence of the Secretary of State for Scotland was carried, [53]
Blaithwaite, William, Secretary of War, remonstrated with on his abuse of the franking privilege, [132]
Blome's Britannia, [35]
Bonnor, Charles, deputy comptroller-general of the Post Office, his conduct in the matter of the king's coach, [252];
delays replies to the postmaster-general's inquiries, [264];
practises deception, [264];
his base ingratitude, [274];
is suspended by Palmer, [275];
suspension removed by the postmasters-general, [276];
his treachery, [278], [279];
receives the reward of infamy, [280]
Boulton and Watt build the first steamboats used by the Post Office, [384]
Bourne, Frederick, clerk in the foreign department of the Post Office; suggests the establishment of a Ship Letter Office, [328]
Bournemouth, mode of receiving its letters in 1854, [293] note
Bowen, passenger by packet; brings news of the victory at Oudenarde, [105]
Boyle, Henry, Secretary of State, charges the packet agent at Harwich with receiving a bribe, [89]
Bracken, Henry, author of The Gentleman's Pocket Farrier, his device to obtain exemption from postage, [161]
Braithwaite, Daniel, clerk to the postmasters-general, his honesty of purpose, [244]
Brighton, salary of the postmaster of, in 1792, [293]
Brill, The, [73], [83], [88]
Bristol, course of post between Bristol and Exeter in 1660, [29];
and in 1696, [57];
salary of the postmaster of, in 1690, [50];
and in 1792, [293];
first mail-coach starts from Bristol, [213];
penny post opened there, [300];
revision of postmaster's salary in 1686, Appendix, note
Brown, sub-agent of packets at Ostend, his clandestine letter, [106]
Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard, offers to construct a steam engine for the Post Office packets, [408]
Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, letter endorsed by, in 1627, [20]
Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, son of the preceding, tedious course of letter addressed to, in 1666, [34].
Buckingham, George Grenville Nugent Temple, Marquis of, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, deprecates reduction of packet establishment at Holyhead, [248]
Burlamachi, Philip, is appointed Master of the Posts, [21];
his title contested, [21];
is consigned to prison, [22]
Bye-letters, probable meaning of the term in Queen Elizabeth's reign, [4];
its certain meaning in 1690 and after, [52], [147];
postage upon bye-letters intercepted, [52], [53], [134] note;
Bye-Letter Office, [308]
Bye-nights, [46]
Byng, Sir George, [102], [104]
Cadogan, Brigadier-General, packet detained for, [87]
Camden, John Jeffreys, Earl, promotes Palmer's plan, [212];
gives to Pitt Palmer's version of his differences with the postmasters-general, [274]
Candles, inordinate supply of, to Post Office servants, [231]
Canning, George, charges the Post Office with forestalling his intelligence, [347]
Carlisle, salary of postmaster of, in 1792, [293]
Carriers allowed to carry letters under restrictions, [19];
restrictions more clearly defined, [129]
Carteret, Edward, postmaster-general from 1721 to 1739. See Postmasters-General, Part IV.
Carteret, Henry Frederick, Lord, postmaster-general from January 1771 to September 1789. See Postmasters-General, Parts V. and VI.
Carts, first employment of, in London for bringing letters to the General Post Office, [316]
Castello, a prisoner on board packet, [88]
Chalmers, George, his suggestions, [256];
excites Palmer's jealousy, [259]
Channel Islands without an official post in 1792, [294];
official post provided, [312];
rates of postage, [314]
Charing Cross, opening of branch office at, [411]
Charlemont, Lord, his misunderstanding as to packet charges, [86]
Charles, Archduke, [78], [86]
Chelsea pensioners, their privilege of sending and receiving letters at low rates of postage withdrawn, [404]
Chenal, captain of packet, rebuked by the postmasters-general, [94] note
Chepstow, the inhabitants of, though under no obligation, continue to pay pence on the delivery of their letters, [293]
Chester, in 1720 the only town outside London with two Post Offices, [151];
salary of postmaster in 1792, [293]
Chesterfield, Philip, Earl of, postmaster-general from March 1790 to March 1798. See Postmasters-General, Part VII.
Chichester, Thomas, Earl of, postmaster-general from May 1807 to July 1826. See Postmasters-General, Part VIII.
Christmas boxes, intercepted, [232]
Clancarty, Richard, Earl of, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1807 to 1809; and of England from September 1814 to April 1816. [This latter appointment he did not take up.] His decision of character, instance of, [368];
advocates facilities of communication between England and Ireland, [389]
Clarendon, Thomas, Earl of, postmaster-general from September to December 1786, [229], [242]
Clerks of the roads, their duties, [47];
their salaries, [49];
are allowed to frank newspapers, [49];
their franking privilege invaded, [191];
mischief resulting from a reduction of their emoluments, [193];
their financial troubles, [206], [250];
extent of their newspaper business after newspapers become exempt from postage, [407]
Clermont, William Henry, Earl of, deputy postmaster-general of Ireland, [194]
Clies, Francis, captain of packet, his audacious smuggling, [90];
his attention to religious observances, [90];
strikes his colours, [94]
Coals supplied to Post Office servants in profligate profusion, [231]
Cobbett, William, inveighs against the early or preferential delivery, [342];
and against the treatment of foreign newspapers, [343]
Coke, Sir John, his indignant protest against the claim of the foreign merchants to have a post of their own, [12]
Colours, special colours assigned to the Post Office boat employed in the Pool, [74];
the colours of the packets altered at the Union with Scotland, [117]
Comer, postmaster of Tunbridge Wells in 1725, [153]
Common Council of London, The, sets up a post of their own to Scotland, [24]
Compensation for losses by the penny post, [38];
when ceased to be given, [188]
Conspiracies against the State, to check these the original object of the Post Office monopoly, [7];
danger chiefly apprehended from the Continent, [9];
Coke's opinion on the subject, [13];
the same opinion expressed in the Act of 1657, [28]
Constables, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the service of the posts, [3], [6]
Convention posts, establishment of, [332];
their failure and the reason, [350];
are gradually absorbed, [352]
Conway Bridge, additional rate of postage on letters passing over, [395]
Conyngham, Francis Nathaniel, Marquess of, postmaster-general from July 1834 to January 1835, and again from May 8 to May 30, 1835, [427] note
Cornwall, its posts improved in 1704, [62]
Cornwallis, Charles, Lord, postmaster-general from 1715 to 1721. See Postmasters-General, Part III.
Cotton, Sir Robert, postmaster-general from 1690 to 1708. See Postmasters-General, Part I.
Counsel in Post Office cases required to give receipts for their fees, [324]
Country letter, meaning of term, [147]
Courier newspaper, sum paid by the, for early intelligence from the Post Office, [345]
Couriers originally employed to carry letters on affairs of State, [2]
Court, The, at one time the centre of all the posts, [3];
a trace of the old state of things to be found in an existing statute, [99]
Court letters, definition of, in 1706, [83] note;
mails detained for the Court letters, [211];
these letters, unlike others, delivered the moment they arrived, [347]
Court-post, his duties, [99];
duties performed by deputy, [231]
Coventry, Sir Thomas, Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Keeper, holds De Quester's appointment to be valid, [11];
cajoles Stanhope into surrendering his patent, [23]
Craggs, James, postmaster-general from 1715 to 1721. See Postmasters-General, Part III.
Crichton, Doctor, refuses to pay his fare by packet, [86]
Cromwell, Thomas, Brian Tuke's letter to, on the paucity of the posts, [1]
Crosby, Brass, [192]
Cross-posts, first post of the kind set up, [57];
cross-post letters, definition of the term, [147]
Croydon, postmistress of, Auckland's pleasantry on her marriage for the third time, [334]
Culverden, captain of packet boat, engages in smuggling, [89]
Culvert, member of Parliament, expostulated with as to the irregular use of his frank, [141] note
Curtis, Alderman, [274], [275]
Customs, Commissioners of, lodge a complaint against the captain of the Expedition packet, [90];
represent that smuggling is carried on by packet from Ostend, [103];
take proceedings against some of the Harwich packets, [237];
are charged by the postmasters-general with unhandsome conduct, [238];
seize the Dover mail-coach, [271]
Dacre, Lord, superscription on Protector Somerset's letter addressed to, [20]
Dartmouth, William, Lord, his attention called to the late arrival at the Post Office of the Court letters, [211]
Dashwood, Francis, postmaster-general of Jamaica, exaction from, as a condition of his appointment, [226]
Davy, Mrs., her account of the condition of Penzance before 1784, [291]
Day, John, sent from London in 1733 to establish a post at Aylsham in Norfolk, his instructions, [167]
Dead letters, treatment of, a source of perplexity to Allen, [158];
irregular payments claimed under cover of, [236];
Dead Letter Office, [307];
returned letters charged with postage, [360]
Decypherer, the chief, [171]
De Joncourt, express clerk, [373]
Delivery, claim made by several towns to have their letters delivered free resisted by the Post Office and question tried at law, [197];
claim allowed by the Courts, [200];
decision carried out grudgingly, [203];
hour of delivery of foreign letters in 1790, [267];
early, that is preferential, delivery, [342];
hour of delivery in St. James's Square between 1820 and 1830, [409];
in the country, limits of free delivery not defined, [410];
morning delivery in London accelerated, [411];
limits of general post delivery fixed at three miles, [417];
recommendation of Royal Commission to abolish early or preferential delivery not carried out, [423]
Delivery penny, meaning of term, [69]
Denmark, Frederick the Second, King of, his letter of complaint to Queen Elizabeth, [8] note
De Quester, Matthew, appointed postmaster for foreign parts out of the King's dominions, [10];
his appointment offends Lord Stanhope, [10];
is superseded by the Privy Council, [12];
is restored at the instance of Sir John Coke, [13];
assigns his patent, [14]
Derby, salary of the postmaster of, in 1792, [293]
Dereham, Sir Thomas, Court-post, his duties, [99]
Derrick, Samuel, Master of the Ceremonies at Bath, his account of Ralph Allen, [186] note
Despatch of mails, hour of, in 1690, [47];
and until 1784, [211];
indignation caused by the change then made, [220]
Devonshire, William, Duke of, course of post between Chesterfield and Manchester altered in 1736 at the instance of, [166]
Directories, [195], [309]
Distances, inaccuracy of, as computed by the Post Office, [175]
Dockwra, William, establishes a penny post in London, [36];
his right contested and case decided against him, [40];
is granted a pension and, on the penny post being absorbed into the Post Office, is appointed comptroller, [41];
is dismissed, [41];
provision made by, for the care of general post letters, [68];
contrast between Dockwra and Povey, [122]
Donlevy, William, [368]
Double letter, definition of, [139]
Dover, a packet station, [73];
packets to Flanders provided by the packet agent, [103];
engage in smuggling, [103];
and bring news clandestinely, [106];
the Dover mail-coach seized by the Customs, [271]
Drink and feast money, [50], [232]
Dublin, Post Office establishment at, in 1690, [53];
penny post proposed at, in 1703, [69];
and opened in 1773, [196];
the clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, [194];
the roof of the Dublin Post Office falls in, [207];
office in Dublin styled British Mail Office, account of, [367];
abuses, [370]
Dummer, Edmund, Surveyor of the Navy, builds packets for the Harwich station, [75];
also for the West India service, [78];
undertakes this service himself, [79];
his miscalculations, [79];
ill-fortune attends him, [81];
his bankruptcy and death, [109]
Early, i.e. preferential, delivery, [342], [423]
Eastbourne, mode of receiving its letters in 1792, [293]
East India Company, send to the Post Office letters received at the India House, [311];
object to the provisions of the Ship Letter Act, [361];
procure its alteration, [362];
their generosity, [363];
unhandsome return contemplated by the Post Office, [364]
East Indies, rates of postage to the, in 1815, [362]
Edinburgh, post to, set up by the city of London, [24];
Post Office establishment at, in 1707, [117];
horse-post between Edinburgh and Glasgow refused by the Treasury, [136];
course of post between London and Edinburgh accelerated in 1758, [180];
and increased in frequency in 1765, [195];
Edinburgh Post Office falls into decay, [207];
penny post established at, [300]
Eldon, John, Lord, reluctantly assents to the giving of repressive powers, [335]
Elections, Parliamentary, Post Office servants prohibited from intermeddling in, [128];
and from voting at, [206]
Ellenborough, Edward, Lord, [335]
Evelyn, Sir John, postmaster-general from 1708 to 1715. See Postmasters-General, Part II.
Exeter, private post set up between, and Barnstaple in 1633, [17];
course of post between Exeter and Bristol in 1660, [29];
in 1696, [57];
salary of postmaster in 1792, [293]
Expresses, [63], [83];
when to be sent from Dover, [107];
employment of, becomes more general about the middle of the eighteenth century, [182];
is jealously restricted, [182];
their number reduced on the establishment of mail-coaches, [214];
fees on expresses, [233];
express sent daily to and from Ireland after the Union, [387]
Express clerks, [371]
Express office, Haymarket, [408]
Eyles, Sir John, postmaster-general from 1739 to 1744, [238]
Falmouth, packet station opened at, in 1689, [75];
closed and reopened, [77];
packet regulations, [82];
systematic smuggling, [89], [238];
packet agent also victualler, [95]
Fares, by packet to Holland before and after 1689, [76];
by steam packet and by sailing packet, comparative statement, [385]
Farmers of the Post Office, their popularity and the reason of it, [59];
are ruined by increase of postage and converted into managers, [136];
as managers prove useless, [138]
Farra, John, is supplied with a special travelling order, [131] note
Faversham, marriage of the postmistress, [334]
Fees, exacted from postmasters, [232];
received by the chief sorter on the occasion of royal birthdays, [233];
on expresses, [233];
on the registration of foreign letters, [233]
Ferrers, Countess, [182]
Fielding, Henry, his tribute to Ralph Allen, [186]
"Fifth-clause" posts, [350]-352
Firearms, worthless quality of those originally supplied to mail guards, [261]
Fire of London, intelligence of, takes five days to reach Worthing, [34]

Flemings, resort to London, where they introduce the manufacture of wool into cloth, [8];
instance of value set upon cloth made in London, [8] note
Flying coach, [63], [67]
Flying packet, meaning of the term, [63] ([108])
Flying-post, [63] note
Foreign bottoms, employment of, by the Post Office illegal, [98]
Foreign merchants claim to set up a post of their own to the Continent, [9];
claim conceded by the Privy Council, [12];
and repudiated by Coke, [13]
Foster, John, Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, his efforts to improve communication with Ireland, [388]
France, Post Office treaty with, imperfectly observed, [77];
a new one made and its onerous conditions, [138];
postage on letters from, increased, [296];
improvement of communication with, deprecated by merchants of London, [298]
Franking, abuses of, in 1711, and means taken to check them, [132];
effect of franking upon the Post Office revenue, [142];
becomes the subject of Parliamentary enactment, [189];
conditions altered, [189];
franking in Ireland, [190];
of newspapers inland, [191];
franking privilege possessed by the clerks at Dublin Castle surrendered, [194];
franks to be dated and are otherwise restricted, [216];
further restrictions imposed, [315];
franks do not clear either the penny, the twopenny, or the convention posts, [350];
franking privilege withdrawn in the case of newspapers to and from the Colonies, [402];
privilege remains in the case of newspapers to and from the Continent, [403];
and in the case of newspapers circulating within the United Kingdom gradually disappears, [404];
franked letters charged immediately on dissolution of Parliament, [405];
franking privilege withheld from Roman Catholic Peers, [408];
abuse of franking in the case of the Money Order Office, [421];
specimens of franks, Appendix
Frankland, Sir Thomas, postmaster-general from 1690 to 1715. See Postmasters-General, Part I.
Frankland, William, son of the preceding, Comptroller of the Inland Office, in attendance upon the Queen at Newmarket, [99]
Franklin, Benjamin, his dismissal, [203];
amicable relations with, not suspended, [204]
Free delivery. See Delivery
Freeling, Sir Francis, appointed surveyor, [228];
appointed joint secretary with Todd, [294];
devises new arrangements for the sorting of the American and West Indian mails, [310];
his project for guarding the horse and cross-posts, [317], [335];
becomes sole secretary, [327];
his craze for high rates of postage, [330];
his zeal in repressing illicit correspondence, [333];
is checked by Auckland, [335];
procures additional measures of repression, [335];
recommends increase of postage rates, [340];
his estimate of Cobbett, [342];
his emoluments from franking newspapers, [344];
his indignation at criticisms in the Times newspaper, [348];
brings an action, [348];
contemplates a high-handed proceeding towards the town of Olney in Buckinghamshire, [351];
procures a charge to be made on returned letters, [360];
his contention with the India House in the matter of ship letters, [361];
urges a technical adherence to the provisions of the statute, [364];
his elation at the increase of the Post Office revenue, [365];
contrast between Freeling and Lees, [370];
his difference with Lees, [381];
his claim for the Post Office in the matter of steam vessels, [387];
opposes improvement of communication with Ireland, [389];
his interview with Sir Arthur Wellesley, [390];
attempts to get terms of a hostile motion altered, [397];
his dismay at the transfer of the Falmouth packets from the Post Office to the Admiralty, [399];
his strictness in Post Office matters, [404];
is irritated by Sir Henry Parnell's assumption of superiority, [407];
the probable reason for not resigning on the opening of the new Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand, [411];
his view that the packet service should not be thrown open to public competition opposed by Althorp, [417];
defends the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads, [418];
his attitude towards the Royal Commission, [420];
averts a breakdown with the mail-coaches, [426];
becomes the object of vehement attack, [426];
broods over the past, [427];
his death, [428]
Frizell, William, [14]
Frowde, Ashburnham, comptroller of foreign office, [234]
Furness, Sir Harry, [174]
Gardner, penny postman, murder of, [183] note
Garrow, Sir William, his frank forged, [406]
Gas, introduction of, into the Post Office, [408]
General Steam Navigation Company undertakes first packet contract, [418]
George the Third, when at Cheltenham or at Weymouth is attended by a mail-coach, [251];
his illness and distribution of a prayer for his recovery, [254];
his interest in his coach, [288];
objects to roof-loading, [288];
attends trial trip, [288];
distributes largesse among mail guards and coachmen, [289]
Gerrard Street, crowded condition of Post Office in, [410]
Glasgow petitions for a horse-post to Edinburgh, [136];
and for a post office which shall not be kept at a shop, [408]
Gloucester protests against certain houses being excluded from the free delivery, [199];
salary of postmaster in 1792, [293]
Godolphin, Sidney Godolphin, Earl of, his rebuke to the postmaster-general, [106];
insists upon communication with the army in Flanders being improved, [107];
his instruction about extraordinary payments, [137];
directs that in Post Office cases Counsel shall give receipts for their fees, [324] ([121], [124], [125])
Grafton, Augustus Henry, Duke of, specimen of his frank, Appendix
Grand mail, [83]
Grand Post Nights, [46], [221]
Granville, Lord, urges improvement of the Cornish posts, [62]

Gratuities, on delivery of letters, [52], [61], [62], [152], [166];
legality of, questioned in the case of towns, [197];
question decided in favour of the public, [200];
still being charged, [422]
Gray, Thomas, his prediction that mail-coaches would be displaced by railways, [408]
Grey, Charles, Earl, [412], [423]
Grosvenor, Sir Richard, member for Chester, expostulated with as to the irregular use of his frank, [141]
Groyne, The, [75], [77]
Guide to accompany post-horses when two are taken, [18]
Guildhall Library, letter preserved in, showing tardy course of post in 1666, [34]
Halfpenny carriage set up by Povey, [121]
Halloran, a clerical impostor, [406]
Hamburg, practice at, on arrival of the mails, [174]
Hamilton, Andrew, acts as Neale's agent for setting up posts in North America, [110];
his suggestions for improving the posts, [112];
acquires Neale's patent, [116];
dies and the patent is surrendered to the Crown, [116]
Hamilton, John, son of the preceding, appointed deputy postmaster-general of America, [116]
Harley, Robert, afterwards Earl of Oxford, raises the rates of postage, [124];
attempts to trace the writer of an anonymous letter, [181]
Harwich, a packet station, [73];
number and strength of its packets, [75];
packet regulations, [82];
a hot-bed of smuggling, [91], [237];
its exorbitant charges, [96];
is closed as a packet station, [418]
Hasker, Thomas, chief superintendent of mail-coaches, his pithy instructions, [284];
is complimented by the King, [288];
will not suffer even the King to detain the mail-coach, [289];
enters a protest against the speed of the Holyhead mail, [394]
Hayman, Peter, first postmaster of Virginia and Maryland, [111]
Heath, Sir Robert, Solicitor-General, [11]
Hickes, Prideaux's servant, imprisonment of, [22]
Highwaymen, rewards for apprehension of, [183];
refrain from attacks upon mail-coaches, [290];
confine their attention to horse and cross-posts, [317];
instances of the recovery of mail bags stolen by, [336]
Hill, Sir Rowland, [269] note, [420], [428]
Hippisley, Sir John, [20]
Hiver, Richard, [192]
Holt, Sir John, Chief Justice, his opinion respecting compensation for losses by post, [188] note
Holyhead, packet service at beginning of eighteenth century performed with regularity, [82];
contemplated reduction of the packet establishment deprecated by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, [248];
conditions of passage between Holyhead and Dublin in 1813, [379]
Hompesch, Baron, packet detained for, [87]
Horn, when to be blown, [4];
a man on horseback blowing a post-horn assigned as a device for Post Office colours, [75] note
Horses, to be kept in readiness for affairs of State, [2];
two to be kept at every post-house, [4];
use of, obtained under false pretences, [5];
overridden, overladen, and not always paid for, [5], [51];
charge for post-horses in 1603, [6];
in 1635, [18];
in 1660, [30];
not to be supplied except at post-houses, [6];
to be attended by a guide when two are hired, [18];
not to be let when the post is expected, [18];
not to be taken without the consent of the owners, [30];
only indirectly a source of revenue, [30];
monopoly of letting horses continued to the Post Office by the Act of 1711, [130];
control exercised by the Post Office over horses for travellers merely nominal, exception given, [131];
charges for post-horses increased by the erection of milestones, [176];
monopoly of letting post-horses withdrawn, [205]
Horse and cross-posts, project for checking robberies of, [317];
authority withheld, [318];
eventually given, [335]
Hostages taken on capture of a packet, [93];
instance of inhuman treatment of, [94]
Houses numbered, [195];
their not being so a hindrance to the Post Office, [36], [151]
Hume, David, [29]

Hume, Joseph, [402]
Hungerford selected to try the question of free delivery, [198];
question decided in favour of the public and a letter-carrier appointed, [202], [293]
Illicit conveyance of letters, between town and town and between the country and London, [54];
is stimulated by increase in the rates of postage, [134], [141];
becomes less after the introduction of mail-coaches, [227];
prosecutions for, [333];
return to the House of Commons, [422]
Impressment, persons employed on the packets exempt from, [84];
specimen of protection order, [84] note
Instructions to the sorting office communicated by word of mouth, [324]
Insurance an essential condition of Dockwra's penny post, [38];
this condition abandoned, [188]
Invoices to and from abroad exempt from postage until 1801, exemption then withdrawn, [331]
Ipswich asserts its right to a free delivery, [198];
right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, [202]
Ireland, tardiness of post to, before 1635, [16];
postage to, [18];
method of Post Office business in 1690, [53];
abuse of franking in 1773, [190];
clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, [194];
posts to and within Ireland improved, [195];
Penny Post Office opened in Dublin, [196];
the roof of the Dublin Post Office falls in, [207];
the Irish Post Office separated from that of England, [221];
effects of the separation in the case of correspondence by the Milford Haven and Waterford route, [249];
between the Irish and English Post Offices differences in point of law, [366];
and of practice, [367];
office in Dublin styled British Mail Office, account of, [367];
and improper use made of it, [371];
Clancarty's energy and decision of character, [368];
Lees, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his mode of conducting business, [369];
Lees contrasted with Freeling, [370];
the postmasters-general absentees, [370];
absence also of the subordinates and other abuses, [371];
the express clerks and clerks of the roads deal in newspapers and are given undue advantages, [371];
account of the alphabet, [374];
ingenious one in use at Belfast, [375];
arrangement in favour of soldiers' wives, [374];
peculiar mode of delivery at Belfast, [375];
mail-coach contracts in Ireland different from those in England, [376];
Charles Bianconi, [376];
arrangement between Ireland and Great Britain in the matter of the packets, [378];
Lees is dissatisfied with it, [380];
and sets it aside, [381];
Freeling's indignation, [382];
sailing packets replaced by steam packets, [383];
effect upon the number of passengers carried by the Post Office, [385];
Irish traffic diverted from Holyhead to Liverpool, [385];
and Liverpool made a packet station, [386];
except in the matter of the packets, indisposition of the British Post Office to improve communication with Ireland, [387];
such improvement urged by Foster, Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, [388];
and resisted by Freeling, [389];
Freeling forced to give way, [390];
the Irish Post Office consolidated with the Post Office of Great Britain, [414];
and the Dublin establishment reformed, [415];
the auditing of the Irish accounts rendered futile, [415]
Iron mail-cart stopped and rifled of its contents, [290]
Isle of Wight, its Post Office establishment in 1792, [294]
Jackson, a passenger by packet without a pass, [89]
Jacob, Giles, [188] note
Jamaica, Post Office establishment in, and sea rates fixed, [78];
duration of voyage to and fro in 1798, [320];
House of Assembly vote sum of money in recognition of the gallant defence of the Antelope packet, [323]
James, Duke of York, afterwards James II., opposes introduction of the penny post, [37];
wrests it out of Dockwra's hands, [40];
suffers the clerks of the roads to retain their newspaper privilege, [49]
Jamineau, Isaac, purveyor of newspapers to the clerks of the roads, [300]
Jeffreys, Sir George, afterwards Lord, inflicts exorbitant fine upon Edmund Prideaux, son of the Master of the Posts, [27]
Johnson, Edward, letter-carrier, improves the penny post, [302];
is appointed deputy comptroller, [305]
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, [209] note
Jones, distiller of Old Street, St. Luke's, his action against the Post Office, [203]
Kent, post through the county of, more carefully nursed than any other, [9]
Kenyon, Lloyd, Lord, when Attorney-General, gives receipts for fees in Post Office cases, [325]
King's coach, deception practised on Walsingham in the matter of the, [251]
King's messengers, their complaint against the Post Office on the erection of milestones, [176]
Lambton, John George, moves for a return of the number of Post Office Boards, [396]
Lancashire, the badness of its posts in 1699, [60]
Le Despencer, Francis, Lord, postmaster-general from 1766 to 1781, [221], [226]
Leeds, salary of postmaster in 1792, [293]
Lees, Sir John, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his testimony to the abuse of franking, [191];
having been transferred to the War Office, recapitulates conditions on which he accepts reappointment to the Post Office, [221];
recapitulation gives offence to Carteret, [222];
and leads to Carteret's exposure, [226]
Lees, Sir Edward Smith, son of the preceding, also secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his method of conducting business, [369];
deals in newspapers, [373];
his instruction respecting the alphabet, [374];
his difference with Freeling, [381];
becomes a director of the Dublin Steam Packet Company, [383];
is transferred to Edinburgh, [415];
his unauthorised surrender of the receiver-general's bond, [415]
Leet, express clerk, [373]
Leicester, the Corporation of, binds itself to keep post-horses for the use of the Sovereign, [2];
salary of postmaster at, in 1792, [293]
Leicester, George, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1794 to 1799, [326]
Letter-carriers, their pay in 1690, [49];
as late as 1772, none employed except in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, [197];
are appointed at certain other towns, [202];
in London their interests suffer from the earlier closing of the Post Office, [221];
are put into uniform, [299];
the sufferings of some of their number during the winter of 1794-95, [306];
select their walks according to seniority, [324];
deliver letters according to classes, one class for general post letters, another for penny or twopenny letters, and a third for foreign letters, [423]
Letters, on affairs of State originally sent by courier, [2];
particulars of, when sent by post, to be carefully recorded, [4];
letters on other than the affairs of State received at the post-houses, [4];
not, without the authority of the Master of the Posts, to be collected, carried, or delivered, [6];
notice that none are to be sent except through the post served on the merchants of London, [9];
letters detected in being illicitly conveyed to be sent to the Privy Council, and their bearers apprehended, [10];
what letters excepted from monopoly, [18];
are given precedence over travellers, [18];
circulate mainly through London, [29];
their mode of distribution, [47];
clandestine conveyance of, [54];
number of penny post letters for the suburbs of London at the end of the seventeenth century, [69];
letters for America and Jamaica charged with postage, although there was no packet service, [78];
clandestine conveyance of, stimulated by increase of postage, [134];
definition of single and double letter, [139];
Allen's injunction to check illegal conveyance of, [165];
are examined by means of a strong light, [171], [409], [422];
penalty for opening letters, [171];
letters containing patterns or samples, whether to be charged as single or double letters, [177];
right to make, on the delivery of letters, any charge beyond the postage contested, [197];
memorials for and against the earlier delivery of foreign letters in London, [267];
average number of letters for each foreign mail in 1790, [268];
treatment of dead and missent letters before and after 1793, [308];
return of the number of letters passing through the London Post Office submitted to the postmasters-general daily, [324];
made penal not only to carry letters, but to send them otherwise than through the post, [335];
on the delivery of letters, despite the decision of the Courts, a charge beyond the postage continues to be made, [422];
owing to the complication of rates, not possible to express the total charge upon a letter in one taxation, [423]
Lewis XIV. assembles a squadron before Dunkirk, [101];
his delay in refusing to sign the preliminaries of peace, [105]
Lichfield, Thomas William, Earl of, appointed postmaster-general May 1835, [427] note
Lincolnshire, the paucity of its posts before 1705, [61]
Liverpool, salary of postmaster in 1792, [293];
penny post established at, [339];
is opened as a packet station, [386]
Liverpool, Robert, Earl of, mediates between Freeling and Lees, [382];
transfers the Falmouth packets from the Post Office to the Admiralty, [399]
Lloyds supplied by the Post Office with ship news, [218]
Loppinott, Colonel, [321]
Losses by post, compensation for, [38];
when ceased to be given, [188]
Lovell, Mary, receiver in St. James's Street, Lord Abercorn's complaint against, [153]
Lovell, Thomas, Lord, afterwards Earl of Leicester, postmaster-general from 1733 to 1759, [167];
receives a threatening letter, [183] note;
his loose notions about smuggling, [238]
Lowndes, William, Secretary to the Treasury, takes charge of the Post Office Bill of 1711, [124];
overbears Swift, the solicitor to the Post Office, [126];
confounds gross and net revenue, [145] ([325] note)
Macadam, John Loudon, introduces new method of road-making, [392]
Macaulay, Lord, his account of the fine inflicted upon Edmund Prideaux, son of the Master of the Posts, [27];
his statement that a part of the Post Office revenue was derived from post-horses questioned, ([39])
Mackerness, Thomas, postmaster of Chipping Norton, [163]
Macky, John, packet agent at Dover, proceeds to Flanders, [102];
receives a remarkable caution, [103];
having become contractor for the Dover and Ostend packet service, his boats engage in illicit operations, [103];
and bring news clandestinely, [106];
is commissioned to settle posts for the army, his excellent arrangements, [107]
Maddison, George, [205]
Magistrates, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the service of the posts, [3], [6];
are enjoined to see that horses are procured at the post-houses alone, [9]
Maidstone, excellency of the delivery at, in the seventeenth century, [48];
amount of the postmaster's salary, [50]
Mails, hour of despatch of the, from the General Post Office in 1690, [47];
after 1784, [220];
cost of conveyance of, before and after the introduction of mail-coaches, [290];
are exempt from toll in Great Britain but not in Ireland, [354];
exemption withdrawn in Scotland, [359]
Mail bags, curious instances of recovery of, [337]
Mail-carts, mail-cart made of iron rifled of its contents,

[290];
first used in London to bring letters to the General Post Office, [316]
Mail-coaches, begin to run, [213];
rapid extension of the system, [214];
system deprecated by some of the leading merchants, [220];
their effect upon expresses, [214];
upon the illicit conveyance of letters, [227];
a mail-coach in attendance upon the King when at Cheltenham, [251];
are put off the road by Palmer, [270];
number of, in 1792, [281];
model of mail-coach preserved at the Post Office, [282];
mail-coaches of new pattern supplied, [283];
number of passengers by, restricted, [283], [401];
roof-loading, and objections to it, [287], [412];
roof not always safe, [288];
mileage allowance in the case of mail-coaches, [290];
their freedom from attacks by highwaymen, [317];
become liable to a duty of one penny a mile, [337];
are diverted from the direct route for a consideration, [341];
number of, in 1811, [352];
their unpopularity with road trustees, [353];
question considered of withdrawing their exemption from toll, [354];
mail-coaches withdrawn instead, [355];
in Scotland, are made liable to toll, [359];
and their number is reduced, [360];
speed of mail-coaches, [399], [426];
the mail-coach the great disseminator of news, [401];
supply of mail-coaches thrown open to public competition, immediate result, [425]
Mail guards, not originally Post Office servants, [260];
their little excesses, [261];
their wages, [263];
treatment of their wages a cause of difference between Walsingham and Palmer, [263];
their position one of responsibility, [283];
their fees, [284];
specimens of instructions to, [285];
carry parcels and game, and suffer to be carried excess-passengers, [286], [287]
Main, George, deputy-postmaster of Edinburgh, [117]
Maîtres de poste in Canada, [205]
Managers, sometime farmers, of the Post Office, [137]
Manchester, its Post Office establishment in 1792, [292];
establishment increased and Penny Post Office opened, [301]
Manley, Captain John, Post Office farmed by, [27]
Manley, Isaac, deputy-postmaster of Dublin, [69] note
Mansfield, William, Earl of, his opinion upon compensation for losses by the post, [188] note;
his judgment as to the duty of the Post Office in the matter of delivering letters, [198]
Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke of, interests himself in the post with Flanders, [101] ([104], [107])
Maryborough, William, Lord, postmaster-general from December 31, 1834 to May 8, 1835, [427] note
Master of the Posts, his duties, [2];
no one not authorised by, allowed to collect, carry, or deliver letters, [6];
his salary and emoluments, [12]
Melbourne, William, Viscount, [423]
Melville, Robert, Viscount, advocates transfer of the Falmouth packets to the Admiralty, [399]
Menai Straits, additional rate of postage imposed on letters crossing the, [395]
Merchants' accounts to and from abroad exempt from postage until 1801, exemption then withdrawn, [331]
Merchant adventurers. See Foreign Merchants
Methuen, Sir Paul, ambassador to Portugal, calls attention to the irregular proceedings of the packets, [91]
Mileage allowance, in case of mail-coaches, [290];
higher in Ireland than in England, [376];
flippant return to the House of Commons on the subject of, [424]
Miles, difference between measured and computed miles, [175]
Milestones, erection of, [175];
their effect upon the charge for post-horses, [176]
Milford Haven and Waterford, packet service between, [249]
Missent letters, treatment of, before and after 1793, [309]
Money Order Office, [420];
the subject of a flippant return to the House of Commons, [424];
facsimile of a money order issued in 1802, Appendix
Monopoly of the Post Office, origin of, in the matter of letters and of post-horses, [7];
confined in the first instance to the county of Kent, [9];
confirmed by Act of Parliament, [27];
withdrawn as regards post-horses, [205]
Mountstuart, John, Viscount, [256] note
Murray, Robert, reputed to have been the first to suggest the penny post, [36]
Neale, Thomas, obtains grants for setting up posts in North America, [110];
his pecuniary difficulties, [112];
offers to surrender his patent, [115];
patent passes on his death to Andrew Hamilton, [116]
Newcastle, Thomas Holles Pelham, Duke of, his orders about the packets countermanded by Pelham, [173];
sends to the Post Office to inquire the price of corn, [255]
Newcastle, salary of the postmaster in 1792, [293]
News, hunger after, [50];
the postmasters-general the great purveyors of, [104];
news disseminated by the mail-coaches, [401]
Newspapers, franking of, by the clerks of the roads, [49];
are received from abroad by Post Office servants in advance of the general public, [175];
conditions of franking newspapers altered, effect of alteration, [191], [250];
copies of, supplied to Post Office servants, [232];
newspaper office established, [261];
number and weight of newspapers passing through the Post Office in 1788, [262] note;
treatment of foreign newspapers, [343];
newspaper agency at the Post Office largely developed, [344];
London newspapers supplied by the Post Office with early intelligence from abroad, [346];
newspapers, though franked, not exempt from postage by the penny, twopenny, and convention posts, [350];
postage on newspapers for the East Indies reduced below the letter rate, [363];
improper dealing with newspapers in Ireland, [372];
on newspapers to and from the Colonies special rates established and franking privilege withdrawn, [402];
this privilege retained in the case of newspapers for the Continent, [403];
newspapers circulating within the United Kingdom exempted from postage, [404];
extent of newspaper business conducted by the clerks of the roads in 1829, [407];
in 1830, [418];
newspaper business finally withdrawn, [419]
Newton, Sir Isaac, [66]
New Year's gifts, extortion of, [325]
Nicholas, Sir Edward, [20]
Nodin, passenger on board the Antelope packet, his gallantry, [321]
Normanby, Henry Constantine, Viscount, proposes abolition of the office of second postmaster-general, [397]
North, Frederick, Lord, [206];
receives singular reply from the Post Office, [218]
Northampton, Countess of, [63]
Northey, Sir Edward, [143]
Northumberland, Hugh, Earl of, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, [194]
Nottingham, salary of postmaster in 1792, [293]
Ogilby, John, calls attention to the difference between measured and computed miles, [175] note
Oldfield, Thomas, postmaster of York, [337]
Oldmixon, [26]
Old Street, St Luke's, a second penny charged on penny post letters addressed to, [203]
Oliphant, Robert, deputy postmaster-general for Scotland, [271]
Olney, Buckinghamshire, attempts to improve its post and the consequence, [351]
O'Neile, Daniel, farmer of the posts, [33], [34]
O'Neill, Charles Henry St. John, Earl, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1807 to 1831, [368] seq., [415]
Onslow, Denzil, [185]
Opening of letters, during the Commonwealth, [28];
under James II., [44];
practice systematically carried on under Walpole's administration, [170];
continued, as regards foreign letters, until 1844, [269] note
Ordnance, Board of, [86]
Ormonde, James, Duke of, [70]
Oxenbridge, Clement, reduces postage, [29];
receives an appointment under the Post Office, [32]
Oxford Street, branch post office opened in, [411]
Packets (sailing), packet establishment in 1690, [45];
are forbidden to carry merchandise in times of war, [76];
regulations for control of, [82];
carry their own surgeon, [84];
are not, without a pass, to carry passengers, [85];
or goods, [88];
fares are not sufficiently made known and inconvenience arises, instances given, [86];
curious assortment of goods sent free by packet, [88];
packets bring both passengers and goods without passes, [89];
engage in smuggling, [89];
are forbidden to give chase, [93];
are not entitled to the prizes they take, [93];
agreement with prizes honourably observed as a rule, exceptions given, [94];
are victualled at Falmouth and at Harwich on different principles, objections to both systems, [95];
copy of letter-bill by the Prince packet, [97];
transport recruits with disastrous results, [97];
must be of English build, [98];
engage with privateers, [101];
are placed on a peace footing, [108];
colours altered on Union with Scotland, [117];
sufficiency of the burthen and crew of the Falmouth packets questioned by the merchants, [173];
the packets generally meet with a series of disasters, [207];
wholesale smuggling on the part of the Harwich packets, [237];
inordinate growth of the packet expenditure, [238];
and the reason, [239];
packets established between Milford Haven and Waterford, [249];
representation by the merchants as to the number of packets captured, [320];
their gallant actions with privateers, [321];
probable explanation of these actions occurring only when passengers were on board, [323];
mode of procuring packets for the East Indies and the Cape in 1815, and their cost, [363];
arrangement in the matter of packets between Great Britain and Ireland, [378];
steps taken by the Dublin Post Office to set the arrangement aside, [381];
sailing packets replaced by steam packets between Holyhead and Dublin, [384];
between Milford Haven and Waterford, [385];
between Portpatrick and Donaghadee, [385];
the Falmouth packets transferred to the Admiralty, [398]
Packets (steam), between Holyhe ad and Dublin, charges by, as compared with sailing packets, [385];
number of passengers before the introduction of steam, [383] note;
and after, [385];
number of steam packets possessed by the Post Office in 1827, [399];
packet service thrown open to public competition, [417];
Irish steam packets, defective return to the House of Commons in the matter of, [424]
Pajot, director of the French posts, his obstinacy, [77];
his unreasonableness, [138]
Palmer, John, his activity, [208];
general sketch of his plan, [209];
his plan is brought to the notice of Pitt, [212];
and is tried on the Bath road, [213];
extends his plan, [214];
induces Pitt to raise the rates of postage, [215];
alleges obstruction, [217];
alters the length of the stages, [219];
his plan is opposed by the merchants, [220];
opposition dies away, [227];
procures appointment of his nominees, [228];
conditions of his own appointment, [228];
his jealousy of Allen, [230];
expedites the morning delivery in London, and introduces an improved method of business, [235];
imposes upon Walsingham in the matter of the King's coach, [251];
his treatment of official papers, [256];
pays an unexpected visit to Walsingham at Old Windsor, [258];
betrays his jealousy, [259];
establishes, but without the necessary authority, a newspaper office, [261];
and a mail guards' fund, [263];
is called to account by Walsingham, [263];
takes umbrage at a rebuke administered to his deputy, Bonnor, [265];
disobeys orders, [266];
becomes aggressive and defiant, [270];
and appeals to Pitt, [272];
is charged by Bonnor with promoting a public meeting antagonistic to the postmasters-general, [275];
suspends Bonnor, [275];
is suspended himself, [276];
is dismissed, [279];
receives a pension and, later on, a Parliamentary grant, [280];
general result of his plan, [290] ([299], [302], [353])
Palmerston, Henry John, Viscount, his humorous reply to Freeling, [380]
Parkin, Anthony, solicitor to the Post Office, [333]
Parnell, Sir Henry, [407]
Pascoe, John, boatswain of the Antelope packet, his gallant resistance to the attack of a privateer, [322]
Patterns and samples, letters containing, and being less than one ounce in weight, whether to be charged single or double, [177];
question tried at law, [178];
settled by Act of Parliament, [179];
concessions in favour of, [315]
Pay. See Wages
Pelham, Henry, countermands Newcastle's orders about the packets, [173]
Pennant, Thomas, [261]
Penny post, its introduction by Dockwra, [36];
general plan of, [37];
carries up to one pound in weight, [37];
includes a system of insurance, [38];
days on which it does not go, [39];
increases number of country letters, [40];
is absorbed into the General Post Office, [40];
establishment of, in 1690, [45];
stimulates the clandestine conveyance of letters into London, [54];
on its acquisition by the State its general conditions remain unchanged, [67];
number of penny post letters for the suburbs at the end of the seventeenth century, [69];
its contemplated extension to Dublin in 1703, [69];
affects the number of ship letters, [73];
is without legal sanction, [119];
legal sanction given, [128];
its limits restricted to ten miles, [129];
the charge of a second penny on all letters delivered outside the bills of mortality made legal, [143];
weight carried by the penny post reduced from one pound to four ounces, [188];
compensation for losses by the, when ceased to be given, [188] note;
attempts made by the Post Office to charge a second penny within the bills of mortality, [203];
principal officers of the penny post absentees, [231];
stagnation of the penny post, [302];
the post is improved by Johnson, a letter-carrier, [302];
financial result, [305];
prepayment, hitherto optional, made compulsory, [306];
restriction on limits withdrawn, [307];
the charge of a second penny, heretofore confined to letters delivered at places outside the bills of mortality, imposed upon letters coming therefrom, [307];
the penny post converted into a twopenny post, [331];
and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, [340]. See twopenny and threepenny posts
Penzance, its post before and after 1784, [291]
Pepys, Samuel, [84] note
Perceval Spencer, [354], [379]
Percival, Joseph, a passenger by packet without a pass, [89]
Pickwick, "Mr. Pickwick's coach," [281]
Pitt, William, his attention is called to Palmer's plan, [212];
sweeps away frivolous objections and desires that it may be tried, [213];
raises the postage rates, [215];
relaxes the restrictions upon franking, [217];
dismisses Tankerville, [224];
settles conditions of Palmer's appointment, [229];
his knowledge of abuses at the Post Office and his unwillingness to expose them, [241];
suppresses report of Royal Commission, [242];
authorises increase of salary to the clerks of the roads, [251];
declares Palmer's proceedings to be irregular, [263];
turns a deaf ear to the postmaster-general's request for an interview, [273];
interview at length granted, [277];
a second interview, [279];
acquiesces in Palmer's dismissal and grants him a pension, [279];
makes to Post Office servants a periodical grant pending a revision of the establishment, [300];
promotes plan for improving the penny post, [305];
disallows practice of charging returned letters, [308];
modifies arrangements for dealing with ship letters, [329];
his precepts in this matter afterwards disregarded, [361]
Plymouth, salary of the postmaster in 1792, [293]
Political Register, its criticisms on Post Office practice, [342]
Pope, Alexander, his lines on Ralph Allen, [186]
Portage, [29]
Portland, William Henry, Duke of, [379]
Portland Packet, Captain Taylor, its gallant action with privateer, [321]
Postage, introduction of, [18];
settled by Act of Parliament, [27];
original meaning of term, [29] note;
rates of postage in 1635, [18];
in 1657 and 1660, [28];
in 1711, [127];
in 1765, [187];
in 1784, [216];
in 1797, [318];
in 1801, [331];
in 1805, [339];
in 1812, [356];
device resorted to in order to evade high rates of, [142];
rates lapse through effluxion of time, [180];
rates of postage between London and the Channel Islands and within the islands themselves, [314];
from Portugal and America, [319];
financial result of increase of rates, [341];
bewildering complications, [357];
extraordinary toleration of the public, explanation suggested, [358];
an additional rate imposed in Scotland on withdrawal of exemption from toll, [359];
and on letters passing over the Menai Straits or Conway Bridge, [395];
rates of postage to the East Indies in 1815, [363];
instances of exorbitant rates, [409]
"Poste for the Pacquet," 5 note
Post-boys, [164]
Post-coaches, [214]
Post-haste, [20]
Post-horn. See Horn
Post-horses. See Horses
Post-houses, to have horses in readiness, [4];
horses not to be let except at, [6];
pay of keepers of, in arrear, [15]
Postilions, [107]
Postmarks, introduction of, [38]
Postmasters, their duties in 1690, [48];
their salaries, [50];
their grievances, [51];
their contingent advantages, [52];
intercept postage on bye-letters, [52], [53];
their correspondence exempt from postage, [160];
their moderation on the erection of milestones, [177];
are enjoined to frequent the local markets and report the price of corn, [254];
salaries of certain postmasters in Scotland in 1707, [118];
in England in 1792, [293]
Postmasters-General (I.) [Cotton and Frankland, 1690 to 1708], their simple-mindedness, [45];
their accessibility, [46];
their concern about the illicit correspondence, [53];
their powerlessness to check it, [56];
let the posts out to farm, [58];
refuse to sublet the penny post, [69];
their difference with Pajot, minister of the French posts, [77];
remonstrate with captains of packets at Falmouth, [89];
and at Harwich, [91];
chuckle over the capture of a prize, [93];
their rebuke to the captain of a Falmouth packet, [94] note;
instance of their rough-and-ready justice, [95];
take vigorous measures to protect the packets from Flemish privateers, [101];
their admonition to the packet agent at Dover, [102];
act as purveyors of news to the Court, instances given, [104];
advocate cheap postage to America, [114];
become, at the Union with Scotland, responsible for the Scotch posts, [117];
their inaction, explanation suggested, [119];
action forced upon them, [120];
are contrasted with their successors, [185], [202]
Postmasters-General (II.) [Frankland and Evelyn, 1708 to 1715], their interview with Godolphin, [106];
their instruction about expresses from Dover, [107];
treat personally with Povey, [123];
Frankland ceases to be a member of Parliament, [128];
concern themselves only slightly about travellers, [130];
take measures to check the abuse of franking, [133];
in vain urge the appointment of surveyors, [134];
negotiate new treaty with France, [138];
quit office on accession of George the First, [139]
Postmasters-General (III.) [Cornwallis and Craggs, 1715 to 1721], are amazed at the absence of check in the Post Office, [140];
note how little the increase in the rates of postage has added to the revenue, [141];
and how largely it has stimulated the abuse of franking, [142];
their dispute with the merchants, [142];
convict Lowndes of a ludicrous error, [145];
their harsh treatment of their secretary, [152]
Postmasters-General (IV.) [Edward Carteret and Walpole, 1721 to 1725], their kindness to subordinates, [152];

their interview with Abercorn, [154].
[From 1725 to 1733 Carteret had for his colleague Edward Harrison, and from 1733 to 1739 Lord Lovell.]
Carteret establishes a post to Aylsham, [167]
Postmasters-General (V.) [Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret and, for the second time, Tankerville, 1784 to 1786], collect opinions on Palmer's plan and submit them to Pitt, [213];
entertain doubts as to its feasibility, [218];
their differences between themselves, [221];
their open rupture, [223];
Tankerville is dismissed by Pitt, [224];
his ungovernable temper, [225]
Postmasters-General (VI.) [Carteret and Walsingham, 1787 to 1789], Walsingham's industry and thoroughness, [243];
questions Carteret's right to sign first, [243];
his preponderating influence, [244];
his habit of annotating and execrable handwriting, [244], [263];
reduces packet establishment at Falmouth, [246];
is dissuaded from carrying out a similar reduction at Holyhead, [248];
is powerless to control the correspondence by the Milford packets, [249];
in conjunction with Carteret procures increase of salary for the clerks of the roads, [250];
is imposed upon in the matter of the King's coach, [251];
calls for the surveyors' journals, [255];
his correspondence with Chalmers, [256];
receives an unexpected visit from Palmer, [258];
detects Palmer's jealousy and endeavours to allay it, [260];
calls Palmer to account for acting without authority, [263];
exposes Bonnor's attempt at deception, [265];
Carteret's dismissal, [266];
Walsingham inquires into the solicitor's accounts, [324]
Postmasters-General (VII.) [Walsingham and Chesterfield, 1790 to 1794], Chesterfield's playful allusions to Palmer, [269];
Palmer sets the postmasters-general at defiance, [270];
they seek in vain an interview with Pitt, [273];
receive assurances from Bonnor of Palmer's disloyalty, [275];
remove Bonnor's suspension and suspend Palmer, [276];
Chesterfield's letter, [276];
Walsingham's interview with Pitt, [277];
feel confident of their own dismissal, [278];
are furnished with evidence by Bonnor, [278];
have a second interview with Pitt and dismiss Palmer, [279];
contrast Palmer's reticence in official matters with Freeling's wealth of explanation, [295];
Walsingham attempts to improve communication with France, [296];
and to reduce postage on letters containing the second halves of bank notes, [298];
give attention to coach-building, [393]
Postmasters-General (VIII.) [Chichester and Salisbury, 1816 to 1823], are called upon for a return of the number of Post Office Boards, [396];
address to the Throne praying that one of the two offices of postmaster-general be abolished, [397];
Salisbury stops his own salary, and on his death Chichester becomes postmaster-general sole, [398];
Salisbury's testimony to increase of stringency in Post Office matters, [405]
Post Office, origin of its monopoly, [7];
monopoly confined in the first instance to the county of Kent, [9];
a Post Office opened in the city of London, [20];
dispute for its possession, [21];
becomes the subject of Parliamentary enactment, [27];
its position in 1680, [39];
is the only receptacle for letters in London, [40];
description of it, [46];
relations between the Post Office and the Treasury, [57];
the Post Office becomes unpopular and the reasons, [170] seq.;
its retrogression, [184];
assumes a new character, [202];
loses monopoly of letting post-horses, [205];
Post Office buildings in Edinburgh and Dublin fall into decay, [207];
indignation caused by the earlier closing of the Post Office in London, [220];
this office enlarged, [295];
state of the Post Office as between the years 1695 and 1813 compared, [356];
the Post Office disseminates news, [401];
and police notices, [402];
becomes object of interest to the House of Commons, [407];
is cleared of more than a century of debt, [408];
a new post office opened in St. Martin's-le-Grand, [410]
Post-runners, [118]
Posts, paucity of, in time of Henry the Eighth, [1];
their close connection with the Sovereign, [3];
instructions for the regulation of, [4];
designed not only to carry the letters of the Sovereign, but for the use of persons travelling on the Sovereign's concerns, [4];
posts originally maintained at loss to the Crown, [7];
at the beginning of the seventeenth century only four in number, [8];
of these the post to Dover the most important, precautions taken lest this post should be used for designs against the State, [9];
decadence of the posts, [15];
improved by Witherings, [16];
to be self-supporting, [17];
thrown open to the public, [18];
let out to farm, [25];
rent paid in 1650, [25];
in 1653, [27];
in 1660, [33];
in 1667, [34];
in 1657 become the subject of Parliamentary enactment, [27];
their inadequacy to meet public demands, [34];
even where they existed, their existence not generally known, [35];
at what intervals they left London in 1680, [36];
regarded as vehicles for the propagation of treason, [43];
again let out to farm, [58];
resumed by the State, [137];
as late as 1728, not of general concern, [152]
Povey, Charles, sets up a halfpenny post, [121];
contrast between him and Dockwra, [122];
his insolence, [122];
is proceeded against and cast in damages, [123]
Prideaux, Edmund, takes part with Burlamachi against Warwick, [21];
rescues the mail from Warwick's servants, [22];
brings the imprisonment of his own servant before the House of Commons, [22];
becomes Master of the Posts, [23];
his activity, [24];
suppresses unauthorised post to Scotland, [25];
makes profit out of the posts and is called upon to pay rent, [25];
is dismissed, [25];
retains an interest in the posts, [26];
Oldmixon's estimate of his character, [26];
destination of a part of his wealth, [27]
Prideaux, Edmund, son of the preceding, [27]
Prior, Matthew, negotiates Post Office treaty with France, [138]
Prior Park, [185]
Prizes, practice observed on capture of, [93]

Prosecutions, for the illicit conveyance of letters, [333];
measures taken to secure their publicity, [359];
return to the House of Commons on the subject of, [422]
Protection order, specimen of, [84] note
Quartering of soldiers, a grievance to postmasters, [51]
Quash, Ralph Allen's predecessor as postmaster of Bath, [147]
Queen's letters, meaning of term in 1706, [83] note
Queen's servants not exempt from fare by packet, [86]
Queensberry, James, Duke of, [64]
Raikes, a diamond merchant, suggests the giving of receipts for registered letters, [409] note
Railways, prediction concerning, [408];
first mail sent by railway, [412]
Ramsgate, cost of Post Office at, in 1792, [293]
Randolph, Thomas, Master of the Posts to Queen Elizabeth, [3]
Receiving offices, first opened in London, [37];
generally kept at public-houses, [68];
to remain open on six nights a week instead of three, [196];
letter-boxes at, to be closed and fixed, [306];
receiving offices for twopenny post letters separate and distinct from offices for letters by the general post, [409], [423]
Recruits, exemption of, from fare by packet, [85];
disputes with officers in charge of, [87];
packets employed for transport of, [97]
Registration, exorbitant fees for, of foreign letters, [233];
amount of these fees in 1783 and 1784, [235];
receipts for foreign registered letters begin to be given, [409] note
Returned Letters. See Dead letters
Revenue of the Post Office, surrendered by the Crown to the public, in part, in 1711, [126];
and wholly, in exchange for a Civil List, in 1760, [189];
amount of, from 1635 to 1694, [46];
in 1710 and 1721, [144];
in 1787 as compared with 1784, [227];
in 1796 and 1806, [341];
in 1824 and 1833, [422]
Richmond, Charles, Duke of, postmaster-general from December 1830 to July 1834, declines to receive salary, [413];
his industry, [413];
becomes postmaster-general of Ireland as well as Great Britain, and reforms the Dublin establishment, [414];
contemplates, apparently, a reduction of postage, [419]
Ripon, Post Office at, refused in 1713, [151];
in possession of one in 1792, [293]
Roads, condition of, in 1691, [65];
during the first two decades of the nineteenth century, [390];
begin to be constructed on scientific principles, [392];
Macadam's plan for dealing with the surface of, [392];
difference between roads in the country and roads in the neighbourhood of London, [394]
Rochester, Lawrence Hyde, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1685 to 1689, [43], [74] note, [110], Appendix note
Rogers, captain of packet, engages in smuggling, [89]
Roof-loading of mail-coaches, [287], [412]
Rosencrantz, the Danish envoy, to be specially accommodated on board Harwich packet, [87]
Rosse, Laurence, Earl of, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1809 to 1831, [369], [415]
Rotterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, [174]
Royal boroughs of Scotland, [208]
Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Post Office in 1787, [227], [230];
in 1823, [407];
recommendations of this last Commission not carried into effect, [420];
another Commission appointed to ascertain the reason, [423];
this Commission procures the contract for mail-coaches to be thrown open to public competition, [425]
Runners, [118]
Rye-House Plot, the cause of a Post Office proclamation, [43]
Sailors on board the packets, their conditions of service, [83];
receive pensions for wounds, [85];
their wages withheld, [91];
their wages increased, [248]
St. John, Henry, afterwards Viscount Bolingbroke, [211]
St. Leonards, Shoreditch, a second penny on penny post letters improperly charged at, [203]
St. Martin's-le-Grand, opening of Post Office at, [410]

Salaries. See Wages
Salisbury, James, Marquess of, postmaster-general from 1816 to 1823. See Postmasters-General, Part VIII.
Samples. See Patterns
Sampson, captain of packet, [313]
Sandwich, John, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1768 to 1771, [172];
specimen of his frank, Appendix
Sandwich, John, Earl of, son of the preceding, postmaster-general from 1807 to 1814, [348]
Sandwich, Kent, asserts its right to a free delivery, [197];
right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, [202], [293]
Scotland, tardiness of communication with, before 1635, [16];
communication expedited by Witherings, [16];
postage to Scotland, [18];
post to Edinburgh set up by the City of London, [24];
extent of correspondence with Scotland in 1690, [53];
Scotch posts placed under the postmasters-general of England, [117];
salaries of Scotch postmasters, [118];
course of post between London and Edinburgh accelerated in 1758, [180], [256];
in 1765 posts to and within Scotland increased in frequency, [195];
Post Office in Edinburgh no longer habitable, [207];
internal administration of Scotch Post Office revised by Palmer, [271];
penny post established in Edinburgh, [300];
postage rates within Scotland raised, [319];
wholesale prosecutions for illicit correspondence, [333];
exemption from toll withdrawn and an additional postage rate imposed, [359];
unhandsome conduct of the road trustees, [359];
roads discoached, [360]
Search, powers of, refused by the House of Commons, [128]
Sebright, Sir John, his letter accidentally opened, [333]
Secretary of State, clerks in the office of, compensated for the loss of the newspaper privilege, [193]
Secretary of the Post Office, appointment of, created in 1694, [70]
Secret Office, [170], [269]
Sharpus, postmaster of New York, [111]
Sheffield, salary of postmaster in 1792, [293]
Shelburne, William, Earl of, [212]
Ship letters, origin of ship letter money, [73];
by means of the penny post evade full postage, [73];
number of, in 1686, [74];
pence paid upon, without legal sanction, [119];
legal sanction given, [128];
ship letter office established, [328];
rates on, increased and restrictions imposed, [361];
restrictions modified, [362];
made compulsory upon private ships to carry mails, [362]
Ship news supplied by the Post Office to Lloyds, [218]
Shipwrecked seamen pass free by packet, [85]
Shrewsbury, curious reply to petition from, for earlier post, [218]
Single letter, definition of, [139]
Smart and bounty money, [85]
Smuggling, on board the packets at Falmouth, [89], [238];
at Harwich, [91], [237];
at Dover, [103];
in the Dover mail-coach, [271]
Soldiers' wives, when travelling supplied with money through the medium of the Post Office, [374]
Solicitor to the Post Office, appointment of, created in 1703, [70];
an absentee and his duties performed by deputy, [231];
his accounts inspected by Walsingham's direction, [324]
Somerset, Protector, superscription of his letter to Lord Dacre, [20]
Sorters, pay of, in 1690, [49]
Southampton, salary of postmaster in 1792, [293]
Speed of post in Queen Elizabeth's time, [4];
in time of James the First, [6];
at the end of the seventeenth century, [62];
between London and Falmouth and London and Harwich, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, [83];
under Allen's contract, [148];
in 1765, [187];
after 1784, [290];
speed of Holyhead mail-coach before and after Telford's improvement of the road, [394];
of mail-coaches generally in 1821 and 1836, [399], [426]
Spencer, Lord Charles, postmaster-general from 1801 to 1806, [333]
Spitalfields, a second penny improperly charged on penny post letters addressed to, [203]
Sprange, James, postmaster of Tunbridge Wells, [408]
Spring Rice, Thomas, Chancellor of the Exchequer, [428]
Stage, inconvenience resulting from term not being defined, [219];
term dropped as unit of charge, [318]

Stanhope of Harrington, John, Lord, Master of the Posts, [10];
resents what he conceives to be an invasion of his patent, [10];
dies and is succeeded as Master of the Posts by his son, [11]
Stanhope of Harrington, Charles, Lord, Master of the Posts, son of the preceding, vigorously asserts his rights, [11];
vacillating decisions of the Privy Council, [12];
surrenders his patent, [20];
alleges cajolery, [23]
Stanhope, Arthur, comptroller of the foreign department, his emoluments from franking, [344];
supplies newspapers with summaries of foreign intelligence, [346]
Stanhope, James, Secretary of State, [64]
Stanwix, Colonel, [97]
State letters, [83] note
Staunton, John, postmaster of Isleworth; appointed comptroller of the bye and cross-roads, [224]
Steam packets, first employment of, by the Post Office, [384]
Stock Exchange, The, outwits the Post Office, [106]
Stockdale, a highwayman, execution of, [183] note
Stokes, William, [245]
Stone, George, Receiver-General, a defaulter, [185]
Stowmarket, its position and its trade unknown to Allen, [157]
Strangers' post. See Foreign merchants
Sudbury, duties and salary of postmaster in 1690, [50]
Sunderland, Charles, Earl of, [89]
Surveyors, appointment of, refused by the Treasury, [134];
afterwards sanctioned, [140];
their original functions, [134];
their functions and emoluments after 1786, [228];
their journals, [255], [259];
cease to hold postmasterships in addition to their appointments as surveyors, [339]
Swift, Richard, solicitor to the Post Office, prepares Post Office bill of 1711, [125];
is overborne by Lowndes, secretary to the Treasury, [126]
Tankerville, Charles, Earl of, postmaster-general from April 1782 to May 1783, and again from January 1784 to September 1786. See Postmasters-General, Part V.
Telford, Thomas, takes in hand the road between Holyhead and Shrewsbury, [392];
between Shrewsbury and London, [393];
other roads, [409]
Thanet, Elizabeth, Countess Dowager of, undertakes to establish a penny post in Dublin, [69]
"Thorough poste," 5 note
Thrale, Mrs., [209] note
Threepenny post, [340], [417]
Thurloe, John, secretary, assumes direction of the Post Office in 1655, [27];
intercepts letters, [28]
Thurlow, Edward, Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Chancellor; his opinion as to the duty of the Post Office in the matter of delivering letters, [198], [201]
Thynne, Henry Frederick, afterwards Carteret. See Postmasters-General, Parts V. and VI.
Timepieces, mode of regulating mail-guards', [283]
Times newspaper, its priority of intelligence, [347];
its criticisms on Post Office procedure, [348];
proceedings against, taken by Freeling, [349]
Tinware, supply of, to the postmasters-general, [232]
Todd, Anthony, secretary to the Post Office; his correspondence with Benjamin Franklin, [204];
his indifference, [218];
comments upon Tankerville's temper, [225];
his compromising position in respect to the packets, [240];
his emoluments, [240];
his remark upon Bonnor's dilatory replies, [264];
devotes himself to social amenities, [294];
unknown to the postmasters-general, retains his shares in the packets, [327];
his death, [327]
Toll, mail-coaches exempt from, in England and Scotland but not in Ireland, [354];
exemption withdrawn in Scotland, [359]
Townshend, Horatio, Lord, [64]
Townshend, Charles, deprecates alarm because a letter is sent by express, [182]
Travellers, obtain use of post-horses under false pretences, [5];
are not to be supplied with horses except at the post-houses, [6];
paucity of travellers, [15];
are not to be supplied with horses when the post is expected, [18];
have to pay more for horses after the erection of milestones, [176];
their restriction to post-houses for a supply of horses withdrawn, [205]

Treasury, its relations to the Post Office, [57], [416];
refuses the appointment of surveyors, [134];
refuses a horse-post between Edinburgh and Glasgow, [136];
experience of its ways a bar to the suggestion of improvements, [169];
extorts blackmail, [325]
Treves, Peregrine, the recipient of Carteret's bounty, [226]
Tring, the postmaster of, opens a letter addressed to Sir John Sebright, [333]
Tuke, Sir Brian, Master of the Posts to Henry the Eighth, his letter to Thomas Cromwell, [1];
his duties, [2];
explanation suggested of statement in his letter, [4]
Tunbridge, salary of postmaster in 1792, [293]
Tunbridge Wells, old-fashioned postmaster of, in 1823, [408]
Turnpikes, condition of the trusts at the beginning of the nineteenth century, [353];
number of Turnpike Acts passed between 1760 and 1809, [390]
Twopenny post, a second penny charged by Dockwra on delivery of letters in the outskirts of London, [38];
this second penny not legally sanctioned until 1730, [143];
the twopenny post thus established in one direction established also in the other, [307];
the penny post converted into a twopenny post, [331];
and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, [340];
the revenue of the twopenny post as compared with that of the penny post, [341];
the crowded condition of the twopenny Post Office in Westminster, [410]
Tyrconnel, Richard Talbot, Earl of, opens the mails at Dublin Castle, [53]
Uniform, letter-carriers put into, [299]
Urin, captain of packet, makes wrong port, [89]
Vanderpoel, packet agent at the Brill, [92]
Vansittart, Nicholas, Chancellor of the Exchequer, insists upon mail-coaches being withdrawn from the roads, [355];
raises the rates of postage, [356];
changes the route of the Holyhead coach, [390];
refuses to get the terms of a hostile motion altered, [397]
Van Vrybergh, Envoy Extraordinary from the States-General, [101]
Venetian Ambassador, the, protests against the opening of his letters, [28]
Vidler, his contract for the supply of mail-coaches terminated, [425]
Village posts. See Convention posts
Viner, Sir Robert, [70]
Wade, General, [146]
Wages and salaries, of Post Office servants in 1690, [49];

of seamen on board the packets, [83];
of certain postmasters in England, [50], [293], and in Scotland, [117];
of mail-guards, [263]
Waghorn, Thomas, [409]
Wainwright, postmistress of Ferrybridge, her original mode of supplying an omission, [159]
Walcot, John, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, terms of his agreement with Barham, packet agent at Dover, [222]
Walpole, Sir Robert, maintains an office for the opening of letters, [170]
Walpole, Galfridus, postmaster-general from 1721 to 1725. See Postmasters-General, Part IV.
Walpole, Horace, precautions taken by, to secure his correspondence against inspection, [172]
Walsingham, Thomas, Lord, postmaster-general from July 1787 to July 1794. See Postmasters-General, Parts VI. and VII.
Warwick, Robert, Earl of, acquires Witherings's patent and claims possession of the letter office, [21];
attempts to obtain it by force, [22];
continues to assert his claim, [23]
Warwick, course of post to, altered in 1695, [57]
Waterhouse, Benjamin, Secretary to the Post Office, [131] note
Watson, Sir Charles, [296]
Way letter, meaning of term, [147]
Weights to be attached to sea-borne mails, [82]
Wellesley, Sir Arthur, sets aside objections to improving communication with Ireland, [390]
West Indies, packets to the, established, [78];
amount of correspondence in 1705, [80];
service discontinued in 1711, [109];
resumed in 1745, [173];
improved arrangements for disposing of the West Indian mails, [310]

Westmorland, John, Earl of, postmaster-general from September 1789 to March 1790, [266]
Weston, Henry, secretary to the Post Office, harsh treatment of, [152]
Weston brothers, trial of, [290]
Wetherall, Robert, master of ship Albinia, proceedings against, for refusing to take mails on board, [362] note
Weymouth, constituted a packet station, [313]
Whinnery, Thomas, postmaster of Belfast, his revolving "alphabet," [375];
his mode of delivery, [375]
Whitworth, Richard, [192]
Wildman, Colonel John, postmaster-general from July 1689 to March 1690, [44]
Willatt, Dame, postmistress of Manchester in 1792, [292];
granted a pension, [301]
Willes, Doctor, Dean of Lincoln, afterwards Bishop of St. Davids; the "chief Decypherer," [171]
Willes, Mr. Justice, his judgment upon the question of free delivery, [200]
William III., confers a pension upon Dockwra, [41];
refuses to exempt postmasters from the quartering of soldiers, [51];
is unwilling to prosecute for the illegal conveyance of letters, [54];
his opinion as to the requirements of a mail packet, [75];
the soundness of that opinion confirmed, [76]
Williamson, Peter, sets up an office for the delivery of letters in Edinburgh, [300]
Willimott, Receiver-General, [398] note
Wilson, mail-coach contractor, his exorbitant bill for horsing the King's coach, [251]
Witherings, Thomas, succeeds De Quester as foreign postmaster, [14];
is commissioned to examine into the inland posts, [14];
suggests a scheme of reorganisation, [16];
introduces postage, [17];
contemplates posts being self-supporting, [17];
but not, apparently, a source of revenue, [19];
becomes postmaster for both inland and foreign letters, [20];
his appointment is sequestered, [21];
assigns his patent, [21]
Wolters, Dirick, a suspected person, to be searched for at Harwich, [88]
Worthing, course of post from London to, in 1666, [34]
Wren, Sir Christopher, surveys the Post Office premises in Lombard Street, [71]
York, salary of postmaster in 1792, [293]

J. D. & Co.

Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh.

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