CONTENTS.

[CHAPTER I.]
The Earliest Bristol Posts, 1580.—Foot and Running Posts.—The First Bristol Postmasters: Allen and Teague, 1644-1660.—The Post House.—Earliest Letters, 1662.1
[CHAPTER II.]
The Post House at the Dolphin Inn, in Dolphin Street, Bristol, 1662.—Exchange Avenue and Small Street Post Offices, Bristol.8
[CHAPTER III.]
Elizabethan Post to Bristol.—The Queen's Progress, 1574.16
[CHAPTER IV.]
The Roads.—The Coach.—Mr. John Palmer's Mail Coach Innovations,1660-1818.22
[CHAPTER V.]
Appreciations of Ralph Allen, John Palmer, and Sir Francis Freeling, Mailand Coach Administrators.45
[CHAPTER VI.]
Bristol Mail Coach Announcements, 1802, 1830.—The New General PostOffice, London.62
[CHAPTER VII.]
The Bristol and Portsmouth Mail from 1772 onwards.—ProjectedSouth Coast Railway from Bristol, 1903.—The Bristol to Salisbury Postboy held up.—Mail Coach Accidents.—Luke Kent and Richard Griffiths, the Mail Guards.75
[CHAPTER VIII.]
The Bush Tavern, Bristol's Famous Coaching Inn, and John Weeks, its worthyBoniface, 1775-1819.—The White Lion Coaching House, Bristol, Isaac Niblett.—The White Hart, Bath.93
[CHAPTER IX.]
Toll Gates and Gate Keepers.110
[CHAPTER X.]
Daring Robberies of the Bristol Mail by Highwaymen, 1726-1781.—Bill Nash,Mail Coach Robber, Convict, and Rich Colonist, 1832.—Burglaries at Post Offices in London and Bristol, 1881-1901.119
[CHAPTER XI.]
Manchester and Liverpool Mails.—From Coach to Rail.—The WesternRailroad.—Post Office Arbitration Case.141
[CHAPTER XII.]
Primitive Post Office.—Fifth Clause Posts.—Mail Cart in a Rhine.—Effect of Gales on Post and Telegraph Service.151
[CHAPTER XIII.]
Bristol Rejuvenated.—Visit of Prince of Wales in connection with the New Bristol Dock.—Bristol-JamaicanMail Service.—American Mails.—Bristol Ship Letter Mails.—The Redland Post Office.—The Medical Officer.—Bristol Telegraphists in the South African War.—Lord Stanley, K.C.V.O., C.B., M.P.—Mr. J. Paul Bush, C.M.G.160
[CHAPTER XIV.]
Small (The Post Office) Street, Bristol: its Ancient History, InfluentialResidents, Historic Houses; The Canns; The Early Home of the Elton Family.175
[CHAPTER XV.]
The Post Office Trunk Telephone System at Bristol.195
[CHAPTER XVI.]
The Post Office Benevolent Society: its Annual Meeting at Bristol.—PostOffice Sports: Terrible Motor Cycle Accident.—Bristol Post Office in Darkness.199
[CHAPTER XVII.]
Quaint Addresses.—The Dean's Peculiar Signature.—Amusing Incidentsand the Postman's Knock.—Humorous Applications.223
[CHAPTER XVIII.]
Postmasters-General (Rt. Hon. A. Morley and the Marquis of Londonderry)Visit Bristol.—The Postmaster of the House of Commons.—The King's New Postage Stamps.—Coronationof King Edward VII.—Loyalty of Post Office Staff.—Mrs. Varnam-Coggan's Coronation Poem.232