By the act of 1796 a uniform rate of 8d. for a single letter had been paid for distances over 150 miles. The new act not only imposed extra rates for all distances over 150 miles but it decreased the distances above 30 miles for which the old postage would have paid. For instance, a 6d. rate had carried a single letter 100 miles, a 7d. rate 150 miles. They now carried only 80 and 120 miles respectively.

On letters to and from places abroad, "not being within His Majesty's Dominions," an additional rate of 4d. for a single letter was imposed.[594] In London, where a penny had been charged for the conveyance of letters by the Penny Post, 2d. was now charged. An additional rate of 2d. for a single letter was imposed upon letters passing between Great Britain and Ireland via Holyhead or Milford. The Postmasters-General were given authority to convey letters to and from places which were not post towns for such sums for extra service as might be agreed upon. Merchants' accounts and bills of exchange which, when sent out of the kingdom or conveyed into it, had not formerly been charged postage over the letters in which they were enclosed, were now to be rated as letters.[595]

In 1803, the following rates were imposed within Ireland for a single letter:—

d. (Irish)[596]
Not exceeding 15 Irish miles2
From15to30Irish miles3
30 50 4
50 80 5
Exceeding 80 Irish miles6

The postage on letters arriving in Ireland for the distance travelled outside Ireland was ordered to be collected by the Irish Postmaster-General and forwarded to London. An additional penny was imposed upon Dublin Penny Post letters crossing the circular road around Dublin.[597]

In 1805, for the third time within ten years, the Exchequer fell back upon the Post Office for an increase of revenue estimated at £230,000.[598] There were added to the rates as already prescribed—1d. for a single letter, 2d. for a double letter, 3d. for a triple letter, and 4d. for a letter weighing as much as one ounce, for all letters conveyed by the Post in Great Britain or between Great Britain and Ireland. The postage on a single letter from London to Brighton was thus raised from 6d. to 7d., from London to Liverpool from 9d. to 10d., and from London to Edinburgh from 12d. to 13d. Twopenny Post letters paid 3d. if sent beyond the General Post Delivery limits, while newspapers paid 1d. On every letter passing between Great Britain and a foreign country 2d. more was to be paid. An additional penny was charged for every single letter between Great Britain and the British American Dominions via Portugal, and between Great Britain, the Isle of Man and Jersey and Guernsey.[599] In the same year the Irish rates were also increased by the imposition of an additional penny upon each single letter with corresponding changes in the postage on double and triple letters. The Dublin Penny Post was left untouched, its boundaries being defined as contained within a circle of four miles radius, with the General Post Office building as the centre. Every letter from any ship within Irish waters was charged a penny in addition to the increased rates.[600]

Still the demand was for more money to help replenish an exhausted treasury. An additional penny was added for the conveyance of a single letter more than twenty miles beyond the place where the letter was posted within Great Britain and between Great Britain and Ireland. For the conveyance of a single letter between Great Britain and any of the colonies or to any foreign country an additional 2d. was required. These additional rates did not apply to letters to and from Jersey or Guernsey, or to and from any non-commissioned officer, soldier, or sailor.[601] Samples weighing no more than one ounce were to pay 2d. if enclosed in a letter, if not enclosed, 1d. As this is the highest point to which postage rates in England have ever attained, it may be interesting to give the rates resulting from this act in tabular form as far as the postage for inland single letters was concerned.[602]

d.
Not exceeding 15 miles4
Above15but not exceeding20miles5
20 30 6
30 50 7
50 80 8
80 120 9
120 170 10
170 230 11
230 300 12
300 400 13
400 500 14
500 600 15
600 700 16
700miles 17