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Bristol to Edinburgh 1822 Rate Query

Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:00 pm
by leamphil
The entire (image attached) was sent from Clifton, Bristol to Edinburgh in 1822.

My query relates to the postal charge which appears to be 5/6d (or 66d).

The letter went in the Bristol Penny Post (the boxed "No.2" receiving house handstamp for Clifton) so that would account for 1d of the postage !
Bristol to Edinburgh is approximately 375 miles so I believe the single sheet rate in the General Post would be 13d (or 1/1d) for 300-400 miles.
Then there is the additional 1/2d wheel-tax for going into Scotland.

If that is right then one can get a postal charge of 5/6d by saying that the letter was charged 5x rate plus the 1d for the Penny Post. The multiple rate was incurred for multiple sheets of paper.

Did letters get charged 5x rate ?? I've only ever heard of triple rate and then 4x was the ounce rate when letters were charged by weight.

Advice please on whether my interpretation of the rates is correct !!

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Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:05 pm
by earsathome
G'day Leamphil
Re the Bristol to Edinburgh Charge query.
Yes you are quite right, that would have been the costing for a 'large letter' i.e. one that was charged by weight and not the number of sheets, during that period up to 1839.

Normally as you say you would not have seen more than a triple charge, as even if there were more than 3 sheets in the letter that was the maximum charged, but for the heavier letters the charge was per quarter of an ounce or part thereof, so if this letter had contained (for instance) a legal document full of heretofores and whyfores, etc, and of thick bulky paper it could easily have weighed more than one ounce, and would therefore have been charged at 5 times the rate, plus the Bristol Penny Post charge. The Additional Halfpenny would also have been collected before the addressee could have received the letter.

Our reference for postal charges is a brilliant book "For the Port and carriage of Letters 1570 to 1840" by David Robinson.

Having said all that, the letter looks really neat and tidy and compact, and does not look as if it contained anything bulky, ..... the postal markings are great though, and definitely collectible.
Regards
Eunice and Ron

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Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:10 pm
by GBBHXPH
Re the lovely Bristol to Edinburgh cover, I believe the boxed half was added in London (H and S Fig 135) which would make the mileage total 518 (122 to London and then 396 to Edinburgh). Between 1801 and September 1838 the charge was for the actual distance travelled ie the single rate would have been 1/3d. If this is correct, how do we now arrive at 5/6d?
Ref. page 46 of David Robinson's book.
Regards, Ian

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Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 7:00 pm
by leamphil
I'm not sure that mail from Bristol to Scotland would go via London in 1822 - I think the cross post roads were well established by then. Certainly other mail going north went direct, rather than via London (Gloucester - Worcester etc.). In the mileage tables in Robertson, the mileage from Bristol to Liverpool is shown as 193 miles - which wouldn't be right if the route went via London.

Looking at an old copy of the British County Catalogue (BCC) for London, the halfpenny handstamp does not look like any illustrated there as London handstamps ... but the list may be missing some marks.

The BCC also says that "many towns used similar handstamps ...".

However, against this, the halfpenny mark also does not match that for Bristol shown in the BCC (in use 1817-1839).

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Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 7:05 pm
by leamphil
Further, applying a little basic maths, if one takes off the 1d for the Bristol Penny Post, then 5/5d = 65d is only factored by 5 and 13, so I think it has to be a 5x multiplier of a 13d or 1/1d rate.

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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:00 pm
by earsathome
The additional halfpenny mark looks very much like the Carlisle one in use from 8.6.16 - 27.1.26 - is it 20mm x 20mm. ?
This is fig 161 in the Hodgson Sedgewick book.
Cheers
Ron.

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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:05 pm
by leamphil
Yes, it's 20mm x 20mm.

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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:10 pm
by GBBHXPH
Agree that the Carlisle one is similar, both at 20x20mm, however the shape of the '1', the angle of the fraction bar and the 'flat' base to the '2' appear to me as Fig 135. This is L187(1) in BCC Vol. 3, 2nd edition, page 32.
However, H and S do say in their Chapter III to be aware of over-inking and handstamp damage.
Certainly via Carlisle leads to 5/6d but maybe after the charge the entire was miss-sorted to London!!
Either way an interesting cover.
All best wishes, Ian