INLAND RATES

• Introduction

Letters

• 1839-1840 ("4d Post")
• 1840-1968
• 1968-2006
• 2006-date

Parcels

• 1883-1966
• 1966-1987
• 1987-date

Other Classes of Mail

• Printed Matter 1848-1968
• Samples 1863-1968
• Newspapers 1870-1968
• Postcards 1870-1968

Special Handling

• Registration 1841-1993
• Express/Special Delivery
  1891-1993
• Recorded Delivery/
  Signed For 1961-date
• Priority Services
  1993-date

Other

• Miscellaneous Rates and Services

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Miscellaneous Rates and Services

Introduction

This page is a repository for a number of largely unrelated minor rates and services for which the rate tables are not really extensive enough for them to merit their own page.

Redirection

Mail that was redirected was originally treated as requiring a fresh payment for the second or subsequent transmission through the post, although when flat rates by weight replaced mileage-based rates in 1839-40 the redirection charge was equal to the original postage even if unpaid (which would usually have required a double fee). The fee could be paid on redirection or charged to the recipient. (International redirection required payment of the difference between inland and overseas fees.)

In the 1890s the charge for redirection was abolished as a concession and never reintroduced, although a charge equal to the original postage was levied on undelivered halfpenny packets (printed matter and postcards) if the sender wished them to be returned.

On registered letters the fee covered the letter throughout its journey, and so there the fee was not charged again upon redirection.

Date	Charge	Notes
Before 1840 (10 Jan)	Actual charge between places	Charge added to the charge for the original journey, if (as usual) unpaid - as this varied according to distance, they were seldom actually the same
1840 (10 Jan)	Same as original charge	Paid or unpaid
1892 (1 Jun)	Charge abolished	Letters only
1895 (1 Jan)	Charge abolished	Postcards, book post, newspapers and samples

Certificates of Posting

The introduction of certificates of posting for ordinary, non-registered letters, at a nominal charge of ½d paid by means of a stamp on the form, was strongly urged by Rowland Hill in the 1840s as an additional means of security in the mails, but the proposal met with a cool reception. Abortive experiments with certificates stamped with a ½d embossed die were finally carried out in a few major cities in 1877-81, but it was not until 1911 that the Post Office introduced them nationwide as a regular service.

The fee was per item posted and always nominal. In 1982 it was abolished completely. The various special services such as registration had their own certificates as proof of posting, but these were given free as part of the service.

Date	Charge	Notes
1877	½d each	Issued experimentally in London and Liverpool in 1877-78 and in Glasgow in 1881, and possibly in a few other large towns
1911 (2 Oct)	½d per item posted	From 10th September 1912 more than one item of mail could be included on a certificate - they had spaces for additional addresses
1957 (1 Oct)	1d per item
1971 (15 Feb)	1p per item
1982 (1 Feb)	Charge abolished

Articles for the Blind

Literature for the blind, printed in Braille, came under the general printed matter regulations until 1906, when concession rates were first introduced. From 1936 the special rates applied generally to many other articles for the use of the blind, and from 1965 such materials have passed free in the post (when correctly posted). This service is unusual in that every rate revision involved some kind of additional concession or extension!

Reference: Blindman's Mail - How the Blind have been served by the Post by Gavin Fryer, published by the author 2010 (order form)

Date	Rates	Notes
before 1906		As Book Post (halfpenny packet post from 1st January 1904)
1906 (1 Sep)	½d - 2oz 1d - 2lb 1½d - 5lb	As "Blind Literature" Maximum weight 5lb Maximum size 2' x 1' x 1', or in roll form 2'6" x 4" diameter
1907 (1 Feb)	½d - 2oz 1d - 2lb 1½d - 5lb 2½d - 6lb	Maximum weight 6lb
1915 (1 Jan)	½d - 2oz 1d - 5lb 2½d - 6lb
1921 (13 Jun)	½d - 1lb 1d - 5lb 2d - 6½lb	Maximum weight 6½lb
1926 (17 Feb)	½d - 2lb 1d - 5lb 2d - 6½lb
1936 (3 Jul)	½d - 2lb 1d - 5lb 1½d - 8lb 2d - 11lb	As "Articles for the Blind" Maximum weight 11lb Maximum size 2' x 1½' x 1½', or in roll form 2'8", length + 2x diameter not more than 3'3"
1940 (1 Jul)	½d - 2lb 1d - 5lb 1½d - 8lb 2d - 11lb 2½d - 15lb	Maximum weight 15lb
1965 (17 May)	Charge abolished