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Postage Act 1814
(54 Geo 3 c.119, 23rd July 1814)

An Act to repeal certain Duties upon Letters and Packets, sent by the Post within Ireland; and to grant other Duties in lieu thereof.
[ 23d July 1814. ]

Most Gracious Sovereign,

WE, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled, being desirous of raising the necessary Supplies to defray Your Majesty's Public Expences, and of making a permanent Addition to the Public Revenue of Ireland; and thinking it expedient that certain Rates and Duties of Postage in Ireland should cease and determine, and that other Rates and Duties of Postage should be granted in lieu thereof: May it therefore please Your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by The King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That, from and after the Expiration of Ten Days after the passing of this Act, the Rates and Duties for the Postage and Conveyance of Letters and Packets sent by the Post in Ireland, granted by an Act made in the Forty fifth Year of His present Majesty's Reign, intituled An Act for repealing certain Duties upon Letters and Packets sent by the Post within Ireland, and granting other Duties in lieu thereof; and by an Act made in the Fiftieth Year of His present Majesty's Reign, intituled An Act to grant to His Majesty certain additional Duties upon Letters and Packets sent by the Post within Ireland; and by an Act made in the last Session of Parliament, intituled An Act to repeal certain Rates and Duties upon Letters and Packets sent by the Post from or to Dublin to or from the several Post Towns in Ireland, and to grant other Rates and Duties in lieu thereof; and to make further Regulations for securing the Duties on Letters and Packets sent by the Post in Ireland; shall cease and determine; and that, from and after the Expiration of Ten Days after the passing of this Act, it shall and may be lawful to and for the Postmaster or Postmasters General of Ireland for the time being, and his or their Deputy or Deputies, Servants and Agents, to and for the Use of His Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, to demand, have, receive and take for the Portage, Postage and Conveyance of all Letters and Packets which he or they shall convey, carry or send Post to and from Places within Ireland, according to the several Rates and Sums of Money, Irish Currency, hereinafter mentioned; that is to say,

For the Port and Conveyance of every Single Letter or Piece of Paper from the Office in Ireland where such Letter or Piece of Paper shall be put in, to any Distance within the same, not exceeding Seven Miles, the Sum of Two pence:

And to any Distance exceeding Seven Miles, and not exceeding Fifteen Miles, the Sum of Three pence:
And to any Distance exceeding Fifteen Miles, and not exceeding Twenty five Miles, the Sum of Four pence:
And to any Distance exceeding Twenty five Miles, and not exceeding Thirty five Miles, the Sum of Five pence:
And to any Distance exceeding Thirty five Miles, and not exceeding Forty five Miles, the Sum of Six pence:
And to any Distance exceeding Forty five Miles, and not exceeding Fifty five Miles, the Sum of Seven pence:
And to any Distance exceeding Fifty five Miles, and not exceeding Sixty five Miles, the Sum of Eight pence:
And to any Distance exceeding Sixty five Miles, and not exceeding Ninety five Miles, the Sum of Nine pence:
And to any Distance exceeding Ninety five Miles, and not exceedng One hundred and twenty Miles, the Sum of Ten pence:
And to any Distance exceeding One hundred and twenty Miles, and not exceeding One hundred and fifty Miles, the Sum of Eleven pence:
And to any Distance exceeding One hundred and fifty Miles, and not exceeding Two hundred Miles, the Sum of Twelve pence:
And to any Distance exceeding Two hundred Miles, and .not exceeding Two hundred and fifty Miles, the Sum of Thirteen pence:
And to any Distance exceeding Two hundred and fifty Miles, and not exceeding Three hundred Miles, the Sum of Fourteen pence:
And for every Distance of One hundred Miles, Irish Measure, above Three hundred Miles, which any such Letter or Packet shall be so carried or conveyed within Ireland, a further Sum of One Penny:
And for the Port and Conveyance of every Double Letter, Double the said Sums respectively:
And for every Treble Letter, Treble the said Sums respectively:
And for every Ounce Weight Four times the said Sums respectively and so in Proportion for any greater Weight than One Ounce, reckoning every Quarter of an Ounce equal to a single Letter:

And that all Letters and Packets directed from any Place in Ireland to any Part or Parts in Great Britain, or beyond the Seas, or received in Ireland from Great Britain, or any Part or Parts beyond the Seas, shall be charged and paid for their Portage and Conveyance within Ireland from or to Dublin, Waterford or Donaghadee, or any other Port where Packet Boats for the Conveyance of Letters to and from Ireland are or may be established, as they shall respectively be shipped from or landed in any of the said Places according to the Rates aforesaid:

And that for every Letter or Packet directed on board, or brought or sent from on board any Ship or Vessel riding or stopping in any Port within Ireland, there shall be charged and paid to His Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, over and above the Rates aforesaid, the Sum of One Penny.

II. And be it further enacted, That Letters or Packets passing through the General Post Office in the City of Dublin from any Place within Ireland shall not as heretofore be charged or pay according to the Distance of any place from which such letter shall be sent to Dublin, and further, according to the Distance of any Place to which such Letter shall be sent from Dublin, according to the several Rates of Postage; but all such Letters shall be charged and shall pay only according to the Distance of the Place whence such Letters shall be sent, from the Place to which the same shall be sent, according to the several Rates hereinbefore specified and set forth.

III. And be it further enacted, That the said Rates and Duties hereby granted shall be paid and payable in Irish Currency, and shall be raised, levied, collected, managed, recovered and applied under such and the like Powers and Authorities, Rules, Regulations and Restrictions, Penalties and Forfeitures, and subject to the like Provisions, Exemptions, Exceptions and Privileges as are mentioned, expressed and contained in an Act made in the Forty third Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled An Act for granting to His Majesty certain Rates and Duties upon Letters and Packets sent by the Post within Ireland; and also in the hereinbefore recited Acts, made in the Fiftieth Year of His present Majesty's Reign, and in the last Session of Parliament, or in any other Act or Acts in force in Ireland, relating to the Rates and Duties on Letters and Packets sent by the Post within Ireland; and that all and every the Clauses, Matters and Things in the said several Acts mentioned, expressed and contained, shall be applied and extended, and shall be construed to apply and extend to this present Act; save only so far as respects the Amount of Rates or Duties under the said Acts, or any of them; and save and except so far as the said Acts, or any of them, are altered or repealed by this Act.