Just to stop any campaigns for reimbursement, this was in the 1820s.
First some background. In the early 1820s Castle Cary became part of two 5th Clause Posts, one from Shaftesbury (for mail from the south and London) and one from Shepton Mallet (for mail to the north.
The map above shows the route for the mail that came via Shaftesbury which is the route that this relates to.
A 5th Clause Post was so-called because it was enacted in the 5th clause of the Act of George III, Cap. VII in 1801, and allowed the Post Office greater flexibility in setting charges to cover the expense of establishing local posts. The postal charge for the local post could be set by agreement or 'convention' with the local inhabitants, who agreed to cover any deficiency between the revenue coming in from the local post and the costs going out.
I've been reading up about this in the Somerset & Dorset Postal History Group Journal, where there is a whole article about the intricacies of the post and the different handstamps. I then found another article about the Castle Cary
Penny Post handstamp, which seems to have been used sparingly between 1824 and 1827 (just after the 5th Clause Posts had been set up). This second article had details of 5 entires with this Penny Post handstamp - including the postage charges.
All the entires were from London, the postal rates did not change over the period, so you would expect the charges to be the same (or double or triple for double or treble letters). Well, they weren't. The table below shows the details of the entires, with the postal charge in the right-hand column.
Date | Other marks | From | To | Charge |
25.11.1824 | "No.2" | London | Ditcheat | 1/6d (double) |
early 1825 | "No.2" | London | Ansford | 9d |
24.6.1825 | "No.2" | London | Castle Cary (Mr Mathews) | 10d |
20.5.1826 | "No.2" | London | Ditcheat | 1/8d |
5.3.1827 | "No.2" | London | Ditcheat | 1/8d |
OK, so what should it cost ?
One would expect the mail coming from London to come to Shaftesbury in the General Post, and the charge for that is what you'd expect to see on the front of the entires. Shaftesbury was deemed to be 104 miles from London (it had a mileage handstamp "Shaftesbury / 104"). Between 1812 and December 1829 the rate for 80-120 miles was 9d. so that is what one would have expected to see. The London postal clerks would not know any details of local postal matters like the 5th Clause Post so there wouldn't be any charge for that included. It would be up to the Castle Cary Receiving House to get the money for the postage from the recipient, and they would demand the extra 1d for the 5th Clause Post then.
The first two entires in the table above show this postage charge, 9d for a single letter and 1/6d for a double letter (one with two sheets of paper).
Alternatively, it is possible that a letter could have gone from London to Shepton Mallet and then to Castle Cary via the Shepton Mallet Fifth Clause Post. Shepton Mallet was 135 miles from London so would have incurred a 10d. (120-170 miles) charge (or 1/8d. for a double letter).
The remaining three examples have been given a 10d. General Post charge (or 1/8d. for a double letter). This was not a total charge that included the Fifth Clause Post because the double letter charge was double the single letter one (and the Fifth Clause 1d. did not double with the number of sheets). This is compatible with a route via Shepton Mallet.
So, did the post route to Castle Cary change from via Shaftesbury to via Shepton Mallet ? Or did perhaps the time of day a letter was posted determine which mail coach was used ? If this was the case the inhabitants of Castle Cary were at the mercy of the Post Office as to what they got charged for a letter.
My second thought on looking at the postal rates is that there is alternative explanation for the higher charges seen on the later three entires, that it was due to human error.
It appears that before the 5th Clause Posts were introduced that Castle Cary was a Post Town, and based on its mileage handstamp was deemed to be 145 miles from London. The postal rate for 120-170 miles was 10d. and this appears to be what the last three entires were charged (or 1/8d. for a double letter). Did the London Post Office clerks for the later entires remember Castle Cary at 145 miles from London, and calculate the charge should be 10d. ? ... rather than looking up Shaftesbury and doing the first calculation ?
The other markings on the entires (the "No.2" cancel) show that the entires did come via the 5th Clause Post. So one must assume that the Receiving House demanded a further 1d. for the 5th Clause Post.
Thus out of a sample of 5 entires, 3 (60%) look like they were charged more than they could have been, by 1d. or 2d, perhaps because they went the long way, via Shepton Mallet, or just perhaps because a Post Office clerk was working the charge out based on old postal routes.
