Some Dorset material starting with a Weymouth Ship Letter sent from Antigua to Wells on 28th April 1794. The letter was a copy of one sent on 14th April, a common practice in case letters were lost. Because the addressee, Clement Tudway, was an MP, the letter was only charged the 1d Ship Letter fee.
The entire below from Weymouth to Newcastly under Lyme in June 1797 has a curved "WEYMOUTH" handstamp. Because the 1796 Act was in place from 5th January 1797, postage through London was charged at a single rate rather than separately to and from London (so 8d rather than 1/2d).Here is another Weymouth Ship Letter, this time from Vermont, USA to London in June 1801. The letter is from a mother to her daughter who is in London, with two pages quoting the scriptures and psalms and warning of the evil of sin, before giving family news of a daughter who is teething.Finally another maritime item, an India Letter from Gambia to London in June 1840. India Letter handstamps were mostly phased out in 1840 when incoming ship letters were charged a uniform 8d following the uniform penny post reforms.




No comments:
Post a Comment