The two entires below were sent from Jane Besley nee Butler and her brother Robert Butler to Sir Francis Ommaney on 10th October 1823. Because Sir Francis Ommaney was the MP for Barnstaple they were Free in the general post - except that there was a limit of 15 letters per day that were allowed Free. In order to reduce the abuse of Free franks, an Act of Parliament had been passed in 1795, by which a limit was fixed, and no Member was allowed to send more than ten letters or receive more than fifteen in one day free of charge. The counterfeiting of franks was made a felony, the forgers on conviction being liable to seven years transportation.
The first letter, from Robert, was initially charged double at 1/8d but then allowed as Free, while the second letter, from Jane, was initially allowed Free but was then charged 10d as the number of Free letters to Sir Francis was "Above Number".
Here are the contents of Robert and Jane's letters, presumably written as directed by the solicitors. It is interesting to note that Jane's letter was countersigned by her husband. The letters are claiming their share of a £2,000 estate from their uncle - £2,000 would be just over £200,000 today so a seventh share would be about £30,000 today.
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