GPO Ledger with Cross Post mileages for Exeter to Chester and Portsmouth to Bath & Bristol

The undated sheet below is probably from a GPO Ledger and shows the mileages for the Exeter to Chester Cross Post and the Portsmouth to Bristol Cross Post.

Prior to the establishment of the first Cross Post from Exeter to Bristol by Joseph Quash in 1696, the Postmaster of Exeter, mail from Exeter to Bristol had to go via London (up one Post Road and down another).  The cross post road was extended to Chester in 1701.

According to R.C. Tombs in his book "The Bristol Royal Mail", a new branch post was established from Bristol & Bath to Salisbury in 1740, and by 1772 the posts at Salisbury included mail from Bristol three days a week; mail from Postsmouth also came three days a week.  It wasn't until 1798 that a "Long" coach was established that went from Portsmouth to Bristol in one journey.

It is possible that the Ledger sheet above was created fairly soon after John Palmer's introduction of Mail Coaches in 1784, when detailed schedules had to be drawn up for the new coaches.  The mileages on the Exeter - Chester post are to the nearest quarter of a mile, perhaps the level of detail required for coach contracts.
 

Free Wrapper from "BIDDE / FORD" via Exeter to Monmouth, 1783

The wrapper below was sent Free from Bideford ("BIDDE / FORD") via Exeter to Monmouth in October 1783.

The cover is franked "Morgan" which could be either John Morgan, MP for Monmouthshire, or Charles Morgan his brother, MP for Breconshire.

The filing note says "Col Orchard" which is probably Colonel Paul Orchard, who became MP for Callington in the following year, 1784.
 

Falmouth India Letter, 1834

The wrapper below was sent to Rothschild's in London in 1834 from Batavia.  Batavia was an imperial Dutch port city that eventually, after two centuries of Dutch occupation, became the capital of the Dutch East Indies, and is now present-day Jakarta, Indonesia.

The letter had a framed "FALMOUTH / Ship Letter" applied in error, was overstruck with a framed "INDIA LETTER / FALMOUTH", and then had a second India Letter handstamp applied.  It arrived in London on 2nd October 1834.  The India Letter handstamp indicated that a reduced rate of postage applied compared to the standard ship letter rate.

The letter was sent via the Blair which arrived at Plymouth on 27th September 1834, having first dropped off its mail at Falmouth, common practice to hand over the mail quickly without navigating further up the Channel. 
 

Another Miscellany - Cannington, East Anstey Camp, East Chinnock & a Penang Paquebot to Bristol

Here is another miscellany, starting with a skeleton from Cannington in May 1903.  Unfortunately the postcard has a filing hole through the year in the Cannington pstmark but the year can readily be een from the Bridgwater cancel.

This next item is another skeleton, from East Anstey Camp in 1908.  Earlier East Anstey Camp skeleton cancels are from Tiverton but it is likely that by 1908 East Anstey Camp came under Dulverton.  The reverse of the postcard shows a Parade which the message identifies as a Church Parade.  The writer starts by saying "Have had a ripping time here the past week" - I hope he survived WWI but there is no way of establishing his name.  The addressee, Miss F. Cruttenden, is still at the same address in the 1911 census and was unmarried.

This next postmark is a Climax rubber cancel from East Chinnock in 1911 - this is the first recorded example.  There was also an earlier rubber cancel issued in 1889 but no usage of that has been recorded.

Finally here is a "PAQUEBOT / PENANG" cancel on a P&O envelope to Bristol in 1934.

A Miscellany - Beckington, Milton Road (WSM), Putsom, Roman Road (Taunton), Yeovilton

Herewith a miscellany of postmarks, starting with a Beckington skeleton cancel in March 1905.  This skeleton is only known used on 30th March 1905.

Vaguely alphabetically, the next cover is from Milton Road, Weston-super-Mare in May 1940.  The post office was established in 1931 so this is likely to be the original cancel supplied to the office.

This example of the Putsom UDC from May 1849 is the earliest date recorded so far.  The contents are a Life Assurance letter.

Moving on, this next is a First Day Cover from Roman Road, Taunton.  The post office opened in 1939 but this is the first postmark I have encountered.

And finally a registered cover from Yeovilton Royal Naval Air Station in September 1975, using a Yeovil registration etiquette.  I have an earlier registered cover dated 1947 that used a Yeovilton etiquette.

A couple of interesting Letterheads

Here is a very ornate letterhead on an invoice from Egerton Burnett in Wellington, dated December 1892 proclaiming six Royal Warrants of Appointment - see here for some private Parcel Post items relating to Egerton Burnett (at the end of the post).

And below is a letterhead from the Bristol Centre of The National Telephone Company Limited, dated July 1897.

From 1881 to 1911 the National Telephone Company consolidated smaller local companies in the early years of telephone adoption.  The Government nationalised the company under the Telephone Transfer Act 1911 with the General Post Office taking over in 1912.

A few more Coaching items

Here are a few more Coaching items, starting with a bill from Pratt's London Inn in Exeter from 1825, with an embossed receipt dated 30th July 1825, signed by Joseph Pratt, the proprietor.  The bill total £23 14s 9d including £5 10s for 4 chaises.  Allowing for inflation this is equivalent to £1,944 or about £280 per day for bed, meals and transport.

I also found an image of another bill dated July 1838 from Pratt's London Inn on the internet, for £11 9s 6d for a Hearse with 4 horses, 2 coaches and pairs, Duty, Pall, Cloaks and Turnpikes.  This works out at about £1,120 in today's money.

 

This next item is a ticket for Carriage and Porterage from the Bull & Mouth Western Coach Office from c.1839.

And finally a receipt from the Belle Sauvage from c.1840. 

Here is an image from the internet of "The Cambridge Coach leaving the Belle Sauvage yard into Ludgate Hill" by James Pollard.

 

A couple of advertising envelopes, 185x and 1865

The Parkins and Gotto advertising envelope below was used in 185x and advertised stationary.  The envelope was used from Crewkerne to Dorchester.

The TS Smith & Co. envelope was used in 1865 from Bristol to Crickhowell, advertising various business and financial management activities. 

Turnpikes, Haulage, Canals

After the introduction of Turnpike (toll) roads in the 18th century (1700-1730 the London radial roads were turnpiked, 1750s and 1770s further surges in turnpikes), these needed to be managed and people travelling by horse or carriage needed to pay Turnpike fees on all the different Turnpikes they used.  Here are some ephemera associated with aspects of that.

Firstly an invitation to a meeting of Trustees of the Winchester Turnpike (Lower Division) in March 1821.  As can be seen from the map there are a large number of separate turnpike trusts in the area.

One used a haulier if one wanted to transport goods, and they would have been responsible for paying any turnpike fees.  Here is a receipt dated December 1831 on the back of an advertisement.

Turnpikes carried on into the late 19th century.  Below is a turnpike receipt from the 1870s from around Totnes.

However the writing had been on the wall for the Turnpikes as soon as Railways started their rapid spread across the country in the 1830s.  The auction poster below is dated May 1835 and is auctioning off mortgages on a Turnpike, and also shares in a canal, similarly due to be adversely affected by the Railways.

 

No Service, Return to Sender, 1941 addressed to Finland

The envelope below was posted from Bristol to Finland in April 1941 but received a purple "NO SERVICE / RETURN TO SENDER" cachet.  As there were no other cancels I assume that the cachet was applied in the Bristol Foreign Section (rather than in London)

The addressee was Lady Constance Malleson who subsequently wrote a book about her experiences administering relief efforts for the Russo-Finnish war.