Autumn S&DPHG meeting & Wells Penny Post

The Autumn meeting of the Somerset & Dorset Postal History Group on Sunday 21st October 2012 featured entertaining displays on "The Postal History of the City of Wells" and on "The Mulready envelope and letter-sheet", as well as a number of varied short displays by members on subjects of their choice.  The meeting was well attended with 19 members and guests, who sat down to the usual fine lunch.  Discussions on a variety of subjects, not all philatelic, were widespread and enjoyed by all.  

Some details from the display on the Postal History of Wells:

• Wells was on a spur at Sherborne from the West Road to Plymouth.
• Wells was on the first Cross Post from Exeter to Bristol, with a very rare "WELLS/X" handstamp.  The various "WELLS/X", "BRIDG/WATER X", "TAUN/TON X" handstamps are all only known used in 1709 to Plymouth.
• Early Wells handstamps were albino, perhaps because the postmasters had to pay for their own ink so used very little or no ink at all.
• "WELLS.S" (or ".SOM" etc.) handstamps were introduced to avoid confusion with Wells-on-Sea.

The Receiving Houses under Wells were as follows (according to Oxley and later research by John Millener):

Receiving House	Date Established	RH Number	Comments
Wookey	1816	1	Bishop
Westbury	1816	2
Cheddar	1816	4
Axbridge	1816	5	Used straight line cancel
Rodney Stoke	1816-1818
	1833	7
Banwell	1823	3
Brent	1823
Wedmore	1823
Dinder	1830
Croscombe	1830	6

In 1845-7 the following villages were under Wells as a Post Town: West Pennard, North Wootton, Rodney Stoke, Wookey, Westbury, Sidcote, Banwell, Worle, Cheddar, Mark, and Wedmore. In December 1853 Meare and Weare also came under Wells.