Entire from London to "Okehamton near Taunton" franked Tho. Butler, November 1715

The entire below, from London to "Okehampton near Taunton" is franked "Tho. Butler" or possibly "Buller".  I am unable to identify who Thomas Butler or Buller was that had free franking priviledge.

Below are images of the contents.

... the other interesting thing is the return addres below .. Downing Street !

Franking Privilege and the Penny Post

An MP had the franking privilege while he was an MP and while Parliament was sitting.  This allowed him free postage in the General Post, either on mail that he had franked (signed) or that was addressed to him.  However the franking privilege did not apply to Penny Posts which had to be paid.

Here are two examples in the Taunton Penny Post, the top from 1817 when Sir Thomas Buckler Lethbridge was not the MP for Somerset, so he had to pay the full postage (10d in the General Post plus 1d in the Penny Post), and the bottom from 1821 when he was an MP, so he only had to pay the Penny Post.

Bath Franks

A few Franks, firstly "Bath / Somerset" untransposed and transposed, then "Bath Avon" transposed and untransposed, with the odd triangular "53" cancel thrown in for good measure.



Transposed slogan cancels were first introduced in Bath on 1st July 1963, and reverted to untransposed format from 1976.

The County of Avon came into existence on 1st April 1974 and lasted until 1st April 1996, when Bath became part of the "Bath and North East Somerset" authority.