In Christmas with You, Louise is eagerly awaiting a letter from Malcolm. Though I don't even mention post office deliveries or have it happen on-page, it got me thinking.
Having read and watched Pride & Prejudice multiple times, I had a vague understanding that when you received a letter, you paid for the letter. Which sounds like a hugely complicated system of paperwork but whatever.
Who sent it, who received it, who paid, who didn't, who needs to pay because the receiver refused. And this went on for nearly 200 years!
The British Post Office (the GPO or General Post Office) was established by Oliver Cromwell (1657) and later confirmed by King Charles II (1660). (According to 3 sources, but not this 4th.) With the Restoration, the GPO created post offices where you could bring your mail. Or packages, mostly all that we ship today.
The item was then moved to a distribution center (still same as today) and sorted for other distribution centers then sent out for delivery. It was here that the receiver paid the post fee. This fee was based on distance carried. When the item arrived, the receiver had the right to refuse and therefore not pay. This made fees ridiculously complex and oftentimes very expensive.
I'm not sure what happened to the refused items, I presume they were delivered back to the originator, and they then had to pay--but I have no idea. I'd also presume they'd pay twice the rate, there and back, but again, no idea. The articles I read skipped over what I consider a very important piece of post office history!
It wasn't until 1840 that the first uniform stamp was introduced, the Penny Post, and that equalized rates.
The History Press | A short history of the Post Office
Postage stamps and postal history of Great Britain - Wikipedia
General Post Office - Wikipedia
The History of the Post Office | Blog | Automatic Access
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| Photo from https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/a-short-history-of-the-post-office/ |
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