An Introduction to the Postal History of Bishop Marks

Colonel Henry Bishop

The handover of power from the Commonwealth to the restored King Charles II was one frought with delays, difficulties and financial shenanigans. The old role of “Master of the King’s Post” was redesigned to become “Postmaster General” and it paid the incumbent £21,500 per year to run the Post Office for a term of seven years – more than double the previous remuneration. When Colonel Henry Bishop became the first Postmaster General of England in the year 1660, his letters patent gave him the monopoly to carry letters within the kingdom.

• His appointment was to start on 25 June 1660, but was delayed until 29 September when the Act of Parliament reconstituted the General Post Office
• Bishop claimed no less than £500 in compensation for the loss of income because several independent posts had been started between London and the country
• These new services could not be suppressed until an Act was passed; they infringed on his monopoly to carry letters

The appointment of Bishop (from 25^th June 1660 until 6^th April 1663), his compensation and the subsequent reform of The Post Office did not go down well in some quarters and Bishop was soon charged with “the unneccessary delay of letters in the post” by a number of still powerful plaintiffs in Parliament.

Bishop acted quickly and announced his reform in the Mercurius Publicus – a weekly newspaper published in London and distributed throughout the empire “Being a summary of the whole week’s intelligence, faithfully communicating all material occurrences, both domestick and foreign.”

He introduced the first date-stamp in the April 1661, in answer to accusations of unwarranted postal delivery delays, but probably also to stem the individual profiteering by those employed to collect and deliver post.

• All post from England and Wales was ‘town’ or route postmarked and first went to London where it was date-stamped (with a Bishop Mark) with the fee penned in ink that was to be charged upon delivery before it was distributed via the post roads.
• Likewise, all mail posted in the Kingdom of Scotland first went to Edinburgh
• And all mail posted in the Kingdom of Ireland first went to Dublin

The Bishop Mark:

The Bishop Mark: “A stamp is invented that is putt upon every letter shewing the day of the moneth that every letter comes to the office, so that no Letter Carryer may dare detayne a letter from post to post; which before was usual.”

This so-called “Bishop Mark” is the first dated handstamp for letters being passed through the post and it was introduced by. It was designed to show the date (day & month) a letter was received by the Post Office and to ensure that the dispatch of letters would not be delayed. Being the first of its kind, it is very popular with both collectors and postal historians. His postmarks are believed to have first come into use in late April 1661.

• These postmarks were usually applied on the back of the (folded) letter and are known initially used in the Chief Office in London but were introduced later in Dublin, Edinburgh and the North American colonies (including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Quebec and Nova Scotia). They were also used in British India.
  • The Foreign Section of the General Post (incoming overseas mails) also used a Bishop Mark and this was in use from 1661 to 1797 with the month always above the day. The Foreign Section used this type of Bishop Mark for longer than the Inland Section.
  • Irish Bishop Marks date stamp from as early as 1670, but there are a number of differences between these and the London Bishop Marks. For example, from 1796 the year was included.
    • For further information see, Irish Postal History: An Introduction to the Irish Bishop Marks (coming soon)
  • The first Scottish Bishop Marks were small and oval, the circular ones coming into use from 1725. The stamps were different from the English ones, because originally they were made up of two halves. The Post Office had 12 upper half stamps with the months of the year in two letters, and a diameter, and then 31 half-circles of the dates 1 to 31, with no diameter. These were then put together each day. Sometimes the halves did not match up perfectly. The month was always above the day, and the stamps were originally applied in black ink but from 1714 red ink was used.
  • The American version, sometimes called a “Franklin Mark,” had no dividing line. This was a defining feature of the colonial Bishop Marks, i.e. they did not have the bisecting line. They appear in various colours.

Three Main Variations:

There are three main types: Type 1: the original London Bishop Mark, first used 19 April 1661 consisted of a small circle of 13mm diameter, bisected horizontally, with the month (in serifed lettering) abbreviated to two letters, in the upper half and the day of the month in the lower half.

Type 2: In 1673, a new mark was brought into use which had a diameter of between 13mm and 14mm. The type used from this point was sans-serif and this continued in use until 1713.

Type 3: In 1713, larger handstamps were introduced which ranged in size from 14mm to 20mm. The layout of these was also changed, with the month appearing at the base. This type remained in use until 1787, when it was replaced by the double circle type.

References:

• Alcock, R.C. & Holland, F.C. (1977). British Postmarks: A Short History & Guide
• Feldman, David & Kane, William (1975). Handbook of Irish Postal History. Dublin: Feldman
• Hemmeon, Joseph Clarence (1912). The History of the British Post Office. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
• Hendy, John G. (1905). The history of the early postmarks of the British Isles from their Introduction down to 1840. London: L. Upcott Gill
• Joyce, Herbert (1893). The History of the Post Office from its establishment down to 1836. London: Richard Bentley & Son
• Willcocks, R.M. & Jay, B. (1996). British County Catalogue of Postal History
• Willcocks, R.M. (1972). The Postal History of Great Britain & Ireland