The 1711 Act of June 9th (9 Anne c 10) instructed the master of the ship to hand inward letters over at the port of arrival, be paid one penny for each letter, or face a penalty for evasion. During the 18th century the Post Office issued the first “Shipp” / “Ship Letter” handstamps to…
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…
Irish Diaspora Mail to Ireland: 1778 entire from New York to Kilkenny, Ireland: Folded letter dated “New York Thursday 22 of October 1778” from John Colles, a portrait artist and newly-arrived Irish immigrant, to his brother in Kilkenny, Ireland, sender’s instructions on flap “To be left in the post office of Cork”, carried by ship…
Irish Diaspora Mail to Ireland: Porto to Dublin, via Falmouth, and London: Other Stamps / Envelopes / Postcards in this series: Stamps of the World – a list of stamp issuing countries (past & present) Irish Diaspora Letters – an A-Z list of incoming mail to Ireland from abroad Rare Stamps – a…
A Brief History of the Irish Post Office: Prior to Charles I ordering Thomas Witherings to set up the Irish Post Office in 1638, all post was carried by the Cavalry. Their orders were “to carry messages of the Crown as a matter of priority and to relay letters of the general public when convenient.”…
Irish Diaspora Mail to Ireland: St Vincent (via St Kitts) to Crookedstone, Co Antrim: Stamps: No stamps, i.e. pre-1840 Postal Markings: Initially rated at 3 shillings & 4 pence (deleted) Then rated at 4 shillings & 2 pence (deleted) Finally, rated at 5 shillings “S KITTS.” handstamp (RL Type 11) Addressee: Mr John Cunningham Crookedstone…
The Dublin Penny Post Postal charges were high in the 18th C, and the postage due was calculated by distance, i.e. miles. Since all letters went into the GPO for sorting, a letter from two neighbouring places (a mile from one another) could be doubled, or tripled by having to go into the city centre…
Irish Diaspora Mail to Ireland: Trindad to Tuam, Co Galway: 1793 (22 July) entire letter to Tuam, Co Galway, Ireland Pre-1840, therefore no stamps Repaired in places and a little stained An extremely early letter from the island of Trinidad Letters from 18th C Trinidad to Ireland are extremely rare Postal Markings: Initially rated “5″…
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