INDEX
Reading edition
Abbott, Sec. P.O., Scotland, 259
Aberdeen, 54, 206
Abolition of postal tolls over Menai and Conway bridges and Scottish border, 161;
of money prepayment, 228
Account-keeping, official (blunders in), 174, 175;
postal, 62-64, 105, 106, 175;
practically revolutionised, 219
Accountant-General, the, 175
Adelaide, South Australia, 19
Adhesive stamps. (See Postage stamps)
Admiralty, the, 174, 236
Advertisement duty, the, 97
Adviser to the P.O., 214
Afghanistan, war in, 176
Aggrieved lady, an, 274
Air-gun, the, 200
Airy, Sir G. B., Astronomer Royal, 34
Albert Gold Medal, story of an, 299
Algeria, 14
Algerine Ambassador, the, 14
Allen, Ralph, postal reformer, 55, 71, 77
All the Year Round, 267
Amalgamation of two corps of letter-carriers, the, 41, 155
“Ambassador's bag,” the, 43
Ambleside, 132, 204
American Chamber of Commerce, the, 68
—— colonies, revolt of the, 17;
and the paper-duty stamp, 188
—— rancher, an, 260
Amiens, the Peace of, 35, 88
Angas, Mr G. F., 19
“Anne Pryse, her boke,” 272
Annual motion, Mr Villiers', 24
—— Reports of the Postmaster-General, 171, 176, 250
Annular eclipse of the sun, 266
Anonymous letters, 225, 264, 265
“Anti-Corn-Law Catechism,” the, 143;
League, the, 142, 143, 178
Appointments, the power to make, transferred to Post Office, 246;
excellent appointments made by Colonel Maberly, 248;
best rules for, 209, 261
Archer's perforation patent, 200
Argyll, Duke of. (See Postmasters-General)
Armstrong, Sir Wm. (Lord Armstrong), 242
Army and Navy, the, 176;
letters and money orders (Crimean War), 140
Arnott, Dr Niel, 28
Artist, a puzzled, 203
Ashburton, Lord, 39, 124
Ashley, Lord. (See Shaftesbury)
Ashurst, Mr Wm., 114
“As if they were all M.P.s,” 131
Association for abolition of taxes on knowledge, 97
Astronomical Society, the Royal, 291
Astronomy, 6, 81;
an early lesson in, 291
Athenæum Club, 31, 237;
newspaper, 29
Atterbury, trial of Bishop, 114
Auction sale of lost articles, 271
Augean stable, an, 180
Augier, M., 79
Australia, 19, 65;
mails to, 237, 238
Austria, 37;
adopts postal reform, 251
Authors who draw on their imagination for their facts, 186-189
“Autobiographic Sketches,” De Quincey, 16
Average postage on letters, the, 41, 165
Back-stairs influence, 178-181
Bacon, Mr (Messrs Perkins, Bacon & Co.), 207
Bad bargains, the State's, 262
Baden adopts postal reform, 251
Baines family, the (_Leeds Mercury_), 117, 267
Baker, Sir B., 261
Balcombe, Miss B., 27, 28
Bancroft, United States' historian, 134
Bandiera, the brothers, 114
Bankers' franks, 45
“Barbary Corsairs, The,” 15
Baring brothers, the, 114
——, Sir F., 138;
a zealous chief, 145;
first interview with, 149;
discusses terms of engagement with R. H., 149-153;
his friendly attitude, 154;
distrusts principle of prepayment, 160;
suggests compulsory use of stamps, 161;
satisfied with result of tentative rate, 162;
uneasy at increase of expenditure, 171;
his indignation at R. H.'s dismissal, 178;
dreads possible raising of postal rates, 181;
on suggested revival of old system, 212
“Barnaby Rudge,” 224
Bates, Mr (Messrs Baring Brothers), 114
Bath, 71, 77, 82
Bavaria adopts postal reform, 251
Baxter, Richard, 300
Beaumaris, 297
“Bedchamber Difficulty,” the, 144
Belated letter, a, 148
Belgians, King of the, 278
Belgium, 109;
adopts postal reform, 251, 252
Bennett, Sir J., 302
Bentham, Jeremy, 13, 34
Bentinck, Mr, M.P., 211
Bernadotte, 14
Bertram, Mr, “Some Memories of Books,” 59
Bianconi, “the Palmer of Ireland,” 88
Bible, the, 72
Birmingham, 7, 8, 10, 11, 66, 67, 84, 88, 113, 133, 162, 274
Blackstone on our criminal code, 9
Black wall, 75
Blanc, Louis, 38
“Blind man,” the, in England and France, 298
Blue Books, 100, 102;
a model one, 129
Blue Coat School, the, 1
Board of Stamps and Taxes (Inland Revenue), the, 119, 188, 197
—— Trade, 268
—— Works, 249, 250, 256
Bodichon, Mme. B. L. S., 36, 118
Bokenham, Mr, Head of the Circulation Department, 164, 275, 276
Bolton-King, Mr, 114
“Bomba,” King, 37
Bonner, post official, 84
——, A. and H. B., 195
Book post, the, 272, 273
Boswell's “Life of Johnson,” 112
Bourbons, the, 114
Bowring, Sir J., 35
Boythorn, Mr, 277
Brandram, Mr, 18
Brawne, Fanny, 29
Brazil adopts postal reform, 251
Breakdown prophesied, a, 122
Bremen adopts postal reform, 251
Brewin, Mr, 41, 42, 67
Bridport, 130, 213
Brierley Hill, 50
Bright, John, 143
Brighton, 30, 182-184, 249, 250
Brindley, Jas., 260, 261
Bristol, 84, 124, 297
British Linen Co., the, 66
“British Postal Guide,” the, 251
Brobdingnagian and Lilliputian letters, 116
Brock, Thos., R.A., 301
Brodie, Wm., R.S.A., 301
Brompton, 57
Brookes, Mr, 167
Brougham, Lord, 36, 80, 139, 140
Brown, Sir Wm., 39, 124
Browning, Eliz. Barrett, 163
Bruce Castle, 14, 16, 18, 95
Brunswick adopts postal reform, 251
Budget of 1839, penny postage proposed in the, 135
Building and correspondence, relative sizes of, 121
Bull-baiting, etc., 25
Burgoyne, Sir J., 44
Burke, Edmund, 35
Burritt, Elihu, 229
Busy day, a, 289, 290
Butler, S., “Hudibras,” 5
Cabful of Blue Books, a, 100
Calais, 56
Calverley, 22
Cambridge, 19
——, Duchess of, 164;
Princess Mary of, 164
Campbell-Bannerman, Lady, 141
Campbell, Lord, 85, 241
Canada, postal rates to, 56;
extension of Money Order System to, 220
Canals and Railway charges, 230, 231
“Candling” letters, 52, 54, 64, 105
Canning, Lord. (See Postmasters-General)
Cape of Good Hope, Steamship Co., 236, 237, 238
Carlyle, Thos., 114
Carrick-on-Shannon, 77
Carriers and others as smugglers, 66-69
“Carroll, Lewis,” 179
Carter, Rev. J., 25
“Castle Rackrent,” etc., 34
Catholic Emancipation, 26, 81, 88
—— gentleman despoiled, a, 88
Causton, Mr R. K., M.P., 302
Caxton Exhibition, the, 22
Celestial and other postal arrangements, 278
Census return (1841), 166
“Century of progress,” the, 91
Chadwick, Sir E., 28
Chalmers, Mr, M.P., 120
——, Jas., 189-193
——, P., 193, 194
“Chambers' Encyclopædia,” 192, 193
——, Wm. and Robert, 31, 140
Chancellors of the Exchequer—
Spring Rice (Lord Monteagle), 111, 135, 138, 145
Sir F. Baring, 138, 145, 149-153, 154, 160, 161, 162, 171
H. Goulburn, 173, 177
Sir Geo. Cornwall Lewis, 219
B. Disraeli, 247. (See also Disraeli)
Gladstone, 268, 288, 289. (See also Gladstone)
Chancery Lane, 21, 22
“Change of style, the,” 81
Channel Isles, 77, 156
Charing Cross and Brompton, postage between, 57
Charles II., 173
“Chartist Day,” 223, 224
Chaucer, 8, 260
Chester, 74
Chevalier, M., 159, 160
Cheverton, Mr, 198
Chile adopts postal reform, 251
China, war with, 176
Cholera at Haddington, 4
Christmas-boxes, 264
“Chronicles,” Second Book of, 72
Civil Service Commissioners and examinations, 257-261
—— war in the United States predicted, 230
Claimants to authorship of postal reform or postage stamps, 49, 53, 189-195
Clanricarde, Lord. (See Postmasters-General)
Clark, Professor, 206
——, Sir Jas., 34
——, Thos., 7
Claude, 17, 33, 34
Clerks, duties of, under old system, 64
Coaches. (See Mail coaches)
Cobden, R., 65, 109, 141;
his letters to R. H., 143, 178
—— Club, 19
Coin-bearing letters, 270
Colby, General, 123
Colchester, Lord. (See Postmasters-General)
Cole, Mr (Sir Henry), 114, 115, 190, 191, 198
Coleridge, S. T., 29, 60
Collection of postage in coin, 62, 63, 105
Colonial penny postage, 230
Colonies, the, 17, 188, 230
Colonisation Commissioners for South Australia, 19
Comet of 1858, the, 266
Commission on Packet Service, the, 235
—— on Railways, 291
—— to revise salaries of postal employees, 245, 246
Commissioners, Civil Service. (See Civil Service, etc.)
—— of Inland Revenue, Reports of the, 63, 95
—— of Post Office Inquiry, the, 98, 99, 142, 196, 197
Committee of Inquiry (1788), 80
—— on Postage, the Select (1838), 42, 58, 65, 67-69, 103, 119, 121-130, 142, 169, 270;
on Postage (1843), 142, 169
—— on canal and railway charges, 230, 231
Compulsory prepayment of postage, 269
Congestion at St Martin's-le-Grand, 256
Conservatives and Peelites, 247
Constantinople, 57
Conveyance of inland mails. (See Mails)
Conway bridge, 54, 161
Cooke, Wm., R.A., 34, 300
Corn Laws, the, 81, 111, 141, 143, 169
Corporal punishment abolished at Hazelwood, 12
Correction “removed by order,” a, 175
Correspondence and building: should they agree in size? 121
Cost of conveyance of letters between London and Edinburgh, 103
Coulson, Mr, 34
Cowper, Mr E., 21
Cox, David, 18
Craik, Mrs (Mulock, Miss), 31
Creswick, Thos., R.A., 13, 34, 300
Crimean War, 140, 182
“Criminal Capitalists,” Edwin Hill, 95
Croker, J. W., 112
Cross-posts, the, 55
“Crowd” of petitions, a, 113
Crowe family, the, 30
Crump, Mrs Lucy, 112
Crusaders and others, 40, 41
Cubitt, Sir Wm., 235, 240
Cupar-Fife, testimonial from, 295
Daily News, the, 30
Daily Packet List, the, 251
Darian Scheme, the, 238
Davenport, Mrs, 4
Davy's, Sir H., mother and Penzance, 31
“Dead” letters, 220;
auction sale at office of, 271
Deal, 44
Debating society, a youthful, 9
“De Comburendo Heretico” Act, 81
Decrease of price: increase of consumption, 101, 104
—— of prosecutions for theft, 83, 219
Definition of local penny post area, 75, 76
Degree of D.C.L. (Oxon.), 299
De La Rue & Co., Messrs, 95, 201
Deliveries, acceleration and greater frequency of, 256
“Denis Duval,” Thackeray, 83
Denman, Lord, 36
Denmark adopts postal reform, 251
Deputation to Lord Melbourne, 133, 134
Deputy Comptroller of the Penny Post, 84
Designs for postage stamps, 197
Détenu, a, 35
Dickens, Chas., 31, 163, 164, 277
“Dickinson” paper, the, 197
“Dictionary of National Biography,” the, 192, 193
“Dictionnaire du XIXe Siècle,” 79, 186, 298
Dilke, C. W., antiquary, journalist, etc., 29
Dillon, Mr (Messrs Morrison and Dillon), 115
Dining in hall, 31
Discontent at P.O., 262-265;
at tentative rate, 162
“Discourse on Our Digestive Organs,” a, 132
“Dismal Science,” the, 28
Disraeli, B. (Lord Beaconsfield), viii., 247
Distribution an only function, 106
Districts, London divided into, 74, 255
Docker's mail-bags exchange apparatus, 239
Dockwra, Wm., postal reformer, 71;
inventor of local penny posts, introduces delivery of letters, divides city and suburbs into postal districts, opens over 400 receiving offices, introduces parcel post, etc., his rates lasting till 1801, then raised to swell war-tax, 74, 75;
falls victim to Duke of York's jealousy, loses situation, ruined by law-suit, pensioned, pension revoked, he sinks into poverty, 76;
his penny post falls upon evil days, 83;
remarks on his dismissal, 80, 179, 213
Dodd, Rev. Dr, 46
Donati's comet, 266
Dover Castle, 18
Doyle, Sir A. C., “The Great Shadow,” 10
Drayton Grammar School, 1
Dubost, M., 157
Dublin, 83, 206, 228
Dudley, 50
Duncannon, Lord, 138, 139, 141
Duncombe, T., M.P., 114, 212
Dundee, 189, 190, 191, 250
Dunoon, 297
Duty stamp on newspapers, 46, 47, 95
Eagerness for postal reform among the poor, 124
Eclipse, Mr Wills and the, 266
Economy, how best secured, 253
Edgeworth, Maria, 34, 35, 163
Edinburgh, 54, 58, 59;
one letter to, 66, 78, 83, 85;
cost of letter conveyance to, 103;
a mail-coach's postal burden, 115, 116, 233;
postal revenue larger than that of Portugal, 252
Edinburgh Review, the, 112
Edison, 261
Education, impetus given to, 166-168
Edwards, Mr E., 15
Egerton-Smith, Mr, 295
Egypt, postal rates to, 56
Eight hours movement, an, 253
Elcho, Lord, 245
Elgin, Lord. (See Postmasters-General)
Ellis, Mr Wm., 115
Elmore, A., R.A., 34
Emery, Mr, his evidence, 124
Emigrants and emigrant ships, 20
Employees, number of, in London, 259
“Encyclopædia Britannica,” the (ninth edition), mistakes in article on Post Office, 186-189, 193, 196, 201
“Engaged to marry your Prince of Wales,” 279
England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, letters in, 66, 138.
(See also Number of letters)
Envelopes, 51, 52, 186, 187
Eothen, 35
Episode of a wedding ring, 302
Epping, 50
Ericsson, 262
“Essays of a Birmingham Manufacturer” (Sargent), 16
“Esther, The Book of,” 72
Estlin, Mr J., 297
Etymology, lecture on, 266
Euclid's Elements, 5
Evasions, losses, and thefts, 57-60, 66-69, 106, 146, 147, 272-275
Every division should be self-supporting, 125
Examinations, Civil Service, 257-261
Exchange of bags apparatus (Docker's), 239, 240
Excursion and express trains, etc., 183
Executions outside Newgate, 10
Expenditure, increase of, 109, 170-172
Extension of penny postage to Colonies, 230
Facilitating life insurance for staff, 219
“Facts and Estimates as to the Increase of Letters,” 135
Faggot vote, a new kind of, 3
“Fallacious return,” the, 174
Faraday, 206, 207
“Feats on the Fiords,” 15
Fergusson, Sir Wm., 34
Field, Mr E. W., 32
“Fifty Years of Public Life,” 198
Fire at Hazelwood, 18
First letter posted under new system, 162
Fitzgerald, Lord, 175
Fitzmaurice, Lord, 184
Foot and horse posts, 79
Footman prefers public to domestic service, 254
Forchammer, Professor, 279, 280
Ford, Onslow, R.A., 300
Foreign letters, reduction in postage of, 165;
foreign postal revenues, 156, 252, 253
—— pupils, 14
Forging gun barrels, 10
Forster, Mr M., M.P.; Mr J., M.P., 36
Forth bridge, the, 261
Forty miles an hour, 232
Four ounces weight limit, 108
France, 14, 18, 35, 36, 79, 87;
old postal system, 155-157;
travelling in during the 'thirties, 158;
adopts postal reform, 251, 266
Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria, 37
Francis, Mr J. C., 93, 95
Franco-German War, the, 265
Frankfort adopts postal reform, 251
Franking system, the, 42-44, 45, 48, 49, 100, 107;
proposed return to, 211
Franklin Expedition, the, 40
Frauds and Evasions. (See evasions, etc.)
Freedom of the City of London, 301
Free library, etc., at Wolverhampton, 25;
at Hampstead, 33
—— trade and protection, ix., x., 24, 101
—— traders favour postal reform, 140
Fremantle, Sir T., 120
French Post Office, the, 155-158, 221
—— revolutions. (See Revolution, etc.)
Frenchman, a brave, 265
Fry, Elizabeth, 117
Funeral of the Duke of Wellington, 239
Gallenga, 37
Galton, Sir D., 235, 267
Garibaldi, 37, 278, 279
Gavin, Dr, 253
Gazette, the, 261
George I., 74;
III., 47, 188
German Postal Union, the, 252
Germany, street letter-boxes in, 156
Gibbets, 11
Gibraltar, 56
Gladstone, Mrs, 141, 290
——, W. E., ix., x., 37, 112, 268, 288, 289, 290
Glasgow, 54, 68, 233, 294
Gledstanes, Mr, 115
Globe, the, 19
Gordon riots, the, 224
Goulburn, H. (See Chancellors of the Exchequer)
Gradual instalments, 268
Graham, Thos., Master of the Mint, 34
“Grahamising” letters, 114
Graphic, the, 301
Grasset, M., 158, 298
Gravesend, newspapers sent viâ, 46
Great Exhibition of 1851, 95;
of 1862, 279
—— Northern Railway, 232
“Great Shadow, The,”—Conan Doyle, 10
Greece, 14, 113
Greenock's first member, 98, 119. (See also Wallace, etc.)
Gregory XIII., Pope, 81
“Grimgribber Rifle Corps,” the, 266
Grote, Geo., M.P., 113
Guildhall, the, 53, 76, 302
“Guy Mannering,” 50, 78
Hackney, 76
Haddington, 4
Hale, Sir Matthew, 81
Half-ounce letters of eccentric weight, 197;
half-ounce limit, 108
Hall, Captain Basil, 13
Hall-door letter-boxes, 106, 131, 256
Hamburg adopts postal reform, 251
Hampstead, 29, 30, 32
Hanover adopts postal reform, 251
“Hansard,” 43, 80, 99, 121, 176, 212
Hardwick, Lord. (See Postmasters-General)
Harley, Dr G., 34
Harlowe, another Clarissa, 3
Hasker, 84
Hawes, Sir B., 36
Hazelwood school and system, 12-16
“Heart of Midlothian, The,” 66
Henslow, Professor, 167, 225
Henson, G., 39
“Her Majesty's Mails”—W. Lewins, 66
“Here comes Dickens!” 164
Hereford, 221
Herschel family, the, 34, 117
High postal rates mean total prohibition, 133
Highgate, 50
Hill, Alfred, 250
——, Arthur, 18, 29, 297
—— brothers, 8-16, 93, 94, 133
——, Caroline (born Pearson), 22, 23, 26;
Mr Wallace's congratulations, 141;
“mother of penny postage,” 142;
her help, unselfishness, and courage, 182, 212, 265;
the wedding ring, 302
Hill, Caroline (Mrs Clark), 16
——, Edwin, 93;
his help, a mechanical genius, supervisor of stamps at Somerset House, machines for folding and stamping newspapers, folding envelopes, embossing Queen's head, etc., author of “Principles of Currency,” “Criminal Capitalists,” etc., 94, 95;
anecdotes, 95, 96, 242, 293, 297
——, Frederick, 237, 297
——, Dr G. B., author of “Life of Sir Rowland Hill,” and editor of “The History of Penny Postage,” x, 17, 38, 71, 112, 120, 193, 286-288
——, James, 2, 4, 5
——, John, postal reformer, 74
—— ——, 2
—— ——, the younger, 3
——, Matthew Davenport, 4, 9, 21;
helps reform, 93;
first Recorder of Birmingham, 94;
advises R. H. to publish pamphlet, 96;
his reply to Croker, 112, 132, 150;
“prophets who can assist in fulfilment of their own predictions,” 150;
an admirable letter, 152;
on questioning Garibaldi, 279, 293, 297
——, Miss Octavia, 28
——, Pearson, his help in preparing this book, ix.; pamphlets, etc., 39, 47, 50, 56, 57, 65, 66, 120, 145, 180, 181, 188, 193;
on writings upon postal reform, 187;
perfects Docker's exchange-bags apparatus, is complemented by Sir Wm. Cubitt, invents stamp-obliterating machine, 240, 241;
Sir Wm. Armstrong's offer, 242;
P. H. renounces true vocation and enters Post Office, appointed to examine mechanical inventions sent there, 243;
reorganises Mauritius post office, 244, 297
——, R. and F., the Misses, authors of “Matthew Davenport Hill,”
etc., 96
——, Rev. Rowland, preacher, 1
——, Sir Rowland (Lord Hill), warrior, 1
—— —— ——, Lord Mayor of London, 1
—— —— ——, postal reformer, birth, 7;
weakly childhood, love of arithmetic, early ambition, helps in school, 8-16;
writes “Public Education” 14;
scene-painter, etc., wins drawing prize, 17;
thrilling adventure, 18;
takes home news of Waterloo, 88;
joins Association for abolition of taxes on knowledge, 97;
becomes Secretary to South Australian Commission, 18;
the rotatory printing press, 21, 22;
a young lover, 23;
some of his friends, 28-37;
his connection with the London and Brighton railway, 38, 182-184;
the heavy burden of postal charges, 44;
the franking system, 48;
first to propose letter postage stamps, 49;
Coleridge's story, 60;
reformers before him, 70-91;
many callings, 71;
his penny post not identical with that of Dockwra, 75;
on “the change of style,” 81;
doing something to the mail-coaches, 87;
in mid-'twenties proposed travelling post office, 92;
later conveyance of mail matter by pneumatic tube, 93;
discussed application of lighter taxation to letters, his brothers' help, 93, 94;
M. D. H. advises writing pamphlet, Chas. Knight publishes it, M. D. H.'s influential friends, 96;
Mr Wallace and R. H., 98;
Blue Books, 100;
reasons out his plan, 100-108;
Commissioners of P.O. Inquiry and R. H.'s evidence and plan, 98;
cost of conveyance of letters, 102-105;
pamphlet issued, 109;
plan privately submitted to Government and offered to them, declined, 111, 149;
Quarterly Review attacks plan, M. D. H. defends it in Edinburgh Review, 112;
the great mercantile houses, Press, etc., support reform, 116-118;
Parliamentary Committee formed, 119;
R. H. under examination, 119-120;
in after years excuses P.O. hostility, 126;
the Committee's good work, 129;
penny postage to be granted, 134;
writes two papers for Mercantile Committee, in House of Commons during debate, door-keepers on voting prospects, 135;
R. H. writes to Duke of Wellington, present at third reading of Bill, 138;
in House of Lords during debate, 141;
appointment in Treasury, 145;
the outsider as insider, old opponents later become friends, 146, 147;
adventures of a letter, 148;
terms of engagement, 149-153;
visits M. D. H. at Leicester, the latter's letter, 151, 152;
R. H.'s goal, 153;
first visit to P.O., 154;
finds building defective, early attendance at Treasury, 155;
visits Paris, 155-160;
suggests adhesive stamps, 107, 135, 138, 160, 196;
accepts responsibility for prepayment, 160;
by stamps or money? stamp troubles last for twelve months, 161;
tentative rate satisfactory, uniform penny postage established, 162;
congratulatory letters, 162-163;
royal visitors to P.O., 164;
testimony to benefits of reform, 166-169, etc;
delay in issue of stamps, 170;
lavish increase of expenditure, official evasions, 171-176;
visit to Newcastle-on-Tyne prevented, the “fallacious return,” 174;
error in accounts, 175;
receives notice of dismissal, 176;
offers to work without salary, 177;
public indignant at dismissal, 177-179;
R. H. and registration fee, 178;
leaves Treasury, 179, 180;
Lord Canning's curious revelation, xi., 181;
will Peel raise postal rates? 181;
joins London and Brighton Railway Directorate, 182-184;
hears of M. de Valayer's invention, 189;
Mr Chalmers' correspondence with R. H., 192;
R. H.'s proposals as to stamps, 196;
Treasury decides to adopt them, 198;
stamp obliteration troubles, 205-208;
absurd fables, 209;
Peel's Government falls, restoration to office of reformer demanded, appointed to P.O., 211;
compares his own case with that of Dockwra and Palmer, 213;
Mr Warburton on terms, 214;
R. H. willingly sacrifices good income for sake of reform, interview with Lord Clanricarde and Colonel Maberly, 215;
reorganises Bristol post office, also entire Money Order System, turns deficit into profit, many improvements effected, 215-219;
missives that go astray, 220;
relief of Sunday labour, 222-227;
the Chartists, 224;
relief to Hong Kong officials, 228;
post offices at railway stations suggested, 229;
Parliamentary Committee on railway and canal charges, 230;
efforts to obtain reasonable railway terms, 230-235;
Steamship Co.'s heavy charges, 230;
tries to obtain use of all railway trains, an acceleration of North-Western night mail train, and adoption of limited mails, 232;
suggests fines for unpunctuality and rewards for punctuality, etc., 233, etc.;
also Government loans to Railway Companies, 234;
proposes trains limited to P.O. use, 235;
Packet Service contracts: these often made without P.O. knowledge or control, 236;
route to Australia by Panama longer than rival route, R. H.'s report to that effect, 238;
exchange of mail-bags operation, 239;
stamp-obliteration experiments, 240;
workshop fitted up for P. H., who renounces prospects as civil engineer, 242-243;
R. H. examined by Commission to revise postal employees' salaries, 245;
good work done by Commission, 246;
Conservatives and Peelites, R. H. becomes Secretary to the P.O., 247;
his love of organisation, 248;
encourages staff to independence of opinion: excellent results, new post offices erected and old ones improved, provision against fire made, building, etc., transferred to Board of Works: consequent increase of expenditure, 249;
publication of “Annual Reports” begins, 250;
minor reforms made, postal reform adopted by many countries, 251, 252;
R. H. advocates economy by better organisation, a medical officer appointed, 253;
secures better terms for employees 253, 254;
his doctor's footman, 254;
London divided into districts, 255;
R. H. on Civil Service examinations, 257-261;
era of peace, discontent and threatening anonymous letters, libels by dismissed officials, worse threats, R. H.'s coolness, uneasiness of colleagues, 262-265;
lecture on the annular eclipse, 266;
P.O. volunteer corps, is introduced to inventor of Post Office Savings Bank scheme, 267;
reform by gradual instalments, 268;
compulsory prepayment of postage, 268, 269;
again recommends parcel post, pattern post established, registration fee reduced, and compulsory prepayment at last obtained, 270;
decrease of losses, tricks and evasions, 271;
old opponents friends, Messrs Bokenham, Page, etc., 275-277;
R. H. and Garibaldi, 278;
R. H. and a Danish professor, 279;
on successive Postmasters-General, 280-285;
final breakdown in health, resignation, 285;
pen-portraits and appreciations, 286-289;
letters of sympathy, 290;
joins Royal Commission on Railways, his early lesson in Astronomy, prepares his autobiography, 291;
his remarks on own career, 292; his spirit at a séance,293;
honours, testimonials, etc., 294-302;
two stories of a torn coat, 297;
strange addresses, “Mr Owl O'Neill,” etc., 298;
vases from Longton, pictures from Liverpool, statues, etc., 300;
photographs, etc., presentation of the Freedom of the City of London, 301;
death, his two noblest monuments, two Jubilee celebrations, 302;
his fittest epitaph, 303-305;
“Results of Postal Reform,” 286, 307-311
Hill, Sarah (Lea), 4, 7, 8, 10
—— —— (Symonds), 4, 6
——, Thos. Wright, 5, 6, 7, 10, 15, 16, 17, 94, 138, 291, 297
“Hillska Scola,” a, 14
Hinks, Rev. Wm., 297
“History of England, The,” Macaulay, 238
“History of Our Own Times, The,” Justin M'Carthy, 75, 92, 133
“History of the Post Office, The,” H. Joyce, 42, 45, 55, 56, 63, 70,
71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 92
“History of the Thirty Years' Peace, The,” H. Martineau, 40, 41
Hodnet, Shropshire, 1
Hoffay, Mr, 245
Hogarth, 81
Holland, 109. (See also Netherlands)
Holyhead, 54, 233
“Home Colonies and Extinction of Pauperism,” etc., 109;
home colonies in Belgium and Holland, 109
Hong Kong post office, 228;
clerks' holiday, 229
Honours, testimonials, etc., 294, 302
Hood, “Gentle Tom,” 178, 179
Hostility of P.O. (See Opposition, etc.)
Hourly deliveries, 107
House of Commons, 43, 72, 96, 111, 113, 114, 116;
Committee on Postage, 121-130;
debates on Penny Postage Bill, 135, 138, 178, 224
House of Lords, 43, 96, 111, 136, 139;
passes Penny Postage Bill, 141, 224
Household Words, 163, 266
Huddersfield, 268
“Hudibras,” 5
Huguenot Knight, Millais', 7
Hume, J., M.P., 133, 134, 212
Hungarian refugees, 37
“Hungry 'Forties,” the, 61, 169
Hunt, Leigh, 35, 110
Hutchinson, Mr, 234
Hydrographer to the Admiralty, the, 278
Iceland, 15
Iddesley, Lord. (See Northcote, Sir S.)
Impetus to education and trade, 166-169
Improvement in locomotion, x.
Improvements in Money Order system, account-keeping, holidays, 219;
in life insurance and other funds, 219, 220;
in lot of letter-carriers, sorters, etc., 253, 254, etc.
Income, a poor man's daily, 42
Increase of employment, pay, and prosperity, 101;
of postal expenditure, 109, 170, 171, 172;
of deliveries, 256;
of facilities and speed in conveyance, 69, 257
Indian Mutiny, the, 282;
P.O. becomes self-supporting, 253
Indignation at R. H.'s dismissal, 177-179
Industrial emancipation, Gladstone on, vii., viii.
Inglis, Sir R. H., M.P., 138
Inland letters most profitable part of P.O. business, 169
—— Revenue Board, the, 119, 188, 197
Inquirer, the, 297
“Intercourse, Liberation of,” x., 125
“Invasion of the Crimea, The,” Kinglakes, 35
Ireland, 44, 54, 66, 73, 74, 77, 133, 233
Irish famine, the, 81
—— haymakers and harvesters, 133
—— in Manchester, 65
Iron horse more formidable than foe on battlefield, 137
Jamaica Bill, the, 144
James II., 76, 77
Jansa, Herr, 37
Jefferson, President, 14
“John Halifax,” Miss Mulock, 31
John O' Groat's, 234
Johnson, post official, 84
——, Dr, 112
Jones, Loyd (Lord Overstone), 39, 124
Journal de St Pétersbourg, Le, 252
Joyce, Mr Herbert, “The History of the Post Office,” 42, 45, 55, 56, 63, 70, 71, 72, 76, 92
Jubilee, Queen Victoria's first, 39
—— of the Uniform Penny Postage, 57, 120
Jullien, M., 14
Kaye, Sir J., 195
Keats, John, 29
Kelly, Messrs (“The London Directory”), 301
Kidderminster, 3, 7, 300, 303
King Edward's head (postage stamp), 199
Kinglakes, the, 35
Kinkel, Gottfried, 38
Knight, Charles, 32;
publishes “Post Office Reform,” 96;
first to propose use of impressed stamp, 107, 158, 168, 189
Kossuth, 37
Kubla Khan, 72
Lachine Rapids, 238
Labouchere, H. (Lord Taunton), 138
Lamb, Chas., 29
Lambeth, 76
Land's End, 234
Larousse, “Dictionnaire du XIXe Siècle,” 79, 186, 298
Larpent, Sir Geo., 296
Last woman burnt, 9
Lea, Provost, 4;
Sarah (see Hill, Sarah);
William, 4
Ledingham, Mr, 207
Leeds Mercury, the, 117, 226, 267
Lefevre, J. S. (First Lord Eversley), 19
Leitrim, 77
Letter, adventures of a, 148, 149
—— boxes, door, 106, 107, 131, 256
—— carriers, 41, 62, 63, 105, 106;
improvement in lot of, 220, 253, 254, etc.;
letter-carrier and footman, 254;
amalgamation of two corps of, 255, 256;
the right sort of men as, 258, 275
—— folding a fine art, 52
—— smuggling, 66-69, 121, 133
“Letters, Conversations, and Recollections of S. T. Coleridge,” 60
“Letters of George Birkbeck Hill,” Mrs L. Crump, 112
Letters subjected to protective rates, 54;
refused, mis-sent, etc., loss on, 62;
no delivery before Dockwra's time, 74;
losses of, 146, 147, 221;
number of, after reform, 133, 165, 168, 169, 239;
after extension of rural distribution, 255;
sorted en route, 227;
strangely addressed, 297, 298
Lewins, Mr, “Her Majesty's Mails,” 66
Lewis, Sir G. C. (See Chancellors of the Exchequer)
Liberation of Intercourse, x., 125
Lichfield, Lord. (See Postmasters-General)
“Lie Waste,” the, 11
“Life endurable but for its pleasures,” 219
“Life of Lord Granville,” Lord Fitzmaurice, 184
“Life of Sir Rowland Hill, and History of Penny Postage,” G. B. Hill, x., 38, etc.
Limited Liability Act, the, 32
Lines, Mr, 162
Liverpool, 24, 39, 68, 83, 227, 294, 300, 301
Liverpool Mercury, the, 117, 295;
Post and Mercury, 52
Lloyd, Mr Jas., 300
Local posts, 53, 74, 75, 76, 83, 84
Lombard Street office, 74
London and Brighton railway, 38, 182-184, 185
—— divided into postal districts by Dockwra, 74;
by Rowland Hill, 255
——, pop. one-tenth, correspondence, one-fourth of the United Kingdom, 255
London School Magazine, 17
London University, 130
Londonderry, 54
Long distance runs in the 'forties, 232
Longton, Staffordshire Potteries, 300
Lonsdale, Lord. (See Postmasters-General)
“Lord Queen's Head,” 299
“Lord's Day Society's” mistaken action, 223
Lords of the Treasury, 190, 220
Losses of letters, etc., 146, 147, 220, 221, 271
Loughton, 50
Louis Philippe, King, 157
Louis XIV., 187
Lowther, Lord. (See Postmasters-General)
Lubeck adopts postal reform, 251
Lyell, Sir Chas., 34
Lyon, Mr W., 301
Maberly, Colonel (Sec. to the P.O.) disapproves of postal reform, 121, 122, 150, 155, 173, 214, 215;
Yates on, 154;
commands at P.O. on “Chartist Day,” at time of Sunday labour question, 223;
leaves P.O., 247;
excellent appointments, 248
MacAdam, 85
Macaulay, 112, 114, 131, 226, 238, 273
Macdonald (_Times_), 22
Mackenzie family, the, 5
Madrid, 78
Mahony, Mr, M.P., 120
Mails, the, by land—coaches, 64, 79, 82-90, 98, 103, 170;
railways, 109, 115, 122, 227, 240;
cost of conveyance of, 109, etc., 230-235
——, by sea. (See Packet Service)
Majority of 102 for Penny Postage Bill, 136
Manchester, 39, 65, 83, 84;
number of letters equals that of all Russia, 252
Manchester Guardian, the, 117
“Manchester School,” the, 134
Mander, Mr J., 25
Manning, “The Queen's Ancient Serjeant,” 36
“Manual of Geography,” a, 5
Map of Europe, political changes in, 251
Marco Polo's travels: the posts, 72
Margate postmaster's report, 69
Marian martyr, a, 294
Married Women's Property Act, 118
Martineau, Harriet, 15, 34, 40, 41, 55, 60, 131, 162
Master of the Posts (Witherings), 73
“Matthew Davenport Hill,” by his daughters, 96
Mauritius post office reorganised, 244
Maury, Mr, 68
Mayer, Mr, 295
Mayor, the Lord, 113
Mazzini, 37, 114
M'Carthy, J., “History of Our Own Times,” etc., 75, 92, 133
M'Kinley, Mr P., 302
Mediterranean, postal rates to the, 56
Melbourne, Lord. (See Prime Ministers)
Mellor, Mr Justice, 36
Mendi bridge, 54, 161
Mercantile Committee, the, 114, 135, 136, 137, 179, 190, 200, 296
—— houses and postal reform, 114
Mercury, a transit of, 291
Merit, promotion by, 257, 258, 262
Mexico, 14
Mezzofanti, Cardinal, 230
Miles, Mr Pliny, 230
Milford, 54
Mill, James and John Stuart, 34
Millais, Sir J. E., 7
Millington's hospital, 2, 4
Moffat, Mr Geo., M.P., 113, 134, 137, 181
Monckton, Sir G., 302
Money Order System, 140;
how founded, unsatisfactory financial condition, 217;
R. H. undertakes its management, it becomes self-supporting, increase of business, decrease of fraud, unclaimed money orders made use of, etc., 216-222;
extension of system to colonies, 220
Monteagle, Lord, 175, 290.
(See also Spring Rice)
Morgan, Professor de, 272, 273
Morley, John, M.P., vii.
Morning Chronicle, the, 56, 116
Morrison, Dillon, & Co., Messrs, 115
“Mother of Penny Postage, the,” 142
Mulready, W., R.A., 34;
his envelope, 204, 205
Murray, R., postal reformer, 70, 74
My grandmother's brewings jeopardised, 10
Napier, Sir Wm., 1
Naples (the two Sicilies) adopts postal reform, 251
Napoleon, story of, 27, 28;
the détenus, 35, 36, 260
Natal, 237
National Gallery, the, 33
Navigation Act, repeal of the, ix.
Netherlands, the, adopts postal reform, 251
“New Annual Directory for 1800, The,” 53, 76
—— Brunswick postmaster, 199
Newcastle-on-Tyne, 77, 173, 253
Newgate, executions outside, 10
New Grenada adopts postal reform, 251
—— industries created, 169
—— meaning of the word “post,” 72
—— South Wales, 65
—— York, 68
Newsbearers, coaches as, 87, 88
Newspapers, 46, 47, 57-60, 97, 116, 117, 129;
stamp duty on, 46, 47, 95.
(See also Press)
Newton, Sir Isaac, 104
Nicholson, Mr, inventor, 21
——, Mr (Waverley Abbey), 267
Nightingale, Florence, 117
Nineteenth Century, the, x.
Ninth part of a farthing, the, 104
—— Report of the Commissioners of P.O. Inquiry, 98, 196
Nominations, system of, 246
“Nonsense of a Penny post,” 131
“No Rowland Hills wanted,” 185
North British Railway, 233
North-Western Railway, 227, 232
Northcote, Sir Stafford (Lord Iddesley), 235, 245
Northern diligence, the, 78
Norway, 15, 251
Norwich, 77
Notes and Queries, 9, 52, 93
Number of letters after reform, 133, 165, 168;
in two years' time, 169;
in seventh year of reform number delivered in and round London equal to those for the entire United Kingdom under old system, 214, 239;
after extension of rural distribution, 255, 256
Obliteration by hand (stamping), 206, 240, 241
Ocean penny postage, 229
O'Connell, Daniel, M.P., 88, 132, 133;
M. J., M.P., 120, 127
Offer (R. H.'s) to give plan of postal reform to Government, 111, 149;
to give services at Treasury gratuitously, 150
Official account-keeping and “blunders,” 174, 175, 176
Old opponents become friendly, 147, 246, 247, 275
—— postal system, the, 39-69;
in France, 155-157
Oldenburg adopts postal reform, 251
“Oldest and ablest officers, the,” 80
“On the Collection of Postage by Means of Stamps,” 135, 200
Opening letters in the P.O., 114, 115
Opposition honest and dishonest, 93, 120-122, 125, 126, 145-147, 202, 212, 275-278
“Origin of Postage Stamps, The,” 50, 188, 193
Oscar, Prince, 14
Osler, Mr Follett, 13
Oswald, Dr and Miss, 38
Ounce limit, the first proposal, 108
Outsiders as reformers, 146, 265, 267
Owen, Robert, 34, 114
Oxford, 299
“Pace that killed, the,” 85
Pacific Ocean's enormous width, 238
Packet Service, the, 174, 175;
Commission sits on, contract mail-packets, etc., management transferred to P.O., evils of Admiralty control, West Indian packet service, Union Steamship Co., services to Cape of Good Hope, Honduras, Natal, reductions in cost, Australia viâ Panama not the shortest route, cost of conveyance, 230, 235-238;
improved communication, foreign and colonial, 257
Page, Mr Wm., 276, 277;
Messrs E. and H., 276
Palmer, John, postal reformer, 71;
favours Bath, increases number of coaches, 77;
proposes abolition of foot and horse posts, causes stage to become mail coaches, 79;
a visionary, 80;
placed in authority, by 1792 all coaches new, first quick coach to Bath, 82;
robbery nearly ceases, traverses the entire kingdom, 83;
looks to newspaper and penny posts, 84;
coaches said to go at dangerous speed, reach highest level of proficiency, 85;
are beaten by “iron horse,” 86;
remarks on his dismissal, 80, 179, 213, 214;
a born organiser, 220
“Palmer of Ireland, The,” Bianconi, 88
Palmerston, Lord. (See Prime Ministers)
Panama, mails viâ, 237, 238
Panizzi, Sir Antonio, 37
Paper-duty, the, 97;
stamps for “the American Colonies,” 188
Parcel post recommended, 270
Paris, 56, 155-158, 186, 221
Parker, Mr, M.P., 212
——, Mr, M.P. (Sheffield), 120
—— Society, the, 168
Parricide and matricide, 226
Parsons, Mr, 206
——, Mr J. M., 183, 184
Patent Office, the, 21
Patronage, relinquished, 246
Pattern post introduced, 270
Pattison, Mr J., 115
Peabody: American philanthropist, 188
Peace of Amiens, the, 35, 88
Peacock, Mr, Solicitor to the P.O., 121, 126, 265
Pearson, Alex., 27, 28;
Caroline, (see Hill);
Clara, 26;
Joseph, 23-26
Pease, Mr, M.P., 120
Peculation rife under old system, 63
Peel, Sir Robert, 48, 138, 144.
(See also Prime Ministers)
Peelites and Conservatives, 247
Pegasus, wreck of the, 5
Penny postage proposed in Budget of 1839, 135;
passes in Commons, 138;
in Lords, 142;
established, 162;
education encouraged, severed ties reknit, 166, 167;
beneficial effect on trade, etc., 168, 169;
other than inland, 230;
and Garibaldi, 227, 228;
two Jubilee celebrations, 302
—— posts, Dockwra's, 74, 75;
other local, 33, 76, 83, 84
Perkins, Bacon, & Co., Messrs, 198, 200, 201, 206, 207
Peru adopts postal reform, 251
“Peter Plymley's Letters,” Sydney Smith, 89
Petitions in favour of penny postage, 113, 124
Phillips, Professor, 207
Pickford, Messrs, 168
Pictures from Liverpool, 300
Pillar and wall letter-boxes. (See Street letter-boxes)
Pirate States and pirate raids, 14, 15
Piron, M., Sous Directeur des Postes aux Lettres, 157, 158, 187, 188
Place, Mr, and “Post Office Reform,” 110
Plampin, Admiral, 27
Plymouth, 20, 77;
the postmaster of, 225
Pneumatic tubes, 93
Poerio, 37
Political Economy Club, the, 19, 120
—— heads of P.O. no drones, 284
Poole, Mr S. L., “The Barbary Corsairs,” 15
“Poor Law Official Circular, The,” 166
Poor sufferers from dear postage, 42, 55, 59-62, 123
Pope, Alex., 55, 71
“Popular Tales,” Miss Edgeworth, 35
Portugal adopts postal reform, 251;
postal revenue smaller than that of Edinburgh, 252
Post, new meaning of the word, 72
Postcards, 293
Post Circular, the, 190, 191
Post Office—account-keeping, 62-64, 105, 106;
authorities oppose reform, 120-122, 125, 126, etc.;
Money Order system during Crimean war, 140 (see also Money Order system); becomes servant to entire nation, 144, 209;
only department not showing deficiency of revenue, 176;
P.O. versusStamp Office, 202;
Widows' and Orphans' Fund, 220;
transference of appointments to, 246;
unjust accusations against, 272
“Post Office Directory, The,” 301
—— ——, Indian, self-supporting, 253
—— —— Library and Literary Association, the, 266
“Post Office of Fifty Years Ago, The,” 39, 47, 56, 65, 66, 145
“Post Office Reform,” 40, 63, 64, 99, 101, 104, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 143, 192, 196, 213
—— —— Savings Bank, the, 220, 267
—— —— surveyors, the, 222
—— Offices, etc., great increase in number of, 156
—— ——, Registrars' districts without, 64, 65
—— officials fear increase of business, 121
Postage “single,” “double,” “treble,” etc., 49-52, 55, 57
—— stamps, 49, 51, 53;
impressed and embossed, 95;
description of adhesive, 107, 135, 160;
delay in issue, 170;
their collection, misleading accounts in the “Encyclopædia Britannica,” and elsewhere, 185-193, etc.;
envelopes, M. de Valayer's private post, 186;
doings of Sardinian P.O., 187;
stamps on newspaper wrappers, 107, 158, 189;
stamps useless without uniformity of rate and prepayment, 189, etc.;
R. H.'s proposals, 196, 198, etc.;
adhesive stamps recommended in “Post Office Reform,” and “Ninth Report of the Commissioners of Post Office Inquiry,” official approval of prepayment by stamps, 196;
Treasury invites public to send in designs, results disappointing, why monarch's portrait was chosen, 199;
precautions against forgery, 197-199;
description of stamp-making, 200;
Messrs Perkins & Co. make stamps first forty years of new system, are succeeded by Messrs De La Rue, stock nearly destroyed by fire, 201;
changes of colour, 201, 208;
why issue delayed, 202;
eagerly adopted when issued, where to stick Queen's head? anecdotes, 203;
uncancelled stamps, the Mulready envelope, 204;
cleaning off obliterations, 205-208;
public interested, many experiments and suggestions, 206, 207;
the black penny becomes red, 208;
public prefer adhesive to embossed, absurd fables, 209
Postal Circular, the, 251
Postal contribution to war-tax, the, 47, 55, 76
—— districts, London divided into, 74, 255
Postal Guide, the British, 251
Postal Parliament, a, 222
—— rates. (See Postage “single,” etc., and other headings)
—— reform and reformers, 70-90, 100, 108, 127, 129, 144, 180, etc.
—— revenue. (See Revenue, etc.)
—— Service, advantages of, 254
—— Union, the, 276
Postmaster-General on crutches, a, 221
Postmasters-General—
Lord Lichfield, 120, 139
—— Lowther, 120, 178, 182
—— Clanricarde, 212, 213, 214, 215-219, 224, 229, 230, 280
—— Hardwicke, 247, 248, 268, 286, 281
—— Canning, xi., 181, 235, 281, 282, 284
Duke of Argyll, 184, 234, 241, 259, 283
Lord Colchester, 220, 238, 267, 283
—— Elgin, 283, 284, 299
A later Postmaster-General, 284, 285
Postmen. (See Letter-carriers)
Potatoes at Kidderminster, 3, 7
Prepayment of postage, 49, 105, 106, 107, 124, 160, 162, 189, 196, 202, 203, 228, 268, 269, 270
Press-gang, the, 10, 11
Press, the, generally favours postal reform, 116;
on R. H.'s dismissal, 177.
(See also newspapers)
Priestley, Joseph, 6, 7
Prime Ministers—
Lord Melbourne, 111, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 139, 141, 144, 145, 171, 173, 291
Sir Robert Peel, 143, 177, 180, 181, 182, 184, 211
Lord John Russell, 211, 212, 280, 281, 296
—— Palmerston, 299
W. E. Gladstone, 289.
(See also Chancellors of the Exchequer)
Prince of Wales, the, 280, 299
Princess's portrait, a, 279
“Principles of Currency,” Edwin Hill, 95
Printing press, the rotatory, 21, 22, 71
Private penny post, M. de Valayer's, 157, 158, 186-188
Profitless expenditure, 51, 60-62, etc.
Promotion by merit, 257, 258, 262
Prophecies and prophets, 80, 130
Protection applied to correspondence, 54, 161
Protestant despoiler, a, 88
Prussia adopts postal reform, 251
Public buildings barricaded, 224
“Public Education,” 14
Pulteney, Sir Wm., 66
Punch, 136, 180, 184, 299, 303-305
Pump, story of a, 146, 147
Puritans, the, 4, 6
Quarterly Review, the, 112, 187
Queen Adelaide, 19
—— Anne, 76
—— Caroline's trial, 87
—— Victoria, 39, 40, 64, 66, 119
Queen's head: postage stamp, 95, 167, 199, 205, 208, 294
Quincey, De, 16, 35
Radical Row, 144
Radnor, Lord, 113, 135
Raikes Currie, Mr, M.P., 120, 127
Railway, London and Brighton, etc. (See other headings)
Railways, supersede coaches, 89, 109;
conveyance of mails by train dearer than by coach, mails first go by rail (1838), 109;
heavy subsidies to, 170, 171, etc.;
sorting of letters on, 227, 228;
applications made to, acceleration of night mails, companies demand increased payments, twenty-one separate contracts, trains limited to P.O. service, 231-235;
improved communication, 257
Ramsey, Mr, 221
Rea, Mr E., 252
“Recollections and Experiences,” E. Yates, 154, 280, 285
Recovery of gross revenue, 122, 165
Reform Bill of 1832, the, 23, 98
“Reformer, the,” 195
Registrars' districts without post offices, 64, 65
Registration of letters, 99;
fees, 178, 270
“Registration, The Transfer of Land by,” 19
Relays of horses, 82
Relief to Hong Kong officials, 228, 229
Rennie, Sir J., 261
Report of the Committee of Inquiry (1788), 80;
of the Committee on Postage (1843), 169
Reports of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, 63, 95;
of the Commissioners of Post Office Inquiry, 98, 196, 197;
of the Select Committee on Postage (1838), 42, 58, 64, 65, 67, 69, 103, 123-126, 129, 130
“Results of Postal Reform,” 286, 307-311
Revenue from coaches, increase of, 102
——, National, 72, 97
——, Postal, 42, 43;
in seventeenth century, 72, 73, 102, 108, 109, 122, 126, 165, 169, 175, 176, 252;
foreign, 102, 156
Revolution, the French, of 1789, 14, 17;
of 1848, 158, 221
Richmond, the Duke of, 137
Rintoul, R. S., the Spectator, 116, 117;
his daughter, 117
Riots at Birmingham, 7
Ritchie, Mrs Richmond, 34
Roberts, David, R.A., 32
Robespierre's Secretary, 14
“Robinson Crusoe,” 5
Roebuck, J. A., M.P., 36, 43
Rogers, S., “the banker poet,” 32
Roget, Dr, “The Thesaurus,” 35
Romance in a culvert, 23;
in a coach, 89, 90
Romantic lawsuit, a, 159, 160
Romilly, Sir S., 10
“Rowland Hill Benevolent Fund, The,” 302
“Rowland Hill: where he is,” 298
Rufini, 37
Rural distribution, 166, 167, 170, 172, 255
Russell, Lord John (Earl Russell), 36, 134, 135, 205.
(See also Prime Ministers)
Russia adopts postal reform, 251, 252;
number of letters in 1855, 253
S. G. O.'s Letters, 169
Sabden, 65
Sabine, Sir E., 34
St Alban's and Watford mails, 227
St Colomb, Cornwall, 71
St Helena, Napoleon at, 27, 28
St Martin's-le-Grand, 153, 154, 163, 228, 243, 248, 250, 253, 256, 262, 263-265, 277, 293
St Peter, 279
St Priest, M., 158
Salisbury, Lady, 141
Saltney, Gladstone at, 289
San Francisco, 57
Sardinia, 187, 188, 251
Sargent, Mr. W. L., 16
Saturday night deliveries, 227
Savages in England, 11
Savings Bank. (See Post Office, etc.)
Saxony adopts postal reform, 251
Say, three generations, 158
Scholefield, Mr, M.P., 113
Schoolmistress, an ill-informed, 294
Scotland, 54, 66, 73, 74, 297
Scotsman, the, 117
Scott, Sir Benjamin, 302
——, Sir Walter, 50, 66, 78, 79, 99, 295, 296
Secretary to the P.O., Scotland, 211
“Sedition made easy,” 112
“Seminaries of Useless Knowledge,” 294
Settembrini, 37
Seven miles an hour! Preposterous! 79
Seymour, Lord (Duke of Somerset), 120, 128, 138
Shaftesbury, Lord, 48
Sheffield, near Rotherham, 84
Sherman, Mr, 293
Shiel, Mr, 114
Shrewsbury, 2
Siberia, postal rates to, 57
Sibthorpe, Colonel, M.P., 136
Sikes, Sir Chas., 267
Simplicity versuscomplications, 105
Smeaton, 261
Smith, Mr B., M.P., 36
“Smith, John,” and friend's fraud, 58, 60, 69
——, Mr J. B., M.P., 36, 143
——, Southwood, Dr, 28
——, Sydney, 1, 89, 131
Smithfield and the martyrs, 157
Smuggling letters, 66-69, 121, 133
Smyth, Admiral, 34
Snooks! 203
“Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge,” the, 139
—— of Arts, the, 299
“Some Memories of Books,” a story from, 59
Somerset House, 94, 95
Somerville, Mary, 117
Sorters, improvement in their lot, 253, 254
Sorting in travelling post offices, 92, 227, 228
Southampton, the press-gang at, 11
South Australian Commission, the, 19, 148
—— Kensington Museum, the, 191, 302
South-Western Railway Co.'s offer, 215
Spain, 14;
adopts postal reform, 251, 252
Spanish gentlemen to the rescue, 29
Spectator, the, 116
Spencer, Herbert, 261, 262
Spirits called from the vasty deep, 293
Spring Rice. (See Chancellors of the Exchequer)
Spy, taken for a, 18
Squire's firewood, the, 3
Stamp obliteration, 241
—— Office versusP.O., 202
“Stamped covers, stamped paper, andstamps to be used separately,” 197
Stamps and Taxes (Inland Revenue) Office, 119, 188, 197
——, postage. (See Postage stamps)
Stanfield, Clarkson, R.A., 32, 300
Stanley Gibbons & Co., Messrs, 201
—— of Alderley, Lord, 284, 285
Stationery and walking-sticks, 272
Statues at Birmingham, Kidderminster, and London, 300
Steamship Co.'s. (See Packet Service)
Stephenson, Geo., 110, 260
Stockholm, 14
“Story of Gladstone's Life, The,” 133
Stow & Co., 217
Stowe, John, 1
Stracheys, the, 5
Strangely addressed letters, 297, 298
Street letter-boxes, 147, 156, 187
Sun, the, 226
Sunday labour relief measures, 222-227
Survivals of the Old System, 255
Sweden, 14, 251
Swift, Dean, 52
Swindon, 266
Switzerland adopts postal reform, 251
Symondses, the, 2, 4, 5
Taunton, Lord. (See Labouchere, Mr)
“Taxes on knowledge,” 47, 97, 189
“Taxing” letters, 49, 105, 106, 116, 125
Taylor, R. (Marian martyr), 294
Telegraphs, State purchase of, 267, 268, 293
Telford, 85, 261
Tentative fourpenny rate, 133, 161
Tenth January 1840, scene at the General Post Office, 162
Testimonials and honours, 294-302
Tettenhall Road and the culvert, 23
Thackeray, 30, 31, 34, 35, 83
Thayer, M., 221
Theft, story of a, 274
“There go the Corn Laws!” 141
“Thesaurus, The,” Dr Roget, 35
Thompson, Colonel Perronet, 143, 225
—— Sir H., 34
Thomson, Poulett, M.P. (Lord Sydenham), 120, 128
Thornley, Mr Thos., M.P., 24, 120
Throckmorton, Mr, 24
Thurso, 54
Tichborne claimant, the, 194
Tilly, Sir J., 284
Times, the, 116, 129, 216, 226
Tipping the little Hills with gold, 184
Torn coat, two stories of a, 297
Torrens, Colonel, 19
——, Sir R., 19
Tottenham, 14
Travelling in France in the 'thirties, 158
—— post offices, 92, 227, 228
Travers, Mr J., 115
Treasury, the, invites public to send in designs for stamps, 194, 197, 249, 251, 286
Trevelyan, Sir Chas., 245
—— Sir Geo., 273
Trial by jury at school, 12
Tripolitan ambassador, the, 14
Trollope, Anthony, 277, 278
Turner, J. W. M., R.A., 18, 33, 34
Tuscany adopts postal reform, 251
Twenty-one separate contracts, 234
Two sympathetic door-keepers, 135, 136
“Two Letters,” Gladstone's famous, 37
Two thousand petitions, 113
Twopenny post, the, 84, 161, 255
—— rate, proposed and carried, 129
Tyburn, 46
Tyson, Mr, 52
Umbrella, story of an, 33
Unclaimed money and valuables, 219, 220
Uniformity of postal rates, 105, 108, 125, etc.
“Union of my children has proved their strength, the,” 94
—— Steamship Co., the, 236
United States, 56;
mails to, 68, 69;
civil war predicted, 230;
adopts postal reform, 251, 252
Unjust accusations, P.O., 272
Unpaid letters in 1859, 269
Uselessness of postage stamps before 1840, 49, etc.
Valayer, M. de, 157, 158, 186-188
Vases from Longton, 300
Vaughan, Dr, 225
Victorian women, the early, 117, 118
Villiers, Hon. C. P., M.P., 24, 111, 120, 149
Vinter, Mr, 301
Virginia, the University of, 14
Vision of mail-coaches, a, 86, 87
Voluntary work at Hazelwood, 13;
at the P.O., 222-224
Volunteers, the P.O., 266
Wages, increase of. (See Improvements, etc.)
Wakefield, E. G., 19
Walcheren Expedition, the, 159
Wales, the Princess of, 279
Wall letter-boxes. (See Street, etc.)
Wallace of Kelly, R., M.P., postal reformer, 90;
proposes charge by weight, public competition in mail coach contracts, appointment of Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry (Postage), establishment of day mails, registration of letters, reduction of postal charges, more frequent mails, etc., 98, 99;
advocates R. H.'s plan, sends him Blue Books, 100;
Chairman of Committee, 119;
his two casting votes, 127, 128;
his zeal and toil, favours penny rate, 129;
supports Penny Postage Bill, 138;
writes to Mrs Hill on its passing, 141;
urges Lord Melbourne to give appointment to R. H., 145, 181;
retirement and death, 212
Walmsleys, the, 37, 143
Walsall, 67
“Walter Press,” the, 22
War with France, 10, 18, 47
War-tax, postal contribution to the, 47, 55, 76
Warburton, Hy., M.P., 120, 127;
serves on Parliamentary Committee and writes report, 129;
favours penny rate, “Philosopher Warburton” at home, 130;
on deputation to Lord Melbourne, questions Government in House, “Penny Postage is to be granted,” 134;
advises R. H. to attend debate, 125;
supports Bill, 138;
urges giving appointment to R. H., 145;
and restoration to office, 212;
interviews Postmaster-General, 214
Watch-smuggling, 273;
a stolen, 274, 275
Waterloo, the battle of, 1, 88
Watford and St Albans' mails, 227
Watson, Mr, 207
Watt, James, 261, 303
“Waverley,” 78
Wedding ring, episode of a, 302
Weighing letters, 125
Weight of chargeable letters one-fourth of the entire mail only, 103;
average carried and capable of being carried by coach, 123
Wellington, Duke of, 1, 136, 137, 138, 141, 224, 239, 260
Wesley, John, 81
West Indian Packet Service, 236
West, Mr, on Etymology, 266
Westminster, 76;
the Hall, 156;
the Abbey, 301, 303
Wheatstone, Sir Chas., 34
Whitehead, Sir Jas., 302
Whiting, Mr, 189, 198
Widows' and Orphans' Fund, the P.O., 220
Wild and visionary scheme, a, 120
Wilde, Sir Thos. (Lord Truro), 36
Wilkinson, Mr W. A., 115
William I., German Emperor, 266
—— III., 81;
—— IV., 19, 119
Wills, Mr W. H., 31, 163, 266;
Mrs Wills, 31
Wilson, Mr L. P., 115
Window immortalised by Dickens, a, 163
Witch mania, the, 81
Witherings, postal reformer, gives new meaning to the word “post,” made “Master of the Posts,” an able administrator, dismissed, 72, 73, 78;
remarks on his treatment, 80, 179
Wolverhampton, 11, 23, 25, 26, 50, 52, 133, 294
Wolves, 159
Wood, Mr J. (Stamps and Taxes Office), 188
——, Mr G. W., M.P., 120
Works of Reference, 185, 186, 192, 195, 196
Wreckage, postal reform narrowly escapes, 127, 129
Wurtemberg adopts postal reform, 251
Wyon, Wm., R.A., 199
Yates, Edmund, 154, 266, 280, 285
“Year of Revolutions, The,” 221, 239
York, 74, 77
——, James, Duke of, 76
Yorke, Hon. and Rev. G., 225
Young, Arthur, 78
Zerffi, Dr, 37
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