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THE
POST IN GRANT AND FARM
[All Rights Reserved]
THE
EARLY HISTORY OF THE POST
IN GRANT AND FARM
BY
J. WILSON HYDE
CONTROLLER IN THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE, EDINBURGH
AUTHOR OF
"THE ROYAL MAIL: ITS CURIOSITIES AND ROMANCE" AND "A HUNDRED YEARS BY POST"
LONDON
ADAM & CHARLES BLACK
1894
PREFACE
There has not hitherto been published any detailed account of the first establishment, in this country, of the Post Office as a public institution; nor does it appear that anything has been made known of the men who were instrumental in building up this useful fabric, in the years of its infancy, beyond the barren mention of their names. In some cases, moreover, in such bald notices as have been given of the early posts, important names are wholly omitted, and in others the names of men are associated with events in which they had little concern. What is disclosed in the following pages is an attempt not only to give a fairly full and true account of the first forty years' existence of the Inland Posts in Britain, but to tell something of the men to whom the credit is due of contriving and bringing into working shape this great machine of public convenience and utility. The facts here narrated are collected from the Public Records, original documents, and other authentic sources. In the extracts which have been made from original papers, modern orthography, as being more convenient for the reader, has been generally employed; but in a few cases the tone and flavour of the antique have been retained in the original spelling.
I have to acknowledge with gratitude the very kindly assistance given me by librarians, not only in Edinburgh but elsewhere, and by other gentlemen in public positions, who have assisted me in clearing up points of difficulty.
Edinburgh, 1894.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
The King's Post—John Stanhope's patent, 1590 1
Wages of Chief Postmaster— Confusion of terms "post," "packet," etc. 2
Charles I. in need of money—Offices bought and sold—Scope of Lord Stanhope's patent 4
New office created of Postmaster for Foreign Posts, out of the king's dominions 5
De Quester and his son appointed Foreign Postmasters 6
Contest between Stanhope and the De Questers—Who the De Questers were 7
William Frizell and Thomas Witherings succeed the De Questers 8
Letters for the public carried by the Foreign Postmasters—Delays of the posts 11
Philip Burlamachi, subsequently Acting Postmaster—Who he was 13
Orders for the Foreign Posts drawn up by Secretary Coke 14
Witherings visits the Continent 15
Posts by estafette, or fixed stages, established—Dover packet 16
Quarrels between Witherings and others—Witherings suspended from office 17
Witherings and Frizell contend for possession of the office 19
Sir John Coke, Witherings' patron 21
Conflicting opinions of Witherings 22
Merchants petition in favour of Witherings 23
Attempts to set up rival posts 24
CHAPTER II
Witherings recovers his office 27
Settlement of accounts during period of sequestration 28
Post stages in France 29
Robberies of Channel packets 30
Measures taken to resist attacks—More outrages 33
People of Calais attack the English packet boat 39
Armed packet boat, the Speedy Post, provided 42
Witherings' family connection 43
Stated to have been a papist, and Gentleman Harbinger to the Queen 44
Probable interest at Court—Said to have been a mercer of London—His wife—She assists in purchasing his office—Value of money in middle of seventeenth century 45
Corruption and Court favouritism 46
Inland Posts 47
Means for sending inland letters—Probable conveyance by postmasters on their own account 48
Conveyance by carriers 49
Postmasters on Western Road set up a chain of posts for letters of the public, 1630—Foot post from Barnstaple to Exeter to work into the London posts 50
Project for Inland Public Posts, 1633—Estimated number of letters then reaching London 52
Troubles with postmasters and hackneymen on Dover Road as to charges 53
Pressing of horses—Difficulties between postmasters and public 54
Stanhope interferes with the public conveyance of letters by the Western postmasters—He tries to raise the price of purchase of their offices 57
Petition of Foreign Post messengers dismissed by Witherings 59
Foot post between London and Dover—Carrying gold out of the realm 60
Speed of posts, 1633 62
Condition of roads and difficulty of travelling 63
Quality of English horses and riders 68
CHAPTER III
Witherings propounds a scheme of Inland Posts for use of public, 1635 69
Proclamation issued for giving effect to his proposals 75
Probable difficulties of working 77
Deputy postmasters unable to supply fit horses 78
Arrears of deputies' pay 80
Stanhope's removal from office, 1637 85
He petitions for arrears of pay 86
Reasons for his removal suggested 88
The manner of his removal 90
Patent granted to Witherings for Foreign Letter Office 91
Stanhope's place granted to Secretaries Coke and Windebank 92
Witherings appointed their Deputy—Claim to Stanhope's late office by Endymion Porter 93
Servile language of the period 96
William Lake applies for some benefit in the Post Office 100
Deputy Postmaster of the Court 101
Scale of wages allowed to deputy postmasters 104
Direct courses of old roads 107
New regulations for the posts, July 1637 108
The king's troubles in Scotland 121
The mails run thick 122
Women oppose the introduction of the Service-Book 122
Plague at Hull, 1637 125
Method of disinfecting letters 126
CHAPTER IV
The Secretaries consider as to the removal of Witherings—Reasons for proposed removal 127
Troubles with public carriers—Carriers contend for their right to convey letters 129
They are supported by the Norwich merchants 131
Concessions made to the carriers 133
Jason Grover, carrier, imprisoned 135
Proclamation settling Witherings' office 138
Complaints made by postmasters 140
Demands for horses 145
Complaints against postmasters made by the public 146
Traffic in postmasterships 153
More petitions from postmasters 155
Witherings quarrels 156
Difficulty with the Earl of Northumberland 158
CHAPTER V
Sickness of Witherings and his reported death—Philip Burlamachi applies for Witherings' office 161
Divisions in the kingdom 163
Proposed opening of post letters 164
Burlamachi's services to the King's party 165
Fight for the possession of a post letter 166
A proposed duel over the seizing of post horses 169
Packet boat employed between Whitehaven and Dublin—Witherings' office sequestered 173
Attacks upon Witherings 175
Nature of charges made against him 177
The Secretaries of State try to undo Witherings—Witherings imprisoned—Assigns an interest in his place to the Earl of Warwick 179
Committee of the House of Commons to consider question of the Posts—Deliverance in favour of Witherings as regards the Foreign Letter Office 181
Deliverance respecting the Inland Posts 182
Decision against Witherings, Coke, and Windebank, in regard to imprisonment of carriers 183
Rough treatment of Witherings 185
Earl of Warwick urges ejection of Burlamachi 186
CHAPTER VI
Inland Letter Office to be delivered to Earl of Warwick 187
Burlamachi required to produce accounts 188
Mails to be seized and delivered to the Earl of Warwick 189
Burlamachi imprisoned—He produces accounts 190
Foreign Letter Office remains with Witherings, the Inland Letter Office with the Earl of Warwick 191
James Hickes, clerk in the Foreign Letter Office—Goes over to the King at Oxford 192
King Charles sets up an independent system of Posts 193
Imprisonment of Hickes 195
Witherings assessed by Committee for Advance of Money 196
Earl of Warwick removed from the Post Office, and Mr. Prideaux ordered to settle post stages 197
Orders to search the mails—Witherings to prosecute Wilkes for seditious speeches 198
Witherings prosecuted on a charge of taking part in an insurrection in Essex 199
He is acquitted—Has a serious illness, and makes his will 200
Packet boat taken by the Irish—Irish packets in 1650 201
The Council recommend that the Posts be in the sole power and disposal of Parliament 202
Council of State place Mr. Prideaux, Attorney-General, in charge of the Inland Posts—Witherings still enjoys the Foreign Letter Office 203
Serjeant-at-Arms ordered to search the mails 204
Vigilance of the Council 205
Council consider the question of the Foreign Letter Office 206
Renewed charges of delinquency against Witherings 207
Witherings alleges malicious prosecution—He is acquitted 209
Contributes £1000 "to the going-away of the Lord-Lieutenant for Ireland" 210
Witherings' death—Epitaph to Witherings in church at Hornchurch, Essex 211
His character and work 213
CHAPTER VII
Council of State to consider question of the Inland and Foreign Posts 216
Foreign Letter Office carried on for behoof of Witherings' son and nephew 217
Rival claimants for possession of the Posts, Inland and Foreign 218
Suggestions made by the Committee for the Management of the Posts—The Posts to be farmed and tenders called for 219
Tenders 222
Council of State let the Posts—Inland and Foreign—on farm to John Manley 223
Rival posts 224
The "first undertakers" for reducing the postage 225
Prideaux's agents murder a post-boy 228
The "first undertakers" drive Prideaux out of the field 229
Council furnish Manley with warrant to take possession of the Posts 231
His method of taking possession 232
CHAPTER VIII
Manley at the head of the Posts—Who he was 234
John Thurloe, Secretary of State, to manage the Post Office 235
Act passed for Post Office, 1657 235
Postage rates 236
Post Office farmed to Thurloe—Interception of letters 237
Mails violated 238
Mails searched for counterfeit gold—Value of Post Office to ruling powers 240
Thurloe removed from the Post Office 241
The Farm passes to Dr. Benjamin Worsley 243
His previous employments 244
Worsley turned out of the Post Office 245
Thomas Scott controls the Post Office 246
Scott a regicide—His execution 247
CHAPTER IX
Colonel Henry Bishop obtains the Farm—Who he was 249
His burial-place—Some conditions of the Farm 250
Clement Oxenbridge's influence at the Post Office 251
Scramble for places at the Restoration 252
Some petitions 253
Disaffected staff in the Post Office 256
Number of officers 258
Letters first stamped 260
Charges against Bishop 262
Bishop ceases to be Farmer 264
Colonel Dan. O'Neale succeeds to the office 266
O'Neale's previous career 267
Attempts to put down irregularities 269
Independence of the Edinburgh Deputy 271
Profits of Post Office settled on Duke of York 272
CHAPTER X
Music at the Post Office 273
The Plague of London 277
Petition of James Hickes 280
The Great Fire of London 282
Locations of the Post Office 283
Labels or post-boys' way-bills 284
Stages from London to Berwick 286
Times of transit of Continental Mails 287
News collected through the Post Office 287
Rate of travelling by post-boys in 1666 291
Notice taken of neglects 291
CHAPTER XI
Lord Arlington becomes Postmaster-General 293
His Deputy Postmasters-General 294
Country deputies pay a fine for continuance in office 296
Reduction of salaries 297
Early post-office letter-books preserved 300
Colonel Roger Whitley appointed Arlington's Deputy 300
Wages further reduced—Exemptions enjoyed by Deputies 305
Dilatoriness of the deputies in making payments 307
Delays of mails in Wales 308
Advantages of farming the Post Office 310
Conciliatory character of Whitley 311
Whitley pushes business 313
By-letters 315
Whitley's opinion of attorneys 317
On Conformity 318
CHAPTER XII
Caustic correspondence 319
Liverpool's first horse-post 320
Circulation of Irish letters 321
One delivery a day in London 322
The Packet Service 323
An express way-bill 325
Ship letters 325
Irregular conduct of masters of packet boats 327
Tonnage of packets 329
Proposed transit through England of letters from Flanders and Holland to Spain and Portugal 330
Whitley's sympathy for his seamen 331
Want of accommodation for letters at the post-houses 332
Careless treatment of the mails 334
Young post-boys 336
Lame horses 337
Whitley's care for Members of Parliament 338
Foreign craftsmen brought over in packet boats 339
Salary of post-master of Edinburgh 340
Accidents to post riders 341
Treatment of Dead Letters 341
Whitley's obliging nature 343
His views of the wicked rebellion 344
Presents made to Whitley 345
Whitley's love of oysters 349
Delayed payment for conveying expresses 350
Duke of York a Postmaster-General 351
THE POST IN GRANT AND FARM
CHAPTER I
In order to understand the circumstances under which the public postal service in England was first established, it is necessary to go back to an earlier period, and look at the patents granted to the Chief Postmasters, whose duties did not then go beyond the forwarding of despatches for the monarch or his government. A patent granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1590 to John Stanhope, as Master of the Posts, was surrendered to James I. in 1607, and (with the view, no doubt, of securing the succession to Stanhope's son) a new patent was granted to Stanhope, now Lord Stanhope of Harrington, and to Charles, his son and heir-apparent. The appointment was as "Master of the Messengers and Runners, commonly called the king's posts, as well within the kingdom as in parts beyond the seas, within the king's dominions." The nominal wages or fee attaching to this office amounted to £66, 13s. 4d. per annum, being the same as was granted to the Postmasters Sir William Paget and John Mason in the year 1545. But there were casualties attaching to the office, yielding a more certain income, which were doubtless the sums paid by the deputies for admittance to their employments. This will be referred to hereafter.
In studying the post-office history of this early period, the inquirer is apt to be misled by some of the terms used; for the words "post," "postmaster," "pacquett," and the like, were not always applied in the modern sense, the word "post" sometimes serving to designate common carriers, and "postmaster" being used indifferently to indicate the Master of the Posts and the postmasters on the roads. The word pacquett was also applied to common carriers. An instance of the last mentioned is given in M'Dowall's Chronicles of Lincluden. A letter was written from the abbey on the 24th August 1625, to the "richte noble and verrie guid Lord the Earl of Nithisdaill," in which the following words appear:—They "intreat the richt guid lord to help them suddenly—at once; and more especially that he would procure an order from the King's Treasurer to stay the legal proceedings directed against them, until His Majesty's pleasure in the matter shall have been made known. Because of the urgency of their case, the noble lord is requested to favour them with an answer by a bearer of his own in the event of the ordinary 'pakett' being unavailable." Now the word "pakett" here does not refer to the post, but to the packman—the carrier—with his pack of goods. In what follows we shall endeavour, as far as possible, to use terms that will prevent any confusion of the kind indicated.
The reign of Charles I. was one full of abuses. The king required money to maintain the excesses of his Court; his ministers were called upon to find the money; they themselves had to wring it out of the pockets of the people; and its passage through their hands produced such attenuation that but a small portion reached the royal coffers. Clarendon says that of £200,000 drawn from the subject in a year by various oppressions, scarcely £1500 came to the king's use or account. Monopolies in trade were granted for lump sums paid down, offices were bought and sold, no man seemed secure without support of a patron, and patronage was a marketable commodity.
It will be remembered that Lord Stanhope's patent covered not only the control of the inland posts, but the posts in foreign parts, within the kings dominions. Although Stanhope was not by patent specifically empowered to send or work posts in foreign parts, out of the kings dominions, it appears to have been his practice to do so, undertaking, as may be supposed, all the various duties of conveying the king's letters and packets to whatever parts they might be directed.
A somewhat similar condition of want of funds as that existing in the reign of Charles distinguished the reign of his father, James I.
Now it is quite probable that, for the sole purpose of raising money by the sale of a new office, advantage was taken by James of an opening in Stanhope's patent, to make a new appointment of Master of the Posts in Foreign Parts, out of the kings dominions. By the recital of a patent bearing date the 30th April of the seventeenth year of James I., we learn that the king "appointed that there should be an office or place called Postmaster of England for Foreign Parts, being out of the king's dominions; that the office should be a sole office by itself, and not member or part of any other office or place of Postmaster whatsoever; and that there should be one sufficient person or persons, to be by the king from time to time nominated and appointed, who should be called the Postmaster or Postmasters of England for Foreign Parts, etc.; and, for the considerations therein mentioned, the king appointed Mathew de Quester, and Mathew de Quester, his son, to the said office; to hold to them the said Mathew de Quester, the father, and Mathew de Quester, the son, as well by themselves, or either of them, as by their or either of their sufficient deputy or deputies, during the natural lives of Mathew de Quester, the father, and Mathew de Quester, the son, the said office of Postmaster of England for Foreign Parts, for their natural lives and the life of the survivor," etc.
On the setting up of the De Questers, Stanhope was naturally unwilling to surrender part of the service which he had hitherto undertaken, and a long contest took place between Stanhope and these men, resulting, as it would appear, in confirming the latter in their new office, and in the discomfiture of Stanhope.
Thus from the seventeenth year of the reign of James I. down to the period upon which we are about to enter, commencing in 1632, and for some years thereafter, there were in England two distinct Masters of the Posts—one for places within the kingdom itself and in foreign parts, within the king's dominions; the other for foreign parts, out of the king's dominions. Stanhope filled the one office, the De Questers the other.
It is interesting to know who the people were that are now passing in review before us at this distant date. A return made to the Council by the Lord Mayor in 1635, of strangers inhabiting London, tells us something of the de Questers. It is this:—"In ward of Billingsgate, St. Andrew's parish. Mathew de Quester, late Postmaster, born in Bruges, of 64 years' continuance in London; naturalised by Act of Parliament. All his family English born." He was probably one of the many foreign merchants who at that period were gathered together in the neighbourhood of Lower Thames Street.
By letters patent, dated 15th March 1632, the office of Master of the Posts for Foreign Parts, out of the king's dominions, was made to devolve upon William Frizell and Thomas Witherings. Mathew de Quester the younger had died, and the elder de Quester being stricken in age, "the king ... declares his will and pleasure, that the office shall have perpetual continuance, and grants unto William Frizell and Thomas Witherings, gentlemen, the office of place of Postmaster of England for Foreign Parts, out of the king's dominions; to do all things to the said office belonging and appertaining; to hold, exercise, and enjoy the said office of Postmaster of England for Foreign Parts, out of the king's dominions, together with all powers, etc., by themselves or either of them, or their or either of their sufficient deputies, during their natural lives and the life of the survivor, from and after and so soon as the said office shall become void by the death, surrender, forfeiture, or other determination of the estate of Mathew de Quester, the father. The king prohibits all persons other than the said William Frizell and Thomas Witherings from intruding themselves in the said office after the determination of the estate of Mathew de Quester; and the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, the Secretaries of State, etc., in their several jurisdictions and places, are not only to be aiding and assisting the said Frizell and Witherings, but to the utmost of their power to repress all intruders."
The patent, it will be observed, only vested the patentees in the office as from the death of de Quester; and de Quester the elder was still living. Accordingly, with a view to Frizell and Witherings being at once admitted to the active management of the place, a proclamation was issued, on the 19th July 1632, to the following effect:—
"The late king appointed Mathew de Quester, the father, and Mathew de Quester, the son, Postmaster for Foreign Parts for their lives. Mathew de Quester, the son, being dead, and the father aged and infirm, he (that is, de Quester) has appointed William Frizell and Thomas Witherings his deputies. The king approves this substitution, and charges all his subjects that none of them, other than the said Frizell and Witherings, presume to take up or transmit foreign packets or letters."
Thus Frizell and Witherings entered upon their office as Foreign Postmasters on the 19th of July 1632.
It must be understood that, though there was no authority for carrying letters of the public at this time by the inland posts, it was the practice of the foreign posts to carry the letters of merchants and others to and from the Continent,—and the posts who actually conveyed the packets would seem to have been men engaged in mercantile traffic. The following letter, dated Westminster, 16th October 1632, from Humphrey Fulwood to Sir John Coke, Principal Secretary to His Majesty at Court, throws a good deal of light upon the subject:—
"Upon inquiry of Mr. Burlamachi, what should be the cause why letters have not of late come from Germany, the Hague, and Brussels, as usually, he entered into a large relation of the present disorder of the posts. He imputed the fault merely to the posts who have heretofore bought their places. They more minding their own peddling traffic than the service of the State or merchants, omitting many passages, sometimes staying for the vending of their own commodities, many times through neglect by lying in tippling-houses. The opinions of Mr. Burlamachi and Mr. Peter Rycaut favourable to Mr. Witherings and Frizell in their places of Postmasters. For reformation they both agree in one, and that with the proposition wherewith Mr. Witherings hath formerly acquainted your honour. The displacing of these posts, and laying of certain and sure stages whereby His Majesty will save, as Mr. Burlamachi will make appear, above £1000 or £1500 yearly, now expended for expresses," etc.
Mr. Burlamachi, whose Christian name was Philip, and Peter Rycaut were merchants in London, and would no doubt be well informed as to the way in which the mail service was conducted. In the Lord Mayor's return of foreigners residing in London in 1635, Burlamachi is described as follows:—"In the ward of Langbourne, in St. Gabriel, Fenchurch. Mr. Philip Burlamachi, merchant, naturalised by Act of Parliament. He was born in Sedan in France, and has been in England this thirty years and more. He hath certain rooms at Mr. Gould's house in Fenchurch Street, for his necessary occasions of writing there some two or three days in the week; but his dwelling-house, with his wife and children and family, is at Putney." Burlamachi, besides being a merchant, was a great financier, and, as will be seen hereafter, he had intimate relations in money matters with the Court.
Not very long after the date of the letter above quoted, namely, on the 28th January 1633, the following orders for the Foreign Postmasters and packet posts were drawn up by Secretary Coke:—
"In consequence of complaints, both of Ministers of State and merchants, it is thought fit to send no more letters by carriers who come and go at pleasure, but, in conformity with other nations, to erect 'staffetti' or packet posts at fit stages, to run day and night without ceasing, and to be governed by the orders in this paper. Among these it is provided that the Foreign Postmasters shall take the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, shall have an office in London, and shall give notice at what time the public are to bring their letters. A register is to be kept of the writers or bringers of all letters, and of the parties to whom they are sent. The letters are to be put into a packet or budget, which is to be locked up and sealed with the Postmasters' known seal, and to be sent off so that it may reach Dover while there is sufficient daylight for passage over sea the same day. Various other minute regulations are laid down, both for the carriage of the packet to Dover, the sending of the passage-barks to Calais, and the transmission from stage to stage. The course to be adopted with letters received from beyond seas is laid down with equal minuteness. Letters for the Government and foreign ministers residing here were to be immediately delivered to them, after which a roll or table of all other letters was to be set up in the office for every man to view and demand his letters."
In pursuance of the scheme here sketched out, Witherings appears to have been sent to the Continent shortly thereafter; for on the 8th April 1633, he writes from Calais (to Sir John Coke probably) describing the steps then taken in the business:—
"Right honourable and my good patron, I found here the Countess Taxis' secretary with the postmaster of Ghent, they having settled stages betwixt Antwerp and Calais for the speedy conveyance of letters; they have placed a postmaster at Dunkirk, having dismissed all their couriers, and seven days hence they intend to begin by the way of 'staphetto' (estafette) from Antwerp to London; their request is we shall do the like, which accordingly I have ordered my man to do, having taken order at Dover for the passage. The governor of this place promiseth me all favour.
"The boatmen of this place who take their turns for Dover I find unwilling to be obliged to depart upon the coming of the portmantell. But upon the advice of Mr. Skinner and other merchants of our nation in this place, I have found out a very sufficient man, who will oblige himself, with security, that for forty shillings he will wait upon the coming of the packet, upon sight whereof he will depart, engaging himself to carry nothing but the said packet. Asks directions, and will stay till the first packet shall come by 'staphetto' from Antwerp."
This then was the commencement of the forwarding of the continental mails by fixed and regular stages, instead of by carriers proceeding through the whole way, and engaged in other kinds of business.
Witherings had not long entered upon his office, jointly with Frizell, when troubles began. In the year 1633, a curious complication came to light, in which not only Witherings and Frizell, but two or three other persons were involved, and which resulted in the temporary suspension of the Foreign Postmasters from their functions. The matter is referred to in a memorandum from the king to Secretary Windebank, dated August 1633. It runs thus: "The king having granted the place of Foreign Postmaster to his servant William Frizell, he has given the king to understand that, whilst he was beyond seas, Thomas Witherings endeavoured to defraud him of that place, the examination whereof the king has referred to Secretary Windebank. The king understands, moreover, that the place has been mortgaged for money, both by Frizell and Witherings, which he condemns in them both; and has therefore thought good, for the present, that the place shall be sequestered into the hands of Mathew de Quester, the king's ancient servant in that place. Windebank is therefore to send for John Hatt, an attorney, in whom the legal interest of that place, for the present, is vested, and to will him to make an assignment thereof to de Quester."
Although the question of this sequestration was not finally disposed of till the year 1634, the period during which Witherings was removed from the active management and possession of the place was from the 4th September to the 28th December 1633. The details of the arrangement of this business are not easily understood, but it would seem that the first step was to get rid of the attorney; and with this in view the Earl of Arundel (the Earl Marshal) advanced about £1000 to pay off Hatt, the earl retaining possession of Witherings' patent. Another claim was put forward by one Robert Kirkham for £200, due 25th May 1633, for a reversion of the Postmaster's office surrendered to Witherings and Frizell. This indebtedness was not denied by Witherings; but how there came to be a reversion in favour of Kirkham does not appear.
Prior to the difficulties in connection with the suspension of Witherings and Frizell from office, these two men were not getting along smoothly. On 5th June 1633, Witherings writes to (Secretary Coke probably) ... "I hear Mr. Frizell declares that the Lord Marshal will, by His Majesty's means, compel me to deliver the place back again, and pretends he will have a bout with me for my own moiety. I beseech you move His Majesty as occasion shall offer, for I am confident the king will be much moved for (in favour of) Mr. Frizell." On 19th June of the same year, Witherings writes to Humphrey Fulwood: "Mr. Frizell is at the Court, pretending that Witherings owes him a great sum, and intending to move His Majesty for a proclamation for possession of the whole place (of Deputy Foreign Postmaster), offering security to be accountable if it be recovered from him again. Witherings owes him nothing. He has sent the affidavit of Frizell's own servant to Secretary Coke. Prays Fulwood to speak to Mr. Secretary that Witherings suffer not in his absence." On the 3rd July, Witherings again writes to Fulwood: "To answer all Frizell's allegations would be troublesome. Upon their meeting, Frizell spoke of paying Witherings back his money; but he is not able. Assures Fulwood that he can clear himself—with the help of his noble friends he doubts nothing. Desires Fulwood to sift him (Frizell presumably), for the knowledge of his intents doth much advance Witherings." Then on the same day, as it happens, the Earl of Arundel, who was at Stirling with the king, writes to Secretary Windebank: "Mr. Frizell's business is referred to Windebank to examine and report to the king. Needs not entreat him to do Frizell favour, since his case is so well understood, and the foulness of Witherings' abuse, which the writer is confident Windebank will represent as it deserves."
Sir John Coke seems to have been the patron and protector of Witherings, who, in a letter to Coke about this time, concludes his communication with the words: "I rest, though never rest, to pray for your honour as my only patron." In a letter sent by Coke to Windebank on the 25th May 1633, Witherings is introduced to the latter thus: "The bearer is the Postmaster who went over to Antwerp and Calais and settled the business of the foreign letters. He has settled with Frizell's assignee, so as the charge of the office is again reduced to one hand. Frizell never did any service in the place, but the king never till now heard of Witherings' name. How he satisfied the merchants, their testimony witnesses; how he acquitted himself at the Council Board, their Order declares. He complains that he is now called again upon some reference which His Majesty remembers not. Secretary Coke must avow that hitherto he has carried himself honestly and with general approbation." The settling with Frizell's assignee may possibly refer to the paying-off of Attorney Hatt by means of money found by the Earl Marshal already referred to.
The criticisms made upon Witherings at this time are somewhat conflicting, and on that account it is not by any means easy to determine what sort of a man he was. On the 31st May 1633, Secretary Windebank writes: "Mr. Witherings the Postmaster's industry and dexterity for that place appeared at the Council-table by many testimonies, in the midst of much powerful opposition. Mr. Witherings misbehaved himself toward my Lord Marshal and his son, the Lord Maltravers, and how he will be able to give them satisfaction I know not." On 9th June, Lord Goring, Master of the Horse to the Queen, writes: "I must highly commend the extraordinary care of the posts; and especially Mr. Witherings, the Master, of whose care Her Majesty hath taken most especial notice, for he is indeed the most diligent in his services that ever I saw."
In commendation of Witherings' plans and work, a petition was presented to the Council in April 1633, signed by fifty-four merchants in London, to the following effect:—"By their Order (the Council's Order) of the 6th February 1633, it was determined that letters should be sent by staffeto or pacquet posts; according to which Order Thomas Witherings, one of the Postmasters for Foreign Parts, has, by consent of foreign states, settled the conveyance of letters from stage to stage, to go night and day, as has been continued in Germany and Italy; by which agreements letters are to be conveyed between London and Antwerp in three days, whilst the carriers have for many years taken from eight to fourteen days, having played the merchants, and answered complaints by saying that they had bought their places and could come no sooner."
Early in 1633, an attempt was made to set up another foreign-post service, as appears by a petition from eighty-nine London merchants, addressed to the king, as follows:—"They are informed that some strangers living here have made choice of a postmaster by whom they have sent their letters, whilst His Majesty has chosen William Frizell and Thomas Witherings for his Postmaster for Foreign Services, who have hitherto carried themselves carefully. Pray the king to protect them (Frizell and Witherings), and not to suffer strangers to make their own choice." While on this subject of unauthorised posts, it may be noted that in December 1633, Burlamachi writes to Secretary Coke respecting a post set up in Paris, to work thence to London. He says: "I must not fail to tell you that yesterday a courier from France called upon me, who appears, from what he says, to have agreed with the postmaster of Paris, to take up the letters for conveyance to and from that city and London. I told him that this was a proceeding that could not be allowed, and counselled him to return to Paris, which I believe he has done. It is to be considered that, if the mails for France and Flanders are not soon put into good order, all will go into confusion. We might have letters to or from Paris in five days and less, while at present they take fourteen days to come."
This statement does not reflect creditably upon Witherings' system of posts established early in the year; but at this time Witherings was under sequestration of his office, and it may be that de Quester, who was temporarily in charge of the situation, had allowed matters to go back into their old groove.
CHAPTER II
The sequestration of Witherings' office of Foreign Postmaster ceased on the 28th December 1633, but it was not till the 20th August 1634 that he was made legally secure in his place. On this latter date he writes to Sir John Coke as follows:—"Four days past he procured his Order to be drawn up by Sir William Becher (clerk of the Council in Ordinary), which he shewed Mr. March, the Earl Marshal's steward, who went with Mr. Witherings to Mr. Recorder, whose opinion was, that the Order not only cleared Frizell in law and equity, but all others." Witherings had, however, to sign a covenant holding the Earl Marshal harmless, and thereupon the patents were signed over to Witherings.
It is tolerably clear that de Quester and Witherings were not on particularly good terms. At anyrate the former wrote to Secretary Coke in March 1633, complaining against Witherings "for breaking open a packet directed to de Quester, and using disdainful speeches of him." He also reminds the Secretary of a promise "that he should receive no damage or detriment."
The occurrence of the sequestration has been the means of leaving on record details of these early posts which would not otherwise have survived. A statement of the accounts of Mathew de Quester during the sequestration of the post office in London for foreign parts (i.e. 4th September to 28th December 1633), made up in the year 1634, gives much curious information, as also Witherings' comments on various alleged inaccuracies therein. "Witherings desires that de Quester may bring in all the rolls and books of accounts, from which Witherings may draw out a just account. Among the items in this account, covering a period of seventeen weeks, are the following:—For three portmantles, £1, 12s.; for cord and cloth to cover the mails, 2s. 6d.; for pack-thread to bind up the letters, 9s. 5d.; for pens, ink, and paper to write and to pack, £1, 1s.; to George Martin for carrying letters abroad, seventeen weeks, £2, 11s.; to John Ridge for the like service, £2, 11s.; to clerks' allowance for seventeen weeks, at the rate of £60 per annum a piece, £39, 4s. 8d.; for candles, wax, and sealing-thread, 5s. 4d.; one quarter's rent for the office and other rooms, £10." In another paper, making further remarks in objection to de Quester's accounts, Witherings suggests "that if he and Lynde, who is paid £60 per annum for nothing else but to keep the accounts, were jointly to inspect the rolls and accounts, they would be able to 'just' them in one day."
There is reason to conclude that at this time some of the stages in France were under English control; for on the 20th August 1634, Witherings writes to Secretary Coke that he "had procured the French ambassador's letters for settling the stages in France, and to-morrow he begins his journey. At his coming to Paris he will write Coke of all that passeth."
We may assume from the foregoing particulars that the posts with the Continent were now laid in stages, and in a way to expedite the mail service not previously existing.
The channel was, however, about this time infested with foreigners who plundered the mail packets and robbed the passengers. A few instances may be interesting.
On the 24th June 1635, the deputy postmaster of Dover writes to Secretary Coke:—"On Tuesday, 16th, he received advertisement by certain seamen whom the writer employs for carriage of the merchants' letters to Dunkirk, and to bring the same from thence, that, coming by Calais, their shallop and such passengers as were in it were rifled of all the money they had and some trifles, and the mail (wherein His Majesty's and the merchants' letters were put) was taken away by men of Calais, who laid them suddenly aboard with a small shallop full of musketeers. This advice coming to the writer in the night very late, he wrote to Mr. Witherings, and did not then give the Lord Warden's deputy notice, by which means the news came to His Majesty's knowledge before it was written of to the Lord Warden."
Again, in the month of August, Henry Hendy, the post of Dover, had an unpleasant experience. In an examination which he underwent touching the facts, he states that, "going to and returning from Dunkirk, he has been robbed five times within these seven weeks—four times by the French, and once by a Flushinger. They shot at him, and commanded him to strike, calling him and the rest 'English dogs'; and coming aboard, they used violence, beating them, stripping them of all their money, apparel, and goods, and took from the post all his bundle of letters, among which was a packet from the king. The post showing them his pass from Secretary Coke, they bid him keep it to wipe his breech." The ill words of calling the men dogs seem to have been in common use in the channel at that time; for Sobrière, a Frenchman who visited England at the period in question, makes mention of the incivility which his countrymen received on landing at Dover, the children running after them and calling with all their might, "A Mounser! a Mounser!" and, as they warmed up, they became more offensive. When told to be off, they would cry out, "French dogs, French dogs."
But the English were not content to undergo all this offence and ill-usage without showing that they could fight, and were prepared to maintain their position on the high seas. The measures taken in this sense are described in the following despatch, dated 14th August 1635, from Admiral Lord Lindsey to Secretary Coke:—"On Saturday last, speaking with the post of Dover that plys to Dunkirk, the writer found him unwilling to undergo the service any longer, unless he were better provided to resist the violences offered him. The earl encouraged him, and lent him fifteen men, well fitted with muskets and half-pikes and swords, and sent them aboard his ketch. On Sunday morning they went off from Dover, and in the afternoon were chased awhile by a shallop, and then by a Holland man-of-war that made six great shots at them. The Sampson, which the writer had the day before employed to sea, was in their sight, but they durst not bear up to him, for then they had been overtaken; but keeping upon a tack, they were too swift for the man-of-war, who, after five hours' chase, left them in open sea. The next morning, between Gravelines and Calais, the same shallop that used to rob the post came to the ketch, as near as a man might throw a biscuit into her. The master of the ketch had stowed all the men within, there to remain until he should give the watchword, when they were to appear and give fire. The shallop shot four or five times at the ketch, and hailed the master and the rest in such English as one of them could speak, crying out, 'English dogs! strike, you English rogues! we will be with you presently,' the chief of them, in a red coat, flourishing his falchion over his head. Hereupon the master gave the word; and the men came out, pouring shot so fast into the shallop that the French had not power to return one shot, but rowed away with a matter of four using oars that were left of about sixteen men. It was a dead calm, and the ketch had neither oars nor boat to help her, otherwise she had brought away the shallop and the remainder of the men. The post has desired the same supply again for his defence on Sunday next; the writer has taken order accordingly, and furnished him also with letters of safe-conduct."
In the following month, September, another outrage upon the mail boat was committed. Waad, the deputy postmaster of Dover, gives an account of the transaction, and a capture made thereafter, in a letter to his chief, Witherings, on the 26th September. He writes: "The manner of taking the boats by those that were laid in Dover Castle was: that the Zealanders shot at them divers times, when one of the packet boatmen struck sail and showed the Lord General's warrant, which they slighted, and were like to stab the old man whom Waad trusts with the mail, with base words to His Majesty. The place was off the Splinter, betwixt Gravelines and Dunkirk. The day was the 2nd instant; and on the 3rd, setting out another boat with the mail, one of the ketch told Waad that he saw the captain that took them and some of his men; whereupon, about twelve in the night, he called the watch and carried the captain and other two to the town jail, having paid Sir William Monson's gentlemen's dinners and horse-hires to acquaint the Lord General in the forenoon before that the vessel was in Dover road. Whereupon Sir William Monson came into the road and took the ship out, and sent his boat after ashore. The prisoners being claimed by Sir William Monson, and also by Mr. Moore, Secretary to the Lord Warden, the Mayor adjudged to Sir William, who carried them to the Lord General. After examination, he returned them to Dover Castle; but their ship was cleared in the Downs, and on the Sunday morning took a bylander of Bruges; also that night the prisoners made escape out of the castle by a mat twisted very laboriously." The meaning of this last sentence probably is, that these sailors untwisted the strands of a mat, then spun the material into a kind of rope, and let themselves down from their cell in the castle.
Again, in February 1636, another outrage was perpetrated on the packet boat. The particulars are furnished by the examination of William Dadds, master; Harry Hendy, passenger; and Richard Swan, servant to William Dadds. They swore as follows:—"The Earl of Lindsey authorised His Majesty's passage boat at Dover to wear a flag of His Majesty's colours upon the rudder-head. It hath secured the said boat from the Dutch, the French, and Spaniards ever since till Tuesday last; at which time the said boat, riding at anchor by Dunkirk harbour, near the Splinter fort, with the said flag, there came down from the said fort three musketeers, and shot three or four volleys of shot at the said packet boat, and in the hull of the said boat some of the shot are still to be seen. They retired to the said fort, and shot one piece of great ordnance at the said boat. The three musketeers began to beat the said R. Swan with a crabtree cudgel of two inches about; they came aboard, searched the packet boat, and fetched W. Dadds ashore, and made him pay 20s. in money, which H. Hendy laid down to prevent imprisonment. The master and his company, in the dark of the night, set sail and came away. The serjeant-major and the soldiers gave no other reason, than because they came not on shore to fetch the searcher on board; and if they did not the next time come to fetch the searcher aboard, they would hang the master upon the gallows. And this is the first time that ever the searcher did question His Majesty's packet boat."
Several other violations of the packet boat occurred about this time, and a good deal of friction arose between the peoples on the two sides of the channel; but probably the robberies were partly the result of conditions arising from the unsettled relations existing between England and the countries on the Continent at the period. The English took extreme measures with these pirates, as will be seen by the two following despatches from the Earl of Suffolk to Secretary Coke:—
"July 30, 1636, Dover Castle.—Since the writing of his last letter, and the condemnation of the French prisoners, two of them, who were quitted and returned to Calais, reported there that, after the condemnation of the prisoners, three of them were presently hanged; whereupon the people of Calais were much influenced, and have committed many insolencies, as will appear by the enclosed examination.
"Declaration of John Adams of Gillingham, Kent, master of the John of that place:—Arriving with the packet ordinary from Thomas Witherings, His Majesty's Postmaster for Foreign Parts, he received from the master of a ship of Lynn this intelligence: That the people of Calais came aboard, to the number of 300 or 400, presently after the arrival of the two sailors cleared at Dover, in the Court of Admiralty, and assaulted the master and company of the said ship, beating all the company, wounding the master, and doing many outrageous acts—which are stated here with a good deal of confusion, and probably exaggeration. The informant concludes, that carrying the mail to the postmaster of Calais, and having His Majesty's colours at the stern of his ketch, the people came down upon them, throwing stones to the endangering of their lives, and rending the said 'unite' colours.
"August 3, 1636.—By all men that come from Calais, he perceives that there is in that town a froward inclination against His Majesty's subjects, and therefore sends him (Sir John Coke) this present information from the master of His Majesty's packet boat, that the Secretary may thereupon use means to the French ambassador, or otherwise, to prevent greater mischiefs that may happen.
"Enclosure.—Information of John Keres of Leith, mariner, that about the 4th July, carrying over to Calais Mr. Witherings, His Majesty's Postmaster, as soon as he came on shore they threw stones at informant that he could not walk in the streets without great danger; and being forced by stress of weather out of that road for Dunkirk, a little off Gravelines he met with three French shallops of Calais, who commanded him to strike, and then boarded him, spoiled his bark, beat him with their swords, and would have taken the clothes off his back. Having nothing in his bark worth pillaging, they went their way."
Shortly after this period, it was thought fit to provide an armed vessel for the channel service. It was named the Speedy Post; and we find that in February and March 1637 there was some correspondence between the Council and the officers of ordnance as to the supply of six brass guns for the Postmaster's frigate, the Speedy Post of London. It is probably to this vessel that Evelyn refers in his diary, under date of the 10th October 1642:—"From hence (Dunkirk), the next day, I marched three English miles towards the packet boat, being a pretty fregat of six guns, which embarked us for England about three in the afternoone. At our going off, the fort against which our pinnace ankered saluted my Lord Marshall with twelve greate guns, which we answered with three. Not having the wind favorable, we ankered that night before Calais. About midnight we weighed; and at four in the morning, though not far from Dover, we could not make the peere till four in the afternoon, the wind proving contrary and driving us westward; but at last we got on ashore, Oct. the 12th."
Leaving these squabbles of the channel for a time, it will perhaps be convenient to consider for a moment who Witherings was.
By the "Visitation of London, 1633-4," we find it stated that Thomas Withering, "Postmaster of England for Forrayne Parts," was a second son; that he was of a Staffordshire family who had property in that county for many generations; that an uncle named Anthony Withering was a yeoman usher, and his elder brother a gentleman sewer—both places, we apprehend, attaching to the Court. In proceedings held before the Council in June 1633, of which Secretary Windebanke made notes, and wherein Thomas Witherings was interested, mention is made that Witherings was stated to be a papist, and "to have been at one time gentleman harbinger to the queen." The office of harbinger was that of "agent in advance," the harbinger proceeding one day ahead of the queen, to secure for her suitable lodging and entertainment on occasions when she was upon progress. If Witherings really held this office of harbinger, it is possible that he may have shown a leaning towards papacy (though in later life he was a declared Protestant), for King Charles' wife Henrietta Maria was a Roman Catholic herself, and many of her followers were of that religion. There is nothing improbable in the suggestion that Witherings held the office of harbinger, seeing that his brother and uncle were servants at the Court; but whether he was or was not, he would have, by his friends, interest with the royal family. In a remonstrance of the grievances of His Majesty's posts in England, carriers, waggoners, and others (1642), "miserably sustained by the unlawful projects of Thomas Witherings," Witherings is referred to as "sometime mercer of London." Of this mention will be made hereafter.
Witherings was married to Dorothy, daughter of John Oliver of Wilbrougham; and she brought him a fair fortune. In a petition or representation made by her after Witherings' death, she mentions that £105 a year of her land was sold to assist him in procuring his place as Postmaster.
It is well here to remark, in relation to this sum, and the matter should be borne in mind in perusing what follows, that £105 in 1632 would be equivalent to about £420 in the present day. Professor Masson, when speaking of the relative equivalents of English money now and in the first half of the seventeenth century, gives his impression "that any specified salary in English money (of that time) would have purchased at least four times as much, whether in commodities or in respectability, as the same English money would purchase now." As only a portion of Mrs. Witherings' land was sold, she must have had a very respectable fortune of her own.
Witherings lived in an age characterised by corruption, by Court intrigue and Court favouritism, when envy and uncharitableness struggled for place and power, and when those who failed to secure the royal smile were in imminent danger of going to the wall. He did not achieve his official career without attempts being made to oust him from his place. Many general allegations were made against him of irregularities committed in his office, but for the most part with an irritating absence of any definite charges; and in the opposite scale we have the fact that he was still Postmaster for Foreign Parts at the time of his death, in the year 1651.
We have hitherto been dealing with the Postmastership for Foreign Parts; and having accompanied Witherings over a portion of his service, it will be convenient now to see what was going on in the inland posts. It will be remembered that Charles Lord Stanhope was the king's Postmaster at Home and in Foreign Parts, within the king's dominions. The duties of Stanhope were to appoint and supervise the deputy postmasters on the roads, to provide for the conveyance of letters to or from the king or the Court, and, generally, letters on State business; but there was no arrangement, recognised as a State service, for the conveyance of letters of the merchants or the public generally by the deputy postmasters under Stanhope. Although this was so, there is apt to be some misapprehension as to the means available at this time for the forwarding of letters of the public throughout the country. It might be supposed that no machinery to this end existed. There is, however, we think, every probability that while the postmasters were not officially authorised to convey letters from place to place, they did so, and reaped some benefit from the work. The postmasters throughout the country were constantly sending guides and horses between their several stages; the horses had to be brought back by the guides to their headquarters; and it would be surprising if the postmasters, when opportunity offered, did not undertake the carriage of letters for a fee. Further, in a State-paper office document, dated 1635, it is mentioned that the king's postmasters carried the subjects' letters, but up to that time had never reaped any benefit from it. The meaning of this must be, that the Chief Postmaster and his predecessors had never reaped any benefit; but it is not likely that the deputy postmasters, who did the work, would perform the service for nothing. When the carriage of letters was afterwards taken up as a State affair, we shall hear an outcry for arrears of wages due to the postmasters, who previously were apparently content to let that matter lie over, deriving their profits from the letting out of horses, and the fees from the carriage of private letters. But the carriers with their carts and pack horses also conveyed letters for the public, and though the travelling was slow, it extended to all parts. By consulting old calendars and like books of reference, the reader will see how extensive was this carrying business, down to the time when it was superseded by the railways. But we are not left in any doubt as to the part the country postmasters took in the carriage of letters for the public, at anyrate on the Western road from London to Plymouth, antecedent to this period, for by a petition which will be quoted hereafter from the postmaster of Crewkerne, it will be seen that, under an Order of the Council of State, dated the 24th February 1630, a weekly carriage of letters had been set up by the several postmasters on that road for their own profit.
Confirmation is given to this statement by papers belonging to the borough of Barnstaple, under date the 17th September 1633. It is there recorded that the Mayor and Aldermen of Barnstaple established communication between their borough and Exeter by means of "a foote post to goe weekly every Tuesday morning about seaven of the clock in the morning from the said towne of Barnstaple unto Exceter, and to be there at the postmaster's howse in Exceter the Wednesday morning, and there to deliver unto the post whiche is to goe that morneing toward London all such letters as shalbe sent him to be conveyed unto London, ... which foote post is to stay in Exceter untill the London post for that weeke shall come from London, and shall take upp all such letters as the said post shall bringe from London," etc. It is then explained that, "by means of which so speedie conveyance, men may in eleaven days write unto London and receive answers thereof backe again, and their friends and factours may have three dayes' respitt to give answere unto such letters as shalbe sent; as also any man receiving letters from London may have like time to answer the same," etc. Now, if we deduct from the eleven days here mentioned the two days coming and going of the foot post between Barnstaple and Exeter, and the three days' "respitt" in London, it leaves only six days for the double journey between Exeter and London, or three days for a single journey of over 170 miles. There is no doubt whatever from these statements that there existed, prior to Witherings' posts, a regular weekly horse post from London to the West of England for the general service of the public.
A project for a new and extended arrangement of the business of the post office was drafted in 1633—probably by Witherings. According to this paper, "it was calculated that in the 32 counties of England there were at least 512 market towns, which, one with another, sent 50 letters per week to London, which, in respect of their answers, are to be reckoned at 4d. each, making in all 25,600 letters, or £426 per week. The estimated charge for conveyance of these letters would be only £37 per week, leaving £388, 10s. weekly profit by this office, out of which was to be deducted £1500 per annum paid to the postmasters for the charge of conveying his Majesty's packets. All letters on the road to Scotland were to be charged 2d. for every single, and 4d. for every double letter, to be paid at the receiving and delivery in London; for Yorkshire and Northumberland, 3d. a letter; and for Scotland, 8d. The postmasters in the country were not to take any money for letters, save 1d. for carriage to the next market town." Thus, in 1633, it would appear that nearly 26,000 letters a week reached London from the country, and, as replies, a similar number would be sent thence to the country. The project sketched out above was not, however, then carried out.
Some curious questions as to the post service arose at this period. On the 13th May 1633, the Mayor and Jurats of Dover made a representation to the Lieutenant of Dover Castle and of the Cinque Ports, to the effect that the deputy postmasters and the hackneymen of Dover and Canterbury had admeasured the highway between these places, and set up posts at every mile's end, making the distance fifteen miles and a quarter. For this "distance they charged 3s. 9d. for horse hire, being 9d. more than the ordinary rate." The Mayor and Jurats "called before them the postmaster's deputy and some of the hackneymen, and found them resolute therein. They have done the same without commission from His Majesty or the Lords." It appears that the Kentish miles were longer than the miles elsewhere, and that 3d. per mile was allowed here, while in some other places only 2-1/2d. was paid. The men of Kent wanted to be paid the higher rate for the shorter miles, which they had measured for themselves.
The postmaster of St. Albans, by the methods which he employed in carrying on the business of his office, got himself into deep water with the people of that town. On the 20th January 1632, informations were made by Edward Seabrooke, John Tuttle, and Fromabove Done, setting forth complaints against John Wells, postmaster of St Albans, in pressing their horses for the service of the post maliciously or corruptly, in order to procure a bribe for their release. On the next day informations were made by John Mitchell of Sandridge, Ralph Heyward of Bushey, Henry Pedder of Luton, and John Bolton of Harding, all containing charges of corruption or misconduct against John Wells, postmaster of St Albans. Again, on the 3d August 1633, the inhabitants of the parish of St. Stephens, in St. Albans, forward depositions, taken before Sir John Garrard and others, Justices of the Peace, seeking to establish that "under colour of a commission granted by Lord Stanhope, Wells sent to the several parishes in and about St. Albans to furnish horses for His Majesty's service, there being not any such horses needed; but warrants being issued merely to compel the owners of the horses to compound." Whether Mr. Wells was as bad as painted we cannot say, but he no doubt had at times to call in extra horses; for, on the 13th May 1633, Lord Stanhope issued the following warrant to all Deputy Lieutenants, Justices of the Peace, and other officers:—"Special occasions are offered, for the affairs of the State and service of His Majesty, to send in post both packets and otherwise oftener than ordinary; the persons addressed are therefore to assist John Wells, post of St. Albans, and on his application to take up ten or twelve sufficient horses, as the service shall import." This was within a few days of the king's setting out upon a progress into Scotland.
On the 19th June 1633, a petition to the Council is forwarded by Edward Hutchins and Joseph Hutchins, sons of Thomas Hutchins, post of Crewkerne, lately deceased, and by all the posts between London and Plymouth, as follows:[1]—
"Having obtained an Order, dated 24th February 1630, from this Board for the weekly carriage of letters between London and Plymouth, the settling whereof had cost them £400, besides their great and daily charge in keeping men and horses. Neither Lord Stanhope, nor Mr. Dolliver, the Paymaster of the Posts, had given any encouragement to this business, but rather opposed it; Lord Stanhope going about to assume the benefit of the merchants' letters, and raising the valuation of the post places of the Western road from £20 to £100. Pray their lordships to require Lord Stanhope and the Paymaster of the Posts to answer wherefor they should raise the post places from £20 anciently given, and for what cause they (Stanhope and the Paymaster) should have the benefit of the merchants' letters. Pray also that Edward and Joseph Hutchins may, for £20, have the place filled by their father and grandfather for seventy years, or else the benefit of the merchants' letters, which their father had." Lord Stanhope's answer was to the effect that he doubted the statement as to the "great sums alleged to have been given for obtaining the merchants' letters," that he did not "take notice of disposing any place in that road, nor aim at any profit by reason of those letters; he only takes upon him the appointment of the posts." The meaning of this answer is not very clear; but the two papers taken together show that the postmasters were in the habit of buying their offices, paying £20 for them, and that it was now attempted to raise the charge to £100. Stanhope's salary was only £66, 13s. 4d. per annum, and, in consonance with the shameful traffic of the age, he made his profit in his own position by requiring his subordinates to purchase their places.
When Witherings set up the new plan of "estafette" posts in 1633, the men who had up to that time performed the post service between England and the Continent were all dismissed. They, like the deputy postmasters, had purchased their places, and upon being turned off received no compensation. Aggrieved as they felt themselves to be, they had recourse to a petition to Lord Cottington. They were Sampson Bates, Enoch Lynde, Jarman Marsham, Job Allibon, Abraham van Solte, and Samuel Allibon "heretofore ordinary posts for the Low Countries." "At their first entrance into their places," says the petition, "they paid great sums of money for the same, and they were granted for term of life, some of petitioners having served twenty-six years, and others various other long periods. About April 1633 petitioners were all dismissed without restoring any of their moneys, or giving them any allowance towards their maintenance, so that they have been driven to pawn their household stuff, and, if not relieved, are like to perish. The ordinary posts beyond the seas likewise dismissed have been allowed £80 yearly, although their places were not so good as petitioners'. Pray that, upon a new election of a Postmaster, petitioners may be admitted to their several places again, or each of them receive a pension from the office of the Postmaster."
Besides the constant stream of horse posts passing from London to Dover in connection with the continental mail service, there was a service by foot messenger between these two towns. At this period there was a prohibition against the carrying of gold out of the country. In Moryson's Itinerary, 1617, the following limitation is stated to have been in force:—"In England the law forbids any traveller, upon paine of confiscation, to carry more money about him out of the kingdom than will serve for the expenses of his journey, namely, about twenty pounds sterling." In 1635, the prohibition was still in force. On the 29th June of that year, the foot post between London and Dover, Edward Ranger, was examined as to the exporting of gold before Sir John Bankes, the Attorney General. Ranger deposed "that within two years last past he had carried from London to Dover gold and silver, to the value of several thousand pounds in the whole, for Cæsar Dehaze, Edward Buxton of Lime Street, Jacob Deleap, Roger Fletcher, Walter Eade, and John Terry of Canning Street, Charles French of Wallbrook, Peter Heme of Love Lane, Lucas Jacob of Botolph's Lane, and John Fowler of Bucklersbury, and Isaac Bedloe, and had delivered the same, in various sums, severally to John Parrott, Nathaniel Pringall, Mark Willes, John Demarke, David Hempson, David Neppen, John Wallop, and Henry Booth, at Dover; that he had after the rate of five shillings for every hundred pounds he carried; and that he believes that the greatest part of the gold was sent beyond the seas by such persons as he delivered the same unto at Dover." This man Ranger was still foot post for Dover down to 1649; but in that year he was superseded in his place in consequence of certain irregularities. In the Council of State's proceedings of the 17th December of that year, the Mayor and Jurats of Dover were to be advised that the Council approved of another appointment being made, "as it would not have been safe for the State to suffer him (Ranger) to continue in that employment."
The king's posts at this period (1633) were not remarkable for their great speed. On the 27th June, Secretary Coke and the king received letters at Edinburgh which had taken five days in coming from Greenwich. On 9th July, Sir Francis Windebank writes to Secretary Coke, that "your several letters of the 2nd and 3rd of this present, written from Lithco (Linlithgow) and Stirling, and sent by Davis, came to my hands upon Sunday the 7th, late in the evening. I send these by Davis again because of the slowness of the posts, some of your letters being ten days upon the way, and never any packet yet dated at the stages as they ought to be." A Captain Plumleigh, writing from Kinsale, apparently to the Lord Deputy, complains that "your lordship's letters unto me seldom come to my hands under fourteen days' time. I beg that the despatch of this of mine may come on towards Kinsale day and night, for otherwise we shall haply lose the opportunity of a fair wind," etc.
The condition of the roads in these times was an important factor in causing the posts to travel slowly; and the through couriers, after riding during the day, would necessarily rest during the night. The following letter, dated 20th December 1633, from Sir Gervase Clifton to Sir John Coke the younger, at Selston, Nottinghamshire, describes a journey by road:—"I will be bold to trouble you with a discourse of my perambulation. I came on Tuesday to Dunstable, somewhat, albeit not much, within night. On Wednesday to Northampton, almost three hours after daylight, yet with perpetual fear of overturning or losing our way, which without guides hired, and lights holding in, I had undoubtedly done. On Thursday to Leicester, a great deal later, and so much more dangerously, as the way (you know) was worse at the end of the journey. On Friday we were the most of all troubled with waters, which so much covered the causeways, and almost bridges, over which we were to pass, as made me nearer retiring than coming forward; which, nevertheless, at length I ventured to do, and am (God be thanked), with my wife, safely got to Clifton (near Loughborough), where I remain yet, the worse of the two, by reason of a great cold I have taken." Even a good many years later the roads were in a bad way. In 1678, Lady Russell writes to her husband from Tunbridge Wells: "I do really think, if I could have imagined the illness of the journey, it would have discouraged me: it is not to be expressed how bad the way is from Seven Oaks; but our horses did exceeding well; and Spence very diligent, often off his horse to lay hold of the coach." Smiles, in his Lives of the Engineers, gives an account of the great North road, the principal thoroughfare into Scotland, from a tract published in 1675 by Thomas Mace, one of the clerks of Trinity College, Cambridge:—
"The writer there addressed himself to the king, partly in prose and partly in verse, complaining greatly of the 'wayes, which are so grossly foul and bad,' and suggesting various remedies. He pointed out that much ground 'is now spoiled and trampled down in all wide roads, where coaches and carts take liberty to pick and chuse for their best advantages; besides, such sprawling and straggling of coaches and carts utterly confound the road in all wide places, so that it is not only unpleasurable, but extreme perplexin and cumbersome both to themselves and all horse travellers.'
"But Mace's principal complaint was of the innumerable controversies, quarrellings, and disturbances, caused by the pack-horse men in their struggles as to which convoy should pass along the cleaner parts of the road. From what he states, it would seem that these disturbances, daily committed by uncivil, refractory, and rude Russian-like rake-shames, in contesting for the way, too often proved mortal, and certainly were of very bad consequences to many. He recommended a quick and prompt punishment in all such cases. 'No man,' said he, 'should be pestered by giving the way (sometimes) to hundreds of pack-horses, panniers, whifflers (i.e. paltry fellows), coaches, waggons, wains, carts, or whatsoever others; which continually are very grievous to weary and loaden travellers; but more especially near the city and upon a market-day, when, a man having travelled a long and tedious journey, his horse well-nigh spent, shall sometimes be compelled to cross out of his way twenty times in one mile's riding, by the irregularity and peevish crossness of such-like whifflers and market-women; yea, although their panniers be clearly empty, they will stoutly contend for the way with weary travellers, be they never so many, or almost of what quality soever.' 'Nay,' said he further, 'I have often known travellers, and myself very often, to have been necessitated to stand stock-still behind a standing cart or waggon, on most beastly and insufferable deep wet wayes, to the great endangering of our horses, and neglect of important business; nor durst we adventure to stir (for most imminent danger of those deep rutts and unreasonable ridges) till it has pleased mister carter to jog on, which we have taken very kindly.'"
These were the sort of roads the posts had to travel in the seventeenth century; but fortunately the horses were suited to the conditions. With respect to these, Moryson says, in his Itinerary (1617), that: "The horses are strong, and for journies indefatigable; for the English, especially northern men, ride from daybreak to the evening without drawing bit, neither sparing their horses nor themselves." In considering the speed of the posts and the endeavours made to accelerate them, it is well to bear in mind the condition of the highways.
FOOTNOTES:
CHAPTER III
We now come to an important period of Witherings' connection with the Post Office. In June 1635, the following scheme of public posts for inland letters was propounded; it is attributed to Witherings:—
"Proposition for settling a 'staffeto' or packet post betwixt London and all parts of His Majesty's dominions for carrying and recarrying his subjects' letters. The clear profits to go towards the payment of the postmasters of the roads of England, for which His Majesty is now charged with £3400 per annum." The chief points of the proposal are: "That an office or counting-house should be established in London for receiving letters; that letters to Edinburgh and other places along that road should be put into a 'portmantle,' with particular bags directed to postmasters on the road; for instance, a bag should be directed to Cambridge, where letters were to be delivered, taking the same port (postage) as was then paid to the carriers, which was 2d. for a single letter, and so according to bigness. At Cambridge a foot-post was to be provided with a known badge of His Majesty's Arms, who on market-days was to go to all towns within 6, 8, or 10 miles to receive and deliver letters, and to bring back those he received to Cambridge, before the return of the 'portmantle' out of Scotland, when the letters being put into a little bag, the said bag was to be put into the 'portmantle'; that the 'portmantle' should go forward night and day without stay; that the port should be advanced in proportion to the distance the letter is carried; that a horse should be provided for carrying letters to towns which lie far off the main roads, as, for example, Hull. Similar arrangements were to be made on the road to Westchester, and thence to Ireland; to Shrewsbury and the marches of Wales; to Exeter and Plymouth; to Canterbury and Dover; to Colchester and Harwich; to Norwich and Yarmouth. By these means, letters which were then carried by carriers or foot-posts 16 or 18 miles a day (so that it was full two months before any answer could be received from Scotland or Ireland) would go 120 miles in one day and night. At this rate of travelling, it was declared that news would come from the coast towns to London 'sooner than thought.'
"In the first place, it will be a great furtherance to the correspondency betwixt London and Scotland, and London and Ireland, and great help to trades and true affection of His Majesty's subjects betwixt these kingdoms, which, for want of true correspondency of letters, is now destroyed; and a thing above all things observed by all other nations.
"As for example:—
"If any of His Majesty's subjects shall write to Madrid in Spain, he shall receive answer sooner and surer than he shall out of Scotland or Ireland. The letters being now carried by carriers or foot-posts 16 or 18 miles a day, it is full two months before any answer can be received from Scotland or Ireland to London, while by this conveyance all letters shall go 120 miles at the least in one day and night.
"It will, secondly, be alleged, that it is a wrong to the carriers that bring the said letters. To which is answered, a carrier sets out from Westchester to London on the Monday, which is 120 miles. The said carrier is eight days upon the road, and upon his coming to London, delivers his letters of advice for his reloading to Westchester again, and is forced to stay in London two days, at extraordinary charges, before he can get his reloading ready. By this conveyance letters will be from Westchester to London in one day and night, so that the said carriers' loading will be ready a week before the said carriers shall come to London; and they no sooner come to London, but may be ready to depart again. The like will fall out in all other parts.
"Besides, if at any time there should be occasion to write from any of the coast towns in England or Scotland to London, by this conveyance letters will be brought immediately; and from all such places there will be weekly advice to and from London.
"As for example:—
"Any fight at sea; any distress of His Majesty's ships (which God forbid); any wrong offered by any other nation to any of the coasts of England, or any of His Majesty's forts, the posts being punctually paid, the news will come 'sooner than thought.'
"It will be, thirdly, alleged that this service may be pretended by the Lord Stanhope to be in his grant of Postmaster of England. To which is answered, neither Lord Stanhope nor any other that ever enjoyed the Postmaster's place of England had any benefit of the carrying and recarrying of the subjects' letters; besides, the profit is to pay the posts of the road, which, next unto His Majesty, belong to the office of the said Lord Stanhope; and by determination of any of the said posts' places, by death or otherwise, the Lord Stanhope will make as much of them as hath heretofore been made by this said advancement of all their places,—the Lord Stanhope now enjoying what either he or any of his predecessors hath ever heretofore done to this day."
The foregoing scheme of public posts is doubtless an amplification of that drafted by Witherings in 1633, already quoted. Witherings refers, in the closing paragraph of his scheme, to possible difficulties with Lord Stanhope; but he meets this by saying that "Lord Stanhope will make as much of them"—that is, the deputy postmasters' places—"as hath heretofore been made by this said advancement of all their places." The meaning of this appears to be, that Stanhope would still receive his fee of £66, 13s. 4d. as Chief Postmaster of England, would appoint the deputies of the roads, and continue to receive payment for the sale to them of their places.
The plan being now ripe to be put into operation, the king issued a proclamation, dated at Bagshot the 31st July 1635, "for the settling of the Letter Office of England and Scotland." The general features of the scheme are described to be: the laying of regular posts between London and Edinburgh to perform the double journey every week,—the travelling to be done in six days,—the laying of weekly posts on the other principal roads out of London, the providing of by-posts to serve the towns lying beyond the main roads. The postage rates prescribed were:—
For a single letter under 80 miles 2d.
" " " between 80 and 140 4d.
" " " above 140 6d.
" " " to Scotland or its borders 8d.
When several letters were made up in one packet, the charge was to be according to the "bigness" of the packet. The postage both for outward and inward letters was to be payable in London. On the Western road to Plymouth the charge was to be as near as possible the same as that heretofore charged. This must refer to the system of posts already established by the deputy postmasters on that road before alluded to. The several postmasters of the roads were required to keep one or two horses in their stables ready for the service as Witherings might direct them; and it was commanded that on the day on which the mail would be due, these horses were not to be let or sent forth "upon any other occasion whatsoever." For the hire of the horses, the post-messenger was to pay 2-1/2d. per horse per mile. All other messengers or foot-posts on the roads covered by Witherings were to be put down, so far as the carriage of letters was concerned, exception being made only in respect of "common known carriers, or particular messenger to be sent on purpose with a letter by any man for his own occasions, or a letter by a friend."
These, then, are the lines upon which the first general system of inland posts in Great Britain, for the use and convenience of the public, was launched by the State.
There was this curious complication about the business. Thomas Witherings was already Postmaster for Foreign Parts, out of the king's dominions; Charles Lord Stanhope was Master of the Posts in England and for Foreign Parts, within the king's dominions, Stanhope's sphere being restricted to the appointing of deputy postmasters on the roads and managing the conveyance of letters for the king and State officials; and now a third control is introduced by the appointment of Witherings to manage a system of public posts, to be grafted upon the chain of deputy postmasters already existing upon the roads and under the direction of Stanhope. Such complex arrangements were not likely to work smoothly, nor did they.
The postmasters of Stanhope were not all in a good position to perform their part in the new system of posts, as will be seen by the following representation made by the Mayor and others of Coventry to Secretary Coke on the 10th April 1635:—"By his letter of the 27th March, they perceive that many complaints are made of the backwardness of their city to furnish post-horses for persons employed in His Majesty's service between that and Ireland. They find that John Fletcher is postmaster within their city, authorised by Lord Stanhope. Fletcher, by reason of poverty and lameness, keeps his house, but employs John Scott, another poor aged man, as his deputy. Scott acknowledged that Fletcher had not had for a month past above three horses, and that all of them are lame. They sent the Sheriff of the city to see how the postmaster was provided for the said service, by whom answer was returned that neither Fletcher nor Scott have so much as one horse, mare, or nag. By an Order of the Council, it was ordered that the postmaster, not being able to find sufficient numbers of horses for packets and persons employed in His Majesty's service, should have a supply of horses out of the country within twelve miles' distance from Coventry. They also find that the postmaster, by himself and agents, makes composition with the towns about the city, and has taken yearly of them several sums of money to spare them from the service, by which means the burden of the whole service falls upon the city, which hath occasioned many late complaints. The writers are in great hope that some speedy reformation may be had therein. They recommend to that place Edward Mosse, an innholder in their city."
In order the better to understand the position in which the country postmasters found themselves about this period, 1635 and later, it will be well to quote some of the petitions sent forward by the postmasters, most of which relate to arrears of pay. And it is not unlikely that the demands for arrears were due to the new scheme of Witherings, under which the postmasters would no longer be allowed to carry letters for the public on their own account:—
1635. "Petition of William Parbo, post of Sandwich, to the Lords of the Treasury:—About 13 years since petitioner bought the said post's place in the name of a poor kinsman, Arthur Ruck, then a child, intending the profits to be applied towards his education. Being much impoverished by the forbearance of his post wages for ten years and a half, petitioner is unable longer to maintain his kinsman at the University of Oxford. If his arrearage of 16d. per diem were paid, he should be a loser above £100, he being at charges of boat-hire to carry His Majesty's letters aboard His Majesty's ships, and of warning-fires on shore, besides of horse and man by land. Prays payment of his arrears, amounting to £255, 10s."
1635. "Petition of Alexander Nubie to the Council:—Petitioner being post of Dartford, is forced to keep sixteen horses for the performance of the service, which is an extraordinary great charge, and for which he has received no pay these two years and a half, so that there is due to him about £100. Is poor and in debt, and dare not go abroad for fear of arrest by creditors by whom he has been furnished with hay and other provisions. Prays for protection until he may receive his money."
1636. "Petition of Thomas Hookes, servant to the prince, to Secretary Coke:—Petitioner's father, Nicholas Hookes, lately deceased, executed the post of Conway, Co. Carnarvon, for 26 years. About six years since petitioner was appointed to the said place by Lord Stanhope. Understanding that all posts are in person to supply their places, petitioner, being tied to attendance on the prince, prays the Secretary to grant the place to petitioner's brother, Henry Hookes, who was living in the said town, and also to give order for £300, arrears due for the same place."
1636. "William Hugessen, postmaster of Dover, to Secretary Windebank:—Has served as postmaster in the Port of Dover many years, and keeps the most convenient and fairest house betwixt London and Dover, and where ambassadors generally lodge. Is behindhand of his pay about £400. If there be an order that no man may enjoy the place except he serve by himself, he desires that Edward Whetstone, who is his tenant in the house called the Greyhound of Dover, may have the place upon such conditions as others, but if possible in Hugessen's name as formerly."
1637. "March 26th.—Petition of Edmund Bawne, postmaster of Ferrybridge, Co. York, to the Council:—After the death of petitioner's grandfather, who served as postmaster in the place abovesaid thirty years, petitioner, for £200, by his grandfather three years since paid Lord Stanhope, was admitted into the same place. Upon questioning Lord Stanhope's patent, petitioner gave Mr. Witherings £35 more for his settlement, and was, by the signatures of Secretaries Coke and Windebank, and Witherings, admitted into the same. Petitioner's grandfather is owing for wages at least £500 from His Majesty. Without any misdemeanour, being now sought to be ousted, he prays relief."
These various petitions set forth not only that the country postmasters were being badly treated in regard to their pay,—this pay being what may conveniently be described as their retaining-fee,—but that there was some stirring-up by Witherings of derelictions of duty on the part of the postmasters.
Allusion has already been made to the fact that matters could not go along smoothly with the whole system of posts, seeing that the control was in two sets of hands, and that the spheres of action were not properly divided. So a blow shortly fell upon Lord Stanhope. This must, apparently, have been unlooked for by Stanhope, for, shortly before his fall, a proclamation was issued by the king bearing Stanhope's signature. It had regard to the duties of the postmasters, and is supposed to have been issued early in the year 1637. Its chief provisions were: that (1) in all places where posts were laid for the packet, the postmasters were to have the benefit and pre-eminence of letting, furnishing, and appointing of horses to all riding in post; that (2) none were to be regarded as riding on public affairs unless with special commission signed by one of our Principal Secretaries of State, or six at least of the Privy Council, etc.; that the postmasters or owners of the horses were to be allowed to claim 2-1/2d. per mile (besides the guide's groats); but that private persons riding post were to pay such rate as might be agreed upon between the parties; that (3) no horse was to be ridden away until the fare was first paid, nor taken beyond the next stage without the owner's consent; baggage was not to exceed 30 lbs., and no horse was to be ridden above seven miles an hour in summer, or six in winter; and that (4) the constables and magistrates were to take up horses for the postmaster's service in the posts when the postmaster was himself short of horses. Not long after the issue of the proclamation above referred to, Lord Stanhope was driven from office. The immediate cause is not apparent; but the fact is dealt with in the following petition, dated March 1637:—
"Petition of Charles Lord Stanhope, late Postmaster of England and Wales, to the king:—
"There is due to the petitioner for his fee of 100 marks per annum (£66, 13s. 4d.), as Master and Comptroller of the Posts, being in arrear for 19 years and more. £1266, 13s. 4d., which petitioner, when he enjoyed the said place, was in some sort better able to forbear, and therefore did not importune for the same; but now, having resigned the said office, full sore against his will, but in obedience to His Majesty's pleasure, signified to him by the Commissioners for the Posts,—the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Keeper, the Lord Treasurer, Lord Cottington, and the Secretaries Coke and Windebank,—he has lost divers profits incident thereunto, which were a great help to his support (his other means left by his father being small as yet, and most of it in his mother's hands), whereby, since the loss of his office, he is disabled to maintain himself in the degree of an English baron. In consideration of his free yielding of his place, prays order for payment of the arrear, and some satisfaction for his office. A man of quality, and honourable knight, would willingly have given petitioner £5000 for his office."
Lord Stanhope states that he resigned his office "sore against his will," and "in obedience to His Majesty's pleasure"; but no hint is given of the immediate cause for this pressure being applied. An event happened in 1629, however, which may have had some bearing upon the present matter. On the 2nd of March in that year, the king desired, by means of the Speaker, Sir John Finch, to dissolve Parliament before the Commons could proceed with certain business which they had in hand. In order, however, to carry their protest, certain patriots in the House, Denzil Hollis among the rest, laid hands upon the Speaker and held him in the chair while the House voted its protest. In consequence of the violence thus shown to the Speaker, the chief actors in the scene were thrown a few days thereafter into the Tower. While these men lay in confinement, they were visited by certain of their friends. In a paper dated 1629, found among the Coke Manuscripts, and headed "The Lieutenant of the Tower's information of such as had visited the prisoners in the Tower, from their first imprisonment to the 19th March 1629," it is recorded that "the Lord Hollis (brother of Denzil) brought the Lord Stanhope, Postmaster, and other persons to visit Denzil Hollis." It is quite possible from this, and other circumstances which have not come down to us, that Stanhope may have been suspected of sympathy with the Parliamentary party, and that, on that account, he was no longer to be relied upon as a faithful adherent of the king. Although the removal of Stanhope was not effected till 1637, at which period the tension between the royalists and the popular party was becoming more severe, it is possible that the event of the Tower may have had its share in bringing about his loss of office.
In a petition of Lord Stanhope's in the year of the Restoration, 1660, on the subject of the loss of his office, some further information of the way in which he was "removed" is given by Stanhope. He says, that "when by the contrivance of one Witherings, and some great persons, he was summoned to bring his patent before the Council, and, after writing his name upon the back, to leave it there, words purporting to be a surrender of the patent were afterwards written above his name, and copied on to the enrolment; the late king offered him a new patent if he would agree that Sir Henry Vane, senior, should be joined with him; but this petitioner declined, being advised to appeal to the Parliament then about to meet," etc. If this be a correct statement of what happened, there is little doubt that Stanhope was deprived of his place by the operation of a gross job. In connection with his petition of 1660, Stanhope produced a copy of a letter from Mr. Prideaux, dated 5th September 1644 (of whom we shall hear later on as Attorney General to Cromwell, and more intimately connected with the posts), about erecting stages in all the roads for the service of the State; and this letter was held to show that Prideaux recognised Stanhope's right to the office. The committee who examined Stanhope's claims in 1660 were of opinion that "he should be put into a position to recover the profits of the office since the 25th April 1637"; but it does not appear that he succeeded eventually in his suit.
According to Rymer's Fœdera, the king granted to Thomas Witherings, by Letters Patent, on the 22nd day of June 1637, the office of Postmaster of Foreign Parts during life, which office, in 1632, had been granted in the joint names of William Frizell and Thomas Witherings. The details of this grant, if such were made, are not given; and it is a curious fact that, before and after Witherings' death, the grant put forward as the ground for Witherings' interest in the Foreign Post Office was not that mentioned by Rymer, but the joint grant made in favour of Frizell and Witherings of an earlier date.