GB Uniform Penny Postage

7 January 1840 official PO door-to-door Handbill referring to new 10 January 1840 postal rates

Announcements

London Gazette of Saturday, December 28, 1839

On all Letters, not exceeding half an ounce in weight; transmitted by the Post, between places within the United Kingdom (not being Letters sent to or from parts beyond the seas), there shall be charged and taken one uniform rate of postage of one penny, without reference to the number of sheets or pieces of paper, or enclosures, of which the same may be comprised, or to the distance or number of miles the same shall be conveyed; and that on all such Letters, if exceeding half an ounce in weight, there shall be charged and taken progressive and additional rates of postage (each additional rate being estimated at one penny), according to the scale of weight and number of rates hereinbefore fixed and declared; provided that such postage of one penny, and such progressive and additional postage be pre-paid at the time of posting such Letters; but, in case such postage on any such Letters shall not be pre-paid when posted, there shall be charged on such Letters a postage of double the amount to which such Letters would otherwise have been liable under this present warrant.

That all Letters forwarded under the authority of the Postmaster-General, by private vessels or packet boats, and transmitted between places in the United Kingdom, shall be considerred as forwarded by the Post, betweeen such places, and be charged accordingly.

10 January 1840 - First Day of Uniform Penny Postage

Henry Cole recorded on 11 January "An increase of nearly 90,000 letters yesterday, average 1 1/2d each", and on 13 January he wrote: "... left at 5 to go to the General Post Office to see operations - which were very noisy & crowded at the Pay windows in St. Martins le Grand". It is worth remembering that 10 January was a friday, so things were calmer for the next two days and then the system was more fully tested on 13 January (the first Monday).

Very few 10 January 1840 letters with handstruck "1" marks have been recorded - maybe 30 in all - and they were mostly sent from London, from Liverpool or from Scottish Post Offices.

Liverpool to Glasgow 10 Jan 1840 prepaid, "1" in red

backside with Liverpool date stamp and rectangular receiving postmark Glasgow

London to Edinburgh 10 Jan 1840 prepaid 1 Penny

backside with date postmark Edinburgh 12 Jan 1840

Kennoway to Glasgow 10 Jan 1840 prepaid, adopted mileage postmark, manuscript "Pd 1d" in red, receiving date postmark Glasgow

backside with dated postmark Leven in blue (3 miles from Kennoway) and receiving rectangular postmark Glasgow

Other Dates

York to Brigg 10 Mar 1840 prepaid, with Pd. 1 in red and York date postmark in blue on front

Hull to Barton-upon-Humber 15 Apr 1840 prepaid with 1d in red and Hull date stamp on front

Halifax to Keighley 4 Apr 1840 prepaid, with Pd 1 in red

backside with Halifax date postmark in blue

Wednesbury to Liverpool 10 Mar 1840 prepaid, with Paid 1 in red

backside with date postmark Wednesbury

Leeds to London 17 Jan 1840 prepaid with red 1d postmark and red oval postmark "Paid at Leeds"

backside date postmark Leeds

London to Saxmundham 14 Apr 1840 prepaid with manuscript 1 in red and red London postmark on front

Stirling to Kirkaldy 20 Jan 1840 prepaid, red "1" postmark and rectangular paid postmark Stirling with year omitted

Leeds to London 17 Jan 1840 prepaid with red 1d postmark and red oval postmark "Paid at Leeds"

backside date postmark Leeds

Bradford to South Cave 20 Mar 1840 with "Paid One Penny" in circle with side-reversed "N"

backside with green date postmark Bradford

Receiving Houses

The Paid Stamps of the Receiving Houses in London were subsequently used during Uniform Penny Postage time.

Chancery Lane/1py P.Paid in green to Strand 3 Apr 1840, octogonal date postmark Chief Office

Holborn Bars/1D Paid in red to Saxmundham 25 Feb 1840, tombstone date postmark

Cornhill/1D Paid in green to Lincoln Inn 20 Jan 1840, octogonal date postmark morning duty

Chief Office/1D Paid in red to Inn Fields 20 Feb 1840, octogonal date postmark evening duty

Unpaid Marks

While Edinburgh issued standard design "1" and "2" marks to many Scottish offices (and used them itself) it was also the only Post Office in the British Isles to use a dated UPP numeral mark; this was a black handstruck "2" mark for unpaid letters which cleverly included the date in and around the number "2".

Edinburgh to Dumfries 3 Feb 1840 unpaid 2 Penny tax and date postmark

backside with date postmark Dumfries 3 Feb 1840

Local London Cover 14 Jan 1840 unpaid 2 Penny, late receiving mark

backside with evening duty receiving marking for late mail

Exceptions

London to Windsor 27 Mar 1840, Post Paid up to 1/2 oz for R. Bunal (member of House of Commons)

London to Isle of Wight 19 Feb 1840, Post Paid up to 1/2 oz for members of the Houses of Parliament

Further Reading

• R.M. Willcocks "The Postal History Of Great Britain And Ireland", Perth 1972
• James L. Grimwood-Taylor RDP FRPSL "International Postal Reforms, Volume 2", London 2020

See also: Great Britain Penny stamps from 1840-1879 - Franz Zehenter (German)