PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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On January 10th 1840 the Penny Post was introduced. Mail was now to be charged by weight and the minimum charge was one penny. Postage was now to be prepaid by the sender and this was made easier by the introduction of adhesive postage stamps on May 6th 1840. A notice issued to the public at that time read:-
It seems that the Post Office tried to make the prepayment of postage compulsory but they failed and it is still a citizen's right to send a letter without postage, to be paid by the recipient at double the current rate. The Penny Post (for a letter up to a half-ounce in weight) quickly became a success story and new, larger premises were needed to deal with the increasing volume of letters. A company of shareholders erected a large and elegant building in Whimple Street in 1848 and rented out part of it as the Post Office and the postmaster's living quarters. The General Post Office for were to pay £100 per year for 75 years. The building was designed by Mr O C Arthur after the style of the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli and cost £3,000 to build. The first postmaster to occupy it was a Mr Charles Markes. Naturally, Devonport wanted an impressive Post Office as well. Built in 1849 on the corner of Fore Street with Chapel Street, like Plymouth's it was erected by a company of shareholders. However, it cost a lot less, at £1,670, exclusive of the costs of the ground, the architect's fees and Post Office fittings. It was designed by local architect, Mr George Wightwick, with a semi-circular portico, in the style of Corinthian architecture, which formed a complete circle within the building. The postmaster in 1850 was a Mr J W Coffin. This magnificent building was rebuilt in 1912 at a cost of £7,000. Although it survived the Blitz, and was still in use in 1955, it fell within the proposed extension of the Royal Dockyard and so had to be demolished.
The magnificent Devonport Post Office. A significant development in 1855 was the abolition of compulsory stamp duty of a penny per sheet on newspapers. This led to the expansion of the newspaper industry generally (both the Western Morning News and the Western Daily Mercury were established in Plymouth in 1860). Instead, a Printed Paper postage rate was introduced. Uniforms had been issued to London's postmen as early as 1793 but this was not extended to the larger provincial offices until 1856. The purpose of a uniform was not 'corporate image', as it might be today, but in order to detect postmen 'loitering and mis-spending their time in ale houses'. In Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport the postmen first shew off their new uniforms on Sunday June 21st 1857. It consisted of a scarlet coat and royal cockades in their hats. For wet weather they were provided with an oil case cape. At the same time the postmen recieved a two shilling a week increase in their wage packet. The introduction of prepaid stamps back in 1840 had made it unnecessary to go to a Post Office every time and this allowed the general introduction of wall and pillar boxes. The first of the latter were introduced into Plymouth and Stonehouse in April 1856. They were described as 'of an octagonal form, between four and five feet in height, and nearly three feet in circumference, with a hole of a sufficient size on one of the sides to admit a newspaper, having on the inside a spring, which yields to a gentle touch, but falls back to its former position when the letter is dropped in, thus making it perfectly safe'. Painted in white letters on a black background a short distance below the aperture were the specified posting times: viz. 'North Mail, 10.30am; Cornish, 12.45pm; London, 5.30pm; and Cornish 9pm. On Sundays at 5.30pm only'. Four pillar letter boxes were provided, one on the Parade, one in Clarence Street, one in Princess Square, and one at North Hill. Another one was located at Emma Place, Stonehouse. None were evidently installed at Devonport. Some apprehension had evidently been expressed that they were not sufficiently safe so the "Plymouth and Devonport Weekly Journal" tried to reasure its readers by pointing out 'that they are about a ton in weight, therefore, there can be no fear of their being carried away'. A further pillar box was installed during mid-April 1858 at the head of North Street. On Wednesday June 1st 1859 the Plymouth Mail announced that an improvement for the reception of letters had been adopted at Devonport Post Office. 'A long brass plate, with four compartments, has been inserted in the front of the building; each depository has an engraved label, so that letters, newspapers, and letters "too late" or with "extra stamp", have each a separate receptical. At night, on the office being closed, each of these apertures will be secured by a brass slide, working in grooves, and with screw attached to fix it when lowered; so that nothing can be dropped into the box. For the reception of "night letters" (posted after 9pm); and also to guard against incendiary acts such as that which was recently perpetrated; the Post Office authorities have on the suggestion of Mr Coffin, ordered an iron pillar box to be built into the wall contiguous to the letter boxes.' Always on the look out for new enterprises, the Post Office Savings Bank was started in September 1861, with interest on deposits paid at 2½%. Deposits were transferred to the National Debt Commission, where they were invested in government securities. There was a great deal of discussions nationally on whether to turn this service into a Giro Bank, on the pattern of that established in Austria at the time, but this proposal did not succeed. It was felt that the Post Office wanted to keep people's money in the Bank, not allow them to withdraw it just when they felt like it! Another new facility followed in 1870, when half-penny postcards were introduced as a cheap alternative to letters. By this time it cost one penny to send a letter up to one ounce in weight, which was cheaper than for the previous thirty years. In that same year, the private telegraph companies were transferred into the Post Office, although they remained separate units at least until 1876. It is not clear when the process of integration was completed in Plymouth. In 1874 a pamphlet was circulated in Plymouth complaining about the inadequacy of the old Post Office in Whimple Street and it was stated that at that time there was a staff of 45 plus 34 postmen, 55 telegraph officers and 30 messenger boys. A bit different from Miss Rivers and her 1 assistant and 1 postman. In an attempt to encourage children into the habit of saving money, a scheme was introduced in 1880 whereby they could affix a penny stamp to a card, which , when full, could be credited to a savings account. Teachers were encourage to promote this scheme in elementary schools throughout the country. It was felt that the Money Order business started back in 1838 were largely used by wealthy people for sending large cash sums around the country and that a system was needed to give the same opportunity to the poorer part of the population. This was achieved in 1881 by the introduction of Postal Orders. As a result of the controversy caused by the 1874 pamphlet mentioned earlier, the site of the St Andrew's Hall in Westwell Street, opposite the Guildhall, was purchased in 1881 for a larger Post Office building. The foundation stone was laid by Mr P S Macliver, a former Member of Parliament for Plymouth. Designed by Mr E G Rivers of Bristol, a surveyor to HM Commissioner of Works, it was constructed of Portland stone and Cornish granite in the Gothic style. The contractor was Messrs Lapthorn and Goad of Plymouth and the cost of the site and building amounted to £16,500.
The General Post Office in
Westwell Street, Plymothians were able to take urgent Royal Mail letters to Plymouth Station and hand them to the sorters on the mail train. But on and after November 1st 1882 the mail had to be placed in letter-boxes on the train, thus relieving the sorting clerks from being disturbed. Because letters had to be posted by 7pm in Plymouth Post Office, or 7.15pm at Stonehouse, the Western Morning News argued for the Night Mail train to leave Plymouth later in the evening. The parcel post service was introduced in 1883, following the Royal Assent to the Post Office (Parcels) Act of 1882. In 1890 horse-drawn mail carts were introduced nationally for rural deliveries but I am not sure at the moment as to how this affected the Plymouth area. The cost of posting a letter was at an all-time low in 1897, when up to 4 ounces in weight could be sent for one penny. The cost of postage never fell that low again. By 1900 there was free delivery of letters to everybody. Up until then, this advantage had only been enjoyed by those living in the towns. The Post Office in Westwell Street, Plymouth, was enlarged in 1904 to cover the whole of the site they had bought in 1881. Wages rates paid to workers in the Post Office were very varied and a postman in Plymouth was probably on different pay from his opposite number in Exeter. In 1907 the rates in the provinces were unified into seven "classes", class 7 receiving between 15s at age 19 to 24s at age 51 and those at class 1 receiving between 19s and 36s. During the Great War it once again cost a penny to post a letter up to one ounce in weight. The four ounce letter of 1897 cost 2½d. However, the cost fell again by 1918, when it cost 1½d to send a package of up to four ounces in weight. When the Great War ended in 1918 there were a large number of motor vehicles up for disposal by the military authorities and it may have been this that spurred the Post Office to purchase its first motor vans in 1919. There were 48 of them at first so they were probably confined to the London area. The introduction of motor vehicles throughout the provinces seems to have been a subject of tremendous argument as it was not felt that it was saving any expense, except on the rural services. In 1920 postage cost 2d but that covered a letter of anything up to three ounces in weight. In 1922 an intermediate 1½d rate was introduced for letters up to one ounce and in 1923 that was increased to two ounces. A major event took place in Plymouth in 1928, although without any ceremony. On Sunday March 25th the sorting office was transferred from the General Post Offices in both Plymouth and Devonport to a new sorting office at Pennycomequick. It opened the following day. Motor-cycles were introduced nationally in 1932 for the use of the telegram boys or messengers, who had to be aged 17 years at minimum. Following the transfer of sorting faciilities to Pennycomequick, the opportunity was taken to reconstruct the interior of the main Post Office in Westwell Street. When this was finished, the building had an inlaid floor depicting Drake's ships and the "Mayflower". The building was re-opened for business by Sir Kingsley Wood, Postmaster-General, on May 17th 1933. Unfortunately all that expense was wasted for on the night of March 20th/21st 1941 the building was destroyed by bombing. The Post Office moved to temporary premises at 10 Tavistock Road, known as Spear's Corner.
A view down Old Town Street towards
Cornwall Street, It was announced on Saturday August 9th 1941 that the General Post Office had made ready a fleet of motor vans fitted out as mobile post offices to be rushed to any location in the South West where the post office had been put out of action by enemy raids. Also ready for use was a prefabricated building with more facilities and even spare sets of post office furniture that could be rushed anywhere it was needed. Plymouth's main post office remained at Spear's Corner until close of business on September 10th 1957, when Mr Ken Thompson, Assistant Postmaster-General, officially opened the post-war premises at St Andrew's Cross. The new premises opened for business the following day. In 1969 the General Post Office ceased to be a government department staffed by civil servants and instead became a nationalised industry. The Royal Mail's sole right to carry letter post in the United Kingdom ceased after 350 years at midnight on December 31st 2005. Click here for Plymouth's Postal Service up to 1839
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