An Historical Summary of the Post Office in Scotland Part 1

An Historical Summary of the Post Office in Scotland.

by T. B. Lang.

The earliest records that can be found relating to the conveyance of Despatches or Letters in Scotland, do not date earlier than the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In these early records, special messengers for the conveyance of the King's Despatches and Correspondence are called "_Nuncii_" or "_Cursores_;" but the information as to their mode of travelling, and regulations for their guidance, is imperfect and limited. Messengers of this description were also employed to convey despatches from foreign countries, for which they received gratuities on their arrival at the Scottish Court. About the year 1500, the name of Post is found to apply to messengers travelling with the utmost rapidity then attainable in charge of despatches.[1] On the 1st of April 1515, the English envoy in Scotland wrote from Stirling to Henry VIII. of England--"This Friday, when I came home to dyner, I received your most honorable letters by Post, dated at your mansion, Greenwich, 26th March."[2] These letters, which appear to have occupied five or six days in transit from Greenwich to Stirling, must have been conveyed by one of these special Court Messengers.

It was not long after this period that the munic.i.p.al corporations and private persons of consequence also introduced messengers of this description. For example, in 1590, a Post was established by the Magistrates of Aberdeen for carrying their despatches to and from Edinburgh and other places of royal residence. They appointed a person for conducting these despatches, under the name of the Council Post, who was dressed in a garment of blue cloth, with the town's armorial bearings in silver upon the right sleeve.[3]

In 1635 a public Post was first established in Britain, under Government authority by Charles I.[4] Its main object was to establish regular and certain communication between London and Edinburgh. The journey was limited to three days, and the rate of Postage for a single letter was fixed at 6d. sterling. Mails were despatched between these two cities usually twice a week, sometimes only once.

About two years after this period, the Post as the medium of communication, became so insecure, that in 1638 a person in England wrote to his friend in Scotland--"I hear the Posts are waylaid, and all letters taken from them, and brought to Secretary Cooke; therefore will I not, nor do you, send by that way hereafter." The Post at this time was called the Merchant Post, but it did not prosper.[5]

In 1649, the Commonwealth took the Scottish Posts under its jurisdiction, and in connection with that measure they appear to have removed many, if not all the officers. The Posts were then placed upon a better footing, and the system was still further improved by Cromwell.

In 1654 the Postage from England to Scotland was lowered to 4d.

sterling. In 1656 the revenues of the Post Office in Great Britain and Ireland were farmed to John Manley, Esq., who was appointed Postmaster-General, and the rate of Postage in Scotland was fixed at 2d.

for a single letter under 80 miles, for all distances above 80 miles 3d., to England 4d., and to Ireland 6d.[6]

On the 16th December 1661, Charles II. re-appointed Robert Mein "Sole Keeper of the Letter Office in Edinburgh," an office from which he had been removed during the Commonwealth.[7]

By grant under the Privy Seal, dated at Whitehall on the 14th September 1662, King Charles II. bestowed upon Patrick Grahame of Inchbrakie the office of Postmaster-General of Scotland[8]--"officium precipui magistri cursoris lie Postmaster-Generall et Censoris omnium cursorum dicti regni Scotie"--for all the days of his life, with power to appoint Postmasters at the stages necessary for forwarding the King's letters from place to place. The grant conveyed to Grahame all the rights and privileges which any Postmaster-General had previously enjoyed in Scotland, and specially bestowed on him a salary of 500 Scots yearly.[9]

On the 16th September 1662, the Privy Council of Scotland commissioned Robert Mein, merchant,[10] and Keeper of the Letter Office, Edinburgh, to establish posts between Scotland and Ireland, and ordained that Linlithgow, Kilsyth, Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Dumboag, Ballintrae, and Port Patrick, should be stages on the route, and granted him the sum of 200 sterling, to build a packet boat to carry the Mail from Port Patrick to Donaghadee, and further gave him the sole privilege of carrying letters on this line of road, for which he was allowed to charge for each letter to Glasgow, 2s. Scots, and from thence to any part within Scotland, 3s.

Scots, and for letters to Ireland, 6s. Scots.[11]

In 1665, by grant under the Privy Seal dated at Edinburgh on the 1st March, King Charles II. bestowed the office of Postmaster of Haddington upon William Seton, who was at the time Provost and Postmaster. The office which had been previously held by Cornelius Ramsay, is described to be "allswell for the carrieng and convoyeing of all such packetts from Haddington by Post to Colbrandspath as shall be directed to them,[12] and for the despatching and carrieng by Post frae Haddingtoune to Canongait, and carieng and convoyeing of all such packetts as shall be directed to England to anie of our Privie Counsell of this our kingdome of Scotland, or to anie of our officers for our affairs and service." The salary is stated to be 600 Scots yearly.[13]

In 1669 the Privy Council pa.s.sed an Act for erecting a Foot Post between Edinburgh and Inverness once a week, and between Edinburgh and Aberdeen twice a week, "wind and weather serving," and fixed the rate of Postage for a letter not exceeding one sheet of paper, carried 40 miles Scots (about 60 English), at 2s. Scots; for a single letter carried 60 miles, 3s. Scots; and for an ounce weight, 7s. 6d. Scots; and for every single letter carried above 80 miles Scots, within Scotland, 4s. Scots; for an ounce weight 10s., and so proportionably.[14] The same Act, "for the more effectual prosecution and performance of the premises,"

discharges "all other Posts established, or pretending to be established upon the Aberdeen and Inverness roads."[15]

To show the difficulties in the way of rapid communication at this period, from the condition of the roads in Scotland, it may be stated, that in 1678 an agreement was made to run a coach between Edinburgh and Glasgow (a distance of forty-four miles), which was to be drawn by six horses, and to perform the journey to Glasgow and back in six days. The undertaking was considered so arduous, that the contractor was to receive "200 merks a-year for five years, to a.s.sist him; but the speculation turned out so unprofitable that it was soon abandoned."[16]

In 1685, the intelligence of the death of Charles II., who died on 6th February, was received in Edinburgh at one o'clock in the morning of the 10th, by an express from London.[17] In 1688 it occupied three months to convey the tidings of the abdication of James II. of England and VII. of Scotland to the Orkneys.

The Post Office in Scotland again received the sanction of parliamentary authority in 1695, although "several public Posts" had already been established for carrying letters "to and from most parts and places in this kingdom," for the maintaining of mutual correspondence, and preventing the many inconveniences that happen by private Posts. And the "well ordering of these public Posts being a matter of general concern, and of great advantage, and that the best means for that end will be the settling and establis.h.i.+ng a General Post Office," the Scottish Parliament "ordains and appoints a General Post Office to be kept within the city of Edinburgh, from whence all letters and pacquets whatsoever may be with speed and expedition sent into any part of the kingdom, or any other of his Majesty's dominions, or into any kingdom or country beyond seas, by the pacquet that goes sealed to London." It is also enacted, that a Postmaster-General shall be appointed by letters patent under the Privy Seal, or that the office of Postmaster-General may be set in tack by the Lords of Treasury and Exchequer. The rates of Postage were fixed at 2d. for a single letter to Berwick, or within fifty miles of Edinburgh; above fifty miles and not exceeding 100 miles, 3d.; and all single letters to any place in Scotland, above 100 miles, to pay 4d.: common carriers were prohibited from carrying letters, except where no Post Offices were established, and if convicted, they became liable "to be imprisoned for six days for ilk fault, and fined in the sum of six pounds Scots 'toties quoties.'" This Act also authorizes a weekly Post between Scotland and Ireland, and orders boats to be maintained for carrying the Mails between Portpatrick and Donaghadee; and a special provision is made, that Ireland is not to be put to any expense, but that the Postmaster-General should be allowed the sum expended on the packet boats in his intromissions with the Treasury. And lastly, the Postmaster-General is ordered to take care that Posts are established over all the kingdom at places most convenient.[18]

In 1698, Sir Robert Sinclair of Stevenson, had a grant from King William of the whole revenue of the Post Office in Scotland, with a pension of 300 per annum to keep up the Post. The Post Office at this time appears to have been any thing but a profitable concern, as Sir Robert, after due deliberation, gave up the grant, thinking it disadvantageous.[19]

From the 11th November 1704 till Whitsunday 1707, George Main, jeweller in Edinburgh, accounts in Exchequer for the duties of the Post Office within Scotland, leased to him by the Lords of the Treasury and Exchequer in Scotland, during the three years ending at the latter date, for the yearly rent of 21,500 merks Scots, or 1194, 8s. 10d. sterling, subject to a deduction for the conveyance of public expresses, &c., and also a sum not exceeding 60 per annum for keeping a packet boat for carrying the Mails between Portpatrick and Ireland. It appears that he paid the following yearly salaries, viz.--

Postmaster at Haddington 50 sterling.

Postmaster in Canongate 35 "

Postmaster at c.o.c.kburnspath 50 "

James Weems, Clerk to the Post Office, 25 "

Postmaster of Portpatrick for the Charge } of a Packet Boat } 60 "

The expense of the Secretary's Packet and Expresses from the Post Office to London, from 11th November 1704 to 1st May 1707, amounted to 1994, 9s. sterling. The expense for Expresses for public affairs of the Government, sent and received betwixt London and Berwick, from 18th January 1707 to 1st May 1707, paid to the London Post Office, amounted to 476, 2s. 6d. Between 14th March and 6th October 1705, there were 25 "flying packets" (or special despatches) outgoing, and from 21st January to 3rd October 1705, the like number of flying packets sent by them. The cost of these paid to the Postmaster of Haddington and c.o.c.kburnspath was 23, 15s. sterling. The same Postmasters received 40, 14s. 6d. sterling for flying packets sent by them for the stages between Edinburgh and Berwick, from 14th April 1706 to 1st May 1707. A sum of 13, 5s.

sterling was also paid for inquiries as to a robbery of the packet at or near Dungla.s.s Miln.[20]

From this period downwards, the data are of a more minute description, giving the condition of the Post Office more in detail, and affording the means of estimating its progress by the extent of its establishment.

In 1708, the business of the General Post Office at Edinburgh was discharged by seven persons, viz.--George Main, manager for Scotland, who held his commission from the Postmaster-General of Great Britain, salary 200 per annum; his accountant, 50 per annum; a clerk, 50; the clerk's a.s.sistant, 25; three letter-carriers or runners, each 5s. per week.[21]

In 1710, the Act of William, 1695, was repealed by an Act of Anne, and the Post Office of Scotland was united with that of England, Ireland, and America under one Postmaster-General. It was ordained "that a Chief Letter Office be kept at Edinburgh, and the Packet Boats between Donaghadee and Portpatrick are still to be maintained." This Act also regulates the rates of Postage.[22]

During the five years which immediately followed the Union, and which ended on the 1st May 1712, the average annual sum paid into the Exchequer by the Scottish Post Office, was 6000.[23]

From the time of the Act of Anne, the establishment in Scotland was governed by a Deputy Postmaster-General, under the authority of the Postmaster-General of Great Britain, to whom all matters of importance had to be referred, and whose sanction required to be given to any matter involving pecuniary outlay. The first Deputy Postmaster-General, under the new arrangement, was George Main, who remained in office till 1715, when he was succeeded by Mr. James Anderson,[24] a writer to the Signet in Edinburgh. There is a collection of this gentleman's papers in the Advocate's Library in Edinburgh, and amongst them some official correspondence, which gives not only interesting information relating to the Post Office, but also as to the state of the country at that period, and it is from this source that precise information is derived as to the condition of the postal arrangements.

When Mr. Anderson took office on the 12th July 1715, there was not a single Horse Post in Scotland, Foot Runners being the usual means of conveyance for the Mails. In this manner direct Bags were conveyed from Edinburgh as far north as Thurso, and westward to Inverary. There were three Mails a-week from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and three in return; the runners set out from Edinburgh each Tuesday and Thursday, at twelve o'clock at night, and on Sundays in the morning, and the Mails arrived at Glasgow on the evening of Wednesday and Friday, and on the forenoon of Monday. For this service the Post Office paid 40 sterling per annum, but from the fraudulent dealing of the Postmaster of Falkirk, who made the payments, the runners seldom received more than from 20 to 25.

After his appointment, Mr. Anderson directed his attention to the establishment of Horse Posts on the Western Road from Edinburgh. The first regular Horse Post in Scotland appears to have been from Edinburgh to Stirling; it started for the first time on the 29th November 1715. It left Stirling at two o'clock afternoon, each Tuesday, Thursday, and Sat.u.r.day, and reached Edinburgh in time for the Night Mail to England.

In March 1717, the first Horse Post between Edinburgh and Glasgow was established, and we have the details of the arrangement in a memorial addressed to Lord Cornwallis and James Craggs, who jointly filled the office of Postmaster-General of Great Britain. The memorial states, that the "Horse Post will set out for Edinburgh each Tuesday and Thursday, at eight o'clock at night, and on Sunday about eight or nine in the morning, and be in Glasgow (a distance of thirty-six miles by the post road of that time) by six in the morning on Wednesday and Friday in summer, and eight in winter, and both winter and summer will be on Sunday night." There appears to have been a good deal of negotiation connected with the settlement of this Post, in which the Provost and Bailies of Glasgow took part. After some delay, the matter appears to have been arranged to the satisfaction of all parties.

A proposition was made at this time to establish a Horse Post between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, at a cost of 132, 12s. per annum, to supersede the Foot Posts, which were maintained at a cost of 81, 12s. The scheme, however, appears not to have been entertained at that time by the Post Office authorities.

At this period (1715), it took double the time for the Mail to perform the journey between London and Edinburgh that it did in the middle of the seventeenth century. When the Mail was first established by Charles I. in 1636, three days was the time allowed for the special couriers to perform the journey between Edinburgh and London; in 1715, it required six days for the Post to perform the same journey. This can easily be seen by examining the post marks on letters of that time.

In the year 1715, Edinburgh had direct communication with sixty post towns in Scotland, and in the month of August, the total sum received for letters pa.s.sing to and from these offices and Edinburgh, was 44, 3s. 1d. The Postage on letters to and from London in the same month amounted to 157, 3s. 2d., and the Postage for letters per the London road, amounted to 9, 19s., making the total sum for letters to and from Edinburgh, during that month, amount to 211, 5s. 3d.--equal to 2535, 3s. per annum.[25]

At this period we have interesting records of the seizure and pillage of the Mail by the Rebels. On the 16th September 1715, the Postmaster of Inverness wrote to the Postmaster-General--"I had yours of y^e 8th current, Tuesday last, about 10 o'clock forenoon. The night before I had account that y^e Post was prisoner; our bagg was broke up, so was y^e Dingwall and Dornoch baggs. You have, enclosed, a list of what came in my open bagg; if there were any frank letters, I received none of them, save 6 or 7."[26] It would also appear that the Mail was occasionally violated by common robbers.

In 1716, the Duke of Argyll, who had then supreme control in Scotland, gave orders to Mr. Anderson to place relays of horses from Edinburgh to Inverness, for the purpose of forwarding despatches to, and receiving intelligence from the army in the Highlands under General Cadogan.

These Posts worked upon two lines of roads--the one went through Fife and round by the east coast, pa.s.sing through Aberdeen; the other took the central road _via_ Perth, Dunkeld, and Blair Athole. These Horse Posts were, however, discontinued immediately after the army retired.

At this time the Government evinced great concern about the Irish correspondence, and ordered Mr. Anderson to visit Portpatrick, and examine the harbours, with the view of selecting the one most convenient for the Mail Packets.

After the Rebellion had been suppressed, the public appear to have had great confidence in the Post, and evinced a desire to have more extended Postal accommodation, and in some instances memorialized the Postmaster-General to open offices in the rural districts.

By an order, dated 26th November 1717, Mr. Anderson received notice, that he had been superseded, and that Sir John Inglis had been appointed Deputy Postmaster-General for Scotland, and would take office on the 1st December.

It would appear from the correspondence of Mr. Anderson, that all appointments in the Post Office in Scotland, were held directly from the Deputy Postmaster-General for the time being; and on the entrance of a new Postmaster-General into office, all commissions and bonds of security had to be renewed, and it was common for the Postmasters to employ all the influence in their power to obtain the favour of the new Postmaster-General, in order to be retained in their situations.[27]

In 1730, the yearly revenue of the Post Office establishment in Scotland was 1194.[28]

In 1738, Archibald Douglas, Esq., was Deputy Postmaster-General, and the establishment in Edinburgh consisted of eleven persons, including the Postmaster-General, a person called an apprehender of private letter-carriers, and three letter-carriers or runners.[29]

In 1741, Alexander Hamilton, Esq. of Innerwick, was Deputy Postmaster-General, and the establishment, exclusive of letter-carriers, consisted of eight persons, including a Solicitor. In this year there were 106 Post Towns in Scotland, and direct Bags were sent from Edinburgh to Kirkwall and Stornoway.[30]

About the year 1750, the Mails began to be conveyed from stage to stage by relays of fresh horses, and different Post-boys, to the princ.i.p.al places in Scotland, but the greater portion of the Mails were still carried by Foot Runners. Before the system of relays was introduced on the north road, the mode of conveying the Mails was very tedious. "For instance, a person set out with the Mail from Edinburgh for Aberdeen; he did not travel a stage, and then deliver the Mail to another Post-boy, but went on to Dundee, where he rested the first night; to Montrose, where he stayed the second, and on the third he arrived at Aberdeen, and as he pa.s.sed by Kinghorn, it behoved the tide, and sometimes also the weather, to render the time of his arrival more late and uncertain. In this manner the Mail was conveyed 'thrice a-week.' The communication by Post between London and Edinburgh was not much better."[31] The condition of the roads however in Scotland, would not admit of any thing like rapid travelling. The best roads, even in the populous districts, were occasionally to be found in the channels of streams. The common carrier from Edinburgh to Selkirk, 38 miles, required a fortnight for his journey, going and returning. The channel of the river Gala, which for a considerable distance ran parallel with the road, being, when not flooded, the track chosen as the most level and easiest to travel in.

Between the princ.i.p.al cities, the means of travelling were little better. It took a day and a-half for the stage coach to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow.[32]

At this period, and for long before, there was a set of single horse "trafficers" (cadgers), that regularly plied between different places.

These traffickers, and the carriers, in spite of the laws against them, carried more letters than the Post Office, at least in the country districts.[33]

In 1754, the revenue of the General Post Office in Scotland was 8927, and in the year 1757 it amounted to 10,623. In the latter year the Mail was upon the road from London to Edinburgh 87 hours, but from Edinburgh to London 131 hours. At this time, upon a representation from the committee of Royal Burghs, such regulations were adopted, that the time was reduced to 82 hours from London to Edinburgh, and 85 hours from Edinburgh to London.