Penny Post founded

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Domains

Communications
Legislation (Bills, Acts, Laws ...)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1840

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Before the establishment of the Penny Post system, it had become very expensive to post letters, especially across long distances within Britain. With literacy rates increasing, more and more people were wanting to write and send letters, but were constrained by the exorbitant cost. The system was also very uneven, as payment could either be made by the sender or the recipient, and recipients often refused to accept delivery of the item in order to avoid having to pay. The Penny Post did away with these irregularities, as well as much of the corruption inherent in the old postal service, as it made the Royal Mail a government monopoly. The new system massively increased the number of letters sent, almost doubling from 1839 to 1840, and doubling again in the next ten years. It was not,…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

155 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Penny Post founded". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=843, accessed 06 May 2024.]

Save this article