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Penny Postage '• .i к ' . Cm if ovm. ^nlanb ; STAGE IBí R HОЦВОRN RESTAURANT ■ /■; ;; - у/- г/лTvwirrX t! ZS ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE .JUBILEE OF Itotiform Jnlanb PENNY POSTAGE AT THE VENETIAN CHAMBER, HOLBORN RESTAURANT AT THE GUILDHALL AT THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND ART, SOUTH KENSINGTON AND AT Darioue Œowne aııö Milages throughout tbe Unitét» fïtngöom 1 8 4 0 - 1 8 9 0 ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS AND SKETCHES LONDON PRINTED FOR THE JUBILEE CELEBRATION COMMITTEE GENERAL POST-OFFICE 1891 RICHARD Cl. A Y ANO SONN, LlMlTKD. LONDON AND BUNGAY. 1890. poøtmaøter-Øeneral, T he R ight Hon. HENRY CECIL RAIKES, M.P. Secretar? of tbe ©oet-©ffice. SIR ARTHUR RLACKWOOD, K.C.B. financial Secretar?. ALGERNON TURNOR, Esq., C.B. flbírö Secretar?. HENRY JOYCE, Esq., C.B. Resistant Secretaries. F. E. BAINES, Esq., C.B. | E. H. REA, Esq., C.M.G. J. C. LAMB, Esq., C.M.G. Committee of fübaiiagement. E. E. BAINES, "Esq., C.B., Chairman. Colonei, J. J, CARDIN. I Colonel S. RAFFLES THOMPSON W. H. PREECE, Esq., F.R.S. I R. C. TOMBS, Esq. W. G. GATES, Esq. SYDNEY BECKLEY, Esq. Honorary G. A. AİTKEN, Esq. Secretaries. S. WILSON, Esq. SUB-COMMITTEES TO ARRANGE f o i: THE POST-OFFICE JUBILEE CONVERSAZIONE AT THE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM, On t h e 2nd o f JULY, 1890. CLOAK ROOM:— ANGELL, T. W. > ARDRON, J. G. A. AİTKEN, BADCOCK, J. C. Secretary. BUNDY, C. H. ENTERTAINMENTS :— CHAMBRE, A. E. ' HILL, PEARSON. W. G. GATES, KOPS, E. Secretary. PAMPHILON, A. MUSIC : — BECKLEY, SYDNEY. ' HALL, C. S. SYDNEY BECKLEY, SEALY, A. Secretary. WINTER, E. REFRESHMENTS:— BADCOCK, H. LANG, C. D. S. WILSON, WIGHT, J. F. Secretary. YELD, E. , LADIES’ COMMITTEE: BROWN, MISS 1 MISS GUNSTON, SAUL, MISS Secretary. SMITH, MISS CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. РЛС Е The Jubilee Y e a r .................................................................................... 1 Л Brief Account of the Post-Of f i c e ................................................ 10 Some Reminiscences ................................................................................ 33 The Jubilee of the Penny Post, from “ Punch” ........................ 42 To the Honoured Memory of Sir Rowland H ill (Poem) . 44 THE PENNY POSTAGE JUBILEE D IN NER..................................... 47 THE CONVERSAZIONE AT THE GUILDHALL. Catalogue of A rticles Exhibited at Gu il d h a l l ........................83 Instructions for Postal D uty at Gu il d h a l l .................................... 115 Report of the Controller of the London Postal Service . 122 Retort of the El e c t r ic ia n ........................................................................ 130 Extracts from R eport of P enny Post Jubilee Committee appointed by the Co r p o r a t io n ........................................................ 135 A ccount of Guildhall Conversazione, from “ City Press’’ . 146 Collection of H istorical Exhibits at the Conversazione . 165 The Guildhall Conversazione, from “ Punch ” ................................ 188 THE CONVERSAZIONE AT THE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM. Programme of the Conversazione at South Kensington . 191 Instructions for Postal D uty at South K e n sin g t o n .................... 198 Report of the Controller of the London Postal Service . , 209 Report of the Entertainments Co m m it t e e ........................................ 219 Account of South K ensington Conversazione, from the “T im e s” and the “ Daily Telegraph” ........................................ 221 Telegrams from Foreign Countries and Colonies R eceived at South K e n s in g t o n ................................................................................ 230 viii CONTENTS. CELEBRATIONS OF THE JUBILEE IN THE PROVINCES. Г АО К A bstract of Retorts from Provincial and London Offices . 235 Extracts from Typical R eports from London Offices .... 244 ,, , ,, Provincial Offices . 247 „ ,, ,, „ Scotlan d............................ 274 „ „ „ I r e l a n d ................................. 273 THE POSTMASTERS' BREAKFAST............................................................ 285 ROWLAND HILL MEMORIAL AND BENEVOLENT FUND. Meeting at the Mansion Ho u s e ............................................................ 291 List of Subscriptions to the Fu n d .................................... 308 APPENDIX. Christmas, 1890 . 319 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PACE Sir Rowland H ill, K.C.В..........................................................Frontispiece. Sir R owland H ill’s Birthplace, Kidderminster .................................. 12 A T ravelling Post-Of f ic e ............................................................................. 17 The Brighton Parcel Coach ................................................................. .... 25 Loading the Brighton Parcel Co a c h ......................................................... 37 Frederic H ill, Esq............................................................................... 4 1 Postmen’s In f o r m s during the last F ifty Y e a r s ............................ 87 The Mulready Envelope, 1840 ...................................................... 104 The Guildhall Jubilee Post-Card ................................................. .... 124 Telegraphs at Gu il d h a l l ......................................................................... 131 The “ City Press” W ip.e at Guildhall . ............................ 160 A Post-Office in 1790 ..................................................................................... , 168 T he South Kensington Jubilee En v e l o p e ..................................................211 The South Kensington Jubilee Correspondence Ca r d .........................213 Facsimile of Manuscript by Sir Rowland H i l l .................... to face 14 T he Right Hon. H enry Cecil Raikes, M.P. (Postmaster­ General) ................................................................................................. „ 47 Ex-Postmasters-General : H is Grace The D uke of A rgyll, K.G., К.Т........................ to face 50 The Right Hon. T he Marquis of H artington, M.P. ,, 52 The R ight Hon. Sir Lyon Tlayfair, K.C.B., M.P. ,, 56 His Grace T he D uke of R utland, K.G. ......................... ,, 60 The L ate R ight Hon. H enry Fawcett, M.P................. „ 70 The R ight Hon. G. J. Shaw Lefevre; M .P................... ,, 74 The L ate Lord W o l y e r t o n ............................................... ,, 80 X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS РАО К Sir James W hitehead, Bart............................................................. to face 83 Sir Arthur Blackwood, K.C.B. {Secretary of the Tost Office) . ,, 147 T he Post-Office Co m m it t e e ............................................................ ,, 1Й1 F. E. Baines, Esq., C.B. (Chairman). S. Raffles T hompson, Esq. James J. Cardin, Esq. R. C. Tombs, Esq. W. H. P reecf., Esq., F.R.S. Hon. Secretaries to Co m m itte e........................................ .... to face 192 W alter G. Gates, Esq. • . Sydney Beckley, Esq. G. A. A itken, Esq. S. W ilson, Esq. Fredep,ic H ill, Esq........................................................ ........................to face 288 Date Stamps Used at Guildhall and at South Kensington ., 218 INTRODUCTION. CELEBRATION OF THE JUBILEE OF INLAND UNIEOBM PENNY POSTAGE. THE JUBILEE YEAR, 1890. I n 1889 a general feeling Was expressed that the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of Uniform Penny Postage in this country ought not to be alloWed to pass Without some indication of the feelings Which must actuate all Who look back to the great reform introduced in 1840, and consider What has since been done. A committee was accordingly formed to make the necessary arrangements, and it Was resolved that, in the first place, officers of the Post-Office should meet together at dinner at the Holborn Restaurant. The Penny Postage Jubilee Dinner on January 15 Was most successful. Nearly 300 gentlemen Were present, including Mr. Raikes, the Postmaster-General, and all the higher officials of the Department, as Well as Sir Lyon Playfair and Mr. Shaw- Lefevre, Who have held the office of Postmaster-General, Sir John Tilley, late Secretary of the Post-Office, Mr. Pearson Hill, son of Sir RoWland Hill, and others no longer in the service. A full report of the interesting speeches will be found below. But still greater things were to come. The Corporation of the City of London, anXious to celebrate in a fitting manner the Jubilee of Penny Postage, asked the Post-Office to co­ operate in arranging for an important conversazione at the в 2 JUBILEE OF PENNY POSTAGE. Guildhall. The invitation met With a ready response, and by the 16th of May, the date of the conversazione, the Guildhall and its approaches had undergone the strangest of metamorphoses. The great hall contained a fully-equipped post-office of to-day, and the representation of a post-office of 1790, While in an enclosure visitors Were able to see how letters, papers, and parcels are sorted and made up into despatches in the Post­ Office. At the other end of the room telegraphic apparatus of all descriptions Was eXhibited, and communication Was established With cities as distant as Paris and Berlin. The Art Galleries were used for the eXhibition of models of travel­ ling post-offices, mail steamers, &e., and of a large and valuable eXhibition of pictures, books, stamps, letters, State papers, and every description of curiosity illustrating the history of the Post-Office. EXcellent musical arrangements were made, and Mr. Sydney Beckley, who conducted, has found in the choir gathered together for this temporary purpose the nucleus of what
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