Produced by Donald Cummings, Adrian Mastronardi, Graeme Mackreth The Philatelic Digital Library Project at http://www.tpdlp.net and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) THE POST IN GRANT AND FARM [_All Rights Reserved_] THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE POST IN GRANT AND FARM BY J. WILSON HYDE CONTROLLER IN THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE, EDINBURGH AUTHOR OF "THE ROYAL MAIL: ITS CURIOSITIES AND ROMANCE" AND "A HUNDRED YEARS BY POST" LONDON ADAM & CHARLES BLACK 1894 PREFACE There has not hitherto been published any detailed account of the first establishment, in this country, of the Post Office as a public institution; nor does it appear that anything has been made known of the men who were instrumental in building up this useful fabric, in the years of its infancy, beyond the barren mention of their names. In some cases, moreover, in such bald notices as have been given of the early posts, important names are wholly omitted, and in others the names of men are associated with events in which they had little concern. What is disclosed in the following pages is an attempt not only to give a fairly full and true account of the first forty years' existence of the Inland Posts in Britain, but to tell something of the men to whom the credit is due of contriving and bringing into working shape this great machine of public convenience and utility. The facts here narrated are collected from the Public Records, original documents, and other authentic sources. In the extracts which have been made from original papers, modern orthography, as being more convenient for the reader, has been generally employed; but in a few cases the tone and flavour of the antique have been retained in the original spelling. I have to acknowledge with gratitude the very kindly assistance given me by librarians, not only in Edinburgh but elsewhere, and by other gentlemen in public positions, who have assisted me in clearing up points of difficulty. Edinburgh, 1894. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE The King's Post--John Stanhope's patent, 1590 1 Wages of Chief Postmaster--Confusion of terms "post," "packet," etc. 2 Charles I. in need of money--Offices bought and sold--Scope of Lord Stanhope's patent 4 New office created of Postmaster for Foreign Posts, out of the king's dominions 5 De Quester and his son appointed Foreign Postmasters 6 Contest between Stanhope and the De Questers--Who the De Questers were 7