The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and RomanceHyde, James Wilson
History
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
Hyde, James Wilson
Postal service -- Great Britain
Again, from Ipswich to Bury St Edmunds, two important towns of 11,277[3]
and 7655[4] inhabitants respectively, and distant from one another only
22 miles, there was no direct post. Letters had to be forwarded either
through Norwich and Newmarket, or by way of London, the distance to be
covered in the one case being 105 miles, and in the other 143-1/2 miles.
We have not the means of computing the time letters took to travel from
Ipswich to Bury St Edmunds in 1792, but an Itinerary for 1812 affords
the necessary information as regards the later period. Suppose a letter
were posted at Ipswich for Bury St Edmunds on Monday, it would be
despatched to Norwich at 5.30 A.M. on Tuesday, reaching Norwich some six
hours thereafter. It would leave Norwich at 4.0 P.M. same day (Tuesday),
and arrive at Newmarket at about 11.0 P.M., where it would lie all night
and the greater part of next day, and would only arrive at Bury St
Edmunds at 5.40 P.M. on Wednesday. If the letter were sent by the
Metropolitan route, its time would be the same, thus:--Leaving Ipswich
at 9.30 P.M. on Monday, it would reach London at 8.0 A.M. on Tuesday.
Thence it would not get despatched till 7.30 P.M.; and proceeding to
Newmarket, would arrive there at 4.0 A.M. on Wednesday. Here it would
remain till the afternoon, and would reach Bury St Edmunds, as in the
former case, at 5.40 P.M. (on Wednesday). So that, in practice, to cover
this short interval of 22 miles by post, three whole days were
necessary.
[3 and 4] From published records of 1812.
One more instance:--From Salisbury to South Wales, a distance of some
70 miles, letters had to circulate through London, making a journey, up
and down, of something like 220 miles, and this without alternative.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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