The Penny Post is any one of several postal systems in which normal letters could be sent for one penny.
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In England, the Post Office had a monopoly on the collection and carriage of letters between post towns but there was no delivery system until the London Penny Post was established in 1680 by William Dockwra, and his partner Robert Murray. They established a local post that used a uniform rate of one old penny for delivery of letters and packets weighing up to one pound within the cities of Westminster and London as well as Southwark.[1] There were several deliveries a day within the city, and items were also delivered to addresses up to ten miles outside London for an extra charge of one penny. In 1683, Dockwra was forced to surrender his business to the English Monarchy for circulating what was considered seditious newsletters sharply criticizing Duke of York who was in charge of and directly benefited from the General Post Office.[2][3]
In 1765, Parliament authorized the creation of Penny Posts in any town or city of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The single postage rate of one penny was charged within the area, calculated by weight.[4] By the beginning of the 19th century there were many of these, identifiable on covers, with markings such as "PP", "Py Post", or "Penny Post" along with the name of the town.[2][3]
The early penny post system in Edinburgh, founded in 1773 by Peter Williamson,[3][2] known as "Indian Peter," usefully combined it with one of the world's first street directories.[5]
On 5 December 1839 the Uniform Fourpenny Post was introduced by the General Post Office but lasted only 36 days until 9 January 1840 when the Uniform Penny Post was introduced.[6]
In 1835 Rowland Hill published a pamphlet entitled 'Post Office Reform' which led to various reforms and the introduction of the first postage stamp and convinced Parliament to implement much needed reforms in the current postal system. On 10 January 1840, the Uniform Penny Post was established throughout the UK, facilitating the safe, speedy and cheap conveyance of letters, and from 6 May could be prepaid with the first postage stamp, known as the Penny Black.[7]
On Christmas Day, 1898, the Imperial Penny Post extended the rate throughout the British Empire except for Australia and New Zealand, who would not subscribe to it until 1905. In 1908 it was extended to America.[8]
The Penny Post rate ended in Great Britain in 1918.
In the United States, Spaulding's Penny Post operated in Buffalo, New York from 1847 to 1850.
Davis' Penny Post operated in Baltimore, Maryland for several weeks of February 1856, leaving behind a handful of rare stamps.
The Penny Post is the journal of the Carriers and Locals Society, and was also the original name of The Cincinnati Post.