Inked date stamps were at first called 'Bishops marks' after their inventor, Henry Bishop, Postmaster General, 1660-1663. The post office was receiving complaints about late arrival of the post. Bishop claimed: 'a stamp is invented, that is putt upon every letter shewing the day of the moneth that every letter comes to this office, so that no letter Carryer may dare to detayne a letter from post to post; which, before, was usual.' As we now know, this did not actually solve the problem, just provided more evidence that the problem existed.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
First postmarks in the world
Commemorated ati
General Letter Office
Near this spot the General Letter Office stood in Post House Yard, 1653 - 166...
Other Subjects
Frederick Frye
Grocer and Liberal politician. Full name Frederick Charlwood Frye. Started a chain of shops in 1870 and by 1894 was running 50 stores across England and Ireland. Was a member of the Metropolitan Bo...
1 memorial
Red Lion, Kilburn
Closed Pubs has a good picture of the current building and gives: "The Red Lion was situated at 34 Kilburn High Road. This pub was known as The Westbury at time of closure in 2012. Rebuilt in the l...
1 memorial
Old Serjeant's Inn
There is a 53 page, privately printed history of the Old Serjeants Inn, published in 1912 by the Law Union and Rock Insurance Company Ltd, who acquired the property in 1909.
1 memorial
Provident Life Office
A savings bank launched by Barber Beaumont in 1806. We think this went on to become part of Friends Provident. Source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
1 memorial
John Farrell
Worked for the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society. Was on the building committee for the Abbey Wood branch in 1912.
1 memorial
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