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
1 memorial
Angel Inn, near Smithfield Angel Inn
We can't identify this pub.
1 memorial
Major Edmund Leopold de Rothschild, CBE, TD
Financier and horticulturalist. He was born on 2 January 1916 in Westminster the second of the four children of Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882-1942) and Marie Louise Eugénie de Rothschild née B...
Person, Armed Forces, Commerce, Gardens / Agriculture, Politics & Administration
1 memorial
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
This foundry is the oldest manufacturing company in the UK and is still making bells at 32/34 Whitechapel Road. Probably their most famous creation is Big Ben (we thank Alice, a member of a childre...
4 memorials