APPRECIATIONS OF RALPH ALLEN, JOHN PALMER, AND SIR FRANCIS FREELING,
MAIL AND COACH ADMINISTRATORS.
On the 25th April, 1901, the day after a visit to Bristol to celebrate
the establishment of the new steamship line to Jamaica, the Marquess of
Londonderry, then Postmaster-General, visited Bath to take part in a
ceremony in honour of Ralph Allen and John Palmer. These two great
postal reformers were both citizens of Bath, and are greatly honoured in
that city for their work in the Post Office, with the famous men of the
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. By a happy thought there has
lately been started a movement to keep alive associations with the past
by placing tablets on the houses in which famous men lived. One of the
tablets unveiled by Lord Londonderry was placed on the house in which
Ralph Allen first conducted the business of the Bath Post Office, and
of his cross post contracts, and the other on the house in which John
Palmer was born.
Soon after noon on the eventful day, the Bath postmen's band, Mr.
Kerans, the postmaster, and his lieutenants, the staff of postmen and
messengers, marched on to the space between the Abbey and the Guildhall
for inspection by the Head of the Post Office Department. After the
inspection, a procession was formed, in which the Postmaster-General was
accompanied by the Mayor, and followed by the Town Councillors, two by
two. Before them went the city swordbearer, clad in striking robes, and
the party proceeded to the North Parade, from which Allen's house is now
reached by a passage way. The house is built of stone, and has a very
handsome front in the style of the classical Renaissance. In drawing
aside the curtain, which veiled the tablet, on which was inscribed "Here
lived Ralph Allen, 1727-1764," Lord Londonderry said that there was
probably not one of the great men who had been associated with Bath who
was more of a benefactor to his town, as well as to the public service
of his country, than Ralph Allen. The procession then moved on to
Palmer's house, only a few yards away, where a similar ceremony took
place. After another short speech by the Postmaster-General, in which he
explained the share Palmer had borne in developing the modern Post
Office system, the second tablet was unveiled. It bore the inscription,
"Here lived John Palmer, born 1741, died 1818."
Afterwards at the Guildhall, where a bust of Allen in the Council
Chamber looked down upon a large party assembled for luncheon, the
Postmaster-General, in response to the toast of his health, discoursed
more at large upon the topic of the day. He congratulated Bath upon
having among its citizens two out of the four great men of Post Office
history. It was Allen's task to provide a general postal system by
opening up new lines of posts between the main roads, and through new
lines of country. Between 1720, when he began his first contract, and
1764 when he died, he covered the country with a network of posts,
giving easy communication between all important towns, and he also
increased the number and speed of the mails on the post roads. While
doing this he raised himself from being a humble clerk, and later,
postmaster of Bath, to a position of great affluence, and of friendship
with many of the great men of his time. Among those friends was Lord
Chatham.
It was twenty years after Allen's death that Palmer's Mail Coach system
was started. Its advantage soon made itself apparent, and the
improvement of roads at the end of the 18th Century enabled the mail
coach service to be brought to great perfection. It lasted less than 60
years, but in those years correspondence and the revenue of the Post
Office multiplied many times, and when Rowland Hill turned his attention
to postal questions he found a rapid and efficient service, which was at
the same time so cheap that the cost of conveyance was only a small item
in the expenses of the Post Office.
The Mayor of Bath proposed the toast of "the Visitors," and said that
they had amongst them two representatives of the great men they were
honouring. Ralph Allen was represented by Colonel Allen, a direct
descendant, and the owner of Bathampton Manor, a part of Ralph
Allen's estate. Colonel Allen had lately returned from South Africa.
John Palmer was represented by his grandson, Colonel Palmer, R.E.
[Illustration: [_From a block kindly lent by the Proprietors of the
"Bath Chronicle."_]
MEDAL STRUCK IN HONOUR OF RALPH ALLEN.]
Colonel Allen thanked the company for their kind reception, and Colonel
Palmer said that it had given him the greatest pleasure to witness the
testimonial to his grandfather's services, and this pleasure would be
shared by the members of his family, including his sister, who had given
the cup on the table to the Corporation. It had been a present from the
Citizens of Glasgow to John Palmer.
Full accounts of the Post Office services of Allen and Palmer are
written in "The Bristol Royal Mail."
The photograph of a curious memorial of Ralph Allen's work in the Post
Office here reproduced is that of a medal bearing the Royal Arms, and
the inscriptions "To the Famous Mr. Allen, 4th December, 1752," and "the
Gift of His Royal Highness, W.D. of Cumberland."
The reverse of the medal is engraved with some Masonic emblems, and with
the words,
"Amor Honor Justitia,"
INO CAMPBELL,
Armagh.
No. 409.
The history of this relic is rather obscure. It was purchased in a
curiosity shop in Belfast some fifteen years ago by Mr. D. Buick, LL.D.,
of Sandy Bay, Larne. In the year 1752, the Princess Amelia visited Bath,
and was entertained by Ralph Allen at Prior Park. During her stay at
Bath, the Duke of Cumberland also visited the town, and is known to have
contributed £100 to the Bath Hospital, of which Allen was one of the
most active supporters. It has been surmised that the medal was intended
as an acknowledgment of the courtesy and attention received by the Duke
and the Princess on this occasion.
Whether the medal was ever presented is not known, or how it came to be
converted into a Masonic jewel. Perhaps it may have been given away by
Allen, or it may have gone astray, or been stolen. The Masonic Lodge,
No. 409, is said to have been founded by a Mr. John Campbell in 1761,
shortly before the date of Allen's death: Allen may have been a
Freemason.
[Illustration: [_By permission of Mr. Sydenham, of Bath._
TOKENS COMMEMORATIVE OF PALMER'S MAIL COACH SYSTEM.]
It is to Mr. Sydenham, of Bath, that indebtedness is due for the
interesting impressions of tokens struck in commemoration of Palmer's
mail coach system here depicted.
An interesting tribute was the painting by George Robertson, engraved by
James Fittler, and inscribed to him as Comptroller-General in 1803,
eleven years after he had ceased to hold that position. A copy of this
engraving appears in "The Bristol Royal Mail." Palmer also received the
freedom of eighteen towns and cities in recognition of his public
services, was Mayor of Bath in 1796 and 1801, and represented that city
in the four Parliaments of 1801, 1802, 1806, and 1807.
Francis Freeling, who succeeded John Palmer in the Secretaryship and
General Managership of Post Office affairs, was as a youth a disciple of
his predecessor, and assisted him in the development of the Mail Coach
system. He was apprenticed to the Post Office in Bristol, where his
talents, rectitude of conduct, and assiduity in the duties assigned him
gained for him the esteem and respect of all those connected with the
establishment; and, on the introduction by Mr. Palmer of the new system
of Mail Coaches, Mr. Freeling was appointed in 1785 his assistant to
carry the improvements into effect. He was introduced into the General
Post Office in 1787, and successively filled the office of surveyor,
principal surveyor, joint secretary with the late Anthony Todd, Esq.,
and sole secretary for nearly half a century.
In Mr. Dix's "Life of Chatterton," it is stated, on the authority of a
friend of the Chatterton family, that on Chatterton leaving for London,
"he took leave of several friends on the steps of Redcliff Church very
cheerfully. That at parting from them he went over the way to Mr.
Freeling's house." It is further stated that Mr. Freeling was father to
the late Sir F. Freeling.
As regards Freeling's birthplace, information is forthcoming which seems
conclusive. In a collection of old Bristol sketches purchased for the
Museum and Library, there is a beautiful drawing of Redcliffe Hill,
executed about eighty years ago; and the artist, doubtless acting on
the evidence of old inhabitants--contemporaries of Freeling--has
distinctly marked the house where that gentleman was born, and noted the
fact in his own handwriting.
[Illustration: + BIRTHPLACE OF SIR FRANCIS FREELING, BART.,
_Secretary to the General Post Office_.]
Permission has been obtained from the council of the Bristol Museum and
Reference Library for the picture to be photographed. The following
is the superscription on the back of the original pencil
drawing:--"Redcliffe Pit, Bristol. The house with this mark + at the
door is the house in which Sir Francis Freeling, Bart., was born. The
high building, George's patent shot tower, G. Delamotte, del. Jan. 12,
1831." A copy of the sketch is here reproduced. The house as "set back"
or re-erected is now known as 24, Redcliffe Hill.
Sir Francis Freeling first carried on his secretarial duties at the old
Post Office in Lombard Street, once a citizen's Mansion. There he was
located for 30 years.
On September 29th, 1829, the Lombard Street Office was abandoned as
Headquarters, and Freeling moved, with the secretarial staff under his
chieftainship, to St. Martin's-le-Grand.
In 1833 the question arose whether the mail coaches should be obtained
by public competition, or by private agreement, but Sir Francis
Freeling's idea was to get the public service done well, irrespective of
the means.
On this point Mr. Joyce, C.B., in his history of the Post Office, wrote
that in 1835 the contract for the supply of mail coaches was in the
hands of Mr. Vidler, of Millbank, who had held it for more than 40
years, and little had been done during this period to improve the
construction of the vehicles he supplied. Designed after the pattern in
vogue at the end of the last century, they were, as compared with the
stage coaches, not only heavy and unsightly, but inferior both in point
of speed and accommodation. Commissioners appointed to inquire into the
system, altogether dissatisfied with the manner in which the contract
had been performed, arranged with the Government not only that the
service should be put up to public tender, but that Vidler should be
excluded from the competition. This decision was arrived at in July,
1835, and the contract expired on the 5th of January following. To
invite tenders would occupy time, and after that mail coaches would have
to be built sufficient in number to supply the whole of England and
Scotland. A period of five or six months was obviously not enough for
the purpose, and overtures were made to Vidler to continue his contract
for half a year longer. Vidler, incensed at the treatment he had
received, flatly refused. Not a day, not an hour, beyond the stipulated
time would he extend his contract, and on the 5th of January, 1836, all
the mail coaches in Great Britain would be withdrawn from the roads.
Freeling, now an old man, with this difficulty to overcome, had his old
energy revived, and when the 5th of January arrived there was not a road
in the kingdom, from Wick to Penzance, on which a new coach was not
running. It was then that the mail coaches reached their prime.
Amongst the deaths announced in the _Felix Farley's Journal_ under date
of January 14th, 1804, is that of "the lady of Francis Freeling, Esq.,
of the General Post Office," and another part of the paper contains the
following paragraph:--
"The untimely death of Mrs. Freeling is lamented far beyond the circle
of her own family, extensive as it is. The amiableness of her manner and
the rational accomplishments of her mind had conciliated a general
esteem for such worth, through numerous classes of respectable friends,
who naturally participate in its loss."
Freeling's obituary notice, which appeared in the same _Journal_ on July
16, 1836, ran as follows:
"Saturday last, died at his residence in Bryanston Square, London, in
the 73rd year of his age, Sir Francis Freeling, Bart., upwards of 30
years Secretary to the General Post Office. Sir Francis was a native of
Bristol--he was born in Redcliffe Parish--and first became initiated in
the laborious and multifarious duties attendant upon the important
branch of the public service in which he was engaged in the Post Office
of this city of Bristol, from whence he was removed to the Metropolitan
Office in Lombard Street, on the recommendation of Mr. Palmer, the
former M.P. and Father of George Palmer, the present member for Bath,
who had observed during the period he was employed in first establishing
the mail-coach department the quickness of apprehension, the aptitude
for business, and the steadiness of conduct of his youthful protégé. Sir
Francis rapidly rose to notice and preferment in his new situation; and
after his succession to the office of Chief Secretary, it is proverbial
that no public servant ever gave more general satisfaction by his
indefatigable attention to the interests of the community, or than he
invariably shewed to those of the meanest individual who addressed him;
whether from a peer or peasant, a letter of complaint always received a
prompt reply. The present admirable arrangements and conveniences of
that noble national establishment, the newly-erected Post Office, were
formed upon the experience and the suggestions of Sir Francis and his
eldest son. A more faithful and zealous servant the public never
possessed. The title he enjoyed was the unsolicited reward for his
services, bestowed upon him by his Royal Master George the 4th, from
whom he frequently received other flattering testimonials of regard and
friendship. In Sir Francis Freeling was to be found one of those
instances which so frequently occur in this country of the sure reward
to industry and talent when brought into public notice. In speaking of
his private character, those only can appreciate his worth who saw him
in the bosom of his family--to his fond and affectionate children his
loss will be irreparable. To possess his friendship was to have gained
his heart, for it may be truly said he never forgot the friend who had
won his confidence; particularly if the individual was one who, like
himself, had wanted the fostering hand of a superior. Sir Francis was
always found to be the ready and liberal patron of talent in every
department of literature, science, and the fine arts. Considering the
importance and multiplicity of his public avocations, it was surprising
to all his friends how he could have found leisure to store his mind
with the knowledge he had attained of the works and beauties of all our
most esteemed writers; his library contains one of the rarest and most
curious collections of our early authors, more particularly our poets
and dramatists; in the acquirement of these works he was engaged long
before it became the fashion to purchase a black letter poem, or
romance, merely because it was old or unique. But his highest
excellencies were the virtuous and religious principles which governed
his whole life; his purse was ever open to relieve the distress of an
unfortunate friend, or the wants of the deserving poor. Many were the
alms which he bestowed in secret; which can be testified by the writer
of this paragraph, who knew him well, and enjoyed his friendship."
Miss Edith Freeling, now resident in Clifton, grand-daughter of Sir
Francis Freeling, and daughter of Sir Henry Freeling, and who was
actually born in the General Post Office, St. Martin's-le-Grand, London,
where her father had a residence as Assistant Secretary, has in her
possession several "antiques" belonging to her ancestors.
A worn-out despatch box used by Sir Francis in sending his papers to the
Postmaster-General is one of the prized articles. A very handsome gold
seal cut with the Royal Arms, and bearing the legend--General Post
Office Secretary--is another of the relics. Likewise a smaller gold
seal with a Crown, and "God Save the King," as its legend.
At the time of his death, Sir Francis Freeling's snuff boxes numbered
72, the majority of which had been presented to him. Apparently
"appreciations" took a tangible form in those days! His son, Sir Henry,
likewise had snuff boxes presented to him.
A handsome specimen snuff box is now in Miss Freeling's hands. It is
made of tortoise-shell, it has the portrait of King George the IVth as a
gold medallion on the top, and was known as a Regency Box. The
inscription inside is, "This box was presented to G.H. Freeling by His
Majesty George IVth on board the Lightning steam packet on his birthday
twelfth August 1821 as a remembrance that we had been carried to Ireland
in a Steam Boat." As Sir Francis Freeling migrated from the Bristol
service to Bath in 1784, it must have been at the Old Bristol Post
Office, near the Exchange, indicated by the illustration, that he
commenced that public career which was destined to be one of brilliant
achievements for the department during the many years he presided
over it as permanent chief, and of great good to his country in the
way of providing means for people to communicate with each other more
readily than was the case before his day.
[Illustration: THE OLD BRISTOL POST OFFICE IN EXCHANGE AVENUE.]