We now come to an important period of Witherings' connection with the
Post Office. In June 1635, the following scheme of public posts for
inland letters was propounded; it is attributed to Witherings:--
"Proposition for settling a 'staffeto' or packet post betwixt London
and all parts of His Majesty's dominions for carrying and recarrying
his subjects' letters. The clear profits to go towards the payment
of the postmasters of the roads of England, for which His Majesty is
now charged with £3400 per annum." The chief points of the proposal
are: "That an office or counting-house should be established in London
for receiving letters; that letters to Edinburgh and other places
along that road should be put into a 'portmantle,' with particular
bags directed to postmasters on the road; for instance, a bag should
be directed to Cambridge, where letters were to be delivered, taking
the same port (postage) as was then paid to the carriers, which was
2d. for a single letter, and so according to bigness. At Cambridge a
foot-post was to be provided with a known badge of His Majesty's Arms,
who on market-days was to go to all towns within 6, 8, or 10 miles to
receive and deliver letters, and to bring back those he received to
Cambridge, before the return of the 'portmantle' out of Scotland, when
the letters being put into a little bag, the said bag was to be put
into the 'portmantle'; that the 'portmantle' should go forward night
and day without stay; that the port should be advanced in proportion
to the distance the letter is carried; that a horse should be provided
for carrying letters to towns which lie far off the main roads, as,
for example, Hull. Similar arrangements were to be made on the road to
Westchester, and thence to Ireland; to Shrewsbury and the marches of
Wales; to Exeter and Plymouth; to Canterbury and Dover; to Colchester
and Harwich; to Norwich and Yarmouth. By these means, letters which
were then carried by carriers or foot-posts 16 or 18 miles a day (so
that it was full two months before any answer could be received from
Scotland or Ireland) would go 120 miles in one day and night. At this
rate of travelling, it was declared that news would come from the coast
towns to London 'sooner than thought.'
"In the first place, it will be a great furtherance to the
correspondency betwixt London and Scotland, and London and Ireland,
and great help to trades and true affection of His Majesty's subjects
betwixt these kingdoms, which, for want of true correspondency of
letters, is now destroyed; and a thing above all things observed by
all other nations.
"As for example:--
"If any of His Majesty's subjects shall write to Madrid in Spain, he
shall receive answer sooner and surer than he shall out of Scotland
or Ireland. The letters being now carried by carriers or foot-posts
16 or 18 miles a day, it is full two months before any answer can be
received from Scotland or Ireland to London, while by this conveyance
all letters shall go 120 miles at the least in one day and night.
"It will, secondly, be alleged, that it is a wrong to the carriers
that bring the said letters. To which is answered, a carrier sets out
from Westchester to London on the Monday, which is 120 miles. The said
carrier is eight days upon the road, and upon his coming to London,
delivers his letters of advice for his reloading to Westchester again,
and is forced to stay in London two days, at extraordinary charges,
before he can get his reloading ready. By this conveyance letters will
be from Westchester to London in one day and night, so that the said
carriers' loading will be ready a week before the said carriers shall
come to London; and they no sooner come to London, but may be ready to
depart again. The like will fall out in all other parts.
"Besides, if at any time there should be occasion to write from any of
the coast towns in England or Scotland to London, by this conveyance
letters will be brought immediately; and from all such places there
will be weekly advice to and from London.
"As for example:--
"Any fight at sea; any distress of His Majesty's ships (which God
forbid); any wrong offered by any other nation to any of the coasts of
England, or any of His Majesty's forts, the posts being punctually
paid, the news will come 'sooner than thought.'
"It will be, thirdly, alleged that this service may be pretended by the
Lord Stanhope to be in his grant of Postmaster of England. To which
is answered, neither Lord Stanhope nor any other that ever enjoyed
the Postmaster's place of England had any benefit of the carrying and
recarrying of the subjects' letters; besides, the profit is to pay the
posts of the road, which, next unto His Majesty, belong to the office
of the said Lord Stanhope; and by determination of any of the said
posts' places, by death or otherwise, the Lord Stanhope will make as
much of them as hath heretofore been made by this said advancement of
all their places,--the Lord Stanhope now enjoying what either he or any
of his predecessors hath ever heretofore done to this day."
The foregoing scheme of public posts is doubtless an amplification of
that drafted by Witherings in 1633, already quoted. Witherings refers,
in the closing paragraph of his scheme, to possible difficulties with
Lord Stanhope; but he meets this by saying that "Lord Stanhope will
make as much of them"--that is, the deputy postmasters' places--"as
hath heretofore been made by this said advancement of all their
places." The meaning of this appears to be, that Stanhope would still
receive his fee of £66, 13s. 4d. as Chief Postmaster of England, would
appoint the deputies of the roads, and continue to receive payment for
the sale to them of their places.
The plan being now ripe to be put into operation, the king issued a
proclamation, dated at Bagshot the 31st July 1635, "for the settling
of the Letter Office of England and Scotland." The general features of
the scheme are described to be: the laying of regular posts between
London and Edinburgh to perform the double journey every week,--the
travelling to be done in six days,--the laying of weekly posts on the
other principal roads out of London, the providing of by-posts to serve
the towns lying beyond the main roads. The postage rates prescribed
were:--
For a single letter under 80 miles 2d.
" " " between 80 and 140 " 4d.
" " " above 140 " 6d.
" " " to Scotland or its borders 8d.
When several letters were made up in one packet, the charge was to be
according to the "bigness" of the packet. The postage both for outward
and inward letters was to be payable in London. On the Western road
to Plymouth the charge was to be as near as possible the same as that
heretofore charged. This must refer to the system of posts already
established by the deputy postmasters on that road before alluded
to. The several postmasters of the roads were required to keep one
or two horses in their stables ready for the service as Witherings
might direct them; and it was commanded that on the day on which the
mail would be due, these horses were not to be let or sent forth
"upon any other occasion whatsoever." For the hire of the horses,
the post-messenger was to pay 2-1/2d. per horse per mile. All other
messengers or foot-posts on the roads covered by Witherings were to be
put down, so far as the carriage of letters was concerned, exception
being made only in respect of "common known carriers, or particular
messenger to be sent on purpose with a letter by any man for his own
occasions, or a letter by a friend."
These, then, are the lines upon which the first general system of
inland posts in Great Britain, for the use and convenience of the
public, was launched by the State.
There was this curious complication about the business. Thomas
Witherings was already Postmaster for Foreign Parts, out of the
king's dominions; Charles Lord Stanhope was Master of the Posts in
England and for Foreign Parts, within the king's dominions, Stanhope's
sphere being restricted to the appointing of deputy postmasters on the
roads and managing the conveyance of letters for the king and State
officials; and now a third control is introduced by the appointment of
Witherings to manage a system of public posts, to be grafted upon the
chain of deputy postmasters already existing upon the roads and under
the direction of Stanhope. Such complex arrangements were not likely to
work smoothly, nor did they.
The postmasters of Stanhope were not all in a good position to perform
their part in the new system of posts, as will be seen by the following
representation made by the Mayor and others of Coventry to Secretary
Coke on the 10th April 1635:--"By his letter of the 27th March, they
perceive that many complaints are made of the backwardness of their
city to furnish post-horses for persons employed in His Majesty's
service between that and Ireland. They find that John Fletcher is
postmaster within their city, authorised by Lord Stanhope. Fletcher,
by reason of poverty and lameness, keeps his house, but employs John
Scott, another poor aged man, as his deputy. Scott acknowledged that
Fletcher had not had for a month past above three horses, and that
all of them are lame. They sent the Sheriff of the city to see how
the postmaster was provided for the said service, by whom answer was
returned that neither Fletcher nor Scott have so much as one horse,
mare, or nag. By an Order of the Council, it was ordered that the
postmaster, not being able to find sufficient numbers of horses for
packets and persons employed in His Majesty's service, should have a
supply of horses out of the country within twelve miles' distance from
Coventry. They also find that the postmaster, by himself and agents,
makes composition with the towns about the city, and has taken yearly
of them several sums of money to spare them from the service, by which
means the burden of the whole service falls upon the city, which hath
occasioned many late complaints. The writers are in great hope that
some speedy reformation may be had therein. They recommend to that
place Edward Mosse, an innholder in their city."
In order the better to understand the position in which the country
postmasters found themselves about this period, 1635 and later, it will
be well to quote some of the petitions sent forward by the postmasters,
most of which relate to arrears of pay. And it is not unlikely that the
demands for arrears were due to the new scheme of Witherings, under
which the postmasters would no longer be allowed to carry letters for
the public on their own account:--
1635. "Petition of William Parbo, post of Sandwich, to the Lords of the
Treasury:--About 13 years since petitioner bought the said post's place
in the name of a poor kinsman, Arthur Ruck, then a child, intending the
profits to be applied towards his education. Being much impoverished by
the forbearance of his post wages for ten years and a half, petitioner
is unable longer to maintain his kinsman at the University of Oxford.
If his arrearage of 16d. per diem were paid, he should be a loser above
£100, he being at charges of boat-hire to carry His Majesty's letters
aboard His Majesty's ships, and of warning-fires on shore, besides of
horse and man by land. Prays payment of his arrears, amounting to £255,
10s."
1635. "Petition of Alexander Nubie to the Council:--Petitioner being
post of Dartford, is forced to keep sixteen horses for the performance
of the service, which is an extraordinary great charge, and for which
he has received no pay these two years and a half, so that there is due
to him about £100. Is poor and in debt, and dare not go abroad for fear
of arrest by creditors by whom he has been furnished with hay and other
provisions. Prays for protection until he may receive his money."
1636. "Petition of Thomas Hookes, servant to the prince, to Secretary
Coke:--Petitioner's father, Nicholas Hookes, lately deceased, executed
the post of Conway, Co. Carnarvon, for 26 years. About six years
since petitioner was appointed to the said place by Lord Stanhope.
Understanding that all posts are in person to supply their places,
petitioner, being tied to attendance on the prince, prays the Secretary
to grant the place to petitioner's brother, Henry Hookes, who was
living in the said town, and also to give order for £300, arrears due
for the same place."
1636. "William Hugessen, postmaster of Dover, to Secretary
Windebank:--Has served as postmaster in the Port of Dover many years,
and keeps the most convenient and fairest house betwixt London and
Dover, and where ambassadors generally lodge. Is behindhand of his pay
about £400. If there be an order that no man may enjoy the place except
he serve by himself, he desires that Edward Whetstone, who is his
tenant in the house called the Greyhound of Dover, may have the place
upon such conditions as others, but if possible in Hugessen's name as
formerly."
1637. "March 26th.--Petition of Edmund Bawne, postmaster of
Ferrybridge, Co. York, to the Council:--After the death of petitioner's
grandfather, who served as postmaster in the place abovesaid thirty
years, petitioner, for £200, by his grandfather three years since paid
Lord Stanhope, was admitted into the same place. Upon questioning
Lord Stanhope's patent, petitioner gave Mr. Witherings £35 more for
his settlement, and was, by the signatures of Secretaries Coke and
Windebank, and Witherings, admitted into the same. Petitioner's
grandfather is owing for wages at least £500 from His Majesty. Without
any misdemeanour, being now sought to be ousted, he prays relief."
These various petitions set forth not only that the country postmasters
were being badly treated in regard to their pay,--this pay being what
may conveniently be described as their retaining-fee,--but that there
was some stirring-up by Witherings of derelictions of duty on the part
of the postmasters.
Allusion has already been made to the fact that matters could not go
along smoothly with the whole system of posts, seeing that the control
was in two sets of hands, and that the spheres of action were not
properly divided. So a blow shortly fell upon Lord Stanhope. This
must, apparently, have been unlooked for by Stanhope, for, shortly
before his fall, a proclamation was issued by the king bearing
Stanhope's signature. It had regard to the duties of the postmasters,
and is supposed to have been issued early in the year 1637. Its chief
provisions were: that (1) in all places where posts were laid for the
packet, the postmasters were to have the benefit and pre-eminence of
letting, furnishing, and appointing of horses to all riding in post;
that (2) none were to be regarded as riding on public affairs unless
with special commission signed by one of our Principal Secretaries of
State, or six at least of the Privy Council, etc.; that the postmasters
or owners of the horses were to be allowed to claim 2-1/2d. per mile
(besides the guide's groats); but that private persons riding post were
to pay such rate as might be agreed upon between the parties; that (3)
no horse was to be ridden away until the fare was first paid, nor
taken beyond the next stage without the owner's consent; baggage was
not to exceed 30 lbs., and no horse was to be ridden above seven miles
an hour in summer, or six in winter; and that (4) the constables and
magistrates were to take up horses for the postmaster's service in the
posts when the postmaster was himself short of horses. Not long after
the issue of the proclamation above referred to, Lord Stanhope was
driven from office. The immediate cause is not apparent; but the fact
is dealt with in the following petition, dated March 1637:--
"Petition of Charles Lord Stanhope, late Postmaster of England and
Wales, to the king:--
"There is due to the petitioner for his fee of 100 marks per annum
(£66, 13s. 4d.), as Master and Comptroller of the Posts, being in
arrear for 19 years and more. £1266, 13s. 4d., which petitioner, when
he enjoyed the said place, was in some sort better able to forbear,
and therefore did not importune for the same; but now, having resigned
the said office, full sore against his will, but in obedience to
His Majesty's pleasure, signified to him by the Commissioners for
the Posts,--the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Keeper, the Lord
Treasurer, Lord Cottington, and the Secretaries Coke and Windebank,--he
has lost divers profits incident thereunto, which were a great help to
his support (his other means left by his father being small as yet,
and most of it in his mother's hands), whereby, since the loss of his
office, he is disabled to maintain himself in the degree of an English
baron. In consideration of his free yielding of his place, prays order
for payment of the arrear, and some satisfaction for his office. A
man of quality, and honourable knight, would willingly have given
petitioner £5000 for his office."
Lord Stanhope states that he resigned his office "sore against his
will," and "in obedience to His Majesty's pleasure"; but no hint is
given of the immediate cause for this pressure being applied. An event
happened in 1629, however, which may have had some bearing upon the
present matter. On the 2nd of March in that year, the king desired, by
means of the Speaker, Sir John Finch, to dissolve Parliament before the
Commons could proceed with certain business which they had in hand.
In order, however, to carry their protest, certain patriots in the
House, Denzil Hollis among the rest, laid hands upon the Speaker and
held him in the chair while the House voted its protest. In consequence
of the violence thus shown to the Speaker, the chief actors in the
scene were thrown a few days thereafter into the Tower. While these
men lay in confinement, they were visited by certain of their friends.
In a paper dated 1629, found among the Coke Manuscripts, and headed
"The Lieutenant of the Tower's information of such as had visited the
prisoners in the Tower, from their first imprisonment to the 19th
March 1629," it is recorded that "the Lord Hollis (brother of Denzil)
brought the Lord Stanhope, Postmaster, and other persons to visit
Denzil Hollis." It is quite possible from this, and other circumstances
which have not come down to us, that Stanhope may have been suspected
of sympathy with the Parliamentary party, and that, on that account,
he was no longer to be relied upon as a faithful adherent of the king.
Although the removal of Stanhope was not effected till 1637, at which
period the tension between the royalists and the popular party was
becoming more severe, it is possible that the event of the Tower may
have had its share in bringing about his loss of office.
In a petition of Lord Stanhope's in the year of the Restoration, 1660,
on the subject of the loss of his office, some further information of
the way in which he was "removed" is given by Stanhope. He says, that
"when by the contrivance of one Witherings, and some great persons, he
was summoned to bring his patent before the Council, and, after writing
his name upon the back, to leave it there, words purporting to be a
surrender of the patent were afterwards written above his name, and
copied on to the enrolment; the late king offered him a new patent if
he would agree that Sir Henry Vane, senior, should be joined with him;
but this petitioner declined, being advised to appeal to the Parliament
then about to meet," etc. If this be a correct statement of what
happened, there is little doubt that Stanhope was deprived of his place
by the operation of a gross job. In connection with his petition of
1660, Stanhope produced a copy of a letter from Mr. Prideaux, dated 5th
September 1644 (of whom we shall hear later on as Attorney General to
Cromwell, and more intimately connected with the posts), about erecting
stages in all the roads for the service of the State; and this letter
was held to show that Prideaux recognised Stanhope's right to the
office. The committee who examined Stanhope's claims in 1660 were of
opinion that "he should be put into a position to recover the profits
of the office since the 25th April 1637"; but it does not appear that
he succeeded eventually in his suit.
According to Rymer's _Foedera_, the king granted to Thomas Witherings,
by Letters Patent, on the 22nd day of June 1637, the office of
Postmaster of Foreign Parts during life, which office, in 1632,
had been granted in the joint names of William Frizell and Thomas
Witherings. The details of this grant, if such were made, are not
given; and it is a curious fact that, before and after Witherings'
death, the grant put forward as the ground for Witherings' interest in
the Foreign Post Office was not that mentioned by Rymer, but the joint
grant made in favour of Frizell and Witherings of an earlier date.
In the same month (June 1637), a grant was made to Secretaries Coke
and Windebank "of the office of Postmaster within His Majesty's
dominions for their lives, if they so long continue Secretaries,
with the like fee of £66, 13s. 4d. (per annum), to be paid quarterly
out of the Exchequer, as was formerly granted to Lord Stanhope, who
has surrendered that grant. His Majesty thereby annexes the office
of Postmaster to the Principal Secretaries for the time being, and
declares that the surviving Secretary is to surrender this grant to His
Majesty, who thereupon will grant the said office to the Secretaries
who for the time shall be, to hold the same while they continue
Secretaries."
Following this change, we find, from a letter written by Sir John
Coke to his son, dated the 5th August 1637, that the Secretaries had
then appointed Witherings their deputy for executing this office. It
states that: "Your letters come sometimes late. I hope that will, by
Mr. Witherings' posts, be amended. For we, the Postmasters General,
have made him our deputy, that he may the better accommodate his letter
office." So now we have got to this stage, that Witherings, being
Postmaster for Foreign Parts, was also appointed Deputy Postmaster
General for the Inland Posts, and there was more likelihood of his
plans being successfully carried out.
The reader will remember that, in 1633, Witherings was for some months
suspended from office, and that several claims were made against
him, in respect of which he made terms of settlement. One of these
claims, not already mentioned, was put forward by Endymion Porter,
Groom of the Bedchamber; but this claim was met by Witherings with
a flat denial of any indebtedness. What the grounds were does not
appear. But by an opinion given by Attorney General Bankes in 1637,
it seems that on the 24th September 1635 an indenture of deputation
of Stanhope's place was made in favour of Endymion Porter and his son
George; which deputation of place, in the Attorney General's opinion,
only referred to the post-work incidental to the forwarding of State
despatches, and not "the ordering of the carriage of letters by post
to be settled within the kingdom, at the charge of particular persons
and not of His Majesty." It is to be remarked that the date of Porter's
indenture almost coincides with the date upon which Witherings' inland
posts were started; and the idea occurs to us, that possibly the
Groom of the Bedchamber was brought into the business with the view
of providing a channel of access to His Majesty for the furtherance
of Stanhope's interests. Be this as it may, Porter, having had a
taste of the Post Office, seemed desirous of obtaining Stanhope's
place wholly to himself. On the 5th April 1636 he writes a letter
to Secretary Windebank, of which the following is the import:--"The
Secretary is best acquainted how long Porter followed the business of
the Postmaster's place, being one to whom it was referred; and Porter
has intimated to His Majesty his former intentions towards Porter in
that business, to which he has received so gracious an answer from
his _sacred mouth_ as has much lessened Porter's sickness; yet he
fears, by something His Majesty said, that he imagines Porter is not
willing to have Lord Stanhope's patent made void. Begs the Secretary
to let His Majesty know that Porter has no disposition nor thought
to be averse to any intention of His Majesty. He hopes His Majesty
does it for the good of Porter (_his poor servant and creature_);
and if he be thought worthy of the office, he will make it such
for His Majesty's honour and profit as he shall have no cause to
think it ill bestowed." "Sacred mouth," and "his poor servant and
creature"! Such expressions may have been common at the period under
review; but they would be sadly out of place in the present day. The
English language is rich enough in figure to convey sentiments of
submission, and even veneration, without involving the writer in such
wretched abjection. May it not be that the doctrine of divine right
is responsible for this tone of servility in a large degree? A better
specimen of self-effacement in a petition could not be quoted than
that of Denzil Hollis to the king about 1630, found among Secretary
Coke's manuscripts. It will be remembered that Hollis was one of the
Parliament men who gave serious offence to the king by holding Speaker
Finch in the chair. As a punishment for the rash act, he was cast out
of the sunshine of royal favour and thrown into prison. From this
changed position, Hollis, patriot and Parliament man, penned the
following petition:--"Most gracious Sovereign, your Majesty be pleased
to vouchsafe leave to your most afflicted suppliant again to cast
himself at your royal feet, there still to implore your Majesty's grace
and favour, for he is no longer able to bear the weight either of your
Majesty's displeasure or of his own grief; and he languisheth under it
so much the more by how much he hath been heretofore comforted with
the sweet influence of your Majesty's goodness to him, and gracious
acceptation of him. His younger years were blessed with his attendances
upon your princely person, and it was the height of his ambition to
end his days in your service; nor did he ever willingly entertain the
least thought which might move your Majesty to cast him down from that
pitch into this precipice of your indignation; but in anything he may
have failed, it hath been through misfortune, and the error of his
judgment. Imitate the Dread Sovereign the God of Heaven, whose image
you bear here upon earth, both in yourself in regard to your royal
excellencies and in relation to us your loyal and obedient subjects. He
is best pleased with the sacrifice of a sorrowful heart, and accepts
only that person who mourns because he hath offended Him; and such a
sacrifice do I here offer myself unto your Majesty, a heart burdened
with the sense of your Majesty's displeasure, prostrate at your royal
feet with all humble submission waiting till your Majesty will reach
out the golden sceptre of princely compassion to raise me out of this
lowest dust, and so, by breathing new life into me, make me able and
capable to do your Majesty some acceptable service. And, as I am bound
in duty, I shall ever pray for the increase of your Majesty's happiness
and the continuance of your glorious reign. This is the humble petition
and prayer of your Majesty's most obedient and loyal subject and
servant, Denzil Holles."
Hollis was not taken back to bask in the desired sunshine; and
biography has left upon record that he was a "man of firm integrity, a
lover of his country and of liberty, a man of great courage and of as
great pride. He had the soul of a stubborn old Roman in him!"
There are patriots and patriots. A contrast to Hollis is found in a
contemporary patriot, Lilburne, of whom it is recorded that, "Whilst
he was whipped at the cart, and stood in the pillory, he uttered many
bold speeches against tyranny of bishops, etc.; and, when his head was
in the hole of the pillory, he scattered sundry copies of pamphlets
(said to be seditious) and tossed them among the people, taking them
out of his pocket; whereupon, the Court of Star Chamber, then sitting,
being informed, immediately ordered Lilburne to be gagged during the
residue of the time he was to stand in the pillory, which was done
accordingly; and, when he could not speak, he stamped with his feet,
thereby intimating to the beholders he would still speak were his mouth
at liberty."
The higher places in the Post Office were apparently much sought after,
and there must have been a good deal of Court manoeuvring on the
part of those in possession to remain in, and of suitors who desired
possession to get in. Here is the letter of another candidate, William
Lake, who gives something of his personal history in his letter. It is
addressed to Secretary Windebank from Putney Park, on the 5th August
1637:--
"I enclose copy of my former petition, which the Duke of Lennox
presented to His Majesty. I hope you will find my demands such as His
Majesty may approve of. He may be possessed that I acquired some very
great estate under my master, the late Lord Treasurer, but it was far
otherwise. I was always more careful of my honour and my honesty than
of increasing my fortune. My main hope was that, by my lord's means, I
might have obtained some grant from His Majesty which might have eased
me of the trouble of being a suitor. I know that his lordship meant me
some good in that place which Witherings how enjoys, whereof I give a
little touch in my petition. How I missed it, _nescio quid, nec quare_.
I entreat that, when you move His Majesty on my behalf, you would
affirm that all the fortune I got does not amount to above £5000, which
is but a small thing to maintain myself, my wife, and six children.
Neither will I be so immoderate in my suit as to desire more than what
the late king once thought me worthy of: I mean the place for the Latin
tongue."
Besides the officers of the Post Office bearing the title of Chief
Postmasters or Postmasters-General, there was an officer attached
to the Court called the Deputy Postmaster of the Court. What his
precise duties were, is not very apparent; but he probably looked
after the despatch of letters over short distances from the Court,
whereever situated, and arranged for post stages being temporarily
set up in places where they did not usually exist, when the Court was
on progress. The Court Deputy Postmaster did not, however, enjoy any
greater punctuality, as regards payment of wages, than the postmasters
of the roads. The following petition of 1637 proves this:--"Petition
of John Wytton, Deputy Postmaster of the Court, daily attending your
Majesty, to the king. For his wages of 10s. per diem there is due to
him about £1400; neither has he allowance of diet, or horsemeat, or any
other perquisite, the nonpayment whereof has brought him much into
debt. Some of his creditors have petitioned the Lord Chamberlain to
have the benefit of the law against him. He has granted the request,
unless the petitioner give satisfaction by the middle of Michaelmas
term. Prays that the Lord Treasurer may make present payment of what
is due to petitioner, and meanwhile that he may have a protection."
It appears that Wytton was not the real holder of the place, although
by delegation he executed the office; for by a petition laid before
Secretary Coke in 1639, he states that in the first year of Charles'
reign, Buckbury, the king's Postmaster, assigned to him the execution
of the place, and that for his pains he was to receive the third part
of Buckbury's wages when they were paid. Wytton was turned out of the
place in 1637, when there were for wages eight years and a half due to
him, amounting to £530. This would no doubt be one-third of the sum due
to Buckbury. "I can make it appear by bills upon oath," says Wytton,
"that during the time the debt grew I have disbursed almost £300 out
of purse in executing the place. And I do humbly conceive that my own
attendance, my keeping of lodgings and horses in town for eight years
and a half, may be thought worthy of the remainder of the sum above
mentioned."
In July 1637, a warrant was issued to Secretaries Coke and Windebank,
Masters and Comptrollers-General of the Posts, for a sum of money to
be paid to the postmasters of the roads, up to the 27th September
following, as under mentioned:--
Per Diem
_s._ _d._
Thomas Swinsed, of Ware 3 0
Thomas Hagger, " Rayston 4 4
Ralph Shert, " Babraham 2 0
John Cotterill, " Newmarket 4 4
John Riggshis, and } late " Huntingdon 2 0
William Kilborne, } 2 0
James Cropper, " Witham 2 0
Richard Leeming, " Grantham 2 0
Thomas Atkinson, " Newark 2 4
Edward Wright, " Scrooby 2 0
Edmund Hayford, " Doncaster 2 0
Edmund Bawne, " Ferrybridge 2 6
Thomas Tayler, " Tadcaster 1 8
John Howsman, " York 2 0
William Thompson, " Wetherby 2 0
Andrew Wilkinson, " Boroughbridge 3 0
John Scarlet, " North Allerton 2 4
John Glover, " Darlington 2 4
William Sherrington, " Durham 2 4
George Swan, " Newcastle 3 0
John Pye, " Morpeth 3 0
Alexander Armorer, " Alnwick 3 0
Thomas Armorer, " Belford 3 0
Thomas Carre, " Berwick 2 4
James Ware, " Dartford 2 6
Thomas Lond, " Gravesend 0 6
Richard Jennings, " Sittingbourne 2 0
Thomas Parks, " London 2 0
Roger Pimble, " Charing Cross 2 0
John Briscoe, " Barnet 2 0
Robert Story, " St. Albans 2 0
John Gerrard, " Brickhill 2 0
Andrew Clark, " Daventry 2 0
John Fletcher, " Coventry 2 8
Ralph Castlon, " Birmingham 2 0
Robert Francis, " Chester 2 4
James Wilkinson, " Staines 2 0
Gilbert Davies, " Hartford Bridge, Hants 1 8
Anthony Spittle, " Basingstoke 1 8
Richard Miles, late " Salisbury 1 8
Roger Bedbury, now " " 1 8
Nicholas Compton, " Shaftesbury 1 8
John Smith, " Sherborne 1 8
Robert Searle, " Honiton 1 8
Thomas Newman, " Exeter 2 0
Samuel Smith, " Brentwood 2 6
William Neale, " Chelmsford 2 6
Robert Bunny, " Witham 2 0
Henry Barron, " Looe 2 6
Joshua Blaxton, " Perryn (Penryn) 2 0
Gilbert Davies, " Hartford Bridge 2 6
William Brooks, " Portsmouth 2 6
Rowland Roberts, late " Langfenny} 2 0
Richard Roberts, now " " }
William Folkingham " Stamford 2 0
These seem at first sight to be small allowances to the postmasters;
but we must be under no illusion as to this; and it is proper to
remember, what has already been pointed out, that in all cases of
money payments at this period, and mentioned in these pages, the
figures must be quadrupled in order to estimate their value in
relation to the present worth of money. The payments here ordered
may have been intended to keep the principal postmasters quiet until
a new arrangement, promulgated under His Majesty's directions on
the 30th July 1637 (hereafter to be quoted), should come into force.
The date fixed for its taking effect was Michaelmas next ensuing.
But the payments above authorised did not by any means clear off the
indebtedness of the State towards the postmasters; for by a petition
of the postmasters to the House of Lords in December 1660, it is set
forth that "in the year 1637 they were upwards of £60,000 in arrear of
their wages, whereof they have never received one penny." That means
that, according to our present value of money, the postmasters were in
arrears of pay to the extent of about a quarter of a million sterling.
In looking over the post stages mentioned in the foregoing list, and
tracing them upon the map, whether from London to Berwick, London to
the stages in Cornwall, or in the other directions, one cannot fail
to be struck with the very direct courses which the post routes
followed. The lines taken are straight as an arrow; and considering
that the roads were not laid out by engineers, but were the product
of a mere habit of travel, worked out by packmen with their horses,
and travellers making for a preconceived destination, the exact result
attained to is very remarkable. On the great North road, the stages
are in many cases the same as those which served in the days of mail
coaches two centuries later.
Shortly after the appointment of the two Principal Secretaries of
State, Coke and Windebank, to be Masters and Comptrollers-General of
the Posts, Witherings being their deputy for the inland posts and
himself also Foreign Postmaster, a very important document was drawn up
for the governance of the posts generally. It is as follows:--
"By the King.
"Orders for the furtherance of our service, as well to our Pacquets and
Letters, as for riding in Post; specially set downe, and commanded
to be observed, where our Postes are established within our County
of___________.
* * * * *
"Orders for the Pacquet.
"First, that no Pacquets or Letter shall be sent by Poste, or bind
any Poste to ride therewith in poste, but such as shall be directed
first for our speciall affaires, and subscribed by the Writer's name
or sender thereof; neither shall it be holden for our affaires, but as
the same shall be directed and subscribed by our High Treasurer, Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lord Admirall, Principall Secretaries of
State, being Masters and Comptrollers of our Postes, Lord Lieutenant
of the said County, writing from the Court, or otherwise to the Court,
subscribed by any Admirall, or Vice-Admirall from the Narrow-seas,
Lieutenant of Dover Castle, or Mayor of any Port Town, Ambassadours,
or Agents beyond the seas for the time being, or Deputy Lieutenant of
our said County, writing to any of those personages afore-named, or to
the body of our Privy Councell.
"2. All Pacquets or Letters so directed shall be carryed by the Postes
in poste from stage to stage onley, and not otherwise nor further, they
being dated and signed first on the outside by the sender or writer,
and shall run therewith in summer, vizt from the first of April to the
last of September, after 7 miles the houre, and 5 miles the houre in
winter, which is the rest of the yeare, as the wayes and weather afford.
"3. And that it may appeare from time to time (as oft as shal be
needfull) with what expedition the service is by our Posts performed,
every Post shall keep a faire paper book to enter the Pacquets in,
being so brought unto him, with the day, month, and houre they came to
his hands, two leather bags lined with cotten or bayes, to carry the
Pacquet in, and hornes to sound, as oft as he meets and sees company
comming, or foure times in every mile.
"4. And to the end our Posts attending thus our special service, may
performe their several duties in that behalfe, our pleasure is, that
they and every of them shal brook and enjoy the benefit of all former
favours and immunities by our Predecessors allowed them: Namely, that
they and their servants be holden free and exempted from all Summons,
Prests and personal attendance at assises, Sessions, Inquests, and
Musters.
"5. Every Poste in his severall Stage is commanded, and hereby required
to carry out and in once a week, the Maile of Letters that shall come
from, and goe to the Letter Office of London, free without charge.
And to that end, are from time to time to have in readinesse one good
Gelding or Mare sadled against the houre the Maile shall come that
way, and not to detaine the Maile above halfe a quarter of an houre at
no time; And run with the same after 5 miles in Winter, and 7 miles in
Summer, which is to be done in consideration that the Master of the
Letter Office is to pay them their wages according to the Reglement set
downe by the Lords Committees; And that to begin at Michaelmas next,
and he that shall faile, to be discharged from his place. And to enter
the houre of the day or night upon a Label, which is to be annexed to
the said Male, with their owne names and the names of the Stages.
"6. Every Poste is required to deliver all such Letters in the Country,
either at or neere his Stage, as shall be sent to him from the Master
of the Letter office, and to receive Port according to the taxe set
upon every Letter; and to be accomtable for such moneys as they shall
receive at the end of every three months. And likewise to returne such
Letters to London as shall be brought to them in the Country. And in
case Post paid be written upon any Letter that shall come from London,
they are not to take Port for it in the Country againe.
"7. And that it may appeare from time to time when and as often as it
shall be required, with what care and diligence the service is at all
hands applyed and performed--First, he that is appointed by our Masters
and Comptrollers Generall of our Posts, to attend this service at the
Court, and also every other Post-Master shall keep a large and faire
Ledger Booke to enter our Packets in, as they shall be brought to him
or them, with the name of the Poste who brought the same, and the day
of the month, houre of the day or night that they came first to their
hands, together with the name of him or them, by whom or unto whom they
were subscribed and directed, taking and entering onely such for our
Pacquets as come warranted, as is aforesaid.
"8. And further our Will and pleasure is, That every Post-Master shall
write upon a Labell fastened to every or any our Packets, the time of
his receite thereof, and not on the Packet or Letter, as hath been
disorderly used.
* * * * *
"Orders for Thorow-Postes in ________.
"First, as the service of the Pacquet so the horsing of all
Thorow-Posts (Through Posts) and persons riding in Poste, with horne or
guide, by commission or otherwise, shall be performed by our standing
Posts in their severall Stages, who to that end shall keep and have in
a readinesse under their direction a sufficient number of Poste-horses,
with saddles, bridles and furniture convenient; and if it shall fall
out, that by the repaire of Ambassadors, or other residents of Service,
men riding in Poste, that is to say, with horn or guide, come so
thick, or in such numbers, that their ordinary provision will not
suffice, then the Constables of the places where they dwell, with the
aid and assistance of the Cheife Magistrates there, and the countries
adjoyning (being required in our name) shall take up, bring in, and
supply the Posts with horses and with furniture where they may be had
or hired.
"2. And that it be not any way a let or impeachment to the liberty of
any man riding on his own or ordinary affaires, within the Realme at
his or their pleasure; it is hereby meant that all Strangers borne,
specially riding with horne or guide by themselves, or in company of
our ordinary Messengers or Posts for the Low Countries, or France, all
Ambassadors, riding or sending on their Princes affairs, and all other
whatsoever, riding with horne and guide, shall take and change their
horses onley of the Posts, and at the Post-house, of that place, or
with his consent, and appointment, they taking for each horse after the
rate of iijd. (3d.) the mile beside the guide groat.
"3. And to prevent all advantages of unconscionable dealing, by such as
keep horses to hire, in the horsing of strangers beyond the ordinary
Stages, to the wronging of our Posts, and injury to the beast and the
Rider. It is found expedient, and our will and pleasure is, that all
Strangers borne, as well going forth of the Realme, as comming into the
same, through our County of____, although it be about their owne and
private affaires, without horne or guide, shall likewise be horsed by
our ordinary Posts from Stage to Stage, or with the Posts knowledge and
consent, not taking for each horse above iijd. the mile.
"4. It shall not be lawfull for any so riding in Poste, to take
and ride away the horse or horses of any man, not having first and
aforehand fully paid and satisfied the hire, nor ride them further
than the next Stage, without the knowledg and consent of the Poste of
that place, nor charge any horse taken to ride Poste with any Male
(mail) or burthen (besides the rider) that exceeds the weight of 30
pound. And if it shall happen, any to disobey these our commandements,
and orders, to the manifest wrong of our Posts, injury of any owner,
or hurt of his beast; the Officers or Magistrates of the place,
upon complaint thereof made, shall stay the party offending, till
satisfaction be made, or sufficient security given to repay the
dammage. But if it so fall out, that the obstinacy of any herein
offending, require further punishment than the ordinary power of the
Magistrate of the place can or may conveniently inflict. Then we
require our said Master and Comptroller of the Posts, upon notice
thereof given him or them, to send for the party or parties to answer
their conptempt.
"5. This being in generall our Will and command, for the speedy, safe
and orderly expedition of our publike dispatches and occurrents, as
well in writing for our own affaires, as riding in poste, whatsoever
besides shall fall out more particularly to the behoofe of our said
Posts, or ease of their horses, that in these kind of services are most
subject to abuses, our like care is specially to be respected; and to
that end we doe hereby eftsoones recommend both the one and the other
to the wisedome and protection of our said Masters of the Posts, and
the aid of all Magistrates and others that love the furtherance of our
service, or regard our safety or pleasure.
"Given at our Court at Oatlands the 30 day of July in the thirteenth
yeare of our Raigne, 1637, of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland.
"Signed by His Majesty, and subscribed by Sir John Coke, and Sir
Francis Windebanke, Knights; Our Principall Secretaries of State, and
Masters and Comptrollers Generall of our Posts.
"'God Save the King.'"
* * * * *
This ordinance is important in two or three particulars. It raised the
price per mile for post horses from 2-1/2d, as provided by Stanhope's
notice (issued in the king's name a few months previously), to 3d. per
mile; it gave the postmasters a practical monopoly of hiring-out horses
on the roads; but in return they were required to carry the regular
mails within their several stages once a week "free without charge,"
and to deliver letters directed to their own towns and districts. The
meaning of the term here used, "free without charge," is not very
clear, for immediately thereafter the document proceeds to say that
the work was to be done "in consideration that the Master of the
Letter Office is to pay them their wages according to the Reglement
set downe by the Lords Committees." What this Reglement was it is not
now possible to ascertain, for unfortunately there is a hiatus in the
records of the Lords' Proceedings from 1628 to 1640, within which
period the events to which we refer occurred. It may be that for the
regular weekly service, no mileage rate was to be charged, a revised
daily wage being granted which, together with the additional halfpenny
per mile authorised to be levied upon travellers, would remunerate the
postmasters for carrying the mail. But the postmasters were further
required, apparently, to convey letters sent "express" to or from the
king and certain specified officials, from stage to stage, without
fee or payment; the arrangement being a great relief to the king's
exchequer, inasmuch as, on many occasions, such conveyance would
dispense with the necessity for sending through-messengers with the
letters to destination.
Labels or way-bills were also first introduced under this order, and
the markings on the letters themselves discontinued.
It should be borne in mind that at this period the country was in
a very considerable state of commotion. Charles had had a taste of
Parliament early in his reign, and he did not like it. He resented
the trammels that such a body of men imposed upon his actions; and
he desired to be a real king, like the continental potentates.
Accordingly, he dispensed with the calling together a Parliament during
the period from 1629 to 1640: he ruled by means of a Council, who made
the laws, directed public affairs, and generally guided the vessel of
the State. His Principal Secretaries were Sir John Coke and Sir Francis
Windebank; his other chief advisers were Laud and Wentworth.
In 1637, there was much business for the post, owing to the tension
between the king and Laud on the one hand and the people of Scotland
on the other, over the matter of episcopacy. Communications were
constantly kept up between London and Scotland, Baillie, Principal of
Glasgow University, mentioning that "from the 24th of July to the 10th
of August, the posts rann thick betwixt the Court and the Counsell,
which sat every other day, to finde means for peaceable introduction of
the service." In reading the history of this period, it is curious to
observe what elements were at work; among these, the active interest
that women took in the question of Church service is noticeable.
Everyone knows the story of the throwing of the stool at the preacher
by Jenny Geddes in the church of St. Giles in Edinburgh. If she were
but an instance of the feelings aroused generally among the women of
the East, there is evidence that the women of the West were equally
determined to have nothing to do with the service-book. Baillie writes
thus of the preachings at the Synod of Glasgow in 1637: "Mr William
Annan (Moderator of Ayr) on the 1st of Timothy, 'I command that prayers
be made for all men,' in the last half of his sermon, from the making
of prayers, ran out upon the Liturgie, and spake for the defence of it
in whole, and sundry most plausible parts of it, as well, in my poor
judgment, as any in the Isle of Brittain could have done, considering
all circumstances; howsoever, he did maintain, to the dislyk of all in
ane unfit tyme, that which was hinging in suspense betwixt the King and
the Country. Of his sermon among us in the Synod, not a word; but in
the towne among the women, a great dinne. To-morrow (next day) Mr John
Lindsey, at the Bishop's command, did preach.... At the ingoing of the
pulpit, it is said that some of the women in his ear assured him, that
if he should twitch the service book in his sermon, he should be rent
out of the pulpit; he took the advyce and lett that matter alone. At
the outgoing of the church, about 30 or 40 of our honestest women, in
one voyce, before the Bishope and Magistrates, did fall in rayling,
cursing, scolding with clamours on Mr. William Annan; some two of the
meanest was taken to the Tolbooth. All the day over, up and down the
streets where he went, he got threats of sundry in words and looks;
bot after supper, whill needleslie he will go to visit the Bishop, who
had taken his leave with him, he is not sooner on the causey, at nine
of clock, in a mirk night, with three or four ministers with him, but
some hundredths of inraged women, of all qualities are about him, with
neaves, and staves, and peats, but no stones; they beat him sore; his
cloake, ruffe, hatt, were rent; however, upon his cryes, and candles
set out from many windows, he escaped all bloody wounds; yet he was in
great danger, even of killing. This tumult was so great, that it was
not thought meet to search, either in plotters or actors of it, for
numbers of the best qualitie would have been found guiltie."
It is no wonder that in an opposition such as this to the pet scheme
of Charles and his buttress Laud, taking shape in a terrible flutter
of Scottish petticoats, the posts between the Court and Scotland "rann
thick."
In the year 1637, England appears to have been visited by a plague,
which about the month of September had extended to Hull. On the 5th
of that month, Secretary Coke writes a letter from Bagshot, which is
interesting as showing the ideas then entertained as to the methods
of preventing the spread of infection. It also attests that the speed
of the posts was improving under Witherings' management. "This day I
received at Bagshot yours dated from York the 2nd, whereby you may see
what expedition is now used in the carriage of letters.... He (His
Majesty) is sorry to hear of the visitation at Hull, and well approves
your care in prohibiting goods to pass from Hull to Howden or Malton
fairs, with other particulars of the proclamation expressed; as to such
cautions as were fit to be given to the Justices of Peace, I doubt not
but your provident care will give the Board good satisfaction. For the
letters which come weekly by post, the manner in other countries is to
open and air before the fire all such letters as are bound up with silk
thread, pack-thread, or such like, but for letters of bare paper they
use no such observance, but suffer them to pass. Wherein, nevertheless,
if any one that receives any letters from a known infected place will
but take that care to air them before the fire, which the Secretaries
do sometimes practice when we conceive danger, it may be well hoped no
inconvenience will ensue."