AVERAGE YEARLY GROSS PRODUCT, EXPENDITURE, AND NET PRODUCT
OF THE POST OFFICE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
FROM 1725 TO 1794

  Gross Product Expenses Net Product
  £     £     £    
1725-29 179,725 81,217 98,508
1730-34 174,912 82,344 92,568
1735-39 184,639 87,989 96,650
1740-44 193,682 105,304 88,378
1745-49 207,069 123,137 83,932
1750-54 207,859 109,910 97,949
1755-59 228,708 147,522 81,186
1760-64 233,738 141,340 92,398
1765-69 273,264 110,864 162,400
1770-74 302,197 140,525 161,672
1775-79 338,045 182,766 155,279
1780-84 403,337 251,331 152,006
1785-89 486,587 198,273 288,314
1790-94 602,514 227,033 375,481

 

TABLE III

GROSS PRODUCT, EXPENDITURE, AND NET PRODUCT
OF THE POST OFFICE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, INCLUDING THE TWOPENNY POST, FROM JANUARY 5, 1804 TO JANUARY 5, 1838

Year ending Gross Product Expenses Net Product Loss on Returned Letters[843]
  £     £     £     £    
Jan. 5, 1804 1,429,429 416,767 956,212 56,450
5 1,466,271 420,395 983,363 62,513
6 1,648,523 457,686 1,119,429 71,408
7 1,718,187 456,968 1,185,659 75,560
8 1,711,980 468,531 1,167,425 76,024
9 1,739,855 489,469 1,173,062 77,324
10 1,855,746 519,359 1,260,822 75,565
11 1,987,404 546,460 1,365,251 75,693
12 1,960,510 540,397 1,344,109 76,004
13 2,078,879 576,885 1,422,001 79,993
14 2,209,213 616,564 1,506,064 86,585
15 2,372,429 675,548 1,598,295 98,586
16 2,418,741 704,639 1,619,196 94,906
17 2,280,209 649,129 1,537,505 93,575
18 2,186,621 665,354 1,433,871 87,396
19 2,240,553 683,680 1,467,533 89,340
20 2,191,562 586,193 1,522,640 82,729
21 2,172,875 611,187 1,465,605 96,083
22 2,122,965 645,241 1,393,465 84,259
23 2,128,926 620,977 1,428,352 79,597
24 2,154,294 596,336 1,475,167 82,791
25 2,255,238 628,829 1,540,022 86,387
26 2,367,567 636,353 1,632,267 98,947
27 2,392,271 706,640 1,589,672 95,869
28 2,278,411 706,192 1,484,164 88,095
29 2,287,961 663,775 1,544,224 79,962
30 2,265,481 675,319 1,509,347 80,815
31 2,301,431 694,254 1,517,951 89,226
32 2,321,310 658,325 1,569,038 93,947
33 2,277,274 643,464 1,531,828 101,982
34 2,294,910 636,756 1,553,425 104,729
35 2,319,979 696,387 1,513,052 110,540
36 2,353,340 678,836 1,564,458 110,046
37 2,461,806 704,768 1,645,835 111,203
38 2,462,269 698,632 1,641,106 122,531

 

TABLE IV

AVERAGE YEARLY GROSS PRODUCT, EXPENDITURE, AND
NET PRODUCT, ETC., OF THE POST OFFICE
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM FROM 1805 TO 1838

  Gross Product Expenses Net Product Loss on Returned Letters Actual Gross Product
  £     £     £     £     £    
1805-09 1,656,963 458,610 1,125,787 72,566 1,584,397
1810-14 2,018,350 559,933 1,379,649 78,768 1,939,582
1815-19 2,299,710 675,670 1,531,280 92,760 2,206,950
1820-24 2,154,124 611,987 1,457,045 85,092 2,069,032
1825-29 2,316,289 668,358 1,558,079 89,852 2,226,437
1830-34 2,292,081 661,623 1,536,318 94,140 2,197,941
1835-38 2,399,348 694,656 1,591,112 113,580 2,285,768

 

SCOTLAND

  Gross Product Expenses Net Product
  £     £     £    
1800-04 117,108 18,952 98,156
1805-09 148,816 23,981 124,835
1810-14 182,259 29,153 153,106
1815-19 191,812 40,736 151,076
1820-24 185,235 46,351 138,884
1825-29 205,599 49,485 156,114
1830-34 204,481 54,729 149,752
1835-37 216,191 59,553 156,638

 

IRELAND

  £     £     £    
1800-04 92,745 64,368 28,377
1805-09 150,845 90,922 59,923
1810-14 192,969 115,019 77,950
1815-19 210,159 124,149 86,010
1820-24 190,431 119,200 71,231
1825-29 214,165 115,875 98,290
1830-34 244,098 108,898 135,200
1835-37 247,068 114,093 132,975

 

TABLE V

GROSS PRODUCT, EXPENDITURE, AND NET PRODUCT OF THE
POST OFFICE FOR SCOTLAND AND IRELAND FROM 1800 TO 1837

 

SCOTLAND

Year
ending
Gross Product Expenses Net Product
Jan. 5 £     £     £    
1800 100,651 16,896 83,755
01 113,126 18,020 95,105
02 121,700 18,692 103,007
03 124,809 20,581 104,228
04 125,257 20,562 104,694
05 137,479 21,175 116,303
06 146,148 22,465 123,682
07 151,696 23,358 128,338
08 152,453 27,496 124,956
09 156,305 25,412 130,892
10 168,098 26,543 141,555
11 169,082 24,853 144,229
12 178,896 26,260 152,636
13 191,857 26,248 165,609
14 203,366 [844]41,814 161,551
15 201,992 40,950 161,042
16 193,727 40,570 153,157
17 185,417 41,181 144,236
18 189,690 39,756 149,934
19 188,236 41,225 147,011
20 184,512 43,106 141,405
21 179,403 47,078 132,324
22 184,014 47,302 136,711
23 184,164 47,515 136,649
24 194,085 46,755 147,330
25 205,988 49,066 156,921
26 214,271 50,113 164,158
27 203,137 49,378 153,759
28 203,305 51,393 151,911
29 201,298 47,476 153,822
30 202,754 50,999 151,754
31 204,593 55,434 149,159
32 206,594 54,601 151,992
33 203,324 54,875 148,448
34 205,144 57,738 147,406
35 209,069 59,306 149,762
36 218,748 59,408 159,339
37 220,758 59,945 160,813

 

IRELAND

Year
ending
Gross Product Expenses Net Product
Jan. 5 £     £     £    
1800 84,040 59,216 24,824
01 [845]66,030 48,656 17,376
02 102,293 70,489 31,806
03 102,518 66,008 36,510
04 108,844 77,471 31,373
05 118,429 79,448 38,981
06 146,682 93,651 53,031
07 149,857 90,940 58,917
08 158,749 91,200 67,549
09 180,510 99,371 81,139
10 180,670 110,064 70,606
11 195,531 117,639 77,892
12 189,963 118,344 71,619
13 195,458 112,938 82,520
14 203,226 116,113 87,113
15 212,562 121,371 91,191
16 225,000 132,331 92,669
17 212,269 126,476 85,793
18 203,456 123,186 80,270
19 197,510 117,384 80,126
20 197,677 123,060 74,617
21 192,511 127,494 65,017
22 187,120 118,932 68,188
23 186,024 112,778 73,246
24 188,826 113,739 75,087
25 199,602 118,698 80,904
26 207,177 113,539 93,638
27 207,757 117,564 90,193
28 216,232 116,836 99,396
29 239,559 112,740 126,819
30 241,063 111,955 129,108
31 247,711 117,622 130,089
32 256,976 102,654 154,322
33 242,671 107,127 135,544
34 232,071 105,145 126,926
35 240,471 109,973 130,498
36 245,664 112,045 123,619
37 255,070 120,261 134,809

 

TABLE VI

GROSS REVENUE, EXPENDITURE, AND NET REVENUE
OF THE POST OFFICE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM,
NOT INCLUDING TELEGRAPHS,
FROM 1838 TO 1907

Year ending Gross Revenue Expenditure Net Revenue
  £     £     £    
Jan. 5, 1838 2,339,737 687,313 1,652,424
1839 2,346,278 686,768 1,659,509
1840 2,390,763 756,999 1,633,764
1841 1,359,466 858,677 500,789
1842 1,499,418 938,168 561,249
1843 1,578,145 977,504 600,641
1844 1,620,867 980,650 640,217
1845 1,705,067 985,110 719,957
1846 1,887,576 1,125,594 761,982
1847 1,963,857 1,138,745 825,112
1848 2,181,016 1,196,520 984,496
1849 2,143,679 1,403,250 740,429
1850 2,165,349 1,324,562 840,789
1851 2,264,684 1,460,785 803,898
1852 2,422,168 1,304,163 1,118,004
1853 2,434,326 1,343,907 1,090,419
1854 2,574,407 1,400,679 1,173,727
Dec. 31, 1854 2,701,862 1,506,556 1,195,306
1855 2,716,420 1,651,364 1,065,056
1856 2,867,954 1,660,229 1,207,725
1857[846] 3,035,713 1,720,815 1,314,898
1858[847] 3,241,535 1,953,283 1,288,252
1859 3,461,924 1,952,432 1,509,492
1860 3,531,165 1,953,234 1,577,931
1861 3,665,128 3,154,527 510,601
1862 3,764,004 2,926,551 837,453
1863 3,999,455 2,956,486 1,042,969
1864 4,231,558 3,078,297 1,153,261
1865 4,423,608 2,941,086 1,482,522
1866 4,599,667 3,201,681 1,397,986
1867 4,668,214 3,246,850 1,421,364
1868[848] 4,683,646 3,266,724 1,416,922
1869 4,764,575 3,459,227 1,305,348
1870[849] 4,929,475 3,435,865 1,493,610
1871 4,900,454 3,610,700 1,289,754
1872 5,208,922 3,684,946 1,523,976
1873 5,348,040 3,792,679 1,555,361
1874 5,751,600 3,915,213 1,836,387
Mar. 31, 1875 5,815,032 3,920,891 1,894,141
1876-77[850] 6,017,072 4,070,006 1,947,066
1877-78 6,047,312 3,990,620 2,056,692
1878-79 6,274,450 3,840,076 2,434,374
1879-80 6,558,445 4,060,758 2,497,687
1880-81[851] 6,733,427 4,135,659 2,597,768
1881-82 7,024,600 4,286,596 2,741,004
1882-83 7,300,960 4,545,398 2,755,562
1883-84 7,764,855 5,154,829 2,610,026
1884-85 7,906,406 5,317,213 2,589,193
1885-86 8,170,604 5,486,724 2,683,880
1886-87 8,471,198 5,880,141 2,591,057
1887-88 8,705,337 5,933,820 2,771,517
1888-89 9,102,776 6,062,902 3,039,874
1889-90 9,474,774 6,266,263 3,208,511
1890-91[852] 9,851,078 6,687,089 3,163,989
1891-92 10,451,998[853] 7,192,487 3,259,511
1892-93 10,600,149 7,507,645 3,092,504
1893-94 10,734,885 7,759,712 2,975,173
1894-95 11,025,460 7,955,344 3,070,116
1895-96 11,759,945 8,086,272 3,673,673
1896-97 12,146,935 8,246,356 3,900,579
1897-98 12,420,376 8,683,317 3,737,059
1898-99 13,049,317 9,190,006 3,859,311
1899-1900 13,394,335 9,683,999 3,710,336
1900-1901[854] 13,995,470 10,064,903 3,930,567
1901-1902 14,465,870 10,465,101 4,000,769
1902-1903 15,005,262 10,819,938 4,185,324
1903-1904 15,824,394 11,201,122 4,623,272
1904-1905 16,274,978 11,446,279 4,828,699
1905-1906 17,064,023 11,849,012 5,215,011
Est'm'd 1906-07[855] 17,361,042 12,289,787 5,071,255

 

TABLE VII

AVERAGE YEARLY GROSS REVENUE, EXPENDITURE, AND NET REVENUE OF POST OFFICE FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM NOT INCLUDING TELEGRAPHS FROM 1841 TO 1906

  Gross Revenue Expenditure Net Revenue
  £     £     £    
1841-45 1,658,214 1,001,405 656,809
1846-50 2,143,717 1,304,772 838,944
1851-55 2,569,836 1,441,334 1,128,502
1856-60 3,135,587 1,785,911 1,349,676
1861-65 4,016,750 3,013,389 1,003,341
1866-70 4,729,155 3,322,069 1,407,086
1871-75 5,404,809 3,784,886 1,619,923
1876-81 6,326,141 4,019,423 2,306,718
1881-86 7,634,085 4,958,152 2,675,933
1886-91 9,121,032 6,166,043 2,954,989
1891-96 10,914,487 7,701,292 3,213,195
1896-1901 13,001,286 9,174,516 3,826,770

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

This list does not contain a complete record of all the authorities consulted. It merely brings together, with a fuller statement of title, the more important references scattered through the footnotes. Unless it is otherwise stated, London is to be understood as the place of publication for the English books here cited.

PRINTED RECORDS—PARLIAMENTARY
DOCUMENTS—REPORTS

Acts of Parliament.

Acts of the Parliament of Scotland. 12 vols., 1814-75.

Acts of the Privy Council of England. New Series, ed. J. R. Dasent. 32 vols., 1890-1907.

Calendar of Border Papers.

Calendar of State Papers, America and West Indies.

Do.,       Colonial.

Do.,       Domestic.

Do.,       Foreign.

Do.,       Ireland.

Calendar of Treasury Books.

Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers.

Calendar of Treasury Papers.

Finance Reports, 1797-98.

Hansard. The Parliamentary Debates. 422 vols., 1803-91. 41 vols., to 1820; "New Series," 25 vols., to 1830; Third Series, 356 vols., to 1891. The work has been continued under other management since 1891, as Parliamentary Debates, Fourth and Fifth Series.

Howell, T. J. A Complete Collection of State Trials [to 1820]. 34 vols., 1816-28.

Journals of the House of Commons.

Journals of the House of Lords.

Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII.

[Cobbett, William.] The Parliamentary History of England, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803. 36 vols., 1806-20.

Parliamentary Papers. Since 1831 the volumes for each year have been arranged regularly in four series, as follows:—

1. Bills Public.
2. Reports from Committees.
3. Reports from Commissioners.
4. Accounts and Papers.

The volumes are ordinarily quoted, under each year, according to their consecutive numbering; but each series is also numbered separately.

Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England. Ed. Sir Harris Nicholas. 7 vols., 1834-37.

Reports of the Postmasters-General on the Post Office. Beginning with 1854-55. These may be quoted either according to their consecutive numbering, or by years: 1st report = 1855; 51st report = 1905, etc.

Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. Reports.

Scobell, Henry. A Collection of Acts and Ordinances made in the Parliament held 3 Nov. 1640 to 17 Sept. 1656. 1658.

OTHER BOOKS

Blomefield, F., and Parkin, C. An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk. 2d ed., 11 vols., 1805-10.

Cunningham, W. The Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times. 3 vols., Cambridge, 1896-1903.

De Laune, Thomas. Angliae Metropolis: or, the Present State of London. 1681.

Dictionary of National Biography.

Eaton, D. B. Civil Service in Great Britain. New York, 1880.

Froude, J. A. A History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. 12 vols., New York, 1870.

Gairdner, J., editor. The Paston Letters. 3 vols., 1872-75.

Green, E. Bibliotheca Somersetensis. 3 vols., Taunton, 1902.

Joyce, H. The History of the Post Office from its Establishment down to 1836. 1893.

Knight, Charles. London.. 6 vols., 1841-44.

Latimer, John. The Annals of Bristol in the XVIIIth Century. Bristol, 1893.

Lewins, William. Her Majesty's Mails. 2d ed., 1865.

London and its Environs described. 6 vols., 1761.

Macaulay, T. B. History of England from the Accession of James II. 4 vols., 1849-56.

Macpherson, David. Annals of Commerce, Manufactures, Fisheries, and Navigation. 4 vols., London and Edinburgh, 1805.

Maitland, William. The History and Survey of London. 2 vols., 1760.

Malden, H. E. The Cely Papers: Selections from the Correspondence and Memoranda of the Cely Family, Merchants of the Staple, A. D. 1475-88. 1900.

May, T. E. Constitutional History of England. 1882.

Noorthouck, John. A New History of London. 1773.

Ogilby, John. Itinerarium Angliae. 1675.

Roberts, George. The Social History of the Southern Counties of England in Past Centuries. 1856.

Rothschild, Arthur de. Histoire de la Poste aux Lettres, depuis ses Origines les plus Anciennes jusqu'à nos Jours. 2d ed., Paris, 1873.

Sharpe, R. R. London and the Kingdom. 3 vols., 1894-95.

Stow, John (1525-1605). A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, improved and enlarged by John Strype. 2 vols., 1720.

Thornbury, W., and Walford, E. Old and New London. 6 vols. [1873-78.]

 

PERIODICALS

The Economist.

The London Times.

Notes and Queries.

With reference to the foregoing bibliography, the "Letters and Papers of Henry VIII" and the "Calendar of State Papers" have formed the basis of this sketch of the British Post Office during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with many references to the papers of private individuals and institutions collected by the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. The "Proceedings and Ordinances and the Acts of the Privy Council" contain important orders issued to the Postmaster-General or the postmen during the sixteenth century as well as complaints from the postmen and the public. From the beginning of the eighteenth century the chief sources of information are the historical summaries appended to the "Reports of Committees and Commissioners" compiled during the first half of the nineteenth century. Of these, the "Report of 1844" is the most important. The "Journals of the Lords and Commons" throw some light upon the history, purpose, and intent of the various acts of Parliament dealing with rates and finance. "The Financial Report of 1797," various returns submitted to the House of Commons, and the reports contained in the "Accounts and Papers" for the first part of the nineteenth century are chiefly concerned with the financial side of the history of the British Post Office. Since 1840 the most important sources of information are the yearly reports of the Postmasters-General, dating from 1854, and the voluminous reports of committees appointed to investigate debated points in the organization and policy of the Post Office as well as to advise upon matters which had produced friction between the department and its employees.

Of the secondary works there is little to be said. The only one from which any important information has been obtained is Joyce's "History of the British Post Office to 1836." This book contains a great deal of valuable matter arranged in rather a haphazard fashion and with no references. Writing as a Post Office official at the end of the nineteenth century, Joyce hardly appreciated the conditions which his predecessors had to meet. In Stow's "London" are found some interesting facts about the London Penny Post, in Blomefield's "Norfolk" early postal conditions in Norwich are described. The other books of the same description contain only incidental references to minor points of Post Office development.



INDEX