Penny Post

Penny Post, private postal service created by the London merchant William Dockwra in 1680. All letters and packets up to one pound in weight were delivered for one penny (1 d). The packets were also insured up to £10. Dockwra’s system consisted of several hundred receiving offices from which an hourly collection was made; the letters were taken to six central sorting offices. There were 4 deliveries per day in the greater part of London and 6 or 8 in the business centres. There was also a daily delivery, for which an additional penny was charged, to places up to 10 miles (16 km) outside London. In 1683 the Penny Post was taken over by the government-operated General Post Office, and Dockwra was forced to pay damages for having encroached on the crown’s monopoly of the mail service, which had been effected by Charles I in 1635.