THE history of the postal service was the subject of a talk given to the Whalley and District History and Archaeology Society.
Speaker Keith Martin outlined the development of the postal service from the private mail of the 16th Century, mainly used by lawyers, gentry and merchants, to the first public service in 1635.
Date stamps were introduced to counter claims of late delivery and initially it was the recipient who paid.
The introduction of the penny post resulted in a huge growth in mail and the start of collection services.
The society next meets on December 16 at Whalley Abbey when Ribble Valley historian Dudley will talk about The Diary of Francis Kilvert.
Further details are available from Chris Ward on 01254 53866.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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