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Birmingham Philatelic Society

The Birmingham Post Office in the First Half

of the 19th Century (part 2)

Over the stabling a pleasant view could be obtained of the tower of St. Phillips, the lower structure of the new church being marked by the abundant foliage which occupied the rising ground between New Street and the churchyard, the impression being more in keeping with a portion of a straggling street of an old fashioned village than with the hustle and bustle of an industrial town. To the right of the post office yard stood a small cottage, the sign board above a window indicating the home of a chimney sweep, all this being in the town’s principal street, directly opposite the handsome theatre.

It was from these inauspicious premises that the mail travelled to all parts of the Kingdom, carried on mail coaches whose passengers were collected from one of the town's several busy inns - the Hen and Chickens just down the road, the Swan in nearby High Street or the Nelson (previously the Dog) in Spiceal Street near the Bull Ring.

The introduction of mail coach services into Birmingham in 1785 had heralded a new era of fast, scheduled travel but it was not until the 26th May 1812 that a special Royal Mail coach began to operate directly between Birmingham and London instead of the town being dependent on other mail coaches which passed through Birmingham from the more northern towns. The occasion was celebrated with some degree of pomp as reported in "Aris's Gazette" dated 1st June 1812.

On Tuesday last the new Birmingham and London Royal Mail Coach, established for the particular accommodation of this town and neighbourhood, set out from the Swan Hotel, at four o'clock, the bells of St. Martin's Church ringing, and thousands of spectators assembled on the occasion, greeting it as it passed with cheering shouts. About two o'clock the same day the coach, attended by eight mail guards in full uniform, adorned with blue ribbons, paraded the streets, under the direction of Mr. Hart, stopped at the residences of the High and Low Baliff, the several banks, and many of the principal inhabitants: the procession closed after it had remained some time at the house of Mr. Prachett, High Street, where as at the other resting places, the attendants were liberally supplied with wine, biscuits, sandwiches, etc. The carriage, horses and harness were in a style of splendour and excellence we had not before witnessed, and reflect great credit upon a spirited townsman, Mr. Dunn: public patronage, we doubt not, will amply repay him and the other Contractors for the expense and risk they have incurred in this attempt to afford greater facilities to the commercial intercourse between this town and the metropolis, both by gaining an additional hour to answer letters by return of post, and enabling the public to ensure places in the mail to London, instead of waiting as formerly for a vacancy, the chance of which was always very precarious.

One wonders what time the mail coach reached London on this occasion in view of the 'refreshments' that had been provided. This new service travelled through Coventry and Dunchurch rather than the existing route via Stratford, Shipstone and Oxford saving eleven miles on the journey.

This new service travelled through Coventry and Dunchurch rather than the existing route via Stratford, Shipstone and Oxford saving eleven miles on the journey. Members who collect Birmingham postal history will relate the above date of 1812 to when a new mileage handstamp was brought into use. The new stamp incorporated the mileage 109 indicating the mileage to London on the new route in lieu of the existing '120' mileage handstamp which did however continue to be used on some mail when sent on the old route.

Birmingham's mileage handstamp incorporating the numeral '109' in the base Indicating the mail coach mileage to London on the more direct route introduced In 1812.