The Dumfries Post Office, 1642-1910. 105 



some omission my lettei" not being franked, I had 8s 9d to pay 

 to Mr John M'Nish, Postmaster of Dalbeattie, and then I had 

 paid for letters one pound, from England, Ireland, and other 

 places."^" 



It will thus be acknowledged that the time was ripe for 

 sweeping reform. It was not, however, until Rowland Hill had 

 placed his scheme of Penny Postage before tlie public and gained 

 their confidence and support that he was enabled, in spite of 

 unflinching opposition on the part of the Government officials, to 

 secure the adoption of his measure. 



At a meeting of Dumfries Town Council held on 2nd Novem- 

 ber, 1837, a letter from Mr Wallace of Kelly accompanying a 

 resolution of the Chamber of Commerce of Edinburgh as to 

 adopting the plan proposed by Mr Rowland Hill for a uniform 

 rate of postage was submitted. The Council agreed to petition 

 both Houses of Parliament in favour of the measure. 



In this connection it is interesting to find that in 1827, that 

 is ten years prior to the date on which Rowland Hill pub- 

 lished his famous pamphlet advocating penny postage, the Town 

 Council of Dumfries would seem to have had under consideration 

 proposals of a similar character. Thus we read in a minute 

 dated 1st April, 1839 : — " The Provost laid on the Table a Copy 

 of the Newspaper Called Post Circular^"* Containing a form of a 

 petition praying for an equal rate of postage not exceeding one 

 penny, and as he observed that the Council had petitioned on the 

 same subject so far back as Nov., 1827, he would propose that 

 another Petition be presented." Unfortunately, on referring to 

 the records for 1827, we find them incomplete, and no corrobora- 

 tion is therefore forthcoming of this statement, which, it is 

 obvious, has a most important bearing upon the history of penny 

 postage. 



On the 10th of January, 1840, the uniform rate of One 

 Penny for letters not exceeding half-an-ounce in weight was offi- 

 cially introduced, and we can safely say that this marked a new 

 era not only in the history of the postal service, but in the Annals 

 of our national prosperity. That further concessions have from 



oO. " The Gallovidian " Summer number, 1906, p. 90. 



50*. The " Post Circular " was a paper set up temporarily by the 

 "Mercantile Committee" to advocate the reform. It was ably 

 edited by Mr Cole, and had a wide circulation. 



