70 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



In 1689, the court or passage I speak of lay behveen 

 Grimsby Lane and Blackfriargate. This location is 

 attested b}^ the fact that, in the passage, lived Dr. 

 Lilley, and the postmaster of the day ' gotte amaine 

 to ken hym throgh comyn toe Deposite lettres yn ye 

 Box.' 



The department has ever had a secret hankering 

 after offices up long passages. Perhaps at the end 

 of a narrow entry office room was cheap, or a 

 passage gave an idea of shelter from the weather. 

 Not alone in London, or in Hull, but in scores of 

 places, Post-Office Court, marked the site of the 

 establishment. 



In Dartmouth, I recollect the old post-office was in 

 a garden ; at Canterbur}^ in Leeds, and in many 

 other towns, the perplexed client had frequently to 

 find his way up a court or side-passage. 



So, after Grimsby Lane was vacated, came another 

 site of the same kind, for, in 1792, the post-office was 

 situated in a long narrow passage called Post- Office 

 Entry, leading out of Bishop Lane. The postmaster 

 was then John Wray, who held the office until 

 Piodmell's appointment in 1805. Of the building in 

 Bishop Lane, it was said in a local history, ' The 

 exterior of this place is entitled to no particular 

 notice,' which was rather an uncivil remark. 



The narrow passage leading up to the Bishop Lane 

 office was perfect in its w^ay. At a certain state of the 

 tide it was flooded with water, and boys earned a 

 modest competency by exercising the honourable 



