Page last updated on: Sunday, 4 February, 2024.
Gatehouse Postal Services
Before 1840
The 1d Black and 2d Blue were introduced in 1840 as the world's first adhesive postage stamps. Previously messages were sent in what were called 'entires'. An entire was a sheet of paper which had been folded into an envelope and then sealed with hot wax. Postal charges depended on how far each letter was carried before it reached its destination. The entire was stamped with the name of "post office" where it was deposited. Large handwritten numerals signified the charge which depended on the number of stages through which the entire was to be carried. Another stamp was applied when the letter reach the main post office nearest to its destination. It was normal practice for the letter recipient to pay to receive the letter, which led to issues when a potential receiver refused to pay.
We have a collection of letters which were posted from or to Gatehouse before 1840 when the 1d Black was first issued..
Click on this link to see some examples of letters that were sent before 1840.
This picture shows the mail coach outside what is now no.11 High Street which was used as an early post office.
This is a photo of Crosbie's Garage in the early years of the 20th century, when it was located in the Old Posting Stables, just across the High Street from the Murray Arms Hotel.
We have a collection of letters which were posted from or to Gatehouse after 1840, when the 1d Black was first issued..
Click on this link to see some examples of letters that were sent before 1840.
Until comparatively recently, adhesive postage stamps have been used to confirm that the necessary postal charges have been paid. Rubber stamps have been used to 'cancel' adhesives thereby avoidling their fraudulent re-use. Dates and times were added to the rubber stamp to indicate when and where each letter started its journey. The link below shows how these rubber stamps have changed.