A franked letter

G Hathorn

1800

David Cathcart, Edinburgh from G Hathorn, London

Image and text by Eunice Shanahan.

The postal marking shows FREE in a crown within a dated circle which was applied in London. Because the letter was allowed to be sent free of postage, the rules of the time had to be observed — the town, the date and year had to be written at the top of the letter, written by the person claiming the free frank, who had to sign at the bottom left of the address panel. This particular FREE mark was only in use for about 7 months from 3rd January 1800.

These letters graciously have been shared with the Victorian Web by Eunice and Ron Shanahan; they have been taken from their website.

15 November 2004