Postage Act 1839


The Postage Act 1839 was an act of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that came into effect on 17 August 1839 to regulate the postage rates of Great Britain until 5 October 1840 and led to several postal reforms, including the introduction of the Uniform Penny Post and the world's first postage stamps.

Background

This was the first act in the reforms of the General Post Office that took place under the auspices of Rowland Hill. Its main objective was that within a year the cost of postage should be reduced to one penny per weight instead of heretofore being charged by the number of sheets and the distance travelled. It initiated the Fourpenny Post and within 36 days led to the drop in the cost of postage from four pence to the one penny under the Uniform Penny Post. Less than six months later the world's first postage stamps, the Penny Black and Two penny blue, were issued.

Main regulations

The main changes to be instigated by the Act were to:
While the Act received the Royal assent on 17 August 1839, the Treasury warrant to initiate the Fourpenny Post from 5 December was made on 22 November 1839 and set forth the postage rate of four-pence as the postage rate applied as follows:
On 27 December 1839 a new warrant was issued that further reduced the rate to one-penny per postage rate with the weight steps as previously listed. Several other alterations were made including the abolition of all the additional Irish Sea crossing related fees and the half-penny tax on letter conveyed by mail carriages with more than 2 wheels in Scotland.