a powerpoint slideshow of 19th-century letter manuscripts (shared courtesy of Reading Central Library) with annotations to help guide viewers in reading and understanding postal markings on 19th-century British mail. The guide also orients readers to coding this information according to the standard guidelines of the Text Encoding Initiative, or TEI.

1. The Postmarks of
Mitford’s Letters,
including
sample images and
TEI markup
Version 3.0
By Greg Bondar
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg

2. MRM letter from
27 June 1850

3. Typical Mitford address leaf, with the
usual stamps and “folded by nines”

4. Typical Mitford address leaf, with the
usual stamps and “folded by nines”
MileageDelivery
Franking
Seal

5. Sample TEI Describing Postmarks
<teiHeader>
<sourceDesc>
<msDesc>
<physDesc>
<objectDesc>
<supportDesc>
<support>
<p>Folio sheet of <material>paper</material> folded in half to form four
quarto pages, with correspondence on 1-3 and address leaf on page 4,
then folded in thirds twice more and sealed for posting.</p>
<p>Address leaf bearing the following postmarks:
1) black circular mileage stamp <!-- Applied upon deposit of letter at local PO -->
reading <stamp>READING<lb/><unclear>
<gap quantity="1" unit="chars" reason="illegible”/></unclear></stamp>.
2) Red double circle duty stamp <!-- Applied upon arrival in London -->
reading <date when="1821-11-01">
<stamp>B<lb/>1 NO 1<lb/>1821</stamp></date>.
3) Sepia-inked oval Delivery stamp <!-- Applied upon transfer from Inland Mail to
London's local Penny Post for delivery. -->
reading <stamp><time>10 o'Clock</time><lb/>
<date>* NO * 1 *</date><lb/>
<date>1821</date> F.N<hi rend="superscript">n </hi></stamp></p>
<p>A large 7 denoting the fee for a single-sheet letter has been written
in black ink by the postal service across the address leaf.</p>
See this letter imaged on the next slide 

7. DeliveryDuty
Mileage
Seal

8. Mileage Stamp
1) black circular mileage stamp
<!-- Applied upon deposit of letter at local PO
ie. This stamp bears the date the letter was mailed -->
reading <stamp>READING<lb/>
<unclear><gap quantity="1" unit="chars"
reason="illegible”/></unclear></stamp>.
42 miles from
Reading to London
April 14, 1818
October 22, 1819
Three Mile Cross

9. Mileage Stamp
1) black circular mileage stamp
xml:id=“pmMileage”
42 miles from
Reading to London
April 14, 1818
October 22, 1819

10. Mileage Stamp
The distance, or mileage, a letter travelled determined the
postage, multiplied by the number of sheets, paid by the
recipient.
Rates for 1812:
(after Staff 1964, page 72)
Distance Rate
Up to 15 miles 4d.
15-20 miles 5d.
20-30 miles 6d.
30-50 miles 7d.
50-80 miles 8d.
80-120 miles 9d.
120-170 miles 10d.
170-230 miles 11d.
230-300 miles 1s.
300-400 miles 1s. 1d.
Over 400 miles +1d. for every 100 miles
The Louth-London Royal Mail, by Charles Cooper Henderson, 1820

11. Duty Stamp
2) Red double circle Duty stamp
<!--Applied upon arrival in London -->
reading <date when="1821-11-01“>
<stamp>B<lb/>
1 NO 1<lb/> <!--Day MONTH Day-->
1821</stamp></date>.
NOTE: The date on this stamp is usually later than the date on the Mileage Stamp!
Also, Letters that have been franked will not receive a Duty Stamp

12. Duty Stamp
2) Red double circle Duty stamp
xml:id=“pmDuty”
NOTE: The date on this stamp is usually later than the date on the Mileage Stamp!
Also, Letters that have been franked will not receive a Duty Stamp

13. Duty Stamp
• As unpaid mail arrived by mail coach at the Chief
Office in London in the morning, it was stamped
with a morning duty stamp, including the date of
arrival and a letter designating the sorting table.
Mail left London on mail coaches in the evening and
received the evening duty stamp. Morning and
evening duty stamps were introduced in 1795 in
order to identify the individual clerk who stamped a
specific piece of mail.
Alcock and Holland 1940, 20-21.
Microcosm of London Pl. 063 - The Post Office

14. Duty Stamp
Morning Duty Stamps (Alcock & Holland 1940:22 , Fig. 28 & Barrie #L15): According to
Paterson 1811:533, the mail coach both arrives and departs Reading at 1:20am,
presumably as a result of a morning arrival to, and an evening departure from, the
Central Office in London.
Mitford writing to London:
Evening duty stamps from
Talfourd in London sending
to Mitford in Reading.
Evening Duty stamp
from MRM in London
writing to mother at
Bertram House

15. Irish Duty Stamp
• Special stamp for unpaid letters
passing through Dublin
Bound for Castle Martyr, Ireland via Dublin
Mileage Stamp
(From Reading)
Irish Duty
Stamp
Irish Mileage Stamp
(Dublin to Castle Martyr)
Frank

16. Delivery Stamp
3) Sepia-inked oval Delivery stamp
<!-- Applied upon transfer from Inland Mail to
London's local “Twopenny Post” for delivery. -->
reading <stamp><time>10 o'Clock</time><lb/>
<date>* NO * 1 *</date><lb/>
<date>1821</date> F.N<hi rend="superscript">n
</hi></stamp></p>
Abbreviations of Delivery times:
F.N.n = Forenoon
A.N.n = Afternoon
N.T = Night

17. Delivery Stamp
3) Sepia-inked oval Delivery stamp
xml:id=“pmDeliv”
Abbreviations of Delivery times:
F.N.n = Forenoon
A.N.n = Afternoon
N.T = Night

18. Delivery Stamp
• Usually stamped in red ink, rarely black.
• “PAID” indicates that the postal fee was paid by the sender.
The absence of “PAID” on the Delivery Stamp indicates an
“Unpaid” stamp and the fee is to be paid by the recipient
upon delivery.
• When a letter was transferred from the Twopenny Post to
the General Post Office for delivery, an additional fee was
owed as indicated by:

19. Delivery Stamp
• 1794-1834:Chief Office=Mo Day; Westminster= Day Mo
• 1795-1824:Westminster= Indented rim
• 1801-1819:Chief Office=single-rim; Westminster=no border
• 1819-1834: Chief Office=dbl-rim; Westminster=single-rim

20. Delivery Stamp
(Charge Marks)
• Letters not prepaid were liable to an additional charge
when entering London’s Twopenny Post system for
delivery:
Here a 2d. Charge Mark has been crossed-out and replaced with one for 3d.,
reflecting inflation in 1805 as a result of Britain’s war with France.

21. Delivery Stamp
(Charge Marks)
xml:id=“pmOther”
Here a 2d. Charge Mark has been crossed-out and replaced with one for 3d.,
reflecting inflation in 1805 as a result of Britain’s war with France.

22. Receiving House Stamp
• Stamped when a letter was submitted at a
Receiving House of the Two-Penny Post, either
to be mailed or delivered.

23. Receiving House Stamp
xml:id=“pmHouse”

24. Charge Marks, Fees, and
indications of payment
<p>A large 7 denoting the fee for a single-sheet letter has
been written in black ink by the postal service across
the address leaf.</p>
(42 miles from Reading to London
would have cost 7d.)
This letter cost Haydon
7 pence to read
Here a 2d. Charge Mark has been crossed-out and replaced with one for 3d.,
reflecting inflation in 1805 as a result of Britain’s war with France.

25. Charge Marks, Fees, and
indications of payment
xml:id=“pmOther”

26. Franking Stamps
To aid communication between Members of Parliament and
their districts, MP’s were granted “franking” privileges so
that they were not charged postage; something they often
shared with friends, such as MRM.
Franking Stamps
Ireland

27. Franking stamps
xml:id=“pmFrank”
Franking Stamps
Ireland

29. Some of Mitford’s seals
1819
1823
1824
1825
1835

30. xml:id=“sealMary”

31. xml:id=“sealFamilie”

32. Mitford’s ‘Sword & Boar’s-head’ seal
xml:id=“sealSword”

33. Mitford’s ‘Sword & Boar’s-head’ seal
(Mitford Family-crest?)

34. Mitford’s ‘Cupid’ seal
“UN ME SUFFIT” = “One [Heart] is Enough”
xml:id=“sealCupid”

35. xml:id=“sealM”
xml:id=“sealGM”
xml:id=“sealBlob”
xml:id=“sealOther”

36. : Woven paper

37. Stationer’s Marks
xml:id=“stationer”

38. xml:id=“stationer”

39. For more data from paper:

40. Try using a back-light!

41. xml:id=“waterMark”

42. Watermarks can provide dates, manufacturers,
paper size, etc.

43. xml:id=“waterMark”

44. Laid or Satin paper with chain-lines

45. What do you see?

46. After processing colors in Photoshop

47. References
• Alcock, R. C. and F. C. Holland. The Postmarks of Great
Britain and Ireland. Cheltenham, England: Alcock, Ltd.,
1940.
• Barrie, Jay. The British Catalogue of Postal History, Volume 3
– London, Second edition. London: London Postal History
Group, 2005.
• Cameron, Kenneth Neill. “Postmarks and the Dating of
Manuscripts”. Shelley and his Circle, Volume 2: 914-25.
Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1961.
• Peterson, Daniel. A New and Accurate Description of All the
Direct and Principal Cross Roads in England, Wales, and
Part of Scotland, 15th edition. London: Longman, 1811.
• Staff, Frank. The Penny Post 1680-1918. London:
Lutterworth Press, 1964.