A remarkable achievement
Today, Tuesday 1 August, marks the 140th anniversary of the Post Office ‘Parcels Post’ service, which is the direct ancestor of our current Royal Mail parcel services.
Parcels Post was mandated by an Act of Parliament in August 1882 – just 12 months before its launch on 1 August 1883. The Act was a response to a national agreement with the Universal Postal Union to support international parcel services, which meant that the UK needed a comprehensive inland parcel service.
In the period between the passing of the Act and the launch of the service, the Post Office successfully:
- Set up 15,400 Post Offices to accept parcels with all the necessary equipment such as, weigh scales, counter windows, and containers.
- Set up distribution plans and finalise detailed arrangements with the 81 separate railway companies that would be involved from day one.
- Set up the extra space needed for parcel sorting, including rearranging, extending, moving, or even building offices; and arrange space at railways stations.
- Provide vehicles (horse coaches, horse carts, hand carts) and containers (baskets and bags) for delivery.
Prior to the launch of the Parcels Post, members of the public could only send letters measuring no more than 18 inches (45.7 cm) long, nine inches (22.9 cm) wide and six inches (15.2 cm) thick. Although there were no weight restrictions, postmasters were instructed not to receive any letters containing “anything likely to injure the contents of the mail bag or do bodily harm to any officer of the Post Office”.
With the launch of the Parcels Post, these restrictions were lifted. Like letters, there were uniform parcel postage prices regardless of distance, for items weighing up to 7 lbs (just over 3 kg) in weight with a maximum length of three feet, six inches (just over one metre) or a combined maximum length and girth of six feet (1.8 metres). Postage was by weight bands with a 1 lb parcel costing 3d, increasing by 3d increments per 2 lb weight band, up to 12d (one shilling) for a 7 lb parcel.
Success story
In its first eight months, to March 1884; the service handled 13.7 million items and 22.9 million in its first full year (1884-85). Volume increased steadily. By 1900 it reached 73.5 million items - compare this with our modern Royal Mail domestic parcel numbers, 1.064 billion in 2022-2023!
Our international parcel service, known at the time as the ‘Foreign and Colonial Parcel Post’ began in 1885, with services to Gibraltar, Aden, Egypt, India and Burma. The number of countries covered expanded rapidly in the mid-1880s, with postage to India for example, costing 1 shilling per lb or part lb, up to 7 lbs.
A Quality of Service test, reported in 1885, showed that parcels were delivered on average in 20 hours and 21 minutes after posting, and 71% were delivered faster than on competing services. Parcels Post was widely regarded as a success by the public and the press. It was a remarkable achievement.
Image: © The Postal Museum
