Inked date stamps were at first called 'Bishops marks' after their inventor, Henry Bishop, Postmaster General, 1660-1663. The post office was receiving complaints about late arrival of the post. Bishop claimed: 'a stamp is invented, that is putt upon every letter shewing the day of the moneth that every letter comes to this office, so that no letter Carryer may dare to detayne a letter from post to post; which, before, was usual.' As we now know, this did not actually solve the problem, just provided more evidence that the problem existed.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
First postmarks in the world
Commemorated ati
General Letter Office
Near this spot the General Letter Office stood in Post House Yard, 1653 - 166...
Other Subjects
Mrs Anna Ross
Worked for the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society. Was on the building committee for the Abbey Wood branch in 1912.
1 memorial
Devil Tavern
2, Fleet Street. Demolished 1787. Full title was the Devil and St Dunstan, the sign being the Devil's nose being tweaked by pincers wielded by the saint. It appears in a Hogarth illustration. T...
1 memorial
Imperial Hotel, Russell Square
Designed by Charles Fitzroy Doll. Â The picture was taken in 1913 after the completion of the extension, which is the section on the left, to the north (2017: we now think the 'extension' was into t...
22 memorials
Anthony Standerwick Heal
Son of Sir Ambrose Heal of the Heals furniture shop which was established in 1810.  It moved from Rathbone Place to Tottenham Court Road in 1818.  Anthony became a director in 1936 and the Chairman...
2 memorials
Bank of England, Law Courts branch
This building is at 194 Fleet Street, between the Law Courts and Chancery Lane. From 1826 the Bank of England had branches around the country. The Law Courts branch was designed by Sir Arthur Blom...
1 memorial
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