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The story of Rowland Hill’s reforms and the launch of the 1d black is so well known to stamp collectors that it’s easy to overlook just what a brilliant success it was.
Within a month of the stamp’s introduction, the number of letters carried had almost doubled. In 1844, mail volumes had risen from 67 million in 1839 to 242 million. And in 1875, just the letters carried passed the billion mark. It took the rest of the world years to catch up, following – country by country – from 1843.
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Prior to 1840, the Post Office had only a limited reach – and it would need a massive increase in the number of post offices to realise its full potential. This would cost money and, initially, the Treasury was reluctant to spend it; they didn’t think the returns would justify the investment. The figures for the first year were, indeed, disappointing; Rowland Hill had underestimated the cost of rail deliveries as opposed to stagecoaches. There was a drop in revenue when prices were reduced from an average of 8¾d per letter to 1d per letter. And it would take time to build up the volume of letters being written, posted and replied to.
Eventually, a compromise was reached. The number of post offices would depend on two factors: the numbers in the local population and the population density. So the post offices would be closer together in
