Guns, Money & Influence, 1820

Eunice Shanahan

These letters graciously have been shared with the Victorian Web by Eunice and Ron Shanahan; they have been taken from their website. The letters give an insight into the daily lives and concerns of 'ordinary' people without whom history would not exist. The letters are a wonderful example of how much history may be gleaned from such sources.

Postmarks:

  1. London evening duty date stamp, a faint impression of the double ring with date in the centre circle 29 Feb 1820, (it was a leap year, and 29 February was a Tuesday )
  2. London Additional 1/2d mark type H&S Fig 135(which is a1/2 in a frame), listed as being in use from 8th Feb 1817 to 29/9/1823.
  3. Edinburgh morning duty 3-line date stamp with B M on either side of Mar 3 1820.
  4. manuscript charge marks, 1/1, crossed out and replaced with 1/4. This was the cost for sending a single letter between 600 and 700 miles, the 1/1 is for a distance of between 300 and 400 (Edinburgh is 396), but according to the mileage list, Thurso is actually 775 miles, so the cost SHOULD have been amended to 1/5.

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Last modified 8 December 2004