Declared Accounts: Post Office

Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume 31, 1717. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1960.

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'Declared Accounts: Post Office', in Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume 31, 1717, (London, 1960) pp. ccclxv-ccclxx. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-treasury-books/vol31/ccclxv-ccclxx [accessed 26 April 2024]

Post Office

DECLARED ACCOUNTS: POST OFFICE.

AUDIT OFFICE: BUNDLE 1960, ROLL 49 [A.O.1/1960/49].

Arthur Onslow, late Receiver General of the General Letter Office and Penny Post Office.

25 March 1716 to 25 March 1717.

Charge. £ s. d. £ s. d.
Arrears: depending on several persons at Ladyday 1685 2,125 6 0
depending on divers Postmasters etc. of the General Letter Office at Ladyday 1716 47,995 17 2½
depending on several persons of the Penny Post Office 1,852 6 6¼
and upon several other persons in arrear 671 14 1
— 52,645 3 9¾
Receipts: revenue and profits of the General Post Office, 25 March 1716 to 25 March 1717:
in the Foreign Office [of the General Post Office]:
the produce of the letters brought in by the mails; by months		 24,732 2 10
letters to and from Portugal, not included in the above; by quarters 588 5 0
received of Capt. Phillipson for freight of passengers in the Holland packet boats; year to 25 Dec. 1716 101 5 6
received of Charles Lovell for passengers, goods and horses to and from Dover, Ostend and Callis; same time 178 2 6
received of Joseph Penhallowes for passengers between Falmouth, Lisbon and the Groyne; half years to Ladyday and Michaelmas 1716 146 0 0
ditto for letters ditto; ditto 103 7 10
received of Mr. Buck and Mr. Lovell of Dover for letters from Callis; year to 25 March 1717 6 8 4
received of John Six of Amsterdam, by virtue of his contract with the Lords Burgomasters there, for freight between England and Amsterdam; same time 1,200 0 0
received of Mr. Milner for letters received at Port Mahon 78 11 8
— 27,134 3 8
in the Inland Office [of the General Post Office]:
money received for letters at the Inland window; by months		 926 10 1
money received of the letter receivers; ditto 369 3 11
the letter carriers' charge for letters sent up from the Country; ditto 57,980 4 11
the Postmasters' charge for letters sent from London into the Country 73,906 18 7
way-letters taken in at one stage and delivered at another, farmed to divers Postmasters:
John Stuckley of Plymouth		 230 0 0
Anne Hayman of Dartmouth 20 0 0
John Buckley of Totness 10 0 0
Abraham Hacket of Blandford 3 0 0
Mary Coven of Dorchester 6 0 0
Mary Paine of Salisbury 4 0 0
Moses Baxter of Portsmouth 7 0 0
Robert Rodham of Berwick 4 0 0
John Bell of Newcastle 30 0 0
Nicholas Paxton of Durham 10 0 0
John Wilson of Darlington 5 0 0
Elizabeth Harker of Northalerton 9 0 0
Barbara Thwaites of Great Abridge [Greta Bridge] 2 0 0
William Mann of Burrowbriggs 5 0 0
Mary Mould of Hull 50 0 0
Robert Pattison of Beverley 4 0 0
John Herring of Newark 5 0 0
Hannah Petty of Gainsborough 24 0 0
John Sharp of Grantham 5 0 0
William Wyat of Boston 10 0 0
John Rishton of Spalding 10 0 0
Edward Tinkerson of Peterborough 1 0 0
John Exton of Lynn 20 0 0
and Catherine Dawson of York 40 0 0
(total for way-letters 514l.)
money received for cross-road letters: Xmas 1715 to Xmas 1716 3,465 0 2
ditto from Isaac Manley, Manager of the Letter Office in Dublin for letters sent from Chester within the time of this Accompt 703 14 1
ditto from the same for letters from Holyhead to Dublin; same time 16 4 6
ditto from letter carriers for letters short-taxed; same time 0 5 5
ditto of several Postmasters for by- or way- letters; same time 1,257 17 9
ditto for several expresses sent into the country; same time 57 17 6
ditto for ditto sent to London for which the Postmasters received the money; same time 37 0 0
— 139,234 16 11
in the Irish Office [of the General Post Office]:
money arising by the profits of the Irish Office; half year to 29 Sept. 1716		 8,792 13 7
ditto; half year to 25 March 1717 7,071 15 6
— 15,864 9 1
(total for the General Post Office 182,233l. 9s. 8d.)
revenue and profits of the Penny Post Office, 25 March 1716 to 25 March 1717:
the produce of 777,841 letters taken in by the Officers of the Penny Post Office at 1d. a letter		 3,241 0 1
the produce of the second 1d. on 66,888 letters taken in by the letter receivers in London, and directed and delivered to persons in the Country 278 14 0
the produce of 57,291 letters taken in at the six Penny Post Offices at 1d. each letter 238 14 3
— 3,758 8 4
overpayments remaining due at the termination of this Accompt:
Lucy Downes of Hertford Bridge		 24 12 6
John Beauchamp of Staines 12 5 3
Grace Alder of Bedford 2 17 0
William Wimberley of Portwitham 2 4 5
Thomas Simpson of Bourn 3 4 6
Elinor Fox of Stilton 6 10 10
Henry Pine of Bristoll 65 5 6
Edward Lock of Hounslow 9 18 3
John Boucher of Piccadilley 20 0 0
John Mackey of Holyhead 10 0 0
Maurice Parry of Holyhead 33 11 8
Margaret Buckly of Beaumaris 12 12 8
John Draper of Conway 11 13 7
Richard Lloyd of Sazpley 16 10 0
Carolinus Chapman of Barnett 14 19 5
John Tranter of Aldersgate Street 17 11 0
Thomas Banks of Halston 4 14 4
Thomas Wilson of Leadenhall Street 11 5 0
Jeremiah Ford of Southwark 11 5 0
William Alamond of the Brill 30 0 0
Samuel Martin of Epping 8 19 10
Edward Marshall of Wickham 5 17 3
Charles Timson of Smithfield 23 0 0
James Luck of Tonbridge 7 10 5
Richard Davies of Fenny Stratford 13 9 11
Monsieur Richards of Paris 2,633 18 9
Arthur Onslow [Receiver General] 260 0 0
— 3,273 17 1
total charge and receipts [viz. Arrears 52,645l. 3s. 9¾d., General Letter Office Receipts 182,233l. 9s. 8d., Penny Post Office receipts 3,758l. 8s. 4d., overpayments 3,273l. 17s. 1d.] —
£241,910 18 l0¾
Discharge.
Abatements out of the general charge and revenue of the Post Office within the time of this Accompt:
country letters brought from foreign parts and from the Deputy Postmasters in England, first charged in London and then sent as directed to persons in the Country and again charged on the Deputy Postmasters: in the Foreign Office 3,007l. 13s. 6d. and in the Inland Office 7,936l. 3s. 5d. 		11,636 16 11
letters charged on Postmasters and letter carriers, returned because the addressees could not be found 2,052 15 4
his Majesty and Members of Parliament:
their letters and packets delivered free (for his Majesty's service 18,471l. 14s. and for Parliament-men's letters 237l. 7s. 2d.)		 18,709 1 2
foreign letters and packets, wherein we enclosed bills of exchange etc., 608l. 0s. 10d.; errors etc., 300l. 2s. 2d. 908 3 0
— 33,306 16 5
money due to Postmasters and others for balance of their Accompts to Ladyday 1716 3,387 9 5
salaries: Charles, Lord Cornwallis, and James Craggs, senior, Postmasters General, 2,000l.; Edward Harley for the Auditor's fee 260l.; Arthur Onslow Receiver General 300l.; George Searle, Accomptant General 300l.; Arnold Beeby, Comptroller of the Inland Office 200l.; John Lloyd, Secretary 200l.; John Fowle, Solicitor 200l.; Clerks of the several Roads, detailed, with their assisttants 800l.; windowmen etc. detailed 110l.; sorters 480l.; clerks to the Postmasters General, to the Receiver General and to the Accomptant General 160l.; Ashburnham Frowde, Comptroller of the Foreign Office 150l.; clerks etc. in the Foreign Office 440l.; letter receivers, 375l. 6s. 8d.; mail maker, letter carriers etc. 2,321l. 16s.; and several Postmasters in England and Wales, detailed at length 13,846l. 19s. 22,144 1 8
annuities and pensions:
Henry, Earl of Rochester		 4,000 0 0
the Dukes of Northumberland and Grafton and the Executrix of the former 4,700 0 0
the Duke of Grafton, as Executor to the Duchess of Cleveland, in part of an arrear 2,000 0 0
the Duke of Schonberg 4,000 0 0
the Duke of Marlborough 5,000 0 0
William, Lord Cowper, late Lord Chancellor 4,000 0 0
William Brocket for 2½ years 1,000 0 0
— 24,700 0 0
Court Post: Dennis Bond, for carrying Royal letters etc. between the Court and the first Post Stage 366 0 0
charges of expresses; by quarters 1,446 18 10
charges of the packet boats:
for the Eagle, Dolphin and Prince, belonging to Capt. John Phillipson of Harwich, viz.: hire 540l.; wages 602l. 18s. 2d., victualling 400l. 3s.; to Edward Hunt, Henry Keeble, Vander Hoeve, each for carrying a mail to the Brill in Holland and to George Cockrein and Giles Baker, each for carrying two like mails 70l.; disbursements to Xmas 1716 63l. 6s. 3d.; Capt. Phillipson, for salary 150l. 		1,826 7 5
for the Dover packet boats, viz.: Charles Lovell, agent, for hire etc. of the packet boats between Dover, Calais and Ostend 1,279l.; subsistence of poor British subjects 14l. 10s.; an additional man to each boat and victuals 22l. 10s.; guarding of Thomas Taylor 5l.; Capt. Pybus, for carrying Flanders mails overland 10l. 18s.; carriage of mails not by packet boat 30l. 3s. 8d.; small expenses 10s.; William Smith for carrying Daniel Moor to Calais 3l. 4s. 6d.; James Sampson for carrying a King's Messenger 1l. 1s. 6d.; Thomas Hammond for hire of a vessel 2l.; Charles Lovell, for salary, 150l. 1,518 17 8
for the Falmouth packet boats, viz.: Joseph Penhallow, agent, for wear and tear 827l. 1s. 8d., wages 1,265l. 18s. 8d., victualling 590d. 17s. 4d., sick quarters 77l. 13s.; incidents 149l. 6s. 7d.; Joseph Penhallow, for salary and as Postmaster of Falmouth, three quarters to 25 March 1716 112l. 10s. 0d. 3,023 7 3
for the packet boats between Falmouth and the Groyn and Corunna: Robert Bradyl and Robert Hull for the King George 540l.; Samuel Eyre for the Boscawen 900l. 1,440 0 0
James and Joseph Milner for the Postmaster of Port Mahon for the Resolution and afterwards the Cornwallis packet boats between Port Mahon and Marseilles etc. 300 0 0
— 8,108 12 4
sundry incident charges, detailed 4,057 3 1
allowances of various natures:
John Six of Amsterdam, for his moiety of the Hamborough and Italian letters		 1,119 11 0
John Camfield of Lisbon for exchange of money at 10l. per cent paid John Duarta De Costa for collecting all letter money and for exchange and remitting of money 73 2 0
Monsieur Pajot, Comptroller of the French Posts for the port of Spanish, Italian and Turkey letters 2,776 6 0
allowed the several farmers 664 1 0
taxes allowed on clerks' salaries 179 0 0
— 4,812 0 0
charges of the Irish Office:
Isaac Manley, Deputy Postmaster General at Dublin:
salaries		 3,518 3 2
state letters and letters of Members of Parliament 7,241 9 1
English and Irish takings off or Country letters 2,319 15 1
insolvent letters etc. 611 13 5
stationery wares and incidents 1,482 4 1
expresses and ship letters 24 5 2
exchange of money 496 13 8
— 15,694 3 8
money paid into the Exchequer, detailed by dates 64,819 5 4
(total for salaries etc. of the General Post Office 146,148l. 4s. 11d.)
money paid to the Postmaster at Corunna for his salary and other charges 20 5 1
payments and allowances of the Penny Post Office:
salaries and wages: Robert Baylis, Comptroller 200l.; his clerk 30l.; Accomptant, 70l.; Collector, 70l.; sorters, subsorters, messengers etc. 1,748l. 17s. 9d. 		2,118 17 9
rent of the Penny Post Offices 117 10 0
incident charges, detailed 360 15 11½
several letter receivers for their tenths on 777,841 letters received 324 2 0
this Accomptant for 772 returned letters 3 4 4
Officers' taxes 55 0 0
— 2,979 10 0½
—
total payments and allowances £185,842 5 10½
and so remains 56,068 13 0¼
whereof depending in super:
arrears due at Ladyday 1685, detailed		 2,125 6 0
upon several Postmasters etc. detailed at length 51,445 8 1½
arrears of the Penny Post, ditto 1,826 4 9¾
arrears due from several other persons: Thomas, late Duke of Leeds and Anthony Row, for money received; Oliver Hill of Spain; George Levet, purser of a Spanish packet boat; March Fletcher, for fitting up the Spanish Princess; Oliver Hill for salary; Mr. Symonds, master of the Irish packet boats; Mr. Manley for the feasts paid the Officers 671 14 1
—
£56,068 13 0¼
and so this Accompt is even and Quit.
Declared 5 September 1721.
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