Moving the Mail

In the 1700’s the delivery of mail took weeks or months, if at all. A man or delivery child on a pony or with a cart and horse was expected to take and deliver the mail along roads and paths that were often no better than sheep paths. Enter a Bath theatre owner named John Palmer who decided to do something about the slow service. On the 2nd of August in 1784, the residents of Bristol cheered as the inaugural mail coach thundered down the narrow main street on its way to London. Needless to say the service was a huge success and before long set routes and timetables were put into place. Mail coaches abounded with names like Red Rover, Sporting Times, Tally Ho and their destinations like London, Guilford and Oxford were brightly painted on the doors.

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