ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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English postal history begins in the twelfth century with King Henry I of England, who appoints the first messengers to carry the royal letters. From 1100 to 1135 the letters transported by these messengers are about 4,500. Henry III of England provides the messengers of special uniforms and Edward I of England establishes the "shipping houses", real estate where the messengers can change the horses. The reign of Edward II of England is characterized by the ideation of the first postal markings; written notations as they encourage rapid delivery. Henry VIII of England in 1516 established the "Royal Mail" (real mail), appointing Brian Tuke as general administrator. Elizabeth I of England appoints "Postmaster general" Thomas Randolph and Charles I of England appoints Thomas Witherings. The latter in 1635 made the Royal Mail available to the public. Starting from this moment and until the postal reforms of 1839 - 1840 it was common that it was the recipient to pay the cost of forwarding even if it was always possible to pay the tax in advance. In 1661, Charles II of England appointed Henry Bishop as "Postmaster General". To respond to public complaints for too frequent delays of letters, Bishop introduces the postmark a small circle with the month and day inside. The first application takes place in London, the General Post Office and the Foreign Section. It is soon adopted in Scotland and Ireland (Dublin). In the following years the postal system is expanded by six roads and a network covering the entire nation; the post offices are all equipped with their own postmark.

Queen Victoria (1840-1901)
After 1840, the year in which the Penny Black was issued (the first stamp of history), and its twin of 2 pennies in blue, were issued with the same effigy some other specimens, with different colors and more modern techniques.
In fact, excluding a small variant in 1847 with the issue of a series with the effigy of Queen Victoria inserted in quadrants, altogether similar to the effigies placed on the entire postal, values were repositioned with the same plant of Penny Black, with only small variations. All UK stamp issues up to 1967 will always have a watermarked paper.

In 1848, the table numbers, small numbers or identification marks of the board belonging to the stamp are added, placed within the drawing. The consecutive letters in the corners, only lower, first, then even in the upper ones, identify the position of the stamp in the sheet.

Below are the first UK emissions:

From 1865 onwards, numerous stamps have been made with different frames, always using the face of Queen Victoria. The most prestigious are the high values issued in 1867/79 by 5 S., 10 S. and 1 Pound