Post Office (Revenues) Act 1710
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1710 c. 10 |
| Year | 1710 |
(9 Ann.) C A P. X. (11)
'M O S T gracious Sovereign; Whereas by an Act made in the twelfth Year of the Reign of his late Majesty King Charles the Second, a General Post Office was erected and established in that Part ofGreat Britain called England , and by the twentieth Act of the fifth Session of the first Parliament of his late Majesty King William the Third, a General Post Office was erected and established in that Part of Great Britain called Scotland , and several Rates of Postage were thereby severally appointed to be received, under several different Powers and Authorities; which two Kingdoms being since united, it is most likely that a Correspondence by Post will be best managed and ordered for the publick Good, by uniting also the said two Post Offices under one Postmaster General: And whereas also Posts have at great Charges been established by Packet Boats between that Part of Great Britain called England and the West Indies , and also on the main Land in North America , through most of her Majesty's Plantations and Colonies in those Parts, as also to divers Parts in Europe , to which no Packet Boats were till lately settled, and more Posts may yet be settled and established for the publick Good and Welfare of all your Majesty's Subjects: And whereas the several Rates of Postage may in many Parts, with little Burthen to the Subject, be encreased, and other new Rates granted, which additional and new Rates may, in some Measure, enable your Majesty to carry on and finish the present War, so as suitable Powers and Authorities be made for collecting the same, and sufficient Provision be made, as well for preventing the undue collecting the Delivery of Letters by private Posts, Carriers, Higlers, Watermen, Drivers of Stage Coaches, and other Persons, as all other Frauds to which the Revenue might otherwise be liable; which cannot be well and properly done, to answer the Ends aforesaid, without the Authority of Parliament in a new Act to be made for the said Office, and for the Revenues to arise thereby:' We therefore your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament assembled, do most humbly beseech your Majesty, that it may be enacted; And be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by Authority of the same, That the said Act made inEngland in the twelfth Year of the Reign of his said late Majesty King Charles the Second, intituled, An Act for erecting and establishing a Post Office , and the said Act made in Scotland in the fifth Session of the first Parliament of his said late Majesty King William the Third, intituled, An Act anent the Post Office , and every Article, Clause, and Thing therein or in either of them contained, shall be, and is and are hereby, from and after the first Day of June one thousand seven hundred and eleven, actually repealed, except as is herein after mentioned.
II. And to the End a General Post Office may be established for and throughout her Majesty's Kingdoms ofGreat Britain and Ireland , her Colonies and Plantations in North America , and the West Indies , and all other her Majesty's Dominions and Territories, in such Manner as may be most beneficial to the People of these Kingdoms, and her Majesty may be supplied, and the Revenue arising by the said Office better improved, settled, and secured to her Majesty, her Heirs and Successors, in such Manner as is herein after mentioned; Beit enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first Day ofJune one thousand seven hundred and eleven, there be from thenceforth one General Letter Office and Post Office erected and established in some convenient Place within the City ofLondon , from whence all Letters and Packets whatsoever may be with Speed and Expedition sent into any Part of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland , or to North America , the West Indies , or to any other of her Majesty's Dominions or Territories, or unto any other Kingdom or Country beyond the Seas, at which said Office all Returns and Answers may be likewise received; and that one Master of the said General Letter Officeand Post Office shall be, from time to time, appointed by the Queen's Majesty, her Heirs and Successors, to be made and constituted by Letters Patents under the Great Seal ofGreat Britain , by the Name and Stile of her Majesty's Postmaster General; which said Master of the said Office, and his Deputy and Deputies by him thereunto sufficiently authorized, and his and their Servants and Agents, and no other Person or Persons whatsoever, shall, from time to time, and at all Times, have the receiving, taking up, ordering, dispatching, sending Post, or with Speed, carrying and delivering of all Letters and Packets whatsoever, which shall, from time to time, and at all or any Times be sent to and from all and every the Parts and Places of Great Britain and Ireland , North America , the West Indies , and other her Majesty's Dominions, and also to and from all and every the Kingdoms and Countries beyond the Seas, where he shall settle or cause to be settled Posts, or running Messengers for that Purpose: Except such Lettersas shall respectively concern Goods sent by common known Carriers of Goods by Carts, Waggons, or Pack Horses, and shall be respectively delivered with the Goods such Letters do concern, without Hire, or Reward, or other Profit or Advantage for receiving or delivering such Letters; and except Letters of Merchants, and Masters, Owners of any Ships, Barques, or Vessels of Merchandize, or any the Cargo or Loading therein, rent on board such Ships, Barques or Vessels of Merchandize, whereof such Merchants or Masters are Owners as aforesaid, and delivered by any Masters of any such Ships, Barques or Vessels of Merchandize, or by any other Person employed by them for the Carriage of such Letters aforesaid, according to their respective Directions, so as such Letters be delivered to the respective Persons to whom they shall be directed without paying or receiving any Hire or Reward, Advantage, or Profit for the same in any wise; and also except Commissions, or the Return thereof, Affidavits, Writs, Process, or Proceedings or Returns thereof, issuing out of any Court; and also any Letter or Letters to be sent by any private Friend or Friends, in their Way of Journey or Travel, or by any Messenger or Messengers sent on Purpose for or concerning the private Affair of any Person or Persons.
III Carriers, Coachmen, Watermen, &c. not to carry Letters.
III. Provided always nevertheless, That nothing in the said Exception contained, shall extend or be construed to extend to give any Licence or Authority to any common known Carriers of Goods by Carts, Waggons, or Pack Horses, their Servants or Agents, to receive, collect or deliver, with or without Hire, any Letter or Letters, Packet, or Packets of Letters whatsoever, that do not concern Goods in their Carts, Waggons, or on their Pack Horses, nor to any Owners or Drivers of Stage Coaches, nor to any Owners, Masters or Commanders of Boats called Passage Boats, sailing between any Part ofGreat Britain or Ireland , and any Parts or Places beyond the Seas, or their Servants or Agents, nor to any Passenger or Passengers on board such Boats or Vessels, nor to the Owners or Watermen on board of any Boat, Barge, or Vessel passing or repassing on any River or Rivers, to and from any Parts of Great Britain and Ireland , North America , or the West Indies , or other her Majesty's Dominions and Territories, although such Drivers of Stage Coaches, Owners, Masters, or Commanders of Boats, called Passage Boats, or Passengers therein, Owners or Watermen on board of any such Boat, Barge, or Vessel passing or repassing on any such River or Rivers as aforesaid, do not receive any Hire or Reward, or other Advantage for the same; but that all such Carriers, Owners and Drivers of Stage Coaches, Owners, Masters or Commanders of Passage Boats, and the Passengers therein, and all Owners and Watermen on board of any Boat, Barge or Vessel passing or repassing on any River or Rivers, to or from any the Parts and Places aforesaid, collecting and delivering Letters as aforesaid, though without Hire or Reward, shall be deemed and taken, and are hereby declared to be Persons offending against this Act, and shall forfeit and pay such Sum and Sums of Money, as Persons collecting, receiving, taking up, conveying and delivering of Letters for Hire, or setting up, employing and maintaining any Post contrary to this Act, or that are or shall be concerned therein, are herein after enacted to forfeit and pay.
IV A chief Letter Office to be erected at Edinburgh, at Dublin, and at New York, &c.
IV. And to the End there may be one chief Letter Office also inNorth Britain and Ireland , and at New York in North America , and in the West Indies , from whence the Distances for which the Rates hereby granted may be computed and settled; Be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That such Postmaster General so to be constituted as aforesaid, shall be at Liberty to keep one chief Letter Office in the City of Edinburgh , and one other chief Letter Office in the City of Dublin , and one chief Letter Office in New York aforesaid, and other chief Offices at some convenient Place or Places in each of her Majesty's Provinces or Colonies in America , and in each of the Islands in the West Indies , called the Leeward Islands , and appoint sufficient Deputies under him, for...
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