GB Letter Posted In 1835 But No Sign Of Stamp

Edited. Of course there's no stamp it was before stamps started Oops
Very interesting nevertheless

This is a letter quaintly folded into an envelope and posted. There's a postal cancellation Newbury, 1835 and the letter is hand written and dated 18th November 1835.
There's what appears to be a handwritten 'sign'.
Thanks

What ! The first stamp dates from 1840,and your cover looks like 1845
stampless cover with manuscript rate.Stampless cover were common in this
period of transition to stamped covers in all countries.

It's definitely 1835 both as the hand written date inside and the Newbury cancellation. Yes of course the first stamp was 1840 I forgot :)

Hi Eiger,

If this is 1835 then it's before the introduction of the uniform penny post and the first postage stamps in 1840.

Newbury to Hungerford is about 10 miles or so.

I believe the relevant rate in 1835 would have been 4d for up to 15 miles so I guess the handwritten mark is "4".

Thanks Nigel! It's such lovely handwriting. And considering how old it is in such good condition. A lovely edition to my collection of very old QV bits and pieces

Interestingly 'Envelopes were rarely used prior to 1840 as this would be considered a second item of paper and thus invoke a double rate charge'

Yes, that's a good point, and even fourpence would have been a significant expense for ordinary folk to pay.

Yes rated 4d. Postal clerk's handwriting in those times often leaves a lot to be desired.

"fourpence would have been a significant expense for ordinary folk to pay"

On this one, I suspect the payment was made by the recipient, on delivery ...

Yes that's right in those days the receiver paid the postage.

This letter would not fit in a QV collection as she took the throne in 1837.

well, my early collection :)

Given the volume of mail and that rates were normally handwritten at that time postal clerks developed stylized versions of numbers that could be written exceptionally fast such as this one that is not much more than a squiggle. After some practice they are easier for an ordinary person to decipher. Especially the ones that have fractional rates where a 1/2 can be written in one quick continuous squiggle.