The History of the Postmarks of the British Isles from 1840 to 1876 - John Hendy (1909)

LONDON CHIEF OFFICE. 15
which from their weight, awkward size, or shape could be more conveniently treated
separately. The rate at which this operation was performed is stated to have been about
forty-one ordinary letters per man per minute. There were six date-stamps in use
(Fig. 64), These were made of wood, and as the letters and figures were cut in the solid
piece, they could only be used on the one date. They cost jd. each. The index letters
" C F " indicated the stamper using that particular stamp. These six stampers stamped
on an average 100 letters per man per minute. Six other officers were told off to clear
away the letters from behind the stampers, and carry them to six clerks whose duty it
was to examine the genuineness and sufficiency of the postage labels. When passed by
the clerks, the letters were carried by other officers to the eleven obliterating stampers,
by whom the postage labels were defaced at the rate of about sixty letters per man per
minute. This was necessarily a slower operation than date-stamping, as the stamper
obliterating had to aim at the postage stamp and to make two or more blows at letters
that bore more than one label. When obliterated, the letters were placed before the
sorters for disposal, so that to complete the stamping duty thirty-two officers in all were
employed.
An entirely different type of date-stamp was in use for unpaid letters, Figs. 65-67.
The index letter in each mark denotes the stamper.
Fig. 65.
In red on back of
letters in morning duty.
Fig. (jO. Used in red at midday. Fig. 07. Used in black on
evening duty.
As early as )848 several types of combined date and obliterating stamps were
suggested with a view to saving labour, and although none were adopted, yet one
particular set of combined stamps, suggested by an officer of the Inland Office, is
certainly unique, combining as it does all the other stamps in use into one, and therefore
specimens are shown in Figs. 68-73, although they were never brought into use.
"u^f
Fig 69 Fig. 70.