Britain’s One Penny Mail Revolution

In 1840, Britain introduced the Penny Post, a uniform postage system that let anyone send a letter anywhere in the country for just one penny. Under Rowland Hill’s reform, postage was prepaid by the sender rather than paid on delivery, which slashed costs for long-distance mail. The change made personal communication affordable for ordinary people for the first time and triggered a huge surge in letter writing across the country.

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