Nigel Cameron
15 Sept 2014
Monarchs had run mail services for many years. Henry VIII appointed Brian Tuke in 1512 as Court Postmaster and, over 30 years, he developed the Six Great Roads from London along which ‘postboys’ on horses carried letters. Royal Mail is derived from the French word ‘Malle’ = leather pouch. There were 28 stages (at which the horse was changed) to Edinburgh; the other routes included Holyhead and Milford Haven (for Ireland), Falmouth (for America and Africa) and Dover (for Europe). Outside an office was the post to which the waiting horse was tied. In 1572 Tuke’s successor, Thomas Randolph, arranged for the Birmingham mail to be taken off at Coleshill.
In 1635 Charles I opened the Royal Mail to the public. All letters were brought to London for charging and then sent out again. The charges, paid by the recipient, were 2d per folded sheet for up to 80 miles, 4d for 80-120 miles, etc. A merchant called William Dockwra introduced a local delivery for 1d (payable by the sender or recipient) in London in 1680, which was taken over by the PO in 1682. Joseph Quash, Postmaster Exeter, started the Cross Posts by sending letters direct to Bristol (later to Chester). This idea was greatly extended by Ralph Allen of Bath, who introduced mail coaches in 1784 which resulted in higher charges. The only PO employee aboard each was the guard with horn, gun and timepiece. The London-Holyhead mail was routed via Warwick and Birmingham from 1785. In 1765 Parliament allowed the larger towns to establish their own Penny Posts. Birmingham introduced its local delivery service, including Solihull, Knowle and Shirley, in 1793 – but the minimal charge was 2d.
Although no record survives, it is thought that Mr Capner was appointed ‘Receiver’ at Solihull that year. when he died on 7 August 1808 the inhabitants petitioned Mrs Gotweiler, Postmaster Birmingham, for his daughter to take over. The Postmaster General (PMG) agreed and she was appointed at £12 p.a. Inflation caused by the Napoleonic Wars caused charges to rise in 1812 with 4d up to 15 miles, 5d to 20 miles, etc. John McAdam’s work on roads from 1816 enabled coaches to go faster. By 1836 the London mail arrived in Solihull at 0630. In that year the PMG agreed that Solihull should be a Post Town – a place where all mail for the locality had to be sorted. This was the basis of the address system until postcodes were introduced in the 1960s/1970s.
Mail coaches were superseded by railways: the first train to carry mail ran on 11 November 1830. The first Travelling Post Office (a train on which letters were sorted) ran from Birmingham to Liverpool on 6 January 1838. In 1840 reforms suggested by Rowland Hill, a schoolmaster born in Kidderminster, were introduced. Postage was paid by the sender at 1d per half ounce, whatever the distance. The first postage stamp in the world – the Penny Black – was issued on 5 May.
Ann Capner continued as Receiver at Solihull until 1850. After two Harbournes, William Pearman was appointed in 1857 with premises at 46 High Street (now part of Macdonalds). He was followed by his daughter, Ruth, in 1871 who continued until 1911, when the well known photo of her and her eight staff was taken outside the office. Solihull is unusual in that all the buildings in which the Post Office has been since 1857 still survive.
With a population of 9,500, the PMG decided in 1911 that a full time employee was required as Postmaster of Solihull. Harry Clewlow was appointed at a salary of £130 p.a. The Post Office was relocated to 707 Warwick Road (The Hawthorns, former home of the Heatons, with a front extension). Successive Postmasters there were Ernest Richardson (1920) and J.W.Townley (1929). By 1939 the latter’s salary was £350 p.a.; he retired in 1944. A new purpose built Post Office, adjacent to open fields in Station Road, opened in 1942. It moved to its present site on Mell Square in 1968 when W.G. Simpson became the Postmaster (salary £2,110). After him five more Postmasters were appointed. Mrs Myra Holmes was the last, as Postmasters were abolished in 1986 with the division of the PO into Royal Mail, Parcelforce, and Post Office Counters Ltd, each with separate local managers.
In 1857 Solihull had 11 sub offices, by 1968 there were 31. Most have remained open over the years, but many have moved location. Knowle Station was superseded by Dorridge, although the latter closed in 2004 as did many others in subsequent years. After the Rowland Hill reforms, the number of letters grew dramatically. In 1840 there were 170m p.a.; in 1853 411m. So more posting facilities were needed. Anthony Trollope, a PO Surveyor and later the novelist, recommended posting boxes, so four were erected in St Helier (Jersey) in 1852. New Street Station had one in 1855, the year that London got six. Up until 1874 they were painted green. The earliest box in Solihull at Dog Kennel Lane dates from 1857; only three others of that design survive, all in Malvern. Other old boxes locally are the ‘Anonymous Cylindrical’ (ie no royal monogram) of 1880 in St Bernard’s Road, and a wall box of 1896 at Catherine de Barnes. The royal monogram alternates between capitals and script in successive reigns: currently capitals are used. The nearest (rare) Edward VIII box is at Coleshill.
The earliest postmark was ‘PP6’ for the Birmingham Penny Post in 1793; the first reading Solihull in a straight line was in 1829. A circular mark was introduced in 1837, with the date inserted from 1839 – all before postage stamps in 1840. In 1902 the inscription read ‘Solihull Birmingham’ and was used for over 50 years, although it was wrong as Solihull was a Post Town. It was corrected to ‘Solihull Warwickshire’ in 1956 and to ‘Solihull West Midlands’ in 1974. This survives now only at the Mell Square counter as all mail datestamping and sorting was moved to Birmingham in 1990. Solihull sorting office had its first mechanical stamp cancelling machine (a Krag) in 1937, and Shirley in 1946. Both offices were updated with faster Universal machines in the 1950s. Postcodes were introduced at Norwich in 1959. Birmingham had them in 1970, but Solihull not until November 1972.