Special Postal Deliveries in Oxford

Oxford Post and Courier Stamp
Oxford College Stamp

Title

Special Postal Deliveries in Oxford

Subject

Retail and industry

Description

"Royal Mail was established in 1516 and has now been delivering the country's letters for over five hundred years. In 1840 the iconic ‘penny black’ was the start of the familiar postage stamps, the purchase and use of which secured delivery of letters by Royal Mail to anywhere in the country. Students and members of some of the Oxford colleges did, for a period of about fifteen years from 1870, have an alternative. Around eight of the Oxford colleges produced stamps of their own all printed locally in the City. These could be purchased by students and college staff for a halfpenny and the college messenger would deliver the letter to anywhere in the City. The messengers would ‘frank’ the stamps, either with a special franking mark or an indelible symbol, to ensure the stamps could not be reused. Royal Mail challenged the legitimacy of this postal service in Oxford and, rather than enter into a dispute with Royal Mail, the colleges ceased issuing their stamps in about 1885. Another unique stamp appeared in Oxford in 1971 at the time of the national strike of postal workers. Private companies saw the opportunity to ‘step in’ and provide a postal delivery service. One of these was Oxford Post and Courier which issued their own stamps. The strike lasted for about three months after which the private delivery services ceased."

Contributor

Bernard Stone

Publisher

Museum of Oxford

Alt text

envelopes with oxford themed stamps

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