Post Box, Front Street East, Bedlington

Image: © Geoff Holland Taken: 27 Sep 2022

This wall mounted box dating from the early part of the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) is one of the oldest post boxes in Northumberland, and Bedlington is an important part of British postal history. The first adhesive stamp, the Penny Black, and the official stationery, the Mulready wrapper, came into official use on 6 May 1840, but had gone on sale on 1 May. On 2 May, a letter was sent to an A. W. Blenkinsop at the Bedlington Iron Works using a Mulready wrapper, making it the earliest known use of a pre-paid adhesive stamp in Britain. Ironically, Mr Blenkinsop had died 9 years earlier so the letter was forwarded, with a 4 May postmark to his family in Carlisle. Mulready stationery describes the postal stationery letter sheets and envelopes that were introduced as part of the British Post Office postal reforms of 1840. The Mulready name arises from the fact that William Mulready, a well-known artist of the time, was commissioned to illustrate the part of the letter sheets and envelopes which corresponded with the face area. The plaque above the post box forms part of the Bedlington Heritage Trail.

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