Towns > Edinburgh > 1838-1846 - Post-Office annual directory and calendar > 1844-45

POSTAGE DIRECTORY. 351
SHIP IiETTERS.
Letters for Foreign Parts to which there are no regular Packets, are forwarded through the Ship
Letter Office, London, by every outward-bound vessel; and letters can be forwarded to the Colonics
and Foreign Parts, through the Post-Office, by any Ship sailing from any particular Port. But, in
such cases, the letters must be specially addressed, " I3ij Private Ship ; " and, if wanted to go by
any particular Ship, or from any particular Port, they must also be specified as, " Hamburg
Steamer, via Hull."
The single uniform rate on Letters between the United Kingdom and places beyond Sea, when
conveyed by Private Ships, is 8d., in whatever part of the United Kingdom the Letters may hi
posted or delivered. This is the rate now taken on Letters between the United Kingdom and tlie
East Indies, &c. &c., when conveyed by Private Ships, the former distinction between these and
other descriptions of Ship Letters having been abolished.
The rates of Postage on " Ship " as on other Letters are taken by weight: —
Under half an ounce, ... 1 Rate, or Os. 8d.
Under an ounce, ... 2 Rates, or Is. 4d.
Under two ounces, . . . 4 2s. 8d.
Under three ounces, . . , 6 4s. Od.
And so on, adding two Rates for every additional ounce.
PERSONS EXEMPT FROM SHIP LETTER POSTAGE.
The Owners, Charterers, or Consignees, (resident in the United Kingdom,) and the Owners, Con-
signees, and Shippers of Goods on board vessels inward-bound, are entitled to receive their Letters
free from Sea Postage, to the extent collectively of Six ounces in weight, by any One Vessel to any
One such Person. In the case of Vessels coming from Ceylon, the Mauritius, the East Indies, or
the Cape of Good Hope, for an Owner, Charterer, or Consignee of such Vessel, the letters may be
collectively Twenty ounces in weight. The Owner, Charterer, or Consignee must be described as
such on the address and superscription; and in the case of Owners, Shippers, or Consignees o igoods
it must also appear by the Ship's Manifest, that they have Goods on board the Vessel. Such per-
sons are entitled to have their Letters which come within the above Conditions before the Master
of the Vessel delivers the other Letters in his charge to the Post-Office.
%* Every Person who shall, with intent to evade any Duty of Postage, falsely superscribe a
Letter as being the Owner, or the Charterer, or the Consignee of a Vessel conveying the same, or
as the Owner, or the Shipper, or the Consignee of Goods shipped in such Vessel, shall for every such
offence forfeit Ten Founds.
RATHS OF POSTAGE TO THE OOI^ONIES AND Alili
FOREIGN PARTS, WITH ROUTES OF MAILS,
AND DAITS OF DESPATCH FROM EDINBURGH.
All Letters for abroad, except those addressed to France, or to countries through France are
charged by weight, in the same ratio as Inland Letters, viz. : —
Under half an ounce, ....... 1 Rate.
Above half an ounce, and not exceeding one ounce, ... 2 Rates.
one ounce, two ounces, . . . 4 ...
three ounces, four ounces, . . . 6 ...
And so on; increasing two Rates for every additional ounce.
Letters, however, addressed to France, or to countries through France, are liable to British and
Foreign Rates, according to the following scale : —
,^ , ^ British Rates. Foreign Eatesi
Under a quarter of an ounce, .... 1 and 1
... half an ounce, ..... 1 ... 2
... three quarters of an ounce, . . , 2 ... 3
. . one ounce, . . . , 2 ... 4
... one ounce and a quarter • . . . 4 ... 5
The British charge increasing two rates of Postage for every additional ounce, according to the
scale of weight, for charging Inland Letters, and the Foreign charge increasing one rate of Postage
for every additional quarter of an ounce. It must be observed, however, that the English and French
modes of charging by weight are dissimilar; a Letter no< being liable to an increased British rate,
unless it exceed the half ounce or ounce, while an additional Foreign rate ig chargeable if it aiCtually
cttain the quarter* half, tliree quarters oi an ounce, w ounce, respectiyelj.