Somerset & Bristol Postal History

Taunton also had a Penny Post but not as large as Bristol's.  It was originally a Fifth Clause Post but converted to a Penny Post quite soon.  The item below has the boxed "No.2" receiving house handstamp used a Monksilver and dates from July 1817.

The boxed "No.3" receiving house handstamp was in use at Torre.  The Norwich Union Insurance form below was sent in August 1825.

The free front below has an unboxed "No.5" receiving house handstamp which is thought to be from Bicknoller.  The date looks like 1830 but unfortunately the address is indecipherable.

The entire below from April 1833 has unboxed handstamps from Trull ("No.8") and Blagdon Hill ("No.9").
The Penny Post handstamp continued to be used after the introduction of the uniform penny post.  The entire below is from Creech St Michael and has an unboxed "No.11" receiving house handstamp.

The Receiving House with the unboxed "No.5" handstamp should be Bicknoller.  In April 1829 the residents of Bicknoller had applied for an official Post.  As a result a Receiving House was established.  However examples of the unboxed "No.5" handstamp are nearly unknown.  The example below from 1831 may be a "No.5" handstamp, though it is not completely clear.

The next few posts will show the items I have for the different Receiving Houses in the Taunton Penny Post after 1828, beginning with an entire that has an unboxed RH handstamp from 1836, that I believe is a "No.3" - because it originates from Crowcombe which was the No.3 Receiving House after 1828.

Next an unboxed "No.4" from Stogumber, used after the introduction of the Uniform Penny Post in 1844 as a receiving handstamp.

And an unboxed "No.5" from Monksilver Parsonage in 1831 that could be from Bicknoller (although Monksilver had its own Receiving House, No.10, at some stage) - the scan shows a bit of the contents - how anyone could read it I don't know.