Registered mail
-- Great Britain --
Registered items of mail are letters which have their details recorded in a register to enable their location to be tracked.
The item is pre-paid with the normal postage rate and an additional charge known as a registration fee. Upon payment of this fee the sender is given a reciept which is stamped with the accepting offices cancellaction device. As the letter moves from local office to sub ofice and then to a main sorting office, it has to be signed for on a ledger. This process is completted when the letter is delivered and the reciever signs for the item.
A proclamation was made in 1603 wherby all letters had to be recorded. This system was in effect a registration system although it was applied to all items sent via the post.
Dockwra's penny post, (in 1680), also recorded all details on letters accepted for onward transmission and unlike the general post office, (G.P.O), gave compensation for losses.
Referenced By
List of philatelic topics
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