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After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Henry Bishop
was made Postmaster General. In April, 1661, he introduced a date stamp
now known as the Bishop Mark. It was the first stamp in the world for a
government post office. He developed it because people were complaining
about delays in the post, when in reality letters were simply not being
mailed promptly. The Bishop Mark contained the day and a two-character
abbreviation for the month, both enclosed in a circle and separated by a
line through the center. The first Bishop Marks had the month above the
line and the date below it.
The practice was picked up in Dublin and Edinburgh. Dublin, like London,
always used black ink. Starting in 1713, the London Inland Office
reversed the date and month, putting the date on top, but Dublin,
Edinburgh, and the London Foreign Branch kept the original arrangement.
After the first few years, Edinburgh switched to red ink.
Bishop Marks were used by the London Inland Office until 1787, by
Dublin until 1795, by the London Foreign Office until 1797 and by
Edinburgh until 1803. They were replaced by other circular markings that
included the year.
This cover is from 1785, only a couple of years before the mark was discontinued.
The date is noted in the letter inside.
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