Welcome! You've managed to arrive at the proper place for the April 9, 2023 edition of Postal History Sunday. This is the place where I afford myself the opportunity to share something I enjoy with those who might have interest. It doesn't matter if you already love postal history, or you are just idly curious. I'll do my best to make it interesting and accessible to as wide of an audience as I can.
So, put on your fuzzy slippers, find a comfy chair and get yourself a favorite beverage. Take those troubles and hide them away for a time. If you're lucky, you won't know how to find them again once we're done here.
This week's article starts in the year 1848 when the people of France overthrew King Louis-Phillippe and elected Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte president of the Second Republic. Following England's lead, postal reform that made postage more affordable was among the early actions undertaken by this new government. And as of January 1, 1849, France issued their first postage stamps to show prepayment for these cheaper postal costs.
The postage stamps depicted Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, motherly love, and fertility, reflecting the rural nature of much of the country. The top of these adhesives were inscribed with the "Repub Franc" for République française.
The folded letter shown at the beginning of this post bears an example of the 20 centime stamp that was most commonly used to pay for a simple letter destined for a domestic (in country or internal) destination. This particular letter was sent by Gallien &
Toupet, bankers in Granville, France, to an individual in Lavaur,
France. The letter was mailed on June 23, 1850 and arrived at its
destination on June 26 after going through Paris on the 24th.
The cost of a simple letter in 1849
This letter represents a significant reduction in postage. Prior to this point, the cost of a letter in France was a function of both weight and the calculated distance traveled.* The distance from Granville to Lavaur is about 840 km in distance, which would have required 1 franc (100 centimes) in postage, five times the cost required to mail these letters under the new rate structure.
This letter weighed no more than 7.5 grams and qualified for the 1st Rate Level (a simple letter) - 20 centimes in postage.
This rate was effective from January 1, 1849 to June 30, 1850 and followed this rate progression:
*note: calculated distances were approximately equal to straight line distances. A letter could take a less efficient route to get to its destination and that did not add to the postage.
How did it get to where it was going?
The back of the folded letter includes a couple of circular postal markings that help us understand how it got from Granville to Lavaur. The marking on the right was applied in Paris on June 24 and the marking on the left shows the arrival in Lavaur as Jun 26.
The Paris postmark is a "transit mark" because it shows us one of the intermediate points between the origin and the destination. France usually processed mail and applied transit markings when a letter was transferred to a new mail route. The Lavaur postmark would be referred to as an "arrival mark" and provides evidence as to when the postal clerk at the destination post office processed the mail to be prepared for delivery or pick up.
The map below can be enlarged if you click on the image. It provides you with an idea as to where Granville (in the Manche department, Normandy region) and Lavaur (in the Tarn department, Pyrenees region) are, as well as their position relative to Paris. A direct route between the origin and the destination would be about 840 km. However, during the 1840s-60s, most mail would go through Paris. That adds a little to the overall distance traveled and shows how a calculated distance might be different than the actual distance a letter was carried
At the time this item was mailed, there was no railway line near Granville. The closest rail would have been at Rouen. So, we can assume that the letter traveled by coach to Rouen or to any point on the rail line from there to Mantes. The rail line terminated at Gare Montparnasse in Paris (known as Gare de l'Ouest - which translates to "Western Station"), which was the site for a well documented 1895 derailment.
While that derailment has nothing to do with the cover I have shared, it still adds a bit of interest. Both the train engine and coal tender broke through the wall of the station and fell to the street below.
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| 1895 derailment from Wikimedia Commons |
From Paris it is most likely that the letter rode the trains as far as it could on the line through Orleans, taking the coach the rest of the way to the destination, likely via Cleremont-Ferrand. A three day transit for this distance where much of it was by horse-drawn carriage seems quite reasonable.
The map below gives an outline of the development of rail in France. With only a few exceptions, the focus of the development was to create a "star" with Paris at the center. This explains why many internal French letters during this time would have a Paris transit mark.
What was in that letter?
I am not terribly familiar with the banking forms of the time, however, it looks like Mr. J Naraval of Lavaur had a balance to his favor of over 13,000 francs in his account with Gallien & Toupet. The tally sheet at the left appears to be withdrawals or payments from the account, which are deducted from the prior balance in the top right table.
Further down, there is confirmation of a deposit of 3382 francs to the account.
After a cursory look, I did not find a contemporary reference for Mr. Naraval. I did take note that the Gallien & Toupet firm could be found in a bankers listing for 1870. After a little more searching, I found images of other letters from this firm dated from 1847 to 1850.
Backing off of cheap postage a little in 1850
Our next item is a folded letter sent by V Pailhas, a
banker in Libourne, France, to a Mr Leurtault in Coutras,
France. The letter was mailed on March 6, 1852 and arrived at Coutras,
only 20 km away, on the next day (March 7).
The reduction in postage rates introduced in 1849 just might have been a bit too aggressive and France backtracked a bit with the new rates just a year and a half later. The first rate (for a simple letter) was raised by 5 centimes and the second by 10 centimes. Heavier letters remained the same cost.
This letter required 25 centimes in postage for the 1st Rate Level as it weighed no more than 7.5 grams.
A new 25 centime blue Ceres stamp was issued in conjunction with the new rates and was released on the same day the new rates were placed into effect, replacing the black 20 centime value. This stamp also featured Ceres, the Roman goddess of prosperity. This subject may well have been chosen as a nod towards the agrarian economy which also avoided making any particular political comment.
This postage rate was effective from July 1, 1850 to June 30, 1854 and followed this rate progression:
At
this time, there were different rates for local letters, but the price
of prepaid and unpaid letters remained the same. Later on, unpaid letters would require a higher postage rate as the French postal administration encouraged its patrons to move towards prepayment of postage.
Libourne and Coutras are only 20 km apart and are located to the northeast of Bordeaux, in the department of Gironde. With that distance, it is possible that this letter could have qualified for the local letter rate for mail within the arrondissement. However, both settlements were separated by a river, which marked the boundary between two arrondissements - thus requiring the normal internal (domestic) rate structure to be used.
The local rate would have been half the cost (10 centimes) if the letter qualified.
Coutras is bounded by the Isle River to the South and the Dronne on the West. The Isle flows into the Dordogne at Libourne. The map is dated for 1865, so the rail lines depicted were not active in 1852. However, many rail lines followed the the primary carriage roads that already existed in the area - which can give us a good guess as to the carriage routes in 1852.
There is a road noted from Libourne to S. Denis on this map and it does not seem like a stretch to assume there was a bridge or ferry from S. Denis to Coutras that would have served as the mail route.
As a historical aside - the Battle of Coutras was fought in this area during the 1587 religious wars. King Henry III's edict that gave precedence to the Catholics and prohibiting Protestantism in France resulted in unrest. This battle was won by the Protestants (Huguenots), who were led by Henry of Navarre.
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| Depiction of Battle of Coutras by German painter and engraver Frans Hogenberg, wikimedia commons |
The representative of the crown, Anne de Bartenay de Joyeuse was killed while attempting to surrender. At least one historian indicates that this may have been in response to Joyeuse's history of executing prisoners himself (Mattingly, Garrett (1959). The Armada. Houghton Mifflin Company).
What was in that letter?
The sender, V Pailhas jeune in Libourne, was a banker who could provide the service to buy bonds
for various enterprises in addition to standard banking services, such as those provided by the recipients of the letter, Monsieur Leurtault & Fils
(Leurtault & Son). They can be found on this 1858 list adverstising the bond purchasing service:
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| from Journal des chemins de fer, Vol 17, Feb 6, 1858 |
Of interest to me is the use of "jeune" after the name, which translates to "young." I have seen this a few times in period literature and letters and I presume, perhaps incorrectly, that this would be the equivalent to how we use "junior" to indicate the younger individual in a father/son lineage where each has the same given name.
As I was digging for Monsieur Pailhas, I found a few other possibilities that did not match the 1852 date. Is it possible that his son was a brewer/maltster in 1877 - or did he move on to another job? And is this his ancestor, getting into trouble in Libourne in 1793 during the first French revolution? Or this his father or grandfather in 1811, selling drapes and canvasses in 1811? Given the consistent location in the Libourne area, it is not at all unlikely that there is some relationship between these persons, even if it is not a direct lineage. Maybe someday I'll figure it out. Or, I'll just leave at this and someone else can solve the puzzle if it interests them.
Once again, we have a standard ledger format that illustrated withdrawals and acknowledgement of the receipt of money for the account. I wonder how many people could figure out accounts in this fashion without the help of computers in the present day?
The political winds blow and change French postage stamps
Louis Napoleon III and the National Assembly disagreed with each other more than they agreed. Napoleon III's response was to dissolve the sitting National Assembly and replace it with members that supported his policies and ambitions.
We can see this tide turning in France's postage stamps of the time. In accordance with recently passed law that required all postage stamps to bear his likeness, a new issue with President Louis Napoleon's image was created in 1853. These stamps still indicated that France was a republic with the “Repub Franc” showing prominently at the top.
Our next postal history item is a folded letter sent by Foret pere
& fils, bankers, in Yssingeaux, France, to an individual in Bas,
France. The letter was mailed on Mar 30, 1853 and has a marked arrival
on March 31 at Monistrol, which is near Bas. All locations are in the
Haute Loire department of France.
What it cost to mail
The
1850 rate increments lasted for about four years (July 1, 1850 to June 30, 1854), so this item was mailed with the same rate table as our second item.
This particular letter was heavier than 7.5 grams and weighed no more than 15 grams (2nd rate level), therefore it required 50 centimes in postage.
Here is a reminder of the rate progression for the time:
This
is another case where the origin and destination are in the same department
(Haute Loire), so the distances are not great. You might notice that a
road runs from Yssingeaux to Monistrol, which identifies the most likely
route for the mail to travel.
Also
of interest for this item is the fact that there is no receiving
postmark for Bas, instead, there is a postmark for Monistrol. This is a
pretty good indicator that Bas did not have its own post office and was
serviced by the Monistrol office - making them both a part of the same
'arondissement' or postal district. To further clarify, if a person in
Monistrol wanted to send a letter to someone in Bas (or vice versa), it
would qualify for the local postage rate. But, this item started in
Yssingeaux, which was outside of that postal department, so it required
the normal internal letter mail rate.
What was in that letter?
At present, this folded letter is only one sheet of paper, clearly not enough to require the second rate level that was paid for by postage stamps. This suggests that there were other enclosures that are no longer with the item. It could have been individual receipts, money, promotional material or reports. Or perhaps it held separate sheets reporting on outgoing money / expenditures.
If you notice some notations in a different hand, it
is possible that the information on other sheets were transferred here at some point. I will never know for sure what caused the letter to be
heavier than 7.5 grams - but it can be interesting to consider the
possibilities.
Like so many surviving pieces of postal history in Europe at this time, this is essentially another 'banking' account ledger. It certainly makes sense that this is the type of mail that might have a higher 'survivability rate' simply because these documents were kept as part of the bookkeeping for individuals and businesses.
Foret
pere & fils (father and son) focused on "recouvrements," or the
collection of money, on behalf of their clients. The list in this
ledger shows debts collected, including from whom, the location and the
amount. Or perhaps they show amounts to be collected.
It is also noted at the top right that Foret pere & fils also dealt in "escompte," which I presume would be the provision of a payment service as opposed to a collection service on behalf of the client.
As a postal historian, I can say I am grateful for this money transfer system. Without it, there would be much less for me to collect and explore in postal history.
French Republic becomes French Empire
The coup d'etat in December of 1851 allowed President Louis Napoleon III to continue as president and replace members of the National Assembly with those who would support him. This paved the road for a later proclamation that France was to become an empire under his leadership as emperor.
Perhaps you noticed already, but this new stamp had a denomination of 20 centimes. This new design was motivated both by political changes and by a new postal rate structure. The new rates were effective on July 1, 1854 and would remain in effect for quite some time (Dec 31, 1861).
The first major difference in these postage rates is the different cost for prepaid mail versus unpaid mail. This was an effort to get postal patrons to buy into the idea they needed to move away from a system that collected money at the destination by making that option more expensive. The postage rates for the first two levels returned to the 1849 amounts and the cost for heavier prepaid letters decreased.
If it hadn't been clear before, it was now. The labor and time costs of collecting postage from recipients (and the possibility that delivery would be refused for an item) could be significant. On the other hand, the French Post Office could provide cheap postage rates if mail was correctly paid up front.
To bring today's blog to its conclusion, here is a folded letter that was mailed on March 5, 1859 in Nantes, France. The destination was a small town outside of Brest which is now called Gouesnou. The address given is "Goueznou pres Brest" or "Gouesnou near Brest."
The back of this folded letter shows an arrival postmark at the Brest post office on March 7. The lack of a postmark for Gouesnou tells us that there probably was no post office in town. A rural carrier most likely provided service in this case. However, I cannot state with complete certainty that this is the case. Maybe that's something I can track down and confirm at a later point in time.
And here we are! By looking at some of the changes in postal rates and stamp designs we were also able to look at the broader history of France. Postal mail was a critical communication tool during this time period, so it makes sense that it would reflect the politics, technologies and economic realities of the time.
While that's part of the reason why I find postal history and philately (the study of postage stamps) to be fascinating subjects, this Postal History Sunday illustrates other reasons. Each item can connect you to events that occurred decades afterward (a derailment in Paris) or centuries before (a battle in Coutras). If there are contents or if the addressee or writer is someone of note, you can get a small snapshot of what their lives must have been like.
A piece of postal history is surrounded by stories - and as a postal historian, I can choose which stories interest me each time I look at an item. I can explore each story more deeply, or I can be satisfied with brief description. But, in all cases, I have a chance to learn and explore - and I value these opportunities.
Thank you for joining me this week for Postal History Sunday. I hope you enjoyed some or all of this post. Perhaps you even learned something new! Have a good remainder of your day and a fine week to come.
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Postal History
Sunday is published each week at both the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog. If you are interested in prior entries, you can view them, starting with the most recent, at this location.
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