The Post Office

The development of the Post Office

One morning in 1736, Stapleford's tranquillity was disturbed by the sound of a horn in the distance. Two or three minutes later a galloping horse came into view and, as it passed by, they saw the rider was carrying a pouch. The King's mails were passing through Stapleford for the first time.

Requirement for an efficient postal service.

Efficient and rapid communication was a necessity for good government. The increasing complexity of ruling the kingdom caused Henry VIII to appoint Brian Tuke as Master of the Posts in 1512 and Governor of the King's posts in 1517. Over the years he, and subsequent holders of the office, began to create a more efficient system to speed the passage of the post. Every 15 or 20 miles on the major roads leading out of London one of the villages or towns would be designated a post town and a post master installed, usually a local inn-keeper. It was the responsibility of the postmaster to be ready at all times with fresh horses and a rider to ensure the smooth and rapid transit of the mails to the next post town. He had 15 minutes to open the bag, extract the local letters, write the time of arrival on the label and get the new rider on his way.

In 1635 Charles 1 made the postal service available for public use on payment of a fee. It cost 2d. per sheet to send a letter anywhere within 80 miles of London. Post was only carried on the radial roads out of London and all letters had to pass through the city. It was not possible, for instance, to send a letter directly from Exeter to Bristol. It had first to go to London before being sent back out to Bristol.

The cross posts

In 1720 Ralph Allen, the Bath postmaster, paid £6000 for the right to farm the cross posts in the south west. The cross posts were posts that did not travel through London. Every seven years the contract was renewed and in time he acquired the right to farm the cross posts throughout the country. He set up a network of postal links between towns and employed post boys to carry the mail between them. In 1736 he established the cross post between Nottingham and Derby. [1] Some idea of the post that came through Stapleford, and the dangers of being a post boy, can be found in a newspaper report of the 22^nd January 1797 when the post-boy carrying the mails between Derby and Nottingham stopped to deliver a letter at Draycott Field-Gate and had the mail stolen from his horse. He was carrying 8 bags for Newark and Nottingham. They came from Birmingham, Litchfield, Burton and Derby and there was one bag from each town for Newark and one bag from each town for Nottingham

Mail coaches-by horse and train.

1784 the first mail coach ran between London and Bath and this was such a success that the idea was replicated throughout the country. On the 25^th July 1785, three new coaches set of from London destined for Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. The Leeds coach came through Nottingham and the Manchester coach through Derby. The contract for the service was given to Messrs. Holland and Grey. Thomas Grey is commemorated in Stapleford, St. Helen's church in a monument erected by his nephew. The plaque gives him credit for having 'projected, planned and put in practice the great facility of conveyance by mail coaches.' This, perhaps, rather exaggerates his contribution but he certainly deserves credit for bringing the mail coaches to Nottingham and Derby.

The carriages and attendants were described as "making a very elegant appearance; the coachmen and guards are dressed in the King's livery-the guards have each of them a blunderbuss flung over their shoulders, and a brace of pistols in their belts; and generally fire a signal to announce their arrival-and the carriages, which are built on a very light construction, are ornamented with His Majesty's Arms on each door." The coaches set out at 8 p.m. from the General Post Office, Lombard Street, and arrived in Northampton between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. the next morning and Leeds at 10p.m.-a distance of 196 miles. The coaches were pulled by "four fine young horses" which were changed every seven or eight miles. By 1825 the service had been improved and mail leaving London at 8 p.m. was arriving in Nottingham at 10.30 a.m. the next morning and Leeds at 7.30 p.m. in the evening.

This service lasted until April 1840 when, for the first time, the mail between London and Derby was carried by train.[2]

Stapleford's post masters and mistresses.

Joseph and Sarah Butler (1842-1852)

The first person appointed to the Post Office in Stapleford was Joseph Butler on the 25^th April 1842.[3] In 1841 he was living on March Lane along with his wife Sarah. He was aged 50 and gave 'Ag. Lab.' as his occupation.[4] He died in a drowning accident and Sarah was appointed in his place on the 7^th January 1845. In 1851 she is described as 'Postmistress.' She ceased to be the Post Mistress in 1852 although in 1856 her house was described as the Post -Office house and as being held by her, now aged 72, for life, at a nominal rent of 1s. per annum. It's situation was on March Lane on the opposite side to the Warren Arms but closer to the Roach. In 1861 she was living with her daughter in Wolverhampton.

William Fletcher (1853-1881)

William Fletcher was born in Stapleford in 1818. His father, also William Fletcher, was a lace worker born in Beeston. In 1841 William junr. was living on Lot Close with his parents and ten siblings and his occupation was lace maker. In 1851 he was living on Nottingham Road with his wife Sarah and he was a master grocer employing one person.

In 1853 William Fletcher was appointed as Postmaster. It did not appear to be an onerous task as there is no mention of these duties in the 1861 census where he gives as his occupation 'Grocer and Wesleyan Local Preacher.' It is not until the 1871 census that he includes 'postman' along with 'grocer and local preacher' as his occupation

In July 1858, Stapleford was made a Money Order Office and in December 1862, was able to act as a Savings Bank. In 1870 it was made a Telegraph Office. The telegraph network was based on the railways where it was used for signalling and communication. Telegraph offices were often based at railway stations, which were less convenient for the general public to access. In 1870 the telegraph system was nationalised with a promise to install a telegraph machine in all money order offices. This had to be linked to the railway system and old photographs show the telegraph lines going down Mill Road and across the fields towards the Long Bridge. The 1871 census shows that William Fletcher's daughter, Elizabeth aged 19, had been appointed as the telegraph clerk.

William Fletcher lived, in 1851, on the south side of Nottingham Road roughly halfway between the Horse and Jockey and Mount Street. This house was at one time the Holborn Club. He appears to have remained at this address until 1881 when he moved across Nottingham Road to a house at the top of Albert Street. [5] He is then a widower living with his daughter Elizabeth aged 30 and his son William aged 23, a grocer. In 1891 son William has taken over the grocer's business and is living in Albert House at the top of Albert Street. His father, now retired, lives next door.

James Merry (1883-1887)

James Merry was born in 1855 in Belper, the son of John Merry, a tailor. He, too, became a tailor and in 1871 was living with his parents and six siblings in Stonebroom in the parish of Shirland, Derbyshire.

In 1881 he was living in Nottingham Road, Stapleford, having married the girl next door, Lucilia the daughter of James Wain, a stonemason. He was a keen gardener with an allotment and won many prizes at the in the local Stapleford and Bramcote Horticultural Show, of which he was secretary

James was party to one of the more bizarre episodes in Stapleford's history. The background of this strange event was the ancient and long-standing tension between those who spend, the vestry and the Board of Guardians, and those who provide the money, the ratepayers. In July 1888, before the religious and civic responsibilities of the vestry had been separated by the Local Government Act, 1894, the Stapleford Ratepayers' Association latched on to the fact that the church wardens, in addition to their religious duties, were able to exercise an influence in other matters. In particular, they were entitled to attend the Rating Committee Meetings.

The members of the Methodist chapels in Stapleford greatly outnumbered those who attended the Anglican church. Many were ratepayers, who felt that their lack of representation placed them at a disadvantage. In order to offset this, the Association hatched a scheme to elect James Merry, one of their number, as churchwarden and this duly took place at the Easter vestry meeting in 1888.

James was not cordially received by the church party in his new office and, as it was not his intention to obtrude into the life of the congregation, he arranged for a deputy to do his work of collecting the offertory. Matters seemed to have been brought to a head on the last Sunday in May when Mr. Merry had agreed to take up the offering. Owing to a dispute during the service no collection was taken. The report in the local newspaper says, "The vicar endeavoured to induce someone to stand at the door and take the collection from the departing congregation but in this he failed." There does not seem to be any record as to how events transpired.

James Merry died of a stroke in February 1895 at the early age of 40 whilst on his way to the Literary Institute from his home in Bailey Street. His descendants still live in Stapleford.

Charles Anniss (1889-1928)

The appointment of Charles Anniss in 1889 saw the start of a remarkable period of 60 years during which the position of postmaster was held by one family.

Charles Anniss was born in Barrowby, Lincolnshire in May 1846, the son of Henry Anniss, a bricklayer. In 1861, aged 14, he was living in Kettering and employed as an assistant to a linen and woollen draper in the Market Place. At the age of 16 he enlisted in the 12^th Regiment of Lancers and in 1871 is stationed in Aldershot. He remained in the Army for just under eight and a half years. This was a quiet period for the Regiment and he is unlikely to have seen overseas service. In August 1871 he bought himself out for the sum of £18 and left with the rank of lance corporal. His character was described as 'V.Good' and he had 2 medals.

In 1876 he married Catherine Fearfield in Stapleford. We do not know how they met nor how Samuel, Catherine's father, viewed the marriage. The Fearfields were a family that originated in Lenton and who came to Stapleford in 1814 when Sarah and Samuel Fearfield moved here with their two sons, John and Joseph. They subsequently had eight more children of whom three died young. In the 1841 census four of the brothers were living in Stapleford, John aged 30, a blacksmith , Joseph aged 29, a lace maker, who would go on to become the leading employer in the town as well as a generous benefactor, Samuel aged 24, a lace maker, and Humphrey aged 27, for whom no occupation is given but who would go on to become a lace maker.

Samuel the younger married Sarah Atkin in 1838 in Stapleford and they had four children, of whom Catherine was the third. In 1841 they lived on Town Street ( Church Street), in 1851 on Eaton's Lane, in 1861 on Westley Street, in 1871 on Derby Road and In 1881 at Cunnery Farm on Derby Road where he is described as a farmer of 13 acres employing two men. In 1891 he is living on Derby Road at Marchfield House (probably the same as Cunnery Farm) and is shown as a retired farmer. He died in March 1895.

Catherine in 1871 was at the Lincoln Diocesan Training School for Mistresses (later Bishop Grosseteste College and then University) where she is shown as Kate Fearfield. She had worked as an assistant teacher at the National School in Stapleford before going to Lincoln. She later held a headship in Newark.

After their marriage in 1876 they appear to have moved to Moss Side, now in Central Manchester, where, in 1881, Charles was working as a warehouseman. At the date of the census, Catherine, heavily pregnant, and Emma Sybil aged two, were staying with her sister-in-law, Rebecca Freeman, in Blackpool. Elizabeth Helena was born in the July quarter 1881. In 1883 they left the cramped terraces of industrial Manchester for the comparatively cleaner air of Stapleford, where he worked as a lace maker. In 1889 Charles was appointed as postmaster, so beginning their time as one of Stapleford's more prominent families. He took an active part in public life and was a sideman at Stapleford Parish Church up to the time of his death. He was also superintendent of the Sunday School for many years and was secretary of the local Conservative Club for some time.

They went on to have five more children, one boy and four girls. Henry Fearfield Anniss, the only boy of the family, would eventually take over from his father as postmaster. The fourth girl, Marion Isabel b. 1888 would become well known as a teacher at the Albany School where she was appointed in May 1932. She lived on Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre with her sister, Kitty. Her journey to school was usually accompanied by a gaggle of small children as she entered Albany's catchment area.

Charles died in November 1927 and Catherine in January 1933.

Henry Fearfield Anniss 1928-1949

Henry Fearfield Anniss took over from his father as postmaster in 1929. He was born in Stapleford in 1884 and served his apprenticeship as an Engine Fitter. In 1901 he was lodging at 5 Clayton Street, in the Meadows. Nottingham. On the completion of his apprenticeship in 1908 he emigrated to Canada where he found work in the newly constructed repair workshops of the Grand Trunk Railway in Stratford Ontario, where his skills found a ready demand. Very quickly in January 1910 he married Annie Gwendoline Adeline Brothers, a girl from Brooklyn, New York and perhaps the reason for his move to Canada now becomes apparent.

Arthur George Brothers was a lace draughtsman who emigrated to the United States of America in 1901. With him were his wife Annie, and daughters Annie, aged 15, and Ethel, aged 13. The 1901 UK census, just before their emigration, shows the family living on Derby Road, Sandiacre. At that time Henry was 17, so perhaps he and Annie were childhood sweethearts. Annie senior's application for an American passport in 1924 showed that she briefly visited England in 1904. Did Annie junior come with her? We know that Annie Junior visited England in May 1907. One can only conjecture at the nature of the family discussions that must have taken place.

The Canadian census for 1911 taken on the 1^st June shows Henry and Annie junior living at 336 Cambrai Street along with their new baby, Charles Brothers, 27 days old. Henry is shown as working as a fitter in the GTR shops. In 1910 he had worked for 52 weeks and his working week was 55 hours per week. He earned $740 Canadian. At that time the average wage for a farm-hand, including board, was just under $350 Canadian.

Henry and Annie did not stay in Canada for very long. When Annie's father, Arthur George Brothers, applied for naturalisation in August 1918 he stated that Annie was living in England. When Annie senior visited England in 1924 and 1927 she gave as her UK address 119 Sudbourne Road, Brixton, presumably the home of Henry and Annie. Annie senior continued to visit England at fairly frequent intervals, her last visit being in May 1949 when she was 82. At that time Henry and Annie were living at 23 Toton Lane. She died in January 1961.

Henry Fearfield Anniss died in February 1966 and Annie Gwendoline Adeline Anniss in March 1960.

Other Sub Postmasters

Subsequent Postmasters were :-

Any details of the above would be most welcome

The Post Office

The first mention of a Post Office is during the time of Sarah Butler. When the Stapleford Hall Estate was put up for sale in 1856 her house was also included and described as the Post-Office house. It was shown as being held by Sarah Butler for life, now aged 72, at a nominal rent of 1s. per annum and was on March Lane on the opposite side to the Warren Arms but closer to the Roach.

When William Fletcher was Postmaster he first lived on the south side of Nottingham Road, in what was the Holborn Cub and is now (2021) the Gurkha Restaurant. He moved to the north side of Nottingham Road in 1881 near to the top of Albert Street.

James Merry lived on Nottingham Road during his time as Postmaster.

The Anniss family lived at 4 Derby Road and the Post Office remained there until 1974. The sorting office, familiar not only to the regular postmen but also to the students who worked on the Christmas post, was in the back garden of 4 Derby Road until it moved in 1974.

The Post Office moved to 11 Church Street in 1974 when Kenneth Gulliver took over.

The Post Office is at present in 66a Derby Road.

There have been a number of sub post offices:

Achnowledgements: I am grateful for the research notes that Dennis Humphreys was kind enough to leave with us when he spoke to the society in May 2008. These contained material extracted from the archives of the Postal Museum in London. The photograph of the Post Office on Derby Road and the magnificent photograph of the Anniss family are by kind permisson of Lorraine Longford, and thanks to her for information about the Fearfield family. The photograph of the mail coach, which is in the Post Office Museum, Phoenix Place, London is by courtesy of the Royal Mail Group and The Postal Museum. The photograph of Annie Storer is taken from her passport application!