This is an article written by Richard Albert Hardie back in 1935. It’s a fascinating article, and bound to be of interest to all stamp collectors. Aside from this being the Silver Jubilee year of the reign of King George V and Queen Mary of England, which in itself is directly responsible for scores of new stamp issues, 1935 also marks two other notable events in stampdom. Namely, the ninety-fifth birthday of the first governmental postal adhesive in the world, the famous Penny Black of England, and also the 900th anniversary of the first record of posts.

It is a known fact that postal history dates back as far as 1035 BC for the Holy Scriptures authenticate this where in Samuel 2, xi .14 is recorded in the following “and it came to pass in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah,” thus firmly establishing the earliest record of letters. However, prior to 1840 all postal history records are somewhat scanty, and what there is, has been found quite complicated. Therefore everyone has come to regard 1840 as the all important year in postal realms, and rightly so, for that year will be remembered until the end of time as such.

Exactly ninety-five years ago this week, May 6 to be specific, there came into being a small bit of printed paper which was destined to be not only the beginning of one of the greatest enterprises the world has ever known but also the source of a hobby that is today pursued by millions. The story of how the postage stamp idea developed is one of amusing interest.

Before 1840 all correspondence was franked with a rubber or wooden stamp (a marking that would be today classed as a “cancellation”) and postal charges depended on the distance that a letter had to travel before reaching its destination. Postal carrying fees in those days were most usually left to the receiver to pay, as this was optional with the sender.

Rowland Hill, connected with the Royal Postal System of England was a very aggressive and far-sighted man, and he wasn’t in the least satisfied with the set up with the mail service of Great Britain. For years he had been studying on different methods and in 1837 wrote a pamphlet expounding a reform system. Time passed, and with it so did England’s postal system get worse. Its cause remained a mystery, that is to the officials. It was quite by chance that Post-master Hill while making his way to work one morning in early 1839 stumbled on the cause which was a common enough occurrence, but which in this particular case became one of the turning points in history…

What Hill saw was a servant-girl standing on a stoop with a tear in her eye dejectedly handing back to a carrier an envelope that he had just delivered, refusing to accept and pay for it on the plea that she lacked the necessary shilling with which to claim the sealed letter sheet. The scene touched the kindly Rowland Hill, sensing the maid’s keen disappointment over the loss of a likely love-letter, he at once stepped forward, paid the required fee to the postman, and with a bow extended the letter to the girl. Instead of this chivalrous act being met with gracious thanks, Hill was promptly set back on his heels with a reprimand from the lass who said that she didn’t want to have the letter, anyway.

Announcing his authority, Hill insisted that the letter be opened in his presence. He found no writing whatever on the enclosed paper, and quite naturally “smelled a rat.” Upon demanding an explanation the girl, very much frightened at Postmaster Hill’s authority, broke down and confessed. She explained that her sweetheart had sent his message in coded writing secretly worked in the address on the outer envelope and that she had already read that before passing the missive back to the postman.

“Well, by Jove,” thought the good Postmaster, “in this lies the answer to the continual loss of postal revenue.” Jubilantly Hill exclaimed, “Now we’ll make them pay first!”

Coupling his discovery with his other postal reform measures Postmaster Hill diligently pressed his cause and on August 17th, 1839, was appointed to carry out his system. At the same time the first Penny Postage Act was passed, the principal features of which provided that postal rates in the future were to be calculated by weight and not distance. Also all mail would henceforth have to be fully prepared by the sender, or, if not, double fees were to be charged the recipient.

Postmaster Hill’s first act was to give specifications of the new (and first) postage stamp to be issued as, “A bit of paper just large enough to bear a stamp and covered at the back with a glutinous wash.” Thus the Penny Black was in the making.

The border design of the stamp was first produced in watercolour by Hill himself, and retouched by Henry Corbould. A portrait of Queen Victoria, but then a girl of twenty and only three years on the throne, was used. This likeness for the Penny Black was taken from a portrait of the Queen’s head on the City Medal, issued in 1837 to commemorate the first official visit she made to the municipality of the City of London. This same design, which was the work of William Wyon, has also been widely used on Great Britain issues of later date.

The engraving work was done by two Americans, Charles Heath and his son, Frederick, of Philadelphia, who, some records claim, were the actual inventors of the postage stamp idea, having given it over to Postmaster Hill after the United States Government had rejected it.

The stamps were printed in sheets of 240 by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon and Petch. And because it was thought that if only two of the stamps were arranged in a certain combination in the sheet, each with two Maltese Crosses in each upper corner, but having the lower corners filled with different letters of the alphabet in order that any such fraud could be detected. The Penny Black along with its sister stamp, the Two Penny Blue, the famous Mulready Envelope were all ready and issued on May 1st but for some unaccountable reason not placed on sale until six days later, May 6th, 1840, marking a new era in the advancement of civilization. These stamps remained current until January 1st, 1841.

This is the story behind the stamp that brought about the thousands of other postal adhesives and rightly called: “The Daddy Of Them All.”