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Mails to Ireland: Difference between revisions
→Chester Station
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Until 1850 the Admiralty was responsible for the safe passage of the mail by sea and they awarded the contract to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Dublin_Steam_Packet_Company City of Dublin Steam Packet Company] (CDSPC) as they had faster vessels and could easily achieve, in good weather, the two round trips each day which the contract demanded. In 1850 the Post Office took over responsibility from the Admiralty and they continued to use this company. This was much to the disappointments of the Chester and Holyhead Railway who had already purchased four vessels in anticipation of automatically getting the contract. Their railway company ships could not achieve the two round trips a day. They did thus not make the profit on the Irish mail sea traffic that it had anticipated and had to be content with what it could make from carrying third class passengers, parcels and livestock. In 1870 there was some disquiet expressed in Parliament that the Royal Mail to Ireland was not being carried under the control of a single operator, but nothing changed. It was not until November 1921 that the contract was awarded to The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_and_North_Western_Railway London and North Western Railway] following the Anglo Irish War of Independence and the partition of Ireland.
The Irish Mail train first appeared in [https://archive.org/details/1860LNWR/page/n15/mode/2up London and North Western Railway timetables] as Fast Irish Mail in Feb 1861, changing 2 months later to Express Irish Mail. By Jan 1864 it had become plain Irish Mail according to Bradshaw’s Guide. It had always been known as The Irish Mail by railway staff. From the very start an Admiralty messenger gave the guard a chronometer, set at GMT, in a pouch, to be taken to Holyhead and then put on the ferry to Ireland. Picture shows it being transferred at Holyhead. It was returned the following day when another watch arrived. This ensured that Dublin was on the same time as London, As local Dublin time was 25 minutes behind GMT. This practice continued until 1939 despite the fact that a daily time signal had been sent by electric telegraph for many decades.
Another interesting arrangement was the provision of a Late Fee Post Box in which letters could be posted actually on the train itself whilst it was still at Euston or Holyhead. It can be seen in this same Picture Later this facility was provided on other mail trains operating to Scotland and the West Country. Envelopes bearing a Travelling Post Offices postmark, such as this one, are now prized items by collectors.
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