Coaching and the Post Office in olden Times (1)

An excerpt from

''Popular Traditions of Glasgow ''

by Andrew Wallace 1889

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Recently ,across the UK,The post office
has been going through some turbulant times.
I thought it may be interesting to look at our
Postal service during the 18th & 19th centuries.

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CHAPTER VII.
COACHING AND THE POST OFFICE IN OLDEN TIMES.

 " What news? what news? your tidings tell,
Tell me, you must, and shall-
Say why bareheaded you are come,
Or why you come at all? "


THE speed, accuracy, and care with which the business of
the Post Office is now conducted, present a strong and
remarkable contrast to the careless and haphazard manner
in which it was carried on in the "good old days " of a
hundred years ago ; and a few incidents relating to postal
matters in those former days, may be interesting to our
readers. Our gossipy historian " Senex " relates that on one
occasion about the close of last century, he found the Fort
William mail bag lying on the public road, a little way —
beyond Dumbarton, and he had to perform the office of post
boy for several miles ; and when he delivered the bag at the
next post village, the postmaster never even said, "Thank
you, sir," but with a 'humph', carelessly tossed the bag into
a corner. This may be taken as a fair sample of the indif-
ference with which postal matters were treated in those
primitive days.

Before the, Union of Scotland and England in 1707, the
mail between Edinburgh and Glasgow was conveyed by a
foot runner , but on 7th November, 1709, application was
made to the United Parliament for a 'riding' post between
the cities, which application was successful ; but the mail,
in reality, had no proper protection, for, down to " Senex’s "
time, the rider with the mail was a mere boy, and his horse
a sorry hack. About the year 1730, and for many years
after, the Glasgow Post Office was located at No. 51 Princes
Street, City, (then called Gibson’s Wynd), and consisted
of three small apartments. The delivery "bole " or wicket
window was a hole broken through the wall of the close,
which close was a common thoroughfare entry to King
Street. The rent of the premises was some .£6 or £8 a year.
 The salaries of the postmaster and clerks were of a similarly
humble order, but these were supplemented by perquisites
for extra services rendered to the wealthier merchants of the
city in the special despatch of letters. About this period
(latter half of last century) Glasgow was becoming a city of
considerable importance ; her merchants carrying on not
only an extensive country trade, but also a foreign com-
merce of pretty large extent. The usual mode of despatch- .
ing letters by the Post Office to the small provincial towns
through running boys, whose regular delivery of letters
could not be depended on, was felt by the Glasgow mer-
chants as a great drawback to their business; it therefore
came to be a practice with our wealthier merchants to send
their letters express by special messengers of their own , but
as this was a rather expensive method of transmitting their
correspondence, they contrived the means of obtaining the
assistance of the postmaster in sending off their express
despatches under the cloak of the Post Office seal. A
private party, who had occasion to despatch an
 express to..........

Scottish Banking(part 11)

 The customer, in consequence of this
communication, waited on Mr. Carrick,
and represented to him the hardship of thus suddenly
being paid up his money, when it was so difficult to find
a profitable investment for it ; and he told Mr. Carrick
that as he (Mr. C.) had had the benefit of the money
for so long a period when money was scarce, that he
ought now to keep the remembrance of former
benefits. But Mr.Carrick was deaf to this argument, and
answered that the partners of the bank could not find
employment even for their own capital. The gentle-
man,seeing Mr. Carrick to be quite determined, then
asked him, in what manner he (Mr. C.) proposed to
pay him; to which Mr. Carrick replied that the
amount would be paid in the ordinary way, with bank-
notes; to which the gentleman answered, " Na,na, Mr.
Carrick ; if you won’t accept of my money, I will not
accept of yours. You must therefore pay me in gold.”

Mr. Carrick was quite taken aback by this demand,
and after a few smooth speeches (for Mr. Carrick
possessed very bland manners) he concluded by saying
that it would be a pity if they should have any words
about a settlement after having so long done
 business together, and therefore,however inconvenient it
might be to the bank,that in the meantime the matter
might lie over. After this the gentleman heard
 nothing more on the subject.


“ It was," says " Senex," " the practice of Mr. John
Marshall,the head book-keeper of the bank,to spend
the hour between twelve and one in strolling round the
Green of Glasgow; and if he happened to be fatigued
with his walk, he sometimes indulged himself by
 taking a ‘meridian.’ Now it occurred one day, when
John had been spending the said hour in his usual
walk, that Mr. Carrick in his absence had taken a
fancy to look into the bankbooks ; and when John
 returned at two o’clock to his duty, Mr. Carrick was
 sitting at the desk upon John’s stool quite intent upon ,
examination of Mr.Marshall’s ledger. Mr. Marshall,
upon arrival, saw someone sitting at his desk,
occupying his very stool, and busily engaged
examining his entries in the bank ledger,but did
not perceive that it was Mr. Carrick, and so in a
playful mood he went quickly forward, and, giving
 the old gentleman a sound slap on the back,
exclaimed., ‘All right, all right, my cockie!’
Mr. Carrick, in amazement, pushed up his
 spectacles to his brow, turned round and
stared John in the face,who was in greater amazement
than Robert himself. Mr. Marshall then made a
 thousand apologies to Mr. Carrick for the liberty he had
used, saying that he had mistaken him for Archy
Calder. Mr. Carrick never said aword in reply, but merely
replacing his spectacles as before, proceeded with the
examination of John’s ledger, which he found quite
satisfactory.''

.
Mr. Macalpine of the Ship Bank was better known
amongst his acquaintances by the familiar name of
" Sandy Macalpine." He was a shrewd, clever
man..........


More to follow...........

Scottish Banking(part 9)

The Lords found the action relevant for payment of
the principal sum, interest, and expenses of process.
NB.—As the defenders did not reclaim against the .
interlocutor, it became final quoad the pursuer’s de-
mand for interest and cost of suit. But the pursuer
having reclaimed and insisted for damages,the Lords
 ordered his petition to be answered. This point, however,
never came to a discussion, as the suit was carried out
of court by a submission.

It may be remarked that in tendering payment of
silver for the £ 3000 the teller of the Glasgow Arms
Bank twice kept back a sixpence on purpose,to force
Trotter to count the amount a third time.
Even in modern commercial communities there is
sometimes inconvenience created by a scarcity of
specie, and in recent times great financial trouble has
resulted in New York from this cause. It is therefore
not surprising that Glasgow in its commercial infancy
had to take steps to conserve the supply of hard cash.
Of this matter " Senex " speaks as follows :——



" When I was a boy there was a great scarcity of
silver coinage in Glasgow; and it was considered
quite a favour on the part of a shop-keeper to give
change for a bank-note even to his own customers.
On the Saturday, bakers,butchers,and grocers hoard-
ed up the smaller drawings for that day in order to
oblige their customers the ensuing week by granting
them silver in exchange for notes. As for the banks,
one and all of them set their faces against giving
silver for their own notes, if they possibly could avoid
doing so; and they held out (at least so the public
then said) threats of keeping in remembrance any
 attempt of a mercantile house presuming to drain them
of their silver by seeking change. In order to save
giving silver in change, the Ship Bank at this time
issued both guinea notes and twenty-shilling notes.
Supposing, therefore, that a person was to have
received £20, 18s., he received 18 guinea notes and
two notes of twenty shillings each, but not a six-
pence of silver; I remember, when a little boy, of
being sent out by my mother to get change of a pound
note, and having in vain tried to obtain it from our
own baker and grocer, and also having made the like
attempt at various shops without success,I found
myself, at the head of the Stockwell, opposite the Ship
Bank, and it then occurred to me that I would try
the bank, the note being a Ship Bank note. Accord-
ingly in I stepped, and, presenting my note on the
counter, asked for change. Upon doing so I was
 interrogated as follows: ‘ What’s your name, sir? ’ I
answered, ‘ My name is Senex ‘Who is your mas-
ter? ’ I -replied, ‘ I have no master ‘ Who told you
to come here,then?’ I said, ‘ Nobody told me to come
here; I just came of myself ‘But who gave you
the note to change?’ I told them my mother gave
it to me. The teller then, with a humph, gave me the
proper change. At this time,when silver was
demanded for a guinea note from any of our banks,
 it was often refused to be given and a gold guinea
 tendered instead thereof-the banks well knowing
that gold was not wanted. In fact, our banks tried
 all shifts to stave off giving silver for their notes.
The Royal Bank in Glasgow peremptorily refused
to give silver for their notes, except by way of
special favour to special favour to customers of
 their own. A stranger then seeking-change of a
Royal Bank note at the branch in Glasgow was
 told in the most cavalier manner to go to`
Edinburgh, where the notes were made payable."



MORE to follow.............

Scottish Banking(part 7)

Glasgow Journal, 7th June 1756.-

"There having been a run last week on the two
 banking companies here for gold and silver in
 exchange of the Glasgow notes, and the notes
 of the banks at Edinburgh having been refused
to be taken in payment, the inhabitants with
 great readiness and alacrity paid in large sums
of specie to the two cashiers; and we are well
assured that the noblemen and gentlemen of this
 country have entered into a resolution to continue
 their countenance and support of these two
 companies'’



Scots Magazine, July 1756 (p. 365).--

" Since the run upon them, the Glasgow banks have
 altered the tenor of their notes. By the new notes the
 cashier promises to pay the sum in the note on
demand, or,in the option of the bank, the sum, and an
 additional sum (which is precisely half-a-year’s interest
 at live percent per annum of the other sum) at the end
of six months-the demand and the option of the bank to
 be ascertained by the cashier’s marking and signing
 on the back of the note the day on which it was presented."


This matter is also dealt with by "Senex ” in
Glasgow past and present as follows :—

"I have already mentioned that, in consequence of
the scarcity of silver, our banks commenced issuing
notes of the value of five shillings. Although no bank
in Glasgow had hitherto issued notes of such trifling
amount,nevertheless,in the year 1761, our banks made
an issue of notes of the value of 10s payable to the bear-
er on demand. But as for the £1 and £5 bank-notes,
they were made payable either on demand or, in the
option of the bank (six months) after being presented,
with six months’ interest. The reason for our banks
reserving this option was peculiar, and not very creditable
 to the great banks in Edinburgh, as the following
narrative will show :-



MORE TO FOLLOW...............