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Post riders or postriders describes a
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million ...
and rider postal delivery system that existed at various times and various places throughout history. The term is usually reserved for instances where a network of regularly scheduled service was provided under some degree of central management by the State or State licensed monopoly. These networks included predefined routes known as post roads complete with distance markers and
waypoint A waypoint is an intermediate point or place on a route or line of travel, a stopping point or point at which course is changed, the first use of the term tracing to 1880. In modern terms, it most often refers to coordinates which specify one's posi ...
s. Unlike other forms of mounted courier, post riders collected and delivered mail over the course of their route, meeting with other riders at scheduled times and scheduled places to exchange forwarded items. In this way correspondence could pass reliably from rider to rider and cover a considerable distance in a reasonable time at reduced cost. While some integration with local postal services in larger centers occurred, by and large the post riders were a separate entity under separate management and tariff structure.


History

While relay rider networks were a common feature of every ancient empire, these were primarily for the exclusive use of the government or military and carried no civil correspondence as a rule. What differentiated postriders from these earlier efforts was that they were open to the public and created for the public convenience. The other distinguishing feature was that post riders operated on a schedule.


The Hanseatic League

While in the case of the post riders the shift from royal messenger to public courier must be seen as evolutionary, there were some notable early examples. The
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
had a regular mounted service as early as the year 1274 between the principal towns of the League as well as the fortified castles which protected the merchants in their commerce. Business and diplomatic messages were handled by the service equally. Well organised, it had its own post-horses that were used exclusively for the letter service; at each stop the time of the receipt and dispatch of the post-bag was written upon the face of each letter.


The Holy Roman Empire

On behalf of the far-flung
Habsburg dynasty The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
, of
The Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 un ...
, Franz von Taxis set up a courier network that grew to cover all of
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
by the middle of the 16th century. Permanent post stations were built about a day's journey apart. Over time, these stations became important economic centers: They were meeting places, inns and public rooms, trade centers and
stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
s. Post stations became important centers for the development of
village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred t ...
s and
cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
. While not solely used for government traffic, private use of this service required a licence from the State.


Elizabethan England

It was in England, during the
Elizabethan period The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
where the post rider truly began to serve all comers almost in spite of the declared restrictive policy of the Government as regards to their public use. Merchants and farmers, constables and innkeepers, soldiers and sailors were using the postal system, attesting to the remarkable standard of literacy of the ordinary people. A huge number of horses were involved in this operation as each stage was only about 10 miles, after which a fresh horse was used. In most cases the horses were kept at inns or hostelries. There was also for the first time, a system of post roads although the original usage referred more to the fixed routes of the service than the thoroughfares themselves.


The American Colonies

In the American Colonies postal routes were farmed out to contractors who promised to deliver the mail within a certain area for a set length of time. When mail was first delivered to a town, the townspeople would have to come to a central location, usually the general store, to pick up the mail. It was in the
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
that the post riders would provide the longest and most complete service before being eliminated by other forms of transport. In 1780 the system consisted of only of a
Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
, a
Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
/ Comptroller, three surveyors, one Inspector of Dead Letters, 26 post riders, 75 post offices and about 2,000 miles of post roads.
Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
s and post riders were exempt from
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...
duties so as not to interrupt service. These post-riders were allowed the exclusive privilege of carrying letters, papers and packages on their respective routes, and any person who infringed upon their rights was subject to a fine. The post riders had to make good time, specified clearly, and
milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to ...
s came into their own to measure progress. Significant early legislation that affected the post riders included an act of the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...
in 1838 that declared that all railroads in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
were post roads. The act had a twofold effect: it increased the use of railroads to transmit the mails and limited the use of post riders to postal districts that were not on railway routes. In those areas of the country that were not on railroad routes, mail was carried by contractors, and the transportation of mail by any means other than by water or railroad was called a star route service.


Operations

A typical schedule taken from ''The Virginia Gazette'', March 21, 1766 shows an example of the type of service the post riders provided: ::''"THE publick is hereby desired to take notice that the Hampton rider will arrive in Williamsburg every Tuesday and Saturday at noon, come through York town, and return to Hampton the same evening. That the Hanover rider will set off from Hanover town early every Monday and Friday, to meet the Hampton rider in Williamsburg at noon every Tuesday and Saturday, and return to Hanover town on the Wednesday and Sunday nights. That the James river rider will set off from Hanover town, by the way of Richmond and Warwick, to Petersburg and Blandford, and return to Hanover town on Tuesday and Saturday nights. That the Fredericksburg rider will set out every Monday morning from Hanover town, by the way of Todd's bridge, and arrive at Fredericksburg on Tuesday night, where he exchanges mails with the Northern rider, and returns to Hanover town every Thursday. That a rider will set off from Fredericksburg every Wednesday, to be at Hobb's Hole that night, where he exchanges mails with a rider from Urbanna, and returns to Fredericksburg on Thursday night. And that on Friday morning a rider proceeds with the mail to the Northward. John Dixon, D. Postmaster."''


See also

* Boston Post Road * Bicycle messenger * Mail delivery by animal *
Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pike ...
* Portmanteau (mail)


Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Post Riders Postal systems