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Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
12
In
the
earliest
times
in
England,
and
prior
to
the
first
regular
horse
posts,
both
public
and
private
letters
were
sent
by
private
messengers,
travelling
when
required.
In
the
reign
of
Henry
I.
messengers
were
first
permanently
employed
by
the
king.
So
early
as
the
reign
of
King
John
the
payments
to
Nuncii--as
these
messengers
were
now
called--for
the
conveyance
of
Government
despatches,
are
to
be
found
entered
in
the
Close
and
Misæ
Rolls,
"and
the
entries
of
these
payments
may
be
traced
in
an
almost
unbroken
series
through
the
records
of
many
subsequent
reigns."
Nuncii
were
also
attached
to
the
establishments
of
the
principal
barons
of
the
time,
and
communications
passed
between
them
by
means
of
those
functionaries.
In
the
reign
of
Henry
III.,
the
son
and
successor
of
King
John,
these
messengers
began
to
wear
the
royal
livery.
At
first
it
was
necessary
for
them
to
keep
horses
of
their
own,
or
use
those
belonging
to
the
royal
or
baronial
mansion.
In
the
reign
of
Edward
I.
we
find
that
fixed
stations
or
posts
were
established,
at
which
places
horses
were
kept
for
hire,
the
Nuncii
ceasing
to
provide
horses
of
their
own,
or
borrowing
from
private
individuals.
Several
private
letters
are
in
existence,
dating
as
far
back
as
the
reign
of
Edward
II.,
which
bear
the
appearance
of
having
been
carried
by
the
Nuncii
of
that
period,
with
"Haste,
post,
haste!"
written
on
the
backs
of
them.
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