First British pillar boxIn 1852, the first of four British pillar boxes was installed at Jersey's capital, St. Helier. The red cast iron free-standing boxes were used as a street-side receptacles of letters ready for collection by the Post Office. Anthony Trollope (later a famous novelist) was a Surveyor's Clerk who recommended their use after being sent to inspect Channel Islands postal services in 1851. He did not invent the pillar box, which had first appeared in Belgium, but he prompted their use in Britain. After approval by the Postmaster- General, the first pillar box on the English mainland was installed in Carlisle in 1853. London had six installed on 11 Apr 1855.*«[Image, right: The hexagonal box as designed and cast by St. Helier blacksmith John Vaudin] |
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