11915 x 8635 px | 100,9 x 73,1 cm | 39,7 x 28,8 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
1857
Ubicazione:
London
Altre informazioni:
Questa immagine potrebbe avere delle imperfezioni perché è storica o di reportage.
Postal District Map of London issued with the Illustrated Times. Artist/engraver/cartographer: Paniconographie de Gillot à Paris. Provenance: Illustrated Times. Type: Antique folding plan of London. This map was issued as a supplement with the Illustrated Times of 21 March 1857, introducing the division of the city into ten postal districts. The title appears at top centre, with lists of places and corresponding postcodes down both sides of the plate. A note from the Postmaster General is included, explaining the division of the city in post codes and encouraging the public to use the post code when addressing letters. The map appears to be an exact copy of Davies' 'Map of the British Metropolis'. Sir Rowland Hill was instructed by the General Post Office to devise a system of postcodes. On 1 January 1858, the system we use today was introduced. To divide London, Hill looked at a circular area with the center being the post office at St Martin's Le Grand, near Postman's Park and St Paul's Cathedral. From here, the circle had a radius of 12 miles, and he divided London into ten separate postal districts: two central areas and eight compass points: EC, WC, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, and NW. A local office was opened in each area for sorting the mail rather than taking everything to one central London location. In 1866, Anthony Trollope (the novelist who also worked for the General Post Office) wrote a report that abolished the NE and S divisions. These have since been reused nationally for the north of England areas of Newcastle and Sheffield, respectively. The NE London postcode areas merged into E, and the S district was split between SE and SW by 1868.
