310:
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49:
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402:, under the command of Captain J. Skinner, was carrying mail to New York when she encountered a French privateer brig. The packet was armed with six cannons, and had 49 people on board, some of whom were passengers and boys. Still, a two-hour engagement ensued during which the passengers joined in by firing small arms. Eventually, the privateer gave up and sailed away. Later information suggested that the privateer was the
67:(providing a mail connection between Britain and Ireland) since at least 1598; but for letters to and from continental Europe a different approach was taken: the post was entrusted to messengers, who would then make their own arrangements for conveying it across the Channel and beyond. This messenger service was far from reliable, so in the 1630s
137:
In 1744 there were four boats on the
Falmouth station, four at Harwich, six at Dover, two based at Gibraltar and two at Minorca (while additional vessels, at various stations, provided packet services with Ireland, the Downs and several island communities). The following year additional vessels were
39:
to carry mail packets to and from
British embassies, colonies and outposts. The vessels generally also carried bullion, private goods and passengers. The ships were usually lightly armed and relied on speed for their security. However, Britain was at war almost continuously during the 18th and early
699:
Norway, Arthur H. (1895). An ancestor of Arthur Norway was a packet ship captain, who tells his glorious tale on pp. 255, 256, 262, 263. The book largely consists of descriptions of notable encounters between packet-ships and the enemy (mostly French, Spanish and
American). Norway gives a valuable
445:
and took off her captain, officers, and almost all the crew, except for three who hid themselves; Newman and four of his crew, as well as three passengers, a woman and her sick brother and father, also stayed on board. The privateer put on board a prize master and 17 crew, who steered her for
454:
from
Corunna, Newman, who had managed to secure a pistol, and his crew, who secured a cutlass and boarding pikes, managed to chase the French crew from the deck and to seize the vessel. Newman then put the French prize crew in a long boat, with provisions, and set them adrift. After further
71:
set about establishing a regular Dover-Calais packet service and entered into negotiations with
Flemish and French postmasters-general to negotiate for effective cross-border carriage of letters for mutual benefit of the nations concerned (and the messengers were promptly dismissed).
406:, of Bordeaux, which was armed with fourteen long 4-pounder guns and two 12-pounder guns, and had a crew of 85 men. In the engagement she suffered two killed and four wounded, and was so shot up that she had to return to her home port for repairs.
98:
In 1690 the packet service consisted of eleven vessels: three for the service to and from
Ireland, two for Holland, two for Flanders and two for France (albeit the latter service was suspended). The other two packet boats worked out of
340:
In 1810 men of the packet service at
Falmouth mutinied over pay levels. Previously, the sailors had been authorised to trade for their own account. When this was banned as smuggling, they objected to the resulting loss of income.
566:
In 1850, the government disbanded the Packet
Service. Instead, the Post Office contracted for the carriage of mail with companies running other regularly timetabled services. Ships with the contract to carry mail were designated
359:
In 1843, Falmouth merchants persuaded H.M. Government not to move the packet station to
Southampton, which was now served by a railway. The last packet arrived at Falmouth on 30 April 1851, and the
333:
in
Cornwall was favourable to the successful transmission of mail through the gauntlet of enemy naval ships and privateers. The value of the Falmouth Station grew as Napoleon implemented his
545:
took over the administration of the Packet Service. It replaced older packet vessels with naval ships made redundant by the peace that had followed the end of the Napoleonic wars.
908:
40:
19th centuries with the result that packet ships did get involved in naval engagements with enemy warships and privateers, and were occasionally captured.
134:
between Falmouth and the West Indies; problems arose, however (leaving Dummer bankrupt) and a West Indies service was not resumed until the 1740s.
898:
913:
750:
138:
procured for the resumption of the service between Falmouth and the West Indies, and before long packet ships were sailing from Falmouth to
903:
551:
Over time, there was a consolidation of packet stations. Most routes were transferred to Southampton, which had been linked to London by
329:(1903) and Tony Pawlyn (2003). During most of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century, Britain was at war. The locale of
75:
To begin with, letters to and from Holland went via France; but in 1668 a regular packet service was set up in addition to run between
17:
345:
868:
344:
In punishment for the refusal to man ships, the Post Office moved the Falmouth Packet Station to Plymouth. Much lobbying of the
131:
548:
Steam vessels started to replace sail in the 1830s and this enabled a more regular and predictable service to be operated.
325:
Falmouth was a packet station since around 1688 and the station has been the subject of studies by Arthur Norway (1895),
851:
774:
762:
552:
91:
from Dover, as well as to Calais. The route to France, however, was then closed in 1689 following the start of the
127:
512:
352:
by a delegation from Falmouth and by Cornwall's forty-four members of Parliament followed. After considering
119:
831:
Old Falmouth: the story of the town from the days of the Killigrews to the earliest part of the 19th century
31:
dates to Tudor times and ran until 1823, when the Admiralty assumed control of the service. Originally, the
473:
437:, it permitted Newman and some of his crew to go to Lisbon. On 29 April they sailed from Lisbon aboard the
893:
375:
309:
863:
824:
The Post-Office Packet service: between the years 1793 and 1815, compiled from records, chiefly official
104:
923:
356:
as an alternative station, the Post Office agreed to return the service to Falmouth in January 1811.
873:
317:
249:
713:
Gay, Susan Elizabeth (1903). Miss Susan Gay's grandfather was the Post Office's agent in Falmouth.
382:
three times, but in between, on 1 December 1793, she fought and captured a French privateer, the
257:
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was armed with ten 12-pounder guns and one long 9-pounder on a pivot, and had a crew of 95;
572:
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8:
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326:
88:
32:
122:, in 1702, the service to France was again closed and the Iberian route was diverted to
48:
334:
330:
284:
108:
92:
478:. The action was sanguinary and the heroism of the British crew drew press attention.
847:
770:
758:
542:
460:
68:
466:
Another particularly notable combat occurred on 1 October 1807 when the packet ship
371:
Packets would sometimes encounter hostile vessels, with greater or lesser success.
360:
59:, offering a regular scheduled mail service, had been in use for the route between
241:
621:
568:
441:, which was bound for Falmouth. Two weeks later, a French privateer captured the
205:
533:
after she had lost three men killed, including her captain, and 11 men wounded.
337:, attempting to exclude British trade and communications with mainland Europe.
280:
253:
107:. In place of the Dover-Calais route, a packet service was established between
882:
501:
451:
292:
481:
103:, and provided a mail service for warships and merchant vessels anchored in
629:
587:
139:
80:
56:
313:
Custom House Quay, Falmouth, destination of the Falmouth Mail Packet ships
701:
634:
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was armed with four 6-pounders and two 9-pounders, and had a crew of 28.
497:
349:
261:
143:
36:
447:
409:
386:. Outgunned, outnumbered, and with all three officers dead or wounded,
213:
209:
100:
837:
History of the post-office packet service between the years 1793–1815
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505:
245:
168:
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came to mean a regularly scheduled ship, carrying passengers, as in
799:
Naval Chronology, Or an Historical Summary of Naval and Maritime...
787:
Naval Chronology, Or an Historical Summary of Naval and Maritime...
560:
472:
resisted and then captured the more heavily armed French privateer
296:
288:
229:
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164:
60:
687:
The History of the Post Office from Its Establishment Down to 1836
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84:
64:
833:. 14 Bishopsgate Street Without, London EC: Headley Brothers.
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North, Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands,
590:, whether or not official Post Office mail was carried.
421:
Then on 15 May 1800, Captain Newman, late of the packet
271:
The stations from which the packet ships departed were:
666:. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard university. pp. 13–34
517:
after a short but intense fight on 16 September 1812.
874:
National Maritime Museum Cornwall-Cornwall collection
864:
Online archive of the Falmouth Packet Service station
597:
880:
769:and U.S.:Totowa, N.J., Rowman & Littlefield
244:(previously Kingstown). A second routes between
321:Inscription on Falmouth Packet Service memorial
179:was a British Protectorate from 1815 to 1864),
869:British Postal Museum – Search term "Packet".
740:Arthur H Norway (1895) Chapter 10 pp. 197–221
655:
653:
651:
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248:and Milford Haven was revived in 1653 by the
154:
909:1850 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
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393:s crew triumphed after a desperate fight.
52:Falmouth Packet Service memorial, The Moor
374:The French captured His Majesty's packet
678:
480:
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316:
308:
47:
659:
555:. Other ports handling packets include
433:. When a French privateer captured the
83:. By the 1680s packets were running to
14:
899:Maritime history of the United Kingdom
881:
663:The History of the British Post Office
413:"Captain William Rogers Capturing the
256:to link London with Holyhead over the
684:
578:
417:, 1 October 1807", by Samuel Drummond
914:Organizations disestablished in 1850
689:. London: Richard Bentley & Son.
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904:Postal system of the United Kingdom
749:
363:did not reach Falmouth until 1863.
302:
24:
571:. This change was administered by
366:
187:
25:
935:
857:
192:Routes ran at various times from
700:insight into naval views in the
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260:. There was also a route to the
224:The usual packet route was from
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822:Arthur Hamilton Norway (1895)
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743:
734:
725:
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707:
693:
13:
1:
829:Gay, Susan Elizabeth (1903).
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753:(1979). Raymond Brett (ed.).
427:, captured the Lisbon packet
142:, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and
120:War of the Spanish Succession
839:(1895). (Macmillan and Co.).
640:
396:On 21 June 1798, the packet
7:
593:
450:. When they were about six
266:
10:
940:
810:History (1895), pp. 225–6.
757:. London: Bell and Hyman.
731:Norway (1895) Chapter 6–10
252:. A new road was built by
219:
155:Atlantic and Mediterranean
43:
29:Post Office Packet Service
18:Post Office packet service
511:captured the mail packet
149:
685:Joyce, Herbert (1893).
660:Hemmeon, J. C. (1912).
258:Menai Suspension Bridge
118:At the outbreak of the
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322:
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132:monthly packet service
53:
755:Barclay Fox's journal
608:United Kingdom portal
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412:
320:
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126:. Also at this time,
115:in north-west Spain.
51:
844:The Falmouth Packets
801:, Vol. 3, pp. 366–7.
496:At the start of the
842:Tony Pawlyn (2003)
751:Fox, Robert Barclay
130:undertook to run a
894:Falmouth, Cornwall
826:London, Macmillan.
722:Tony Pawlyn (2003)
579:Later developments
494:
457:Marquis of Kildare
455:tribulations, the
443:Marquis of Kildare
439:Marquis of Kildare
430:Marquis of Kildare
419:
346:Postmaster General
335:Continental System
323:
315:
54:
789:, Vol. 3, p. 155.
537:Admiralty control
461:St Ives, Cornwall
69:Thomas Witherings
16:(Redirected from
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924:Falmouth Packets
846:, Truran, Truro
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200:in Essex to
196:in Kent and
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140:Buenos Ayres
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81:Helvoetsluys
74:
57:Packet boats
55:
37:packet ships
28:
26:
702:War of 1812
635:Packet boat
498:War of 1812
350:HM Treasury
262:Isle of Man
144:San Domingo
33:Post Office
919:Royal Navy
883:Categories
817:References
488:capturing
214:Gothenburg
210:Heligoland
777:– p. 345.
641:Citations
557:Liverpool
543:Admiralty
506:privateer
327:Susan Gay
246:Waterford
171:, Italy,
169:Gibraltar
105:the Downs
594:See also
561:Plymouth
459:reached
404:Avanture
388:Antelope
378:Antelope
331:Falmouth
297:Holyhead
289:Plymouth
285:Falmouth
267:Stations
230:Anglesey
226:Holyhead
165:Portugal
109:Falmouth
89:Nieuport
61:Holyhead
553:railway
529:had to
452:leagues
448:Corunna
384:Atlante
277:Harwich
220:Ireland
198:Harwich
163:Spain,
113:Corunna
77:Harwich
44:Origins
850:
773:
761:
670:4 June
584:Packet
531:strike
519:Rossie
509:Rossie
492:, 1812
486:Rossie
238:Dublin
204:, the
202:Calais
173:Greece
150:Routes
124:Lisbon
85:Ostend
65:Dublin
391:'
354:Fowey
273:Dover
240:, or
234:Wales
194:Dover
181:Egypt
177:Corfu
35:used
848:ISBN
771:ISBN
759:ISBN
672:2023
435:Jane
424:Jane
348:and
295:and
212:and
111:and
101:Deal
79:and
63:and
27:The
236:to
228:in
146:.
95:.
87:or
885::
648:^
575:.
500:,
299:.
291:,
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216:.
208:,
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767:.
704:.
674:.
183:.
175:(
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
