Bellman

The postman's uniform consisted a beaver hat, with golden band and cockade, scarlet coat (cut away style) with blue lapels and cuffs, brass buttons & blue cloth waiscoat and beige kneebreeches. He carried a leather bag to hold letters and pennies. Two bonds or sureties of 40 pounds were required to begin the job. The postmen earned 14 shillings a week.

After the receiving houses closed at five, the carriers rang their bell along a set route collecting letters with the two pennies payment from houses along the way and calling at countinghouses, coffee houses, and clubs to pick up letters until about half past six. Then the bellmen returned to the Post Offices so that letters could be sorted in time for the general departure of the mail coaches at eight.

The bellman disappeared from London streets from the 5 July 1846, following a announcement by the Postmaster General that they were to be abolished. This illustration is of a British postage stamp issued in 1979 to mark the centenary of the death of Sir Rowland Hill.