In the 1830s the British postal system was both complex and expensive. Rates were based on the distance a single sheet of paper was carried. A single-rate letter from London to Edinburgh for example cost one shiling, which was more than some workers earned per day.
In 1836 Rowland Hill, prompted by Robert Wallace MP, wrote a pamphlet Postal Reform, its importance and practicability, which proved that the collection, delivery and weight of postal articles were the major aspects of cost, not the distance travelled. Thsi pamphlet triggered such a huge response from merchants, lawyers and the general public that in 1839 the Government accpeted the need for postal reform and the Lords of the Treasury were empowered by Act of Parliament to institute a new system.
Hill was given the task of implementing the whole system and with his efforts Uniform Post came into being in Britain on 10 January 1840. To enable easy payment at collection points he devised the idea of postal stationery and as an afterthought, postage stamps.
Rowland Hill was very much involved in the design of the first postage stamp which was executed with the help of his assistant Henry Cole and based on suggestions from a competition organised by the Treasury in 1839. Hill proposed the use of the Queen's head on a machine-turned background with an inscribed value, to be printed on watermarked and gummed paper in sheets of 240 stamps. The head was taken from the 1838 City Medal designed by William Wyon. Printing was done by Perkins, Bacon and Company.
The first Penny Black stamps were put on sale in London on 1 May 1840, although they were not supposed to be used until 6 May 1840. Some stamps actually went through the post dated from 2 May onwards. In the period to February 1841 when the Penny Black was replaced by the penny Red well over sixty million Penny Black stamps were printed.
Stamps were introduced into Brazil and the Swiss Cantons soon afterwards and in 1853 the Cape Triangular was issued.
