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Personal postbox of Charles Dickens goes back into service Personal postbox of Charles Dickens goes back into service
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A postbox of Christmas past, specially installed for Charles Dickens, has been put back in service 150 years after the author first used it.A postbox of Christmas past, specially installed for Charles Dickens, has been put back in service 150 years after the author first used it.
One of the earliest wall boxes to be introduced, following the pioneering pillar box, Dickens, a prolific writer of letters, had lobbied for it to be installed outside his home in Gad’s Hill Place, Kent, to spare him the mile-long trek to the nearest village of Higham. It was one of the earliest wall boxes to be introduced. Dickens, a prolific letter writer, had lobbied for it to be installed outside his home in Gad’s Hill Place, Kent, to spare him the mile-long trek to his nearest village of Higham.
Now the postbox, which was closed in the 1990s, has been recommissioned, and a plaque detailing Dickens’s historic links added. Any pre-Christmas letters posted will also be franked with a special CD postmark in tribute to the way Dickens used to seal his mail before he posted it. Now the postbox, which was closed in the 1990s, has been recommissioned, and a plaque detailing Dickens’s links added. Any pre-Christmas letters posted will also be franked with a special “CD” postmark in tribute to the way Dickens used to seal his mail before he posted it.
The author’s great-great-granddaughter, Marion, who officially opened the box at a Victorian-themed ceremony, said Dickens wrote more than 14,000 letters, with more of 2,000 of them posted from that box between 1859 and 1870. The amount of mail was so huge he warranted his own Post Office private mail bag. The author’s great-great-granddaughter Marion, who officially opened the box at a Victorian-themed ceremony, said Dickens wrote more than 14,000 letters, with more of 2,000 of them posted from that box between 1859 and 1870. The amount of mail was so huge he warranted his own Post Office private mail bag.
She said: “He wrote dozens of letters every day and made excellent use of this box and the new postal services that were developing all over the country in his lifetime.”She said: “He wrote dozens of letters every day and made excellent use of this box and the new postal services that were developing all over the country in his lifetime.”
Sue Whalley, chief operations officer at Royal Mail, said: “In the 19th century Dickens asked for this postbox to be installed as he was a prolific letter writer, and often referred to the postbox and his postman in the letters he wrote.” Sue Whalley, chief operations officer at Royal Mail, said: “Dickens asked for this postbox to be installed as he was a prolific letter writer, and often referred to the postbox and his postman in the letters he wrote.”
Describing the postbox’s location, in a letter dated 29 March 1859, Dickens wrote: “I think that no one seeing the place can well doubt that my house at Gad’s Hill is the place for the letter-box. The wall is accessible by all sorts and conditions of men, on the bold high road, and the house altogether is the great landmark of the whole neighbourhood.” Dickens described the box’s location, in a letter dated 29 March 1859: “I think that no one seeing the place can well doubt that my house at Gad’s Hill is the place for the letter-box. The wall is accessible by all sorts and conditions of men, on the bold high road, and the house altogether is the great landmark of the whole neighbourhood.”
The first pillar boxes in the British Isles were erected in Jersey in 1852 as a trial that was considered such a success that shortly afterwards boxes appeared across mainland Britain. The first pillar boxes in the British Isles were erected in Jersey in 1852 in a trial that was considered such a success that shortly afterwards boxes appeared across mainland Britain.
Dickens’s postbox was likely to have been painted green originally as many of the first boxes were designed to blend in with the landscape. The bright red colour, so familiar today, was chosen in 1874 to make them more visible to the public and it took 10 years to repaint them all red. Dickens’s postbox was likely to have been painted green originally as many of the first boxes were designed to blend in with the landscape. The bright red colour, so familiar today, was chosen in 1874 to make them more visible to the public and it took 10 years to repaint them all.
Dickens died at Gad’s Hill on 9 June 1870, and according to reports had written letters on that very day.Dickens died at Gad’s Hill on 9 June 1870, and according to reports had written letters on that very day.