Post riders

While relay rider networks were a common feature of every ancient empire, these were primarily for the exclusive use of the government or military and carried no civil correspondence as a rule.

On behalf of the far-flung Habsburg dynasty, of The Holy Roman Empire, Franz von Taxis set up a courier network that grew to cover all of Western Europe by the middle of the 16th century.

It was in England, during the Elizabethan period where the post rider truly began to serve all comers almost in spite of the declared restrictive policy of the Government as regards to their public use.

Merchants and farmers, constables and innkeepers, soldiers and sailors were using the postal system, attesting to the remarkable standard of literacy of the ordinary people.

These post-riders were allowed the exclusive privilege of carrying letters, papers and packages on their respective routes, and any person who infringed upon their rights was subject to a fine.

The act had a twofold effect: it increased the use of railroads to transmit the mails and limited the use of post riders to postal districts that were not on railway routes.

A typical schedule taken from The Virginia Gazette, March 21, 1766 shows an example of the type of service the post riders provided: John Dixon, D.