Uniform Penny Post

Under the reforms, the postal service became a government monopoly, but it also became more accessible to the British population at large through setting a charge of one penny[nb 1] for carriage and delivery between any two places in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland irrespective of distance.

[1][2][3] Richard Cobden and John Ramsey McCulloch, both advocates of free trade, attacked the Conservative government's policies of privilege and protection, including their archaic postal system.

"[4] The campaign for cheap postage was actually initiated by Robert Wallace, who in 1835 argued, before a governmental commission set up to investigate the problems, that greater use of the mailing system would lead to increased revenue for the government.

[6] Previously, postage had depended on distance and the number of sheets of paper; now, one penny would assure delivery of an envelope and the letter it enclosed anywhere in the country provided together they satisfied the weight condition.

The BBC states, “Hill had shown that the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid was there to be mined.”[8] The other benefits were the encouragement and support that the availability of cheap letterpost communication gave to the development of transport links, education, commerce and social cohesion.