1840 (July), Mulready envelope to Mrs. Henry Cole, stereo A15, with contents initially "H.C.", handstamped with crisp Charing Cross
1840 (July), Mulready envelope to Mrs. Henry Cole, stereo A15, with contents initially "H.C.", handstamped with crisp Charing Cross straight-line, with centrally-struck red Maltese Cross, to Sheperton [sic], Chertsey, with c.d.s. backstamp (16 Jul), imperfections, including internal repair and a few adhesion marks on reverse and the odd tone spot, else a fine Mulready linked to one of the most prominent figures in the campaign for postal reform. Henry Cole was the strategic "right-hand man" who transformed Rowland Hill’s "radical" ideas of postal reform into a functional reality. While Hill authored the logic behind the Uniform Penny Post, Cole ran the aggressive lobbying campaigns necessary to crush political opposition from the Post Office establishment. His role also involved the supervision of the creation of the Penny Black and pre-paid stationery. The Victoria & Albert Museum holds a pencil drawing by Henry Cole, dated 1840, depicting Shepperton Lock, linking him directly to the area in this period.
