A POSTAL HISTORY OF ZWOLLE

FRANCE

In the Déclaration Royale of 8 July 1759, new inland rates were established as well as rates for letters to and from abroad. For mail to and from the Republic of the United Netherlands, the following fixed rates applied in France from 1 August 1759:

1) In Flanders (Lille) the currency was the patard, in the rest of France the sou or sol. 12 sols = 10 to 11 patards.

From that date, the following rates in sols to distance in lieues applied for inlands mail:

The distance measure lieue has been interpreted differently and was between 3,25 and 4,67 km.

For some common destinations, the rates from Paris were:

Letter from Zwolle to Bordeaux, 25 October 1777. Entree handstamp of Paris D'HOLLANDE. Rate for letters from the Republic to Paris, for a single sheet of paper: 20 sols + Paris - Bordeaux, 100 - 120 lieues: 10 sols = 30 sols, noted on the obverse, payable by the addressee.

Between 1792 and 1800, the inland rates change regularly. The rates were then calculated per 1/4 once (1 once = 30,59 grams, 1/4th once = 7,65 grams).

According to the law of 24 June 1796, the rate for letters to and from abroad is no longer calculated according to the above table from 1759, but on the basis of the distance between the department in which the border office is located and that of the place of destination.

From 23 September 1800, the decimal system was introduced and letters had to be valued in decimes. The table of 1759 continues to apply for letters to and from abroad and therefore conversion had to be made. 1 franc = 10 decime = 20 sols or sous. The distances were now calculated in kilometres. 1 lieue was hereby equated to 5 kilometers.

The rates for the inland route were from 22 March 1800 for letters to and from Paris and 10 cities in that area and from 23 September 1800 for the whole of France according to the decimal system:

The distance was measured according to the shortest route the post followed.

According to the postal treaty of October 8, 1808, the rate is calculated from the border over the shortest route that the mail follows to the place of destination, so no longer to Paris. The following table applied to this (in décimes):

1) On 24 April 1806, the 50 km border was added, before that the first distance was 0 - 100 km.
2) On 20 April 1810, the rates for distances above 1200 km were added because the empire had expanded further.

This inland rate table was valid in France from 23 September 1802 (with the intermediate changes indicated) to 1 January 1828. The distance was measured by the shortest route the Post Office took.
1 décime or 1/10th French Franc was equivalent to 1 stuiver.

The rates had to be noted on the letters according to a model that differs greatly from the current script, but this script was prescribed in appendix D to the Instruction Générale.

From 1 April 1811 (the date on which the French Instruction Générale sur les Services des Postes of 1810 comes into force) until May 20, 1814, the French rates for domestic mail according to the table above also applied in the netherlands. 1 décime was postally equated with 1 stuiver.

Letter from Zwolle to Paris, 25 March 1812 with handstamps P.120 P. / ZWOLLE (PP = port payé) and PS PS (port payé jusqu'à Paris & pour Paris = postage paid up to Paris and for Paris). Two diagonal lines to indicate prepaid postage. Rate 500 to 600 km, up to 6 grams: 8 décimes or stuiver, paid by the sender, noted on reverse.

Letter from Valenciennes to Zwolle, 3 December 1813 with handstamp P 67 P / VALENCIENNES. Two diagonal lines indicating prepaid postage. Rate in the French Empire for a distance of 300 to 400 km, up to 6 grams: 6 décimes, paid by the sender, noted on reverse.

After the retreat of the French, the mutual exchange of mail was possible again from 15 April 1814. A month later Border Post Offices became Bergen op Zoom and Breda in connection with Antwerp, Middelburg with Liège and later Maastricht with Ghent.

From 20 May 1814, the postage to be paid was determined by the sum of the Dutch part of the route, calculated from/to Border Post Office Breda, Middelburg or bergen op Zoom and the French part, calculated from/to the corresponding Border Post Office (Circular 20 article 11). For the conversion of the rates 1 décime corresponded to 1 stuiver. The French rates are listed above, the Dutch see Postal rates for domestic mail.

From 12 May 12 to 7 July 1815, no postal traffic with France is possible. From 7 July 1815, the postage is calculated from/to the Border Post Office Bergen (Mons). The postal services of the Northern and Southern Netherlands were merged.

As per 1 October 1818, for unfranked letters from the Netherlands to France, the postage to be paid by the addressee for the Dutch route was determined by a rayon (district) system (Circular 125, implementation of the postal treaty Netherlands -France). The Netherlands (including the later Belgium and Luxembourg) was divided into five rayons, depending on the distance to the French border.

On the same day the Main Border Post Offices became Bergen (Mons) in connection with Valenciennes and Paris, Menen with Lille, Dinant with Givet and Luxembourg with Diedenhoven.

The rayons in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands they used five rayon handstamps for this purpose, for the fourth rayon in which Zwolle was located this was: L.P.B.4.R. = Lettres des Pays-Bas du 4e Rayon. These were used to determine the postage to be collected from the addressee in France and also to calculate the settlement between the two states.

Rates for the Dutch part of the route from the Post Office of the sender to the Border Post Office, to be paid by the addressee in France, according to the French weight progression, in décimes:

The postage for the French part of the route was determined according to the domestic rates from the Border Post Office. See above for the rates up to 1 January 1828.

The rate for franked letters from France to the Netherlands and all letters from France to the Netherlands was determined as before by adding both domestic rates to the Border Post Office. The rayon system was not used in these cases. For the Dutch domestic rates from the Border Post Offices see the appendix to Circular 125 or Postal rates for domestic mail. However, the French weight progression also applied to the Dutch part.

Rayon handstamps were also used in France: L.F.R. 1 to 6: Lettres Françaises Rayon ... However, these were not used to determine the postage to be collected from the addressee but only for the settlement of the postage between the two states.

Letter from Paris to Zwolle, 7 August 1823. Handstamp P of Paris in triangle. Sent via Border Post Offices Valenciennes and Bergen (Mons). Border Post Office handstamp FRANKRYK / OVER BERGEN in red on reverse. Rayon handstamp L.F.R.3 (Lettres Françaises du 3e Rayon) in red. Port Paris - Valenciennes: 5 décimes = 5 stuivers + Bergen - Zwolle 7 stuivers = 12 stuivers to 6 grams; 11 to 15 grams: 2 x 12 stuivers = 24 stuivers, indicated on the front. The French weight progression was used for letters from France.

Letter from Paris to Zwolle, 12 November 1824. Handstamp P of Paris in triangle. Sent via Border Post Offices Valenciennes and Bergen (Mons). Border Post Office handstamp FRANKRYK / OVER BERGEN in black on reverse. Rayon handstamp L.F.R.3 (only partially visible) in black. Rate Paris - Valenciennes: 5 décimes = 5 stuivers + Bergen - Zwolle 7 stuivers = 12 stuivers to 6 grams; 6 to 8 grams: 1 stuiver extra = 13 stuivers. 1 stuiver too much? For letters from France the French weight progression was used, also for the Dutch section of the route.

From 1827 the Dutch rates are no longer expressed in stuivers but in cents. 1 stuiver = 5 cent = 1 décime = 10 centimes.

From 1 January 1828 there was a new weight progression in France resulting in new tables. In the Netherlands the scheme was introduced from 1 April 1828 (Circular 214).
The rates for the Dutch part for unfranked letters from the Netherlands to France became in décimes:

The French part of the route got also new rates, from now on the distances are measured as the crow flies:

The rate for franked letters from the Netherlands to France and all letters from France to the Netherlands was determined by adding both domestic rates to and from the Border Post Offices. The French part is as in the table above. For the Dutch part, see Postal rates for domestic mail. However, the French weight progression also applied to the Dutch part.
The rate for Zwolle - Border Post Office Bergen (Mons) and Zwolle - Border Post Office Menen was for a single letter up to 6 grams according to the rate table of 1828 35 cent or 7 stuiver.

Letter from Zwolle to Bordeaux, 25 October 1829 with datestamp ZWOLLE Ø 27 mm in red. Also L.P.B.4.R. (Lettres des Pays-Bas du 4me Rayon: Zwolle was for the determination of the postage situated in the 4th district in relation to the French border ). Framed Border Post Office handstamp PAYS-BAS / PAR / VALENCIENNES in red. Rate: from the 4th rayon to Border Post Office Bergen (Mons), 0 - 7½ grams: 8 décimes + Valenciennes - Bordeaux, distance 600 to 750 km: 10 décimes = 18 décimes.

After the Belgian revolt and independence in 1830, there was no postal connection via the old postal route via Belgium to France, but the postal rates were calculated as before to the Border Post Offices on the Belgian-French border.

From 12 October 1830 to 1837, the mail went via Arnhem Border Post Office across Germany to Thionville. In the last two years there came a connection via Groot-Zundert near Breda. On 1 January 1837, Breda became the main Border Post Office in connection with Valenciennes and Paris and later also with St Quentin and Lille. Later there will also be others.

Letter from Perpignan to Zwolle, 19 October 1842. Sent via Border Post Offices Valenciennes, Bergen (Mons) and Breda. Rayon handstamp L.F.R.5 (Lettres Françaises Rayon 5) in red. Rate Perpignan - Valenciennes 55 cents + Bergen - Zwolle 35 cents = 90 cents, indicated on front, paid by the addressee.

Letter from Paris to Zwolle, 15 July 1845. The postage was prepaid: framed handstamp PD in red (PD = payé jusqu'à destination). The postage paid by the sender is indicated on reverse: 13 décimes.

Letter from Coevorden to Paris, 2 October 1845. On reverse round handstamp of Distribution Post Office KOEVORDEN. Datestamp ZWOLLE with day and month indication in large letters and numbers, Ø 23 mm. Also in red L.P.B.4.R. from Zwolle (Lettres des Pays-Bas du 4me rayon). Datestamp PAYS-BAS / VAL.NES of Border Post Office Valenciennes. Rate: from the 4th rayon to the Border Post Office Bergen (Mons), up to 6 grams: 8 décimes + Valenciennes - Paris, distance 100 to 200 km, up to 6 grams: 4 décimes = 12 décimes, paid by the addressee.

From 1 April 1852 the Dutch rate between the two countries is not any more the combined rate but for letters between the Netherlands and France:

*) rate for sent prepaid / received unfranked.

Letter from Zwolle to Bordeaux, 8 November 1872. The stamps are canceled with Zwolle dot cancel 135. Rate for letters to France, 0 - 10 wigtjes: 20 cent.

From 1 April 1852, the French rates to and from the Netherlands are:

*) rate for sent prepaid / received unfranked.

Envelope from sub post office Hardenberg (straight line handstamp HARDENBERG in blue) via Post Office Zwolle (trial cds ZWOLLE, 1 December 1866) to Pau, Basses Pyrénées. Rate for unfranked letters, 0 - 7½ grams: 60 centimes = 6 décimes. French postage due handstamp "6".

Last update 10.09.2024 5:54 PM

Copyright © 2019 - G.L. van Welie FRPSL
Secretary of the Nederlandse Academie voor Filatelie
Representative of the Royal Philatelic Society London for the Netherlands

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