Snail mail is one factor, however normally it doesn’t take a century to reach.
A letter despatched in 1916 has lastly made its method to its meant tackle in South London — greater than a century after it was despatched.
“We observed that the yr on it was ’16. So we thought it was 2016,” resident Finlay Glen, who was dwelling on the tackle to which the historic letter was mailed, informed CNN. “Then we observed that the stamp was a king relatively than a queen, so we felt that it couldn’t have been 2016.”
The letter arrived a couple of years in the past, however Glen, 27, mentioned he solely lately took it to the native historic society. He mentioned if the letter seems to have some “severe historic significance” he’d be completely happy for the historic society to maintain it; in any other case, he and his girlfriend wish to maintain onto it.
Though initially Glen and his girlfriend didn’t wish to open the letter — noting it’s a criminal offense to open mail that’s not addressed to you — as soon as they realized how previous the letter was, they figured it could be OK.
The stamp on the envelope featured King George V, was price 1 pence, and was despatched in the midst of the primary World Warfare greater than a decade earlier than Queen Elizabeth II was born.
Glen took the letter to a neighborhood journal, the Norwood Assessment, the place editor and native historian Stephen Oxford mentioned he was “delighted” by it.
In response to Oxford, the letter was written to “my pricey Katie,” who was a neighborhood lady married to Oswald Marsh, a “extremely regarded stamp seller who was typically known as as an skilled witness in instances of stamp fraud.”
The letter, nevertheless, was written by a buddy of Katie’s — Christabel Mennel, the daughter of tea service provider Henry Tuke Mennel — who was on vacation in Tub, writing: “I’ve been most depressing right here with a really heavy chilly.”
Oxford mentioned he thinks the letter might have been “misplaced sitting in a darkish nook within the Sydenham sorting workplace and solely lately found.” He additionally famous it was postmarked “Sydenham,” which is in southeast London.
“I used to be amazed,” he mentioned of the late arrival.
A spokesperson from the Royal Mail mentioned in a press release that he doesn’t know why the letter had such a delayed journey time,
“Incidents like this occur very often, and we’re unsure what has occurred on this incident,” he mentioned. “We recognize that folks shall be intrigued by the historical past of this letter from 1916, however haven’t any additional data on what might need occurred.”
