Postage paid 1830-1862
Letters circulating inside the commune of the post office
The fact that local letters were franked did not change the rate. Until 31 December 1862, a postage due local letter cost the same as a postage due letter. Obviously, when the letter was franked, it was the sender who paid, whereas when the letter was postage due, it was the addressee who paid.
1852: Postage paid letter (P.P.) in cash from and to BERLAIMONT. In December 1852, franked letters were normally required to bear a 10c postage stamp.
1850: Letter from DOUAI to DOUAI franked at 10 c using a postage stamp.
In May 1859 (Imperial decree of 13/10/1858), the communes of WAZEMMES, MOULINLILLE, FIVES and ESQUERMES were annexed by the city of LILLE. On this date, these municipalities became districts of LILLE. The postage rate between the LILLE, WAZEMMES and MOULINLILLE post offices became local rather than territorial. The town of LILLE was the only one in the Nord department to have district post offices.
1862: Letter from WAZEMMES franked at 10 c (whose post office was named LILLE B in May 1859) for LILLE. The rue de Thionville in LILLE was served by the central postal office. This is a letter circulating between a branch post office and the head post office.
Letters circulating in the district of a post office
1859: Letter from VALENCIENNES to ST SAULVE franked at 10 c.
1847: Letter weighing less than 7.5 g from ARMENTIERES for the rural commune of NIEPPE.
1859: Letter weighing more than 7.5 g franked at 20 c from AVESNES to SEMERIES. The "Après le Départ" mark indicates that the letter was posted after the last mail collection. This mark is locally made, as it does not correspond to the regulatory model.
Standard stamp
1858: Letter weighing less than 7.5 g from FOURNES EN WEPPES to AUBERS. In 1858, the FOURNES post office was depending on the LA BASSEE head post office.
1862: Letter given to the postman during his round in the village of COUSOLRE.
The letter is franked and bound for the village of BOUSIGNIES where the postman was heading. In this case, the postman can deliver the letter directly, provided he has first cancelled the postage stamp with his "OR" stamp.
Since the issue of the 10 centime postage stamp in September 1850, questions have been raised about the cancellation of postage stamps on mail that could be handed in by postmen during their rounds. Circular no. 56 of 27 February 1851 answered this question: postage stamps must be cancelled with the postmen's OR stamp.
Circular no. 75 of 22 December 1851 repeated the terms of circular no. 56 and specified, among other things, the ink to be used to cancel postage stamps.
Letters circulating between 2 rural districts of the the same Postal District
1853: Letter from SOMAIN to MARCHIENNES franked with a 10 c Présidence.
1849: Postage paid letter from HALLUIN to TOURCOING. The HALLUIN post office station did not serve any commune, but is nevertheless dependent on the TOURCOING management head post office.
In 1849, there was still no 10c postage stamp. If you wanted to frank a letter, you had to pay the postage in cash.
On this letter, the CD mark (Correspondance de Distribution) was used incorrectly. It was only to be used on letters circulating within the rural district of the post office station, and not on letters circulating between a post office station and a head post office on which it depended.
1860: Letter weighing less than 7.5 g franked at 10 c from HAUTMONT to MAUBEUGE.
1862: Letter mailed at AVESNES for the commune of TAISNIERES EN THIERACHE. The latter depends on the MAROILLES post office station.
Note that the 10 c stamp has a perforation made by the SUSSE brothers' machine in PARIS. It is unusual to find this type of perforation on stamps used outside PARIS and the surrounding area.
