Edwardian Post Boxes
Edward VII reigned for only 9 years but the postal network was still expanding and some very interesting boxes exist. The earliest Edwardian boxes were modified from the last Victorian designs, but midway through the reign the elaborate scroll cipher of Edward VII began to appear on post boxes. As the network grew, more boxes appeared in country areas such as this attractive lamp-post mounted example. The small wall box would have been found in towns and in the wall of smaller sub-postoffices. A version which opens at the back, was also made to allow the Postmaster to empty it from inside the shop.
More Edwardian boxes
We have six Edward VII boxes in our collection and the pair shown below are of special interest. The earlier one is from the early years of the reign, 1901-04 (WB 2089/3), whilst the one on the right is a later box from the period 1905 to 1910 (WB 2093). The earlier box is basically very similar to the last of the Victorian wall boxes (which you can see by clicking here) and carries the last crown used by Victoria. This turns out to be the Imperial State Crown of India, as Disraeli had Victoria crowned Empress of India in 1874. You can see the real thing in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. By comparison, Edward VII was never crowned as Emperor of India and so was not entitled to use this crown. His heraldic coat of arms was mounted on the Tudor Crown and it is this which surmounts the later box.
In fact all the succeeding kings used the Tudor crown and it was not until Elizabeth II came to the throne that this changed. Princess Elizabeth chose for her coronation the State Crown of St Edward and it is this which we find in the EiiR cipher. The rather flowery scroll cipher of Edward VII had been in use since 1901 on the pillar boxes, but 1905 saw its first use on a wall box. In the smaller C size boxes, there is an interesting intermediate design between these two, where the State Crown of India is replaced by the Tudor crown but the older block lettering is kept. You can see all these together in the national collection at the The Postal Museum in London . Interestingly, the coat of arms on the Ludlow box (below centre) features a different crown altogether, whilst that on the plate is more akin to the St Edward crown.
This is the smaller Edward 7th wall box, Type C with the earlier Imperial State Crown cypher. It came to us from Ross Courtier's collection.