Sir Rowland Hill KCB
(1795-1879)

postal reformer, originator of the Penny Post, and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (from 1860)

Died aged c. 84

Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his solution of pre-payment, facilitating the safe, speedy and cheap transfer of letters. Hill later served as a government postal official, and he is usually credited with originating the basic concepts of the modern postal service, including the invention of the postage stamp. Hill made the case that if letters were cheaper to send, people, including the poorer classes, would send more of them, thus eventually profits would go up. Proposing an adhesive stamp to indicate pre-payment of postage – with the first being the Penny Black – in 1840, the first year of Penny Post, the number of letters sent in the UK more than doubled. Within 10 years, it had doubled again. Within three years postage stamps were introduced in Switzerland and Brazil, a little later in the US, and by 1860, they were used in 90 countries.

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Commemorated on 11 plaques

Sir Rowland Hill 1795-1879 postal reformer lived here

1 Orme Square, London, United Kingdom where they lived

Sir Rowland Hill KCB, originator of the Penny Post, lived here in 1849-1879. Born 1795. Died 1879.

Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, Hampstead, Camden, NW3, London, United Kingdom where they lived (1849-1879)

Sir Rowland Hill [full inscription unknown]

146 Hagley Road, Birmingham, United Kingdom where they was

Sir Rowland Hill KCB 1795 to 1879 postal reformer resided at number 68 opposite 1802 to 1803

Lionel House - 86 Lionel Street, Birmingham, United Kingdom where they lived

Sir Rowland Hill KGB 1795 - 1879 Postal Reformer resided near here in Gough Street

The Mailbox, Severn Street, Birmingham, United Kingdom where they was

Sir Rowland Hill lived in this house 1844-1846

11 Hanover Crescent, Brighton, United Kingdom where they lived

Sir Rowland Hill 1795-1879 Founder The World's First Uniform Postal Rate The Penny Post Lived in a Farmhouse now Horsehills Drive off Compton Road c1788-1802 Married Caroline Pearson St Peter's Church 1827

Post Office, Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom where they lived

Rowland Hill 1795–1879 Wrote the pamphlet leading to the creation of the Modern Postal Service at a house on this site 1837

Cartwright Gardens, WC1, London, United Kingdom where they was

Born on this site 3rd December 1795 Sir Rowland Hill educator, social reformer, inventor, and the instigator of the national Penny Post affordable prepaid postage for all. Died 27th August 1879 and buried in Westminster Abbey.

Blackwell Street, Kidderminster, United Kingdom where they was born (1795)

Sir Rowland Hill (1795-1879) Francis Worrall Stevens (c1807-c1880) Pioneers of the postage stamp in this house

The Hollies, 11 Albion Hill, Loughton, United Kingdom where they was

Sir Rowland Hill (1795 - 1879) Postage stamp inventor, pioneer in education and social reformer lived in this street.

Landrow Place - 86 Lionel Street, Birmingham, United Kingdom where they lived near (1802-1803)