In a message dated 01/11/2008 00:27:24 GMT Standard Time, [email protected] writes: Don't forget the postage system with Stamps started in 1840, there had been 1d postage in some areas before that. People read and wrote for other people. The postal system in Great Britain had functioned since Early Modern times. The FLINT family letters date from 1793, where a sheet of paper was folded after writing, the address written on the outside, taken by the postman to the post office and franked. It took a couple of days at the most for a letter to reach the post office from which it was to be delivered, when it was franked again. In London the postal system was so good that it was similar to the telegram system with messages being exchanged throughout the day between correspondents. Before the railway mail coaches were in use for longer journeys. I don't think it should be assumed that there was widespread illiteracy at any time within this country. The fact that a person did not sign a marriage register may be because they were simply asked to 'make a mark' and so they complied, putting an X rather than writing their name. Reading is an easier skill than writing. I am leaning Russian and can read Cyrillic script, even if I do not understand the meaning of the words, but am hard pressed to write anything as yet... Cheers, Janet Heskins