What did first postmarks in the world and General Letter Office blue plaque do at Prince's Street?

The Story

# First Postmarks in the World and the General Letter Office Standing on Prince's Street in the heart of the City of London, you're treading on ground where postal history fundamentally changed. Between 1653 and 1666, the General Letter Office occupied Post House Yard at this very spot, serving as the nerve center of England's emerging postal system during a transformative period following the Restoration. It was here, in 1661, that postal officials made an innovation that would ripple across the globe: they struck the first postmarks in the world, crude but revolutionary marks that proved when and where a letter had been processed rather than relying solely on handwritten dates. This modest location became the birthplace of a system so practical and logical that it would eventually be adopted worldwide—a small yard in London that turned the humble envelope into a document of proof, forever linking this address to one of humanity's most enduring administrative triumphs.