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In Britain, the Post Office had been founded as early as 1635. With improved communication routes in the seventeenth and eighteen centuries, services improved. This largely matched an increase in popular literacy. The modern postal service dates from 1840 when Sir Rowland Hill achieved parliament\'s backing for a \'Penny Post\'. This involved adhesive, pre-paid penny stamps for all letters (of a certain weight). The first stamps were printed with black ink and so became known as \'Penny Blacks\'.
From 1846 until 1864, Rowland Hill held office as postmaster-general and implemented a series of expansions to the scheme.
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