Free Front Signature Database: Examining a Boyle

Friday 4 September 2020

Examining a Boyle

At first sight it wouldn't appear that Edmund Boyle, 8th Earl of Cork and Orrery in the Irish Peerage would be sitting in the House of Lords, but as with many such peers that wasn't his only title, far from it, there was quite a list, see HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (B). One of these titles, Baron Boyle of Marston (October 6, 1798 - June 29, 1856) did indeed qualify him to sit in the House of Lords being in the Peerage of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. My particular free front of his also has the added benefit of having his title and address on the reverse, presumably by virtue of the wrapper being reused. Also the sent from address backs this up as well as it has been sent from Frome where he lived.

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Introduction & Aims

Welcome to my blog dedicated to the deciphering of signatures from free fronts, also known as free franks. Free front is the term given to the front of an envelope to which the privilege of free postage was given, which was cut out and collected mainly by Victorian ladies and pasted into albums. The reason they were so collectable was because in order to use the privilege those who were entitled to it had to address, date and most importantly sign the envelope, usually in the bottom left corner. The people who were entitled to the privilege were either peers with a seat in the House of Lords, members of parliament, bishops or holders of high office in government, including the army and the navy.

In more recent times collectors have fallen into two groups, those like myself who collect the signatures as autographs and the stamp collectors who are more interested in the franks and the postal history. Although the privilege began as early as the 17th century, it is from the first four decades of the 19th century that most of the fronts come, the privilege ending with the introduction of the postage stamp in January 1840.

I personally was originally drawn to free fronts due to my interest in the Napoleonic Wars and with so many of the senior officers of both the army and the navy also being MP's, peers or officials, I realised it was possible to amass quite a large collection of fronts with the signatures of veterans of for example, Waterloo or Trafalgar. With so many people being entitled to the free franking privilege over so long a period of time it was necessary to specialise in order to have a manageable and affordable collection.

It's not just the signature though, much of my interest is in deciphering the signature and researching the biography of not just the sender but also the recipient, as this is often an interesting reflection on the relationships of the people. For example I have a front from the Duke of Wellington to Sir David Wilkie, the artist who painted the Dukes portrait.

My aim with this website is to carry a database of deciphered signatures, which I hope to continuously update, to point out some commonly seen errors and to hopefully generate some interest and debate from like minded people.

Martyn