Postboxes

Since moving to Oxford, I have developed that rather idiosyncratic habit of collecting postboxes. Every postbox in the UK is labelled with the Latin initials of the reigning monarch at the time the postbox was set up. This practice began with the installation of the first pillar boxes in 1853, during the reign of Queen Victoria. Wall boxes were introduced in 1857.

I have at last completed my collection, with a postbox for every sovereign from Victoria to the present Queen, with the exception of Edward VIII, whose 10-month reign was presumably too short for the installation of any postboxes -- in Oxford anyway.

In my travels about town during the last week, I have managed to photograph specimens of all the different types of postboxes, and I offer them now for the edification of my readers. (This series is limited to wall boxes, though I can direct any interested parties to the locations of pillar boxes for all the represented sovereigns.)

First then, Queen Victoria, on Longwall Street:

Edward VII, on St. Giles:

Despite his 25-year reign, George V is the rarest of all the featured sovereigns. It took me three years to find a George V box, and I was delighted to come across this very fine specimen on Observatory Street in Jericho. I can only postulate that during the Great War and the Great Depression, postboxes were not at the top of the government's agenda:

George VI, at the corner of Brasenose Lane and Turl Street:

Finally, Elizabeth II, at the corner of Broad and Catte Streets:

If anybody finds an Edward VIII postbox, even outside Oxford, please let me know.