Lost Letter from 1916 Finally Reaches its Destination
London resident Finley Glen felt surprised to see a letter at his door. He picked it up and saw it had “‘16” on it, so he thought it was supposed to arrive in 2016.
Yet, he noticed another unique detail. “We noticed that the stamp was a King rather than a Queen, so we felt that it couldn’t have been 2016,” Glen said.
In response, he took it to the local historical society because it might have some “serious historical significance.”
What was inside the lost letter?
A letter lost in the post in 1916 was finally delivered to a London address more than a century after being sent from Bath.
Bearing a penny George V stamp it dropped through the letterbox of theatre director Finlay Glen’s Crystal Palace flat.
Jeez..https://t.co/WpI43YGSuY— NATHAN (@mbga_uk) February 17, 2023
Based on the date and the stamp, it would seem the sender submitted the letter during the First World War, a decade before Queen Elizabeth was born.
“Once we realized it was very old, we felt that it was okay to open up the letter,” said the 27-year-old.
The United Kingdom’s Postal Services Act of 2000 states that opening mail not addressed to you is a crime.
Yet, Glen admitted that he could “only apologize” if he had committed a crime. He and his girlfriend realized its historical significance, so they sent it to the Norwood Review magazine.
Its editor, Stephen Oxford, said, “I was amazed and delighted to have the details of the letter passed to me.”
He explained the letter was addressed to “my dear Katie,” the alleged wife of local stamp magnate Oswald Marsh.
Oxford claims Marsh used to live on Hamlet Road. Also, he “was a highly regarded stamp dealer who was often called as an expert witness in cases of stamp fraud.”
Christabel Mennel, the daughter of tea merchant Henry Tuke Mennel, wrote the letter during a family vacation in Bath, western England.
Oxford speculates the letter may have been “lost sitting in a dark corner in the Sydenham sorting office and only recently discovered.”
Also, a spokesperson from the Royal Mail said he doesn’t know why it took a hundred years for the letter to arrive.
Oxford said The Norwood Review is writing a full report on the letter. Soon, we might get more details about the late message.
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