The trust has acquired what is known in the trade as an ‘entire’ – that is a letter sent by Royal Mail (back in the days when the mail got the priority it deserved!) before the introduction of envelopes. It was posted on 29th March 1843 at the Ipswich Main Post Office by J C & Alfred Cobbold, Solicitors to Messrs Ambrose, Solicitors at Manningtree.
Comprising a single sheet of paper the outside bears the red 1d paid stamp applied by the Ipswich office which sent it to the Manningtree office which needed nothing more than the name of the recipient. On the inside no letterhead was necessary as the signature and Ipswich said it all. The paper is a high quality laid paper by Crown Britannia sporting an excellent watermark.
J C Cobbold is of course John Chevallier Cobbold (1797-1882) #114 in the tree and Alfred is his younger brother (1813-1882) #136. It must have been a considerable blow to the business when 2 partners died almost within a month of each other.
Sadly, being old and faded the document does not reproduce well for which apologies.
