A detailed study of the methods by which the Post Office ran services outside of London prior to 1840; the recruitment of local staff and their conditions of employment, and what coverage was provided by official, semi-official and private means. Attention has been focused on the posts serving Kent and East Sussex, which include the main post roads to Dover and to Hastings and Rye. A scholarly work of economic and social history, which should also be of interest to postal historians.