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About Jersey

Jersey is located some 100 miles south of mainland Britain and is the most southerly of the British Isles. In fact, it's much closer to France, lying just 14 miles from the coast of harbouring towns such as Carteret.

Despite its compact size - just 9 miles by 5 miles - Jersey possesses a rich and varied landscape which attracts tourists from all over the world.

Jersey has a fascinating and complex history stretching back over a thousand years. Its very landscape - Norman style farmhouses, narrow winding lanes, small fields and French street names - reflects its entwinement with the fates of two great nations: Britain and France.

Jersey lies in the Bay of Mont St Michel and is the largest of the Channel Islands. It has been an island for approximately 8,000 years and at its extremes it measures 10 miles east to west and six miles north to south.

No official postal service existed in the island until 1794 when Charles Le Geyt was appointed Postmaster and a regular weekly sailing to Weymouth was established. For the first three years the post was not delivered directly to the recipients' door. Everyone who was due post would have to call at Le Geyt's house for their letters.

Four years later in 1798, Geyt hired Mary Godfray to deliver letters to St. Helier, but it wasn't until 1829 that an island wide postal service was available. In 1830 it would cost locals only one penny to send a letter, this form of post was called the 'penny post'.

Although the Bureau did not have its own independence until 1969, there were functioning postmen, and post boxes all over the island. In fact, in 1852, Jersey was the first place in the British Isles to have a roadside post box erected.