1870-1880
HALSTAFF & HANNAFORD MANUFACTURERS 228 REGENT STREET.
A Victorian Octagonal Oak Country House Post Letters Pillar Box with a Domed crystal top displaying the armorial coat of arms of the former owner John Wilder Esq. of Purley Hall, Berkshire. The central box has a lockable, leather lined, letter chamber above a drawer containing a match striker, a concave tray for matches, and storage for sealing wax. The front door retains the original postage rates label, which was introduced in 1871.
Note: Post boxes like these were manufactured for important private homes, private clubs and hotels.
Wilder, John (1801 -1892).
The Reverend John Wilder was the second son of John Wilder of Purley Hall and Sulham, and Harriet, daughter of the Reverend Edwards Beadon. He was a Fellow of King’s College Cambridge and Rector of Sulham, Assistant Master at Eton 1824-1840, Fellow of Eton College 1840-1885 and Vice Provost 1885-1892. He married, 26 July 1831, Mary daughter of the Reverend Gilbert Heathcote, Archdeacon of Winchester. She died 22 June 1856 and he married secondly, 10 April 1866, Mary Hood, second daughter of the Reverend G. Dean. He died 2 August 1892.
Width: 9.5 inches / 24 centimetres
Height: 18 inches / 45.5 centimetres
Depth: 9.5 inches / 24 centimetres
