Most of us, when posting a letter, would like to know if it’s been safely delivered or not – and indeed, sometimes this information is vital. However, for a long time ordinary letters have just been pushed through the slot in the door, and there is no record of safe arrival. The ‘Recorded Delivery’ service introduced in 1961 offered a way to do something about that, without all the expense and overhead of registration. The current ‘Signed For’ service is essentially the same thing, but in modern garb.
Background
A formal registration service for a fee was introduced for UK inland mail in 1841. Among the security features it offered were a receipt to show the letter had been posted, and a signature taken on
