Rowland Hill (postal Reformer) - Legacy

Legacy

Hill's legacies are twofold: the first was his model for education of the emerging middle classes. The second was his model for an efficient postal system to serve business and the public, including the postage stamp and the system of low and uniform postal rates, which is often taken for granted in the modern world. In this, he not only changed postal services around the world, but also made commerce more efficient and profitable, notwithstanding the fact that it took 30 years before the British Post Office's revenue recovered to the level it had been at in 1839. In fact the Uniform Penny Post continued in the UK into the 20th century, and at one point, one penny paid for up to four ounces.

There are three public statues of him. The first, sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock and unveiled in 1881, stands in the town of his birthplace, Kidderminster. The second, by Edward Onslow Ford stands at King Edward Street, London The third, less known, by Peter Hollins, used to stand in Hurst Street, Birmingham but it is currently in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery store. A life size white marble bust by W. D. Keyworth, Jr. may be viewed in St. Paul's Chapel, Westminster Abbey.

In Kidderminster, his birthplace he plays a large part in the local community history. A Wetherspoons pub called The Penny Black is currently in the Town Centre and a large shopping mall connecting Vicar Street and Worcester Street is named after him, The Rowland Hill Shopping Centre.

At Tottenham there is now a local History Museum at Bruce Castle (where Hill lived during the 1840s) including some relevant exhibits.

The Rowland Hill Awards, started by the Royal Mail and the British Philatelic Trust in 1997, are annual awards for philatelic "innovation, initiative and enterprise."

In 1882, the Post Office instituted the Rowland Hill Fund for postal workers, pensioners and dependants in need.