Rowland Hill (1795–1879)

Inventor of the penny post. Established a school on his own plan at Hazelwood; it later moved to Bruce Castle, Tottenham. Invented the adhesive postage stamp, 1837, and established the penny post in 1840. Dismissed from the Post Office, 1842. Chairman of the Brighton Railway, 1843–6. Secretary to the postmaster-general, 1846; to the Post Office, 1854–64. Knighted, 1860. FRS 1857.