Author Anthony Trollope to feature on commemorative stamps

One of the special commemorative stamps featuring an image of Anthony Trollope Credit: Royal Mail/PA

Anthony Trollope will feature on a set of commemorative stamps as the Royal Mail marks the bicentenary of the author's birth.

Known for works which included The Way We Live Now and Barchester Towers the Victorian era novelist was born on April 24 1815, and as well as being remembered for his literary works is also credited as being the Post Office worker who introduced freestanding postboxes to the UK.

The Royal Mail will issue limited edition commemorative sheets of stamps to go on sale on the 200th anniversary of his birth, plaques will be attached in each of the five streets where postboxes were first introduced, and a special postmark will appear on stamped mail across the UK from April 24 for one week.

A plaque on a postbox on Fleet Street, London, marking the site of one of the first pillar boxes in the UK introduced by Anthony Trollope Credit: Royal Mail/PA

Sue Whalley, Royal Mail's chief operating officer, said: "We are delighted to contribute to this year's bicentenary celebrations of the birth of Anthony Trollope.

"He is well-known as a former Post Office employee and we have him to thank for introducing pillar boxes to the UK. Whether in walls, on poles or freestanding, the network of postboxes has grown from Trollope's time to reach around over 115,000 boxes which are now an iconic feature of communities across the UK."