Autograph Note Signed ‘Thos. Waghorn’, to C.Roach Smith at 5 Liverpool Street, asking “Pray step over a minute” by WAGHORN, Thomas Fletcher

Undated. 4 x 8 inches, in good condition. An uncommon autograph. Thomas Fletcher Waghorn (1800–1850), postal pioneer who developed a new route from Great Britain to India. He set up an agency in Cornhill, London, for conveying post—and passengers—to India via Egypt. Between 1835 and 1837 he lived among Arabs in the desert and laid the foundations for the overland route across the desert from Cairo to Suez. This involved building rest-houses and supplying guides, boats, horses and carriages for travellers. Later Waghorn turned his attention to speeding the post in Europe, through the new railway system. Charles Roach Smith (1807-90), antiquary and archaeologist.