John Palmer introduced the mail coach service between Bristol and London in 1784, combining passenger travel with postal delivery and running on a strict timetable, revolutionizing the speed of communication across Britain.

Thomas De Quincey's essay 'The English Mail-Coach' (1849) made the mail coach a Romantic symbol of national destiny and speed; the system's network helped Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Keats share manuscripts and letters with previously impossible speed. This connectivity fostered a literary community that thrived on the exchange of ideas and inspiration.