In
Victorian times the Royal Mail delivered
letters to your door as they do today, but they did not carry goods. The
coaches would often take small parcels for
a charge, but most of the carrying of goods was done by local firms of
carriers who would charge a fee for
taking goods in their carts.
This entry from
Pigot's Directory tells us who the local carriers were around
Hay in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign.
Carriers
like this operated in the area throughout the Victorian period. Even after
the coming of the railways , the carriers were needed to take goods to the
nearest railway station where they could be sent on by train.