Letter arrives 138 years late

LA POSTE has finally delivered a letter that was posted in 1877, handing it over to the 80-year-old great-grand daughter of the intended recipient.

Thérèse Pailla, who lives in Trélon in the Nord where the letter was destined, said she was as surprised as the postman when they realised the letter’s age.

Mrs Pailla told La Voix du Nord that she knew little about her family’s history but the letter refers to an order of yarn from a factory that was once owned by them.

The author, Amand Pailla (1820-1897), had presciently asked for a confirmation that it had been received.

La Poste has opened an investigation into how the letter, which was posted in Sains-du-Nord, some 11km away, came to be delivered so late.

Whether it had been reintroduced into the system after becoming lost at a sorting office, or was recently posted by a member of the public who had found it.

A spokesman said: “This would be exceptional. The postal offices were of that era were not really the same as today.

“This can sometimes happen that a letter is lost when a locker gets dusty, tidied or lost. But generally it’s pretty rare. A decade or so, that’s possible, but a century…”

Automatic sorting machines should have rejected the letter, which did not have a specific address, but just mentioned the factory owners.

Photo:wiki/Tyler Burrus