Postal service in Nova Scotia was apparently begun on 23 April 1754 by Benjamin Leigh, a Halifax stationer. In the following year the British post office, in an attempt to improve military communication between Britain and North America, began a monthly packet run to New York. From there any available vessel carried mail to Halifax. This service, disrupted during the American Revolution, was resumed when hostilities ended and, after March 1788, regular packets called at Halifax. The postal service in British North America remained a British charge until 1851 when it was relinquished to the provinces.