Neale's patent expired in 1710, when Parliament extended the English postal system to the colonies. The chief office was established in New York City, where letters were conveyed by regular packets across the Atlantic. Neale's franchise cost him only eighty cents a year, but it was no bargain; he died heavily in debt, in 1699 in Wiltshire. In 1664, he was married to Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir John Garrard, 2nd Baronet, of Lamer Park, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, and the widow of Sir Nicholas Gould, 1st Baronet, of London, with whom he had one son. Elizabeth was England's richest widow, and he became known as 'Golden Neal'. Nonetheless, this remarkable man died insolvent in 1699 after a varied career, during which he exhausted two fortunes, doubtless through gaming and ill-founded speculations. He was succeeded by his son, who died soon after him.