Following the introduction of the first telephone of practical value in 1876-1877, a number of private telephone companies were formed, including The Telephone Company (in 1878) and the Edison Telephone Company (in 1879). Other similar companies also sprang up throughout the country. The Telephone Company and the Edison Telephone Company amalgamated in 1880 to form the United Telephone Company and, in 1889, with other companies, combined with the National Telephone Company. The National Telephone Company swiftly became the most prominent of the telephone companies, although following a ruling in 1880 on the legal powers of the Postmaster General under the Telegraph Act 1869, it operated under licence from the Postmaster General, which also began to operate its own telephone service in competition with the National Telephone Company. In 1896, the Post Office acquired the National Telephone Company's trunk (long distance) network, restricting the company to the provision of a network of local telephone services. In 1905, an agreement was reached between the Postmaster General and the National Telephone Company that the Post Office would purchase the National Telephone Company's system on expiry of its licence in 1911. The entire UK telephone service (with the exception of the service operated by Kingston-upon-Hull Borough Council) passed to Post Office control on 1 January 1912.
Overseas telephonic communication in its early days was mainly confined to services between London and Paris, the North of France, Brussels and Antwerp. The first telephone cable across the Channel was laid in 1891. During the early 1920s services were gradually extended to other European and Scandinavian countries. In 1927 a radio-telephone service was opened between Britain and the United States. The overseas services were developed rapidly during the late 1920s and early 1930s, and communications soon extended to Australia, Canada, South America, Spain, Italy, etc.
The possibility of transmitting signals from one point to another by electrical impulses without a connecting wire had attracted attention since the early days of telegraphy, and the Post Office, among others, conducted experiments in this field. In 1896, the Post Office (through its Engineer-in-Chief, Sir William Preece) provided facilities for Guglielmo Marconi to conduct experiments in the field of wireless telegraphy by means of hertzian waves.
Marconi gave the first demonstration of his new system of wireless telegraphy before members of the Post Office administration on 27 July 1896. With the transmitter on the roof of the Central Telegraph Office in Newgate Street, London, and the receiver on the roof of GPO South in Carter Lane, 300 yards away, signals from the transmitter were satisfactorily recorded. In August, the Post Office permitted Marconi to experiment with wireless equipment on Salisbury plain and elsewhere. The ensuing trials demonstrated the practicality of his system.
The following year Marconi was granted a British patent for his system by which "electrical actions or manifestations are transmitted through the air, earth or water by means of electric oscillations of high frequency". In July of the same year, Marconi parted company with the Post Office and, with other backers, set up the Marconi Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company.
In order to secure the control of wireless telegraphy, the Wireless Telegraph Act was passed in 1904 rendering it illegal for persons to install or work apparatus without a licence from the Postmaster General. In 1918, the Wireless Telegraphy Board was set up to coordinate interference problems in radio communication in the English Channel. The interests of users of radio other than Government departments were represented by the Post Office.
In 1924, the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company entered into an agreement with the British Government for the provision of radio stations to set up an Imperial Wireless Chain in England, Australia, Canada, India and South Africa. From 1929 electrical communications across the Empire were overseen by the Imperial Communications Advisory Committee, on which the Post Office was represented.
The system of 'minuting' papers submitted to the Postmaster General by the Secretary to the Post Office for a decision (ie numbering the papers, and separately copying a note of the paper as a 'minute' into volumes indexed by subject) was introduced in 1793. It remained in use by the Post Office Headquarters registry until 1973.
Until 1921, several different major minute series were in use: that concerned with the Packet Service (POST 29), and those concerned with England and Wales (POST 30), Ireland (POST 31) and Scotland (POST 32). From 1790 until 1841, parallel 'Report' series were in use by the Secretary (POST 39 and 40).
In 1921, the several different minute series were replaced by a single all-embracing series (POST 33). This was suspended in 1941 as a wartime measure when a Decimal Filing system came into use (POST 102), but was resurrected in 1949. In 1955 the registration of Headquarters files began to be decentralised under several local registries serving particular departments, although the 'minuting' of cases considered worthy of preservation, and the assimilation of later cases with earlier existing minuted bundles, continued until 1973.
The system of 'minuting' papers submitted to the Postmaster General by the Secretary to the Post Office for a decision (i.e. numbering the papers, and separately copying a note of the paper as a 'minute' into volumes indexed by subject) was introduced in 1793. It remained in use by the Post Office Headquarters registry until 1973.
Until 1921, several different major minute series were in use: that concerned with the Packet Service and overseas mail (Pkt reference files held in POST 29), those concerned with England and Wales (E or Eng reference files held in POST 30), Ireland (Ire or I reference files held in POST 31) and Scotland (Scot or S reference files held in POST 32). From 1790 until 1841, parallel 'Report' series were in use by the Secretary (POST 39 & POST 40).
In 1921, the several different minute series were replaced by a single all-embracing series referenced M or Min (held in POST 33). This was suspended in 1941 as a wartime measure when a Decimal Filing (DF) system came into use (POST 102), but was resurrected in 1949.
In 1955 the registration of Headquarters files began to be decentralised under several local registries serving particular departments, although the 'minuting' of cases considered worthy of preservation, and the assimilation of later cases with earlier existing minuted bundles, continued until 1973. Files from this period either have a 'P' reference or an alphanumeric reference to indicate which department created them, i.e. MD (Mails Division).
The majority of maps in the collection were produced as part of an administrative exercise on the part of the Post Office to establish the boundaries for free mail deliveries after the increase of mail circulation in the nineteenth century (see particularly 'Town Maps: England and Wales and 'Town Maps: Ireland').
The Irish town maps were created during the period 1830-1860. This was a time of change in the Irish postal system, as it was amalgamated with Britain's postal service in 1831. In 1843 the British government laid down the principle: 'All places the letters for which exceed one hundred per week should be entitled to a receiving office and a free delivery of letters.' The boundary of free delivery for individual areas within Ireland was decided by the Postmaster General in consultation with Augustus Godby, Secretary to the Irish Post Office. A set of maps was created to show the boundaries decided for the various towns which qualified for free delivery.
This exercise coincided with the survey of Ireland carried out by Ordnance Survey Ireland between 1829 and 1842; consequently, the majority of these maps consist of annotated sections of Ordnance Survey maps.
Some of the maps in POST 21 were produced as part of official government enquiries into Post Office administration; for example there are maps produced as part of or as a result of: 2nd Report of Committee on postage, 1838 (POST 21/142, POST 21/152, POST 21/156); 20th Report of Commissioners of Revenue Enquiry, February 1830 (POST 21/153); 21st Report of Commissioners of Revenue Enquiry, March 1830 (POST 21/53, POST 21/56 and POST 21/57); Fifth Report from Select Committee on the roads from Holyhead to London, July 1817(POST 21/217), Report of Commissioners on the Post Office, 1838 (POST 21/761).
The increase of mail coach transportation in the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries necessitated the production of good maps showing postal roads, distances between coach stops and places of interest along the way. There are several such maps in POST 21, including: 'Bowles' Road Directory through England and Wales (1796) (POST 21/159), 'Cary's 6 sheet map of England and Wales with part of Scotland' (1830) (POST 21/770) and 'General map of the Roads of England and Wales engraved for Moggs' improved edition of Paterson's Roads' (1829) (POST 21/173).
Several of the maps in the collection were officially commissioned by the Post Office; of particular note are the GPO (General Post Office) Circulation maps of England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland produced by the cartographer, Edward Stanford; these show the routes and manner of transportation of the mail across the countries. Other examples are the various maps produced by John Cary, who was commissioned by the Postmaster General to organise the survey of turnpike roads in Great Britain, a task involving nine thousand miles of survey. The maps resulting from this work were included in his 'New Itinerary,' first published in 1798; the work was dedicated to the Postmasters General and provided the official measures for all mail coach routes and for the postage due on letters, which until 1840 were charged by distance carried.
After the establishment of Uniform Penny Post in 1840, followed a few months later by the introduction of the prepaid postage stamp, the Penny Black, there was a huge increase in the amount of mail sent. In 1839 there were 76 million letters posted in the United Kingdom; in 1840 after the introduction of the Penny Post there were 168 million. The mail service was opened up more to the general public, particularly after the introduction of pillar boxes to mainland Britain in 1855. These developments necessitated the increasing production of post office directories which included maps showing the location of the numerous district post offices and subsidiary sorting houses; there are several 'Kelly's Post Office Directory' maps of London in the collection.
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Up until 1830, the Irish mail service did not come under the control of the British Post Office and was overseen by its own Postmaster General. In 1831 it was re-united with Great Britain's Postal service and ceased to have its own Postmaster General. Under this new arrangement an Irish secretary was appointed to supervise Ireland's postal services and reported directly to the Postmaster General in London.
The system of 'minuting' papers submitted to the Postmaster General by the Secretary to the Post Office for a decision (i.e., numbering the papers, and separately copying a note of the paper as a 'minute' into volumes indexed by subject) was introduced in 1793. It remained in use by the Post Office Headquarters registry until 1973.
Until 1921, several different major minute series were in use: that concerned with the Packet Service (POST 29), and those concerned with England and Wales (POST 30), Ireland (POST 31) and Scotland (POST 32). From 1790 until 1841, parallel 'Report' series were in use by the Secretary (POST 39 & POST 40).
In 1921, the several different minute series were replaced by a single all-embracing series (POST 33). This was suspended in 1941 as a wartime measure when a Decimal Filing system came into use (POST 102), but was resurrected in 1949. In 1955 the registration of Headquarters files began to be decentralised under several local registries serving particular departments, although the 'minuting' of cases considered worthy of preservation, and the assimilation of later cases with earlier existing minuted bundles, continued until 1973.
For further details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.
During the period covered by these records the Secretary to the Post Office was Sir Francis Freeling. Freeling began his career in the Bristol Post Office and had been appointed appointed principal and resident surveyor in London by 1785. In 1797 he rose to the office of joint secretary to the Post Office and in 1798 he became sole secretary, serving in this capacity as the head of the post office until his death. His administration saw many reforms, including the growth of local penny posts and the introduction of steam power to transport the mail by rail and sea. Freeling was made a Baronet in March 1828.
In 1799, Henry Darlot, a clerk in the Foreign Section, was chosen for the position of Army Postmaster. He was the first to accompany the Army overseas when he joined them in Holland to facilitate delivery, collect letters, and protect the revenue. In 1854, Edward Smith of the Inland Letter Office was sent to Constantinople as postmaster to H M Forces. He, along with three assistants and seven sorters, handled 450,000 letters a month to and from troops between Britain and the Crimea (via France).
The origins of the Post Office Rifles Association stem from the Fenian troubles in 1867. Sixteen hundred Post Office staff were sworn in as special constables to protect key installations, including post offices. With the passing of the danger the following year, a number of the special constables asked if a Post Office Volunteer Corps could be formed. The War Office officially sanctioned the proposal, and the 49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers were formed in 1868. The title of the regiment was changed to the 24th Middlesex (Post Office) Rifle Volunteers in 1880. In 1882, the Army Postal Corps was formed from the members of the Middlesex Volunteers to run the Army's postal service. A sister unit, the Field Telegraph Corps, was formed from postal workers in 1883 becoming 'I' Company of the 24th Middlesex. Both units were embodied in the reserve of the Royal Engineers in 1884, although still attached to the 24th Middlesex for drill and discipline.
The Boer War saw eleven officers and 624 other ranks serve with the Army Postal Corps between 1899 and 1902. Their base in Capetown connected with many temporary Field Post Offices and five travelling post offices. 68.9 million letters and newspapers and 1.4 million parcels were delivered to the troops. In an average December week, 789 bags of mail were received in Capetown, and in the busiest week of the war 643,000 letters and newspapers and 33,967 parcels were delivered.
In 1908 the 24th Middlesex Volunteers became the 8th Battalion of the City of London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) on formation of the Territorial Force. This battalion and its two sister battalions (2/8th and 3/8th raised during the First World War) were largely made up of Post Office personnel but no longer had any direct links with the Army Post Office Corps. In 1913 the Army Post Office Corps became the Royal Engineers Postal Section and the Telegraph Reserve became the Royal Engineers Signal Section. At the outbreak of the First World War a Base Post Office was set up at Le Harve, whence army mail went to an Advanced Base Post Office and then to Field Offices and Branches. Primary sorting in the UK was done from the Home Depot. All mail below 4 oz. from servicemen was carried free, with letters to them addressed "c/o GPO, London" then sorted by code to preserve secrets of military layout. Censorship was operated by military authorities. The shortage of men led to a reduction in the number of deliveries and 35,000 women were temporarily employed. Subdivision of the London Postal Districts was introduced in 1917 to aid the women sorters.
The Second World War presented an even greater challenge, with mobile fronts all over the world and enemy air attacks at home. At the outbreak of the war the Post Office was the largest employer in the country, and by mid-war nearly a third had volunteered for active service. Fifty thousand staff were members of the Post Office Home Guard, who were detailed to defend telephone and telegraph facilities in case of invasion. Postwomen were again taken on to fill the gaps, often working long shifts. Mobilisation then evacuation caused millions of people to change address, greatly increasing the volume of mail and the percentage of insufficiently addressed letters. Payment of pensions and allowances greatly increased, as well as new tasks like the distribution of millions of ration books, public information leaflets and permits. The blackout made sorting, delivery and station work very difficult, and the need to blacken the glass roofs of sorting offices etc. meant that many sorters and telephonists worked all the time by artificial light.
Air raids brought large scale destruction of Post Office buildings, mostly in major urban centres, telephone cables had to be repaired or re-routed as quickly as possible, destruction at major railway termini often meant improvised re-routing of mails, and bomb damage sometimes made letter delivery hazardous and difficult, when the numbers on houses, or the occupants, or even the houses themselves might disappear overnight. In September 1940 23 post offices were destroyed in one night. During the Blitz post office buildings had their own fire-fighting teams composed of staff, often very efficient in preserving its buildings.
The Army Post Office was based at Nottingham in a former textile factory. Army and RAF mail was handled there by hundreds of WRAC women, plus men unfit for active service and GPO officials who had volunteered. Insufficiently addressed letters were also handled at Nottingham by the Post Office. Naval mail for ships in foreign waters was handled by Wrens at King Edward Building, London, then by the Admiralty at Reading. Hostilities in the Mediterranean posed particular difficulties for getting mail to British forces in the Middle and Far East. The sea route around the Cape added 12,000 miles to the journey, a 3 month delay, and aircraft space was at a premium. Microphotography offered a solution and the airgraph service was introduced in 1941. Some 330 million airgraphs were sent until the service ended in July 1945. At first airgraphs and air letters were for military use only, but were then made available to civilians. By 1945 600,000 civilian air letters per week were being despatched to 33 different countries.
Prisoner of war mail was despatched abroad by the Post Office. Between 1941 and 1945, 26,250,000 parcels (both Red Cross parcels and parcels from next-of-kin) were sent from Mount Pleasant via Portugal to Geneva (despite difficulties in getting around or across enemy territory) where they were transmitted forward by the International Red Cross. About 200,000 letters per week were sent to POWs from Britain by air to Lisbon, where an exchange system operated with mail from Germany for German prisoners in Britain and Canada. The Post Office was in effect a fourth service, vital to the survival of the state and performed its duty well despite labour shortage, the need to recruit and train inexperienced staff, and enemy attack.
The first Post Office employees to be issued with a uniform were the Mail Coach Guards who, from 1784, wore a scarlet coat with blue lapels and a black top hat with a gold band. As of 1793 the London General Post Letter Carriers were furnished with a scarlet coat with blue lapels, blue waistcoat and beaver hat with a gold band. By 1834 this uniform was worn by letter carriers in Edinburgh and Dublin as well as London. (See POST 61/1).
1837 saw the introduction of a uniform for the London district 'Twopenny Postmen'. These men wore the same blue waistcoat and beaver hat, but were given a blue coat with a red collar. This arrangement lasted eighteen years until the amalgamation of the General and Twopenny Postmen when a new uniform was issued to all London Letter Carriers. The new dress included a scarlet frock coat, glazed hat and grey trousers, it was the first time that trousers had been issued as part of the uniform. (See POST 61/63).
The Post Office took over responsibility for the country's Telegraph Service in 1870 and with it inherited a responsibility to provide Boy Messengers with a uniform as a supplement to their wages, something previously carried out for some time by the private telegraph companies). By providing suitable work clothes for the Boy Messengers the Post Office must have been spurred to extend the entitlements to uniform because, by 1872, the whole delivery force was receiving official Post Office dress.
Decisions made relating to uniform had always been rather disorganised with reports being produced here and there addressing very limited subject areas. (See POST 61/7). In an attempt to rectify this haphazard approach, the Committee on Uniform Clothing was created in 1908, and by 1910 the committee had produced a comprehensive report standardising postal uniforms nationwide by creating six 'Classes' of attire which corresponded directly with the grading of each duty. (See POST 61/11).
During the First World War (1914-1918) the number of Postwomen employed by the Post Office rocketed as more and more male workers were drafted into the armed forces. Previously female letter carriers had only been afforded a limited clothing entitlement, but as of 1916 they were provided with a blue serge coat and skirt, a waterproof skirt and cape, and a blue straw hat. (See POST 61/65).
Most of the main aspects of uniform manufacture and distribution remained unchanged from this point until 1948 when a review of Post Office Engineering grades was ordered by the Postmaster General. (See POST 61/4). Following the successful creation of scales of entitlement for the new engineering grades the Postmaster General decided to order a comprehensive review of all grades not covered by the 1948 agreement. For this task a new committee entitled 'The Joint Working Party on Uniform and Protective Clothing' was created and after four years of research and deliberation produced the 1954 report examining the arrangements for supply and issue of uniform and protective clothing. (See POST 61/13). (For committee papers and minutes of meetings held by the Joint Working Party on Uniform see POST 61/67 - 72).
The position of 'head of The Post Office' was first entitled 'Postmaster General' under the Commonwealth Act of 1657. Previously he had been known by various titles, Master of the Posts, Comptroller General of the Posts and Postmaster of England. The Post Office Act of 1660 provided that 'one Master of the General Letter Office shall be from time to time appointed by the King's Majesty, his heirs and successors, to be made or constituted by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of England, by the name and style of his Majesty's Postmaster General'. The appointment was generally not made for a fixed length of term and Postmaster Generals were succeeded upon retirement or resignation. From 1691 two Postmasters General were appointed to hold office conjointly. At that time one was a member of the Whig party and the other a member of the Tory party. This joint appointment continued as a government policy until 1823, although the political ramifications lost much of their initial importance. Between the years of 1784 and 1831, the Post Offices of Great Britain and Ireland were separate and had separate Postmasters. The post of Receiver General was established in 1677, with the responsibility to receive and account for all payments received and expended by the Post Office. In 1855 these duties were combined with those of the Accountant General. The Office of Court Post, which was abolished [1798] was that of messenger responsible for conveying the sovereign's letters and those of his Principal Secretaries of State to the nearest stage of post town.
The first of the early telegraph companies was the Electric Telegraph Company, founded in 1846 by Sir William Fothergill Cooke (one of the inventors of the telegraph) and a number of City financiers. Prior to the Post Office takeover in 1870, some of the companies had already amalgamated or been taken over by competitors. For example: the Electric Telegraph Company and the International Telegraph Company merged in 1855, and the London Telegraph Company formally changed its title to London and Provincial Telegraph Company in December 1857.
The first transmission of telegraphic communication to overseas routes was by submarine cable from Dover to Calais in 1850. Private telegraph companies pioneered this work, with the Post Office becoming increasingly involved in the management of overseas cables following its takeover of the UK domestic telegraph network in 1870. Private companies remained active in the international arena, particularly in providing telegraph services to places outside Europe. Many of these companies merged in 1929 to form Cable and Wireless Ltd.
From 1880, the Post Office enjoyed a monopoly in respect of the provision of telegraph and telephone services in the UK, following a legal ruling on the powers conferred on the Postmaster General by the Telegraph Act, 1869. Private telephone companies in competition with the Post Office, principally the National Telephone Company, thereafter operated under licence from the Post Office. This remained the situation until 1912, when the Post Office took over the National Telephone Company which, by that time, was the last remaining telephone concern outside public control.
Sir John Tilley began his career with the Post Office, more specifically the Secretary's Office, in 1829, when he entered that department as a Clerk on 19th February. At that time the Secretary's Office had a very small workforce headed by the then Secretary Sir Francis Freeling. Seven months after Tilley joined that department it transferred to St Martin's le Grand, London.
Tilley had a very successful career with the Post Office and rose quickly through the ranks. By 1838, aged only 26, he had been made a Surveyor, and on 11 October 1848 he was appointed to the post of Assistant Secretary. On 15 March 1864, he succeeded the then Secretary Sir Rowland Hill, the postal reformer, of whom he had always been a staunch supporter. Tilley was made a CB in 1871, and upon his retirement in 1880 the honour of KCB was bestowed upon him.
The duty of the Receiver General's office was the balancing of cash derived from the income and expenditure of the Post Office. The Receiver General was appointed independently and took responsibility for cash from the hands of the Postmaster General. He took receipt of all money paid into the Department, and paid costs directly from these funds.
Sources of income included payments received from the Postmasters, Inland Office, Foreign Office, Letter Receivers, Letter Carriers and charges levied on incoming foreign letters.
Outgoing payments were mainly for wages, allowances, pensions and normal postal service costs. The balance of cash was transferred to the Exchequer.
The class is comprised, for the most part, of Entry Books of Correspondence which contain authorities for acceptance and payment of monies by probate of wills, letters of administration, powers of attorney, bankruptcy, appointment of assignees, incidental payments, packet boat expenses and warrants for payments of annuities etc.
The position of Receiver General tended to overlap with another prominent financial position, that of Accountant General. The Accountant General was appointed by the Postmaster General to keep an account of all revenue in the Post Office. Due to this overlap the posts were finally merged in 1854, and 1854 is the date of the last entry book in this series.
No other record of the Receiver General's functions exists apart from the material in this class.
The first Public Relations officer was appointed on 1 October 1933, although an active 'public relations' function existed at least ten years earlier. This was followed by the formation of the Public Relations Department, which was formally established on 25 April 1934, when other changes in headquarters organisation were made.
The Post Office was the first government ministry to form a separate public relations department. In 1934 the first charter of the Public Relations Department stated that the responsibilities of the department were defined as 'being to promote good relations with the public, and to conduct sales and publicity for the services provided by the Post Office' (POST 108/18). The department was so successful that the Home Office borrowed its controller and some other officers in 1938 to plan publicity for air raid precautions. In 1939 some of its staff were seconded to help in establishing the wartime Ministry of Information.
In September 1939 many of the department's remaining staff were dispersed to assist in other government work, but it was soon realised that public relations work was just as necessary in wartime as in peacetime, and the department's operations were revived.
By the 1950s the Department was organised into three main divisions, press and broadcast, publicity, and publications. Press and broadcast was the oldest division of the three, having been established in 1934. From November 1940 it was headed by a specialist with previous experience as a journalist. The division issued news bulletins, and other bulletins on individual matters which were distributed to newspapers, broadcasters and other interested parties. In addition the divisions officers answered a continual flow of enquiries, mainly by telephone, from journalists. The division also organised occasional press conferences for ministers.
The publicity division's main area of responsibility was to ensure that the Post Office was presented in print, display, and film with the highest possible standard of modern art and technique.
The publications division was responsible for compiling and editing the various Post Office publications. These included the 'Post Office Guide', 'Post offices in the United Kingdom', 'London Post offices and Streets', and 'Postal Addresses'.
During the 1990s the department was renamed as Communication Services and was positioned as part of Royal Mail Group centre. Four directors, reporting to a director of Communication Services, were responsible for: Regional Communications; Communications Consultancy; Creative Services; and Commercial matters.
Communication Services activities and functions were reviewed and redesigned, and changes made to resourcing levels. Under the new structure Communication Services was organised and run more like an external agency with much closer attention paid to costs and to profits. The intention was to expand the range of services offered, to support the Post Office aim of being recognised as the complete distribution company, and to get much closer to the users of its services.
In the tenth report of the Commissioners of Post Office Inquiry, January 1838 it was recommended that a uniform fee of 2d should be charged for the registration of letters and that the Post Office should admit liability for their loss up to a maximum of £5. This scheme was to come into force in June 1839. However it was stopped by news of impending reductions in postage rates. A general scheme for the registration of inland letters came into force on 6 January 1841. Registration was applicable to any valuable letter for a prepaid fee of one shilling. There was no compulsion or compensation. By 1854 the fee was payable by stamps and in 1856 letters marked 'registered' and posted in a letter box were charged one shilling.
The principle of 'compulsory registration' was introduced on 1 August 1862 for all letters containing coin and passing through London, at a double registration fee of 18 pence. Compulsory registration was extended throughout the country during 1863. On 1 September 1873 compulsory registration also became applicable to those letters containing jewellery and watches.
The principle of compensation for damage and loss to registered letters was introduced on 1 January 1878 at a sum of two pounds.
The Recorded Delivery Service was introduced in 1961, it provided proof of delivery at a much lower cost than using Registered Post. Recorded Delivery was recommended for sending documents and papers of little or no monetary value, whereas items of value were recommended to be sent by Registered Letter Post.
The Compensation Fee service was introduced in 1972, it was to be used when sending valuable items by parcel post to provide compensation in the event of loss or damage and also to provide a record of posting.
The Special Delivery Service was introduced in the 1980s to provide customers with a service whereby an item could be delivered to a UK address on the next working day; the Datapost service, introduced in 1981 operated in the same area and could guarantee next day delivery to most destinations, providing a record of posting, documented handling en route and moderate compensation in case of loss or damage.
Consequential Loss Insurance was introduced in May 1982, it was designed to insure against the risk of loss-arising from some failure in the postal service-which was over and above the actual value of the article posted; it was provided as an optional extra with the Inland Registered Letter Service.
In the 1990s, a whole range of new services were introduced, including the Swiftair service, which guaranteed next day delivery to international destinations. In addition the Special Delivery/Registered Post portfolios was extended to include: Registered Plus, similar to the Registered Service in that it guaranteed next day delivery, but it offered a higher rate of compensation for damage or loss and the Sameday Delivery service, offering delivery by 6pm on the same day.
The system of 'minuting' papers submitted to the Postmaster General by the Secretary to the Post Office for a decision (i.e., numbering the papers, and separately copying a note of the paper as a 'minute' into volumes indexed by subject) was introduced in 1793. It remained in use by the Post Office Headquarters registry until 1973.
Until 1921, several different major minute series were in use: that concerned with the Packet Service (POST 29), and those concerned with England and Wales (POST 30), Ireland (POST 31) and Scotland (POST 32). From 1790 until 1841, parallel 'Report' series were in use by the Secretary (POST 39 & POST 40).
In 1921, the several different minute series were replaced by a single all-embracing series (POST 33). This was suspended in 1941 as a wartime measure when a Decimal Filing system came into use (POST 102), but was resurrected in 1949. In 1955 the registration of Headquarters files began to be decentralised under several local registries serving particular departments, although the 'minuting' of cases considered worthy of preservation, and the assimilation of later cases with earlier existing minuted bundles, continued until 1973.
For further details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.
Up until 1830, the Irish mail service did not come under the control of the British Post Office and was overseen by its own Postmaster General. In 1831 it was re-united with Great Britain's postal service and ceased to have its own Postmaster General. Under this new arrangement an Irish secretary was appointed to supervise Ireland's postal services and reported directly to the Postmaster General in London.
The earliest established packet stations were Dover to Calais 1633, Harwich to Holland 1660, Falmouth to Spain and Portugal 1689 and Falmouth to the West Indies in 1702.
Mail was carried in sailing packets up to 1815, but after this date these gradually gave way to steam-driven vessels. By 1840 the carrying of mail had been put into the hands of the commercial shipping lines, Cunard, Peninsular and Oriental Shipping Company, the West Indian Royal Mail, Union Castle etc., who found the postal subsidies valuable as they extended their routes further to keep pace with the expansion of the British Colonies.
After 1840 the General Post Office introduced domestic and Imperial 'penny postage' (in 1898), and before the Second World War, 1939-1945, pioneered a comprehensive airmail service, carrying letters at a standard rate without air surcharges. During the war it also introduced the airgraph and, later the airletter which was prefranked with the standard postage.
An overseas mail service has been in operation since 1580, before the establishment of the public postal service. A staff of ten Royal Couriers carried letters on affairs of State, or on the business of 'particular merchants' to Dover. At Dover, the postmaster provided horses for returning couriers and vessels for those passing through to Calais.
In 1619 the office of Postmaster General for Foreign Parts was created.
The mail service with foreign countries was not large in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The foreign Post Office, as it was called, had a staff of only four men in 1660. At the time of the Napoleonic wars, the Foreign Office business was barely accounting for 10% of the total net income of the Post Office. Postal connections with other countries were irregular and difficulties were experience in the capturing of letters arriving in ships and in the collection of profits. From the 1690s the government attempted to resolve these problems and extend the service by means of convention with the postal administrations of other countries for the establishment of an overseas service. The Overseas Air Mail service came into operation in 1917, thus after this date the conventions are between The Post Office and overseas postal administration for the transportation of mail by air. These can be found in POST 50/1.
Prior to 1879 the Post Office was responsible for the work of storing and distributing Postage Stamps etc. This work was apparently carried out from St Martin's le Grand and because of insufficient accommodation at that address, the Post Office in 1879 sought Treasury authority for the work to be transferred to the Inland Revenue Department. Treasury approval was given and after a trial period, the work was finally transferred about the middle of 1880. This situation continued until 1911, when a Departmental Committee was set up to consider questions relating to the supply of stamps and stamped stationery. The committee, after reviewing all relevant factors, recommended that the control of production and distribution of stamps, stamped stationery, insurance stamps, postal orders and licences should be re-transferred to the Post Office together with the staff currently employed. This course was agreed by the Treasury and in March 1914 the Inland Revenue staff employed on this work at Somerset House came under the control of the Post Office Stores Department. The Inland Revenue staff employed on Control duties at Contractors works and the staff employed in the India Stamp Branch were, however, not transferred until 1922.
From 1 April 1914 the work of demanding, storing and issuing adhesive stamps and stamped postal stationery was transferred from the Inland Revenue to the Post Office and the following contracts, made by the Board of Inland Revenue were taken over by the Postmaster General.
Messrs Harrisons and Sons - for the supply of unified (Postage and Revenue) stamps other than the 6d commencing on 1 January 1911 for a period of 10 years and thereafter from year to year terminable after 12 months calendar notice.
Messrs McCorquodale and Sons Ltd - for the supply of stamped postal stationery commencing on 1 January 1911 for a period of five or ten years and thereafter from year to year terminable after twelve calendar months' notice.
Messrs Waterlow Bros and Layton Ltd - for the supply of Insurance stamps other than a small quantity of Bi-colour stamps - commencing 1 May 1912 for a period of five years and thereafter from year to year terminable by twelve calendar months notice.
There was also an informal arrangement with Messrs Waterlow Bros and Layton for the supply of High Value Postage stamps, namely the 2s/6d, 5s/-, 10s/- and 20s/- values.
The informal arrangement with Messrs Waterlow Bros and Layton was terminated in 1915, tenders being invited from four firms. Four tenders were received and a contract was placed with Messrs De La Rue whose quotation was by far the lowest.
The following abbreviations are used in the files throughout this series.
HMSO Her Majesty's Stationery Office
PMGPostmaster General
OOD/CSD/SOperations and Overseas Department Counter Services Division (Stamps)
OOD/CSD/MOperations and Overseas Department Counter Services Division (Marketing)
SUP/DSupplies Division
SPD/HHSupplies Division Stamp Depot
SCD/EHSupplies Division Scottish Depot
LDP/PRSupplies Division London Postal Stores Depot
LDP/RSSupplies Division London Reproduction Section
HPOHead Post Office
BOBranch Office
DODistrict Office
SOSub Office
'Post-stage rates' for letters carried on the post-roads out of London were introduced in 1635 with the establishment of a state run postal service for the public's letters. The rate was based, primarily, on mileage and on the number of sheets the letter comprised of, heavier letters were charged by weight. Later, Penny Posts were set up for the collection and delivery of local letters, based on cities and other major centres beginning in London in 1680 and later extended to other provincial centres. Postage on general mails was normally paid by the recipient upon delivery.
Acts of Parliament, and later Treasury Warrants, gave authority for changes in rates and laid down charges for new services as they were introduced. The most significant was the Act of 1839, which led to the introduction of Rowland Hill's scheme for a Uniform Penny Postage in 1840. Postage rates were now based on weight and prepayable by means of the newly introduced stamped stationery and the more popular adhesive postage labels (postage stamps). The Postal Reform of 1840 also removed from Peers and ordinary Members of Parliament their privilege of franking letters for free transmission through the post.
The formation of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 led to uniformity of postage rates for overseas mail. Penny Postage within the Empire began on Christmas Day 1898. Two-tier postage, based on speed and offering the choice of a higher first-class rate to give fast delivery or a second-class rate for slower service, was introduced on 16 September 1968.
The first stamp to be introduced for postmarking purposes was the hand-struck stamp introduced in 1660 by Colonel Henry Bishop, Postmaster General, to 'put upon every letter showing the day of the month that every letter comes to the office, so that no Letter Carrier may dare to detain a letter from post to post, which before was usual'. These so-called Bishop marks were the first British postmarks and consisted of a simple circle divided horizontally with the indication of the month in one half and the day of the month in the other.
In 1840 hand-struck cancellation stamps were introduced, to deface the newly introduced adhesive postage labels (stamps) and prevent their fraudulent re-use.
The earliest stamps were made of wood, and later brass: and were probably manufactured locally. By 1825, however, they were being made of steel, and issued centrally. This change is reflected in the fact that the earliest proof book in the collection commences in 1825 (see POST 55/10). With the introduction of the Parcel Post in 1883, where steel stamps would not have been effective, pliable stamps made of cork were introduced. By 1885, however, stamps made of rubber had come into use for the Parcel Post and other uses (see POST 55/115).
The appointments procedure in The Post Office during this period was very complicated. Employees could either be Established, which meant they had privileges and rights, such as superannuation, or they were non-Established, which meant that they were probably part-time, and had no benefits or job security. Established employees were also civil servants and therefore were affected by any changes in the system, such as the gradual efforts to replace patronage with examinations and grading. Sub-postmasters and packet captains were not officially employed by The Post Office but were sub-contracted. Sub-postmasters tended to work in another line of business such as greengrocing and run a sub-post office as a side-line. Up until the end of the nineteenth century appointments were made by a system of patronage. Staff were appointed by being nominated to posts. Although they were supposed to then take a test of competency, this was often just a formality. The broad sweeping changes in the Civil Service with the introduction of competitive examinations meant that this practice was abandoned at the end of the nineteenth century.
The Post Office Welfare Service was formally established in 1947 to provide help and support to employees and pensioners. It was originally introduced to assist employees in managing their problems, with professional welfare officers on hand in all major towns throughout the United Kingdom to offer advice and guidance. The Welfare Service was to provide confidential counselling and advice and practical help on matters such as bereavement, financial distress, accommodation issues, family and relationship problems, and alcohol and drug abuse.
From 1972 the Post Office has also had an Occupational Health Service to deal with employee health issues. Led by the Chief Medical Officer, each Postal Region was given its own Regional Medical Officer and a team of doctors and nurses providing services to all levels of staff. Its focus was to be on the prevention of health issues rather than the treatment of them. The Occupational Health Service was initially established for the Post Office and British Telecom. However, following the establishment of British Telecom as a separate corporation, the Post Office set up a new service in 1981.
In 1988 the Occupational Health Service merged with Employee Support to form the Post Office's Employee Health Service. The aim of this service was to provide for the physical, social and psychological well-being of employees. The Employee Health Service currently provides advice on sickness absence and employee health management, medico-legal issues, first aid, and social well-being. It also undertakes employment assessments, health screenings, health consultancy and health and well-being education.
There are also councils, societies and associations for postal workers set up to focus on staff welfare. These include the Post Office Recreation Council, Post Office Relief Fund, Benenden Healthcare Society, P&T Leisure Centres, and the Rowland Hill Benevolent Fund.
Recreational activities have also been an important part of staff welfare and many local sports and social clubs have been formed by employees throughout the postal service. They include sports such as golf, bowling, football, cricket and rowing and hobbies such as drama, photography and art. Some examples of these clubs are The Mount Pleasant Sports and Social Club, the London Postal Service Horticultural Associaton, the Eastern Postal Sports and Social Club, and the Post Office Art Club.
Prior to the 1930s, the Post Office structure was based upon the central Secretariat and decision-making was extremely centralised. London as a metropolitan district was arranged by service with a Controller of London Postal Services, London Telephone Service, and the Central Telegraph Service. The Surveyor/Postmaster Surveyor was the Postmaster General's principal representative for all the services in the provinces and these were arranged geographically, not by services (e.g. postal or telecommunications). Outside of Inner London, and excluding Edinburgh, the country was divided into 22 districts for Post Office purposes. Of these 13 were under the charge of Surveyors and nine (which were the largest towns within their surrounding area) were under the charge of Postmaster Surveyors. In Scotland, Post Office organisation was under the control of a Secretary in Edinburgh, responsible to the main Secretary to the Post Office. A controller was in charge of postal and telegraphs services in Edinburgh and the surrounding area.
Throughout the nineteenth century there were concerns that there was too much concentration of administration in Post Office Headquarters and at the turn of the twentieth century there was a marked increase in volume and complexity of administrative work, which put pressure on the higher officers. The Decentralisation Committee was established in 1908, amidst a rising fear that excessive centralisation of powers was leading to inefficiency and inflexibility. It was thought that the Secretariat formed a bottle neck in the operation of the Post Office, with a resulting waste of power and loss of efficiency, as those at the centre were too caught up in the minutiae and were unable to devote time to questions of policy. The Committee's aim was to consider redistribution of responsibilities and it made several recommendations along these lines. These were not taken up, as objections, particularly those of Herbert Samuel, Postmaster General, were strong and ultimately it was decided to retain the current structure with some very minor changes.
By the early 1930s, there was renewed concern about over centralisation of administration and in 1932 Viscount Wolmer produced a report entitled: 'Post Office Reform: Its importance and practicability', speaking out against the current organisation of the Post Office. Fuelled by this, criticism began to mount and culminated in a Memorial signed by over three hundred MPs and addressed to the Prime Minister requesting the appointment of a committee to enquire into the status and organisation of the Post Office, with a view to making any changes to its constitution that were seen as necessary to improve efficiency.
As a result of this, the Post Office Organisation Committee, chaired by Lord William Bridgeman, former Home Secretary (also known as the Bridgeman Committee) was set up and reported in 1932. Its terms of reference were as follows:
'To enquire and report as to whether any changes in the constitution, status or system of organisation of the Post Office would be in the public interest'.
The main recommendation of the Committee was that the GPO, though still part of the civil service, should be run like a large public corporation with a board headed by the Postmaster General and served by a Chief Executive instead of a Secretary. In addition, as a means of decentralising Post Office control, the Committee advised the division of the Post Office into geographical divisions, each with its own Regional Board which would execute the general policy formed at Headquarters.
In line with this recommendation, the establishment of eight regions was suggested, each to be in the charge of a regional director who would be responsible for the control and coordination of all Post Office services (post, telegraph and telephone) within his territory; this role would effectively replace that of Surveyor. To aid the work of the new regional director, substantial powers were to be delegated to them - in some cases the full powers of the Postmaster General. A Regional Board would assist the Regional Director and devolved powers were to be given to Head Postmasters and Telephone Managers, who were next in the line of authority. In London, two regional organisations were to be set up to deal respectively with posts and telecommunications.
The Committee on Metropolitan and Regional Organisation, chaired by Thomas Gardiner (also known as the Gardiner Committee) was set up to implement the recommendations outlined in the Bridgeman report and immediately commenced working out plans for decentralising control.
One of their recommendations was that special committees for each Headquarters Department should examine the prospects for devolution. Reports are included within this class on the subject.
The scheme which emerged from the Gardiner Committee was based upon organisation under a Regional Director, with technical and financial guidance from the Engineer-in-Chief and the Comptroller and Accountant General, except in London where there would be separate telecommunications and postal Regions.
Implementation of complex changes began on an experimental basis in March 1936, when two regions were established (Scotland and the North East). In 1938 this experiment was deemed to be a success, and the remaining regions and telephone areas were established on a systematic plan. In 1939 the North Western region was inaugurated, and a sub-region in Northern Ireland as well as a number of telephone regions outside of the established regions. By the middle of 1940 the Home Counties, Midland, South Western and Welsh and Border Counties regions had full stature. The London Postal Region was organised in October 1936, and the London Telecommunications Region in April 1938.
The Bridgeman Committee had been anxious that communication should be maintained between all sections of the business and as part of this, regional directors were encouraged to visit one another's regions and exchange views and information. Close contact between the regions and headquarters was also encouraged with proposals for the interchange of staff.
In 1951, a report was prepared by the Working Party on Regionalisation (chaired by Lumley) on 'The present system of regionalisation in the Post Office' (GPO, October 1951). Its terms of reference were 'To examine within its existing framework the working of the regional organisation of the Post Office and to recommend any changes which appear desirable in the light of experience, with an estimate of any financial effect thereof; and in particular to report, with recommendations, on the following matters:
a) Whether existing devolved powers were being fully exercised at each level of the structure
b) Whether further devolution was practicable and desirable in present conditions
c) Whether any work now being done at Headquarters or in Headquarters Departments should be transferred elsewhere and whether any work now being done at Regions should be transferred to lower formations
d) Whether the instruments of control in operation are adequate and no more than adequate to ensure the efficiency and economy of the services.
The Working Party generally commended the prevailing situation with certain recommendations regarding the continued monitoring of the Regional set up to ensure its continued efficiency.
At this point, the Post Office was run by the Postmaster General (assisted by the Assistant PMG) as the Head of the Post Office; in addition he was the Chairman of the Post Office Board, a body consisting of principal permanent officials of the department and responsible for policy decisions. The work of the Post Office was divided into five main functions including Postal services, Telecommunications services, Engineering services, Establishments, staff and buildings, and Finance. These functions were carried down into the regional organisations which in 1951 consisted of ten territorial regions spread over Great Britain and Northern Ireland as follows; London (Postal), London (Telecommunications), Home Counties, South Western, Midland, Welsh and Border Counties, North Eastern, North Western, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. These were still under the control of the regional directors. At least two regional directors were members of the main Post Office Board. In order to ensure cooperation and sharing of information, five or six conferences a year were attended by all Regional Directors under the chairmanship of the Postmaster General. The Regional Directors also held private meetings under their own chairman. This situation was replicated at lower levels with regular conferences held of regional controllers, Chief Regional Engineers, and finance officers.
In April 1965 a proposal was put forward to split the Home Counties Region into two separate regions: the Eastern Region and South Eastern Region respectively, this proposal was approved and the action subsequently went ahead.
In 1966 the House of Commons Select Committee on the nationalised industries investigated 'devolution and control' in the Post Office.
As a result of this investigation, it was decided that further devolution would be advisable with regard to the administrative structure of the Post Office; the main focus being a split of the current Post Office Regions into separate postal and telecommunications functions. On 1 November 1966, the DEO (Director of Establishments and Organisation) delivered a memorandum at the Post Office Reorganisation Steering Group meeting on Functional split of Regions.
The official functional split of the Regions came with the passing of the Post Office Act in 1969; under the Act, the Post Office ceased to be a government department and was established as one corporation split into two divisions: Post and Telecommunications.
The Savings Bank was established by the Post Office Savings Bank Act 1861. This act empowered the Postmaster General to receive money on deposit, to make repayments, and to pay interest at the rate of two and a half per cent per annum on the balance outstanding to the credit of depositors. The Bank opened for business on 16 September 1861 using the already existing system of 301 Post Office Money Order offices and with 1,700 Post Offices acting as its local agents for deposit and withdrawal transactions. This quickly grew to 2,300 Post Offices. As the first institution of its kind in the world its success was immediate. The minimum deposit needed to open an account was fixed at one shilling.In 1861 the Savings Bank had twenty four thousand account holders and a staff of 200. By 1871 there were 1,300,000 accounts and the total sum on deposit was 15 million. The original system of manual book keeping lasted until 1926. Services were extended to include: government stocks and bonds in 1880; insurance and annuities in 1888; war savings certificates in 1916; (Renamed National Savings Certificates in 1920); premium savings bonds in 1956; investment accounts in 1966 and a Save as You Earn contractual scheme in 1969. A new logo for the Post Office Savings Bank, designed by Robert Gibbings and featuring a key, was introduced in 1936. In the mid 1960s as part of a general government policy to disperse staff from London, the Savings Certificate Division relocated to Durham, firstly into temporary accommodation then into a new purpose built office block. The move was completed by 1969. Other parts of the Savings Bank dealing with Ordinary and Investment accounts moved out of London to Glasgow. The Department was renamed 'Department for National Savings' in 1967. In 1969 the Department had a staff of over 14,000. By 1988, thanks largely to mechanisation and computerisation, this had been reduced to nearly half this size.When The Post Office ceased to be part of the Civil Service in 1969 and became a Public Corporation, the Savings Bank remained with the Civil Service and started a new life as a Public Corporation. The Post Office continued handling savings transactions over the counter on an agency basis.
Prior to the setting up of the Office of Controller of Telegraph Stores in 1877, the purchase of postal and postal telegraph stores was the responsibility of the Chief Clerk of the Post Office and the Engineer-in-Chief. In 1901 a committee of enquiry into the organisation and working of the Department of Telegraph Stores suggested that consideration should be given to the amalgamation of the postal and telegraph stores departments, and this took place in 1902. At this same time an independent Factories Department was formed. A further change took place in 1941 with the setting up of a separate Contracts Department. The Stores Department later became known as the Post Office Supplies Department. This department provided both postal and telecommunication stores until the separation of the businesses into the Post Office, dealing purely with postal matters, and British Telecom dealing with the telecommunication business in the 1980s.
This class contains specimens of the engineering rate book and vocabulary of engineering stores; a number of descriptive booklets on the work of the department together with various committee, annual and other reports.
The Supplies Department was based at Mount Pleasant, London, with other premises situated in Studd Street London N1, Wembley, Bridgewater Somerset, Birmingham and Edinburgh, and with a number of satellite units supplying the most frequently requisitioned items to their local areas. A separate clothing store existed at Hook in Hampshire. The London operations and work from the Bridgewater depot was relocated to new purpose built premises at Swindon in 1975. This new office and warehouse complex was designed to use modern storage and handling methods including high level storage racking, conveyors, fork lift and pallet trucks. It handles all the requirements for stores from offices in England, and it also handles requests for general publicity items, the distribution of telephone directories, (carried out under a contract on behalf of British Telecom), and requests for uniforms from offices in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Other items for offices in Scotland and Northern Ireland are supplied from the Edinburgh site.
The Marquis of Salisbury, together with the Earl of Chichester, held the appointment of Joint Postmaster General from 6 April 1816. In May 1822 it was ordered in the House of Commons that the office of one of the Postmaster Generals be abolished to save revenue. Salisbury (the junior of the two) gave orders that his salary should be discontinued whilst he retained the appointment of Postmaster General. It was not until Salisbury's death on 13 June 1823 that Lord Chichester was appointed sole Postmaster General.
Mary Elizabeth (Diane) Noakes (née Bixby) was born on 30 December 1911 in Mile End, East London. She had a number of secretarial jobs, including working for the Toynbee Hall Settlement. In 1941 she volunteered into the Women's Royal Air Force, where she carried out welfare, educational and administrative duties, and attained the position of Sergeant. After the War she trained as a teacher at Borthwick Teacher Training College, London, and worked from 1947-1949 at Peckham Secondary School for Girls teaching commercial subjects.
In 1951, Diane Noakes was invited by the Ugandan African Farmers' Union to help resolve disputes. She was already Secretary of the Working Party of the Congress of Peoples Against Imperialism (later amalgamated with other organisations to become the Movement for Colonial Freedom), and went to Uganda in this capacity. She reached agreement over cotton ginning and established the Abalini Co-operative for farmers; she established a school and clinic, and a weaving factory was also set up for women. Although the Abalini Cooperative folded, the Abesigwa Coffee Co. Ltd. was established. In 1965 Diane Noakes was appointed to the paid position of Executive Secretary of the Central Council of the Indian Associations in Uganda. She was also involved with the establishment of the Uganda Children's Welfare Society.
Following her return from Uganda in 1958, she gained employment at the Kellogg International Corporation in London, and advanced to the position of Assistant Metallurgist. Socially, she was a member of the Labour Party and Political Education Officer for Thornton Ward, and was involved with the running of the Kellogg Corporation photography club. She retired in 1971 and bought a house near Shap, in the Lake District, where amongst other things she campaigned for 'Cumbrians for Peace'. Diane Noakes died on 21 November 1983, following a period of illness.
The Black Eagle Brewery, Whites Grounds, Bermondsey is believed to have been established in the 1690s. It was known as Clarke's Brewery, and was acquired some time between 1823 and 1830 by John Cox. In 1848 it was bought by Day, Payne and Cox of Westerham, and traded as "Day, Noakes and Sons" from 1852. The Company was incorporated in 1897 as "Noakes and Company Limited".
The company acquired Nevile Reid and Company Limited in 1918 and J Canning and Sons, Royal Brewery, Windsor, in 1921. Brewing operations were transferred to Windsor in 1921. The company was acquired by Courage and Company Limited in 1930.
Mark Noble, of Battersea, was a pump and fire engine manufacturer and a supplier to the Ordnance Board.
Theophilus Charles Noble was born in London in 1840. He was an author and antiquarian, publishing works including The Lord Mayor of London: a sketch of the origin, history and antiquity of the office (1860); Memorials of Temple Bar (1870); A Ramble round the Crystal Palace (1875); A collection of papers relating to the management and mismanagement of the Public Record Office, London (1875); Biographical Notices of T Wood DD, sometime Bishop of Lichfield (1882); The Spanish Armada and the Public Records (1888) and A Brief History of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers (1889). In 1869 he received two special votes of thanks from the Irish Society after his publication of letters helped to defeat a Bill before the House of Commons which aimed to remove some of the Irish estates from the City of London companies. Noble died in 1890. His manuscripts were auctioned: see Catalogue of the library and collections (printed and manuscript) of T.C. Noble... consisting mostly of works on topography, chiefly of London... sold by auction... (London: Puttick and Simpson, 1890). This is possibly when the Guildhall Library acquired the papers.
Theophilus Charles Noble was born in London in 1840. He was an author and antiquarian, publishing works including The Lord Mayor of London: a sketch of the origin, history and antiquity of the office (1860); Memorials of Temple Bar (1870); A Ramble round the Crystal Palace (1875); A collection of papers relating to the management and mismanagement of the Public Record Office, London (1875); Biographical Notices of T Wood DD, sometime Bishop of Lichfield (1882); The Spanish Armada and the Public Records (1888) and A Brief History of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers (1889). In 1869 he received two special votes of thanks from the Irish Society after his publication of letters helped to defeat a Bill before the House of Commons which aimed to remove some of the Irish estates from the City of London companies. Noble died in 1890. His manuscripts were auctioned: see Catalogue of the library and collections (printed and manuscript) of T.C. Noble... consisting mostly of works on topography, chiefly of London... sold by auction... (London: Puttick and Simpson, 1890). This is possibly when the Guildhall Library acquired the papers.
Educated Somerville College, Oxford and Swanley Horticultural College; travelled to Egypt, 1892; went to India including Kashmir; Women's War Service, 1914-1918; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1919-1950; visited the Canaries and West Africa, c 1938; also travelled in Europe, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, South East Asia and the Middle East; died, 1950.
Publications: Some Wild Flowers of Kashmir (1903)
Some Letters and Records of the Noel Family (1910)
The Reverend the Honorable Baptist Wriothesley Noel was born in 1798, eleventh son of Sir Gerard Noel Noel of Exton Park and his wife Diana, Baroness Barham. His brother was the 1st Earl of Gainsborough (2nd creation). He was educated at Trinity College Cambridge before entering the Church. For many years he officiated at St John's Chapel, Bedford Row, where his sermons were popular with upper-class worshippers. In 1848 he declared himself a dissenter and joined the Baptist church. He was a supporter of Evangelical groups including the City Mission. He was married to Jane Baillie with whom he had 4 sons and 4 daughters. He died in 1873 aged 75.
Noel's son Ernest appears in this collection. Ernest Noel was born in 1831 and was the Chairman of the Eagle, Star and British Dominions Insurance Company.
Information from The Times, Tuesday, Jan 21, 1873; pg. 8; Issue 27592; col C.
Noel entered the Navy in 1859. He served as a midshipman in the Hannibal, Mediterranean, from 1859 to 1861 and in the SHANNON in the Mediterranean and West Indies from 1862 to 1865. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1866 and served in the RATTLER, on the China Station, until 1869. Following this he took courses in the Excellent and at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth. He was appointed Gunnery Lieutenant of the MINOTAUR, Channel Squadron, in 1871. In 1873 he went in the Active to the West Coast of Africa, where he commanded the seamen landed with the force under Sir Garnet Wolseley (1833-1913). He was promoted to commander in 1874 and appointed to the Immortalite, Detached Squadron. From 1878 to 1881 he served in the Royal Yacht, VICTORIA and ALBERT, and was promoted to captain in 1881, but then had several years on half-pay. In 1884 he served on the Admiralty Torpedo Committee and in 1885 was appointed Captain of the ROVER, Training Squadron, until 1888. The following year he became Captain of the TEMERAIRE, on the Mediterranean Station. In 1891, on the same station, he commissioned the NILE, which ship was the next astern when the VICTORIA and CAMPERDOWN collided. He was appointed a junior Sea Lord in 1893 and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1896. In 1898 he was appointed second-in-command, Mediterranean, and was involved in settling the disturbances in Crete. Noel was made Superintendent of Naval Reserves and commanded the Home Fleet from 1900 to 1903. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1901 and was Commander-in-Chief, China, 1904 to 1906, and at the Nore from 1907 to 1908. He was promoted to admiral in 1905 and Admiral of the Fleet in 1908, retiring in 1915.
No information available at present.
Hideyo Noguchi was an American-based Japanese bacteriologist who discovered the agent of syphilis in 1911.
James Noakes was a carpenter based in Holborn, who moved to Newington. Another branch of the family lived in Essex.
Non Such Tea Estates Limited was registered in 1924 to acquire estates in the Nilgiri Hills in the south of India. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) acted as secretaries / agents until 1965. Harrisons and Crosfield and the Rubber Plantations Investment Trust both had shareholdings in the company. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited sold its shares in 1966. See also CLC/B/112/MS37225.
None given.
Scholar in Theology, Lambeth; Tutor to Women Theological students, King's College London, 1945-1954; organised [and conducted] prayer groups, study group weekends and silent retreats at Pleshey, Essex; resigned from King's College, 1954; organised and conducted prayer group meetings at St Mary the Boltons and Westminster Abbey and the St Faith's Fellowship, Westminster, [1954-1965].
Born 1891; educated, Eton; Trinity College Cambridge; joined 9 Lancers, 1913; served in France, 1914; commanded 9 Lancers, 1936-1938; commanded 1 Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade, France, 1940; Colonel 9 Lancers, 1940-1950; retired, 1946; High Sheriff of Kent, 1950-1951; member of Kent County Council, 1949-1955; died, 1974.
George Warde Norman was born in Bromley, Kent, and educated locally and at Eton College. Instead of going to university he joined the family firm, which traded mainly in timber but also handled insurance and banking. He played cricket and studied history and literature in his spare time. He was elected a director of the Bank of England in 1821. Retiring from the family business in 1830, with an ample fortune, Norman settled to writing on political economy, particularly on monetary principles and taxation. He also wrote a remarkably candid autobiography (1857-1858).
Florence Priscilla Norman (1883-1964) (nee McLaren) was the daughter of the 1st Baron Aberconway and sister of the Liberal politicians Henry D McLaren and Francis McLaren. In 1907 Priscilla McLaren became the second wife of Sir Henry Norman, also a Liberal MP. Both the McLaren and the Norman families were strong supporters of the women's suffrage movement. Priscilla herself was an enthusiastic suffragist, though not a militant, and before the war held the post of Hon Treasurer of the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union. When hostilities broke out in 1914 she and her husband ran a small voluntary hospital at Wimereux, in northern France. She was awarded a CBE for her war services. After the founding of the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in 1917 she became Chair of its Women's Work Subcommittee, responsible for recording the work of women during the war: the large Women's Work Collection held by the Museum is her committee's legacy. Norman remained a Trustee of the IWM for over 40 years, and was an active member of many other organisations, notably the League of Nations and the National Adoption Society. She was also interested in mental health issues and was the first woman to be appointed to the board of management of the Royal Earlswood Institution in 1926. During the Second World War Norman joined the Women's Voluntary Service, driving a mobile canteen in London through air raids. She died in 1964 at the Château de Garoupe, her home in Antibes, France.
Normansfield was founded in May 1868 by Dr John Haydon Langdon-Down and his wife, Mary, as a private home for the mentally handicapped, especially for the children of the upper classes whom they sought to educate and train to the full extent of their capabilities. The hospital opened in a recently built house in extensive grounds in Kingston Road, Teddington, close to Hampton Wick. By the end of the year 19 patients were in residence.
Under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, the main building became a certified house. The North Wing accommodated male patients while the South Wing was for women and children. Conifers and Trematon became approved homes, Conifers for higher grade women and Trematon for higher grade men. Education, occupational therapy, therapeutic work on the farm and in the kitchen garden and daily exercise in the hospital grounds was provided for the patients. Annual visits to the south coast were arranged for almost all the patients up to the Second World War.
The problems of maintaining a private establishment after the War and with the advent of the National Health Service proved overwhelming. Negotiations to sell the hospital to the Government resulted in the transfer of Normansfield to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board on 22 June 1951. The hospital came under the immediate control of Staines Group Hospital Management Committee. As a result of the 1974 reorganisation of the National Health Service Normansfield was managed from 1 April 1974 by Kingston and Richmond Area Health Authority and the South West Thames Regional Health Authority. By 1993 Normansfield Hospital had become part of the Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust. The Hospital closed in 2000 and the site has since been redeveloped.
Saint John's Hill Workhouse was in use from the formation of Wandsworth and Clapham Poor Law Union in 1836. In 1870 an infirmary was constructed on an adjoining site. In the 1880's Wandsworth Board of Guardians built a new workhouse in Swaffield Road. From the opening of Swaffield Road Workhouse, all the buildings on the Saint John's Hill site were used as part of the infirmary. Saint John's Hill Infirmary was superseded as a general hospital by Saint James' Hospital, Balham, which was opened by Wandsworth Board of Guardians in 1911. From that date Saint John's was used mainly for the care of the chronic sick. In 1948 Saint John's Hospital became part of the National Health Service. It was administered by Battersea and Putney Group Hospital Management Committee and the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. On 1 July 1964 the Battersea and Putney Group Hospital management Committee amalgamated with Tooting Bec Hospital Management Committee.
From 1 April 1972 to 31 March 1974 Saint John's Hospital formed part of the Westminster Hospital Group. As a result of the 1974 reorganisations of the National Health Service Saint John's became part of the Roehampton Health District of Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Area Health Authority (Teaching). Between 1977 and 1978 Saint John's Day Hospital and Chest Clinic were built on the site. In 1982 Saint John's Hospital became the responsibility of Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton Health Authority. In 1988, by then known as Saint John's Health Care Unit, it was transferred to Wandsworth Health Authority. The Hospital closed in 1990.