This Post Class contains statistics relating to Post Office business, including returns of delivered, posted and registered mails, 1839-1913; comparative summaries of annual returns of work and staff hours from Head Post Offices in the United Kingdom, covering 1923-1966; returns of work and staff on Travelling Post Offices and Sorting Carriages, 1951-1974; and postal business key performance statistics, 1973-1985. Also includes statistics relating to Quality of Service (1985-1989 and 1992).
Sans titreThis series relates to the operation of counters business and services. The majority of the records relate to the policy on the establishment, closure and up-grading of sub-offices and the review of the scale payment sub-office system.
Sans titreThis class comprises reports, papers and correspondence relating to the establishment, development and operation of Britain's Inland Letter Post service, spanning the period from 1635 to 1989. At present, POST 23 is divided into 14 Sub-Series, containing some pieces originally in POST 22. There is a small amount of material that relates to seventeenth and eighteenth century developments (see Sub-Series 1 'Establishment and Introduction of the Inland Letter Post' and Sub-Series 5 'Introduction of the Penny Postage'). However, the majority of the records held in this class relate to developments that occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which was the period in which a great expansion and modernisation of the inland letter service occurred within Britain. For the nineteenth century, there is interesting general information in Sub-Series 2 'Inland Letter Post, General' and, in Sub-Series 3 'Missing Letter Branch Case Papers', there are over 50 files of records created by the Missing Letter Branch, who investigated mail thefts between 1839-1859. The largest group of records within this class for the twentieth century is Sub-Series 8 'Two-Tier Inland Letter Service, Correspondence and Reports' which relates to the substantial changes that occurred from the 1960s that accompanied the introduction of a first class and second class postal service, amongst other changes that further modernised the system. Other than Sub-Series 14 'Seditious, obscene and libellous publications sent through the post' which comprises records for the years 1876-1927, the latter half of this class (Sub-Series 9-13) is filled with reports, business plans and material related to other significant developments that have occurred within Britain's letter post service from the late 1960s to the late 1980s.
Sans titreReports, correspondence and memoranda relating to the introduction, implementation, policy and operation of the inland parcel post service. Some pieces relate to the introduction of both the inland and overseas parcel post.
Sans titreThis series relates to the introduction and implementation of the registration service, the compulsory registration scheme and compensation for the loss and damage to registered mail.
It also includes items relating to the Recorded Delivery Service and other Special Delivery Services designed for sending valuable items or items required to arrive on a specific date and at a specific time via the postal system.
Sans titreThis series comprises 'minuted' papers relating to Ireland for the period 1841 to 1960. 'Minuted' papers were those papers which had been submitted to the Postmaster General for a decision, and then been retained in the Post Office registry. At first, the papers 'minuted' tended only to be the particular case submitted to the Postmaster General but, as time went on, registry staff followed a practice of continuing to add physically to an existing minuted case all other cases on that subject which came to hand. As a result, the minuted papers frequently consist of quite large bundles of files on a common subject spanning many years. The date range of the files is consequently often much earlier or much later than the date suggested by the 'Former Reference' used by the registry staff and, in many cases, the precise dates covered by the files have not yet been listed. The subject of individual files among the minuted papers can be wide-ranging, from the mundane administrative minutiae to policy decisions on developments of critical importance.
Sans titreThis series comprises accounts of British packet services and overseas posts, including records of agents and postmasters, packet stations, and packet boats. The accounts cover income, expenditure, salaries, allowances and disbursements.
Sans titreThe Postmaster General's Report series (POST 40 and POST 42) began in about 1790 and comprise reports on all aspects of Post Office organisation in England, Wales and Scotland; as well as those on the Packet Boat service and overseas postal arrangements up to 1807, when a separate Packet Report series (POST 39 and POST 41) was introduced.
POST 40 consists of those actual Reports which are still in existence, with their enclosures (many of which are sketch maps of local postal routes, petitions from the principal inhabitants of towns and villages throughout the country and detailed reports from heads of departments and the District Surveyors, etc). Although, in this list, some of these Reports are shown as 'wanting', many are, in fact, filed within later Reports on the same subject - a common practice of the day. POST 42 consists of volumes containing copies of reports to, and minutes from, the Postmaster General (including those which have since been destroyed), and is the only guide to the contents of POST 40. POST 42/1-25, 35-42, 59-139 and 141 are indexed. The Postmaster General's decision on each case is also recorded.
Post 40/1-3 consist of indexed reports from Francis Freeling, the Resident Surveyor, addressed to the Joint Postmasters General, mostly to Lord Walsingham. They are supplementary to the main series of reports.
Post 40/4-41 consist of reports from the Resident Surveyor addressed to the Postmaster General.
POST 40/42-652 are a continuation of POST 40/4-41, but these reports were made by Freeling in his capacity as Secretary. Freeling was promoted to the vacancy created by the death of Anthony Todd in June 1798, having been created Joint Secretary since March 1797, owing to Todd's incapacity.
Freeling continued the Reports until his death in 1836, after which they were continued for a time by Lieutenant Colonel William Leader Maberly, his successor. From August 1837 Maberly used only the parallel Minute series for his submissions to the Postmaster General. Reports for the period August 1837-February 1841 are quarterly statements of the gross revenue of the Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds Penny Posts.
In 1794 a parallel service entitled Postmaster General's Minutes (POST 30 and POST 35) was created, followed in 1811 by a Packet Minute series (POST 29 and 34), corresponding with the packet reports. When the Report series came to an end around 1837 the Minutes were continued alone. The Reports seem to have been the more important of the two series, while the early Minutes were concerned mainly with comparatively minor matters relating to personnel, etc.
Sans titreThis record series comprises copies (mainly published and submitted to the House of Commons) of conventions and articles of agreement made between the Government and/or The Post Office of the United Kingdom and overseas governments and/or postal administrations, for the exchange of mails and the regulation of these services. The conventions lay down the offices of exchange, despatch and delivery times, weight and dimension limits and postage rates.
POST 46/57 relates to the formation of the Universal Postal Union in 1875.
POST 46/62 relates to the establishment of an Imperial Penny Postage, introduced in 1898 and POST 46/63-65 concerns the payments of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company for the conveyance of mail.
Sans titrePOST 5 comprises a series of quarterly accounts of warrants issued by the Treasury authorising payment, by the Receiver General, of incident bills incurred by the General, Twopenny and London District Post Offices (the Twopenny Post was replaced by the London District Post in 1844).
Accounts cover a wide variety of items and are arranged under general subject headings, such as 'pensions', 'packets', 'tradesmen' and 'rents'. Entries include the date of issue of warrant, what or whom it is for, date payment is due and the amount. Volumes are indexed by person, subject and place. Warrants are mainly for payments of:
· Pensions, salaries and allowances to chief and senior officers, clerks, sorters, messengers and servants working in the London headquarters departments, including offices of the Secretary and Accountant General, and the Foreign, Inland, Express, Mail Coach, Dead Letter and Ship Letter offices; packet agents; surveyors; postmasters; inspectors of mails, letter receivers and carriers and packet ships; commanders and mates of packet ships, or their widows; letter receivers and carriers in London; and mail guards
· Expenses for mail conveyance by sea, including costs incurred by packet ships operating from Falmouth, Harwich, Dover, Whitehaven, Donaghadee, Weymouth, Milford Haven and Holyhead, and in the West and East Indies, notably hire charges, lighting dues, wages and victualling for captains, officers and crew whilst at sea, out of employ or while the ship is undergoing repairs; and ship letter mails
· Expenses for inland mail conveyance, notably for payments to mail coach contractors; road, bridge and ferry tolls; supply and upkeep of fire arms, time pieces, mail bags and mail guards uniforms; mail coach maintenance; and railway and steam packet company charges
· Compensation for abolished offices or duties
· Tradesmen's bills for items supplied or work done
· Legal expenses, notably relating to investigation, detection, capture and trial of felons
· Rents, taxes and rates for offices in London
· stationery printing costs
· Transit postage and tonnage dues to foreign post offices
· Travelling expenses, particularly surveyors'
· Advances or loans (covered by imprest warrants) to employees, particularly seamen.
*There are no indications whether or not POST 5/1-3 include warrants relating to the Twopenny Post Office.
Sans titreOn 1 April 1914, under authority of an Order in Council, responsibility for both the manufacture and distribution of postage stamps and related items passed from the Board of Inland Revenue to the Post Office. The work transferred included control of the contracts for the manufacture of watermarked paper, adhesive postage stamps, stamped stationery and postal orders. The records listed here are those created by the Post Office's Stores Depot, more recently known as the Royal Mail Stamp Depot. It was the latter which, in 1989, discovered this collection lying forgotten in its store, and transferred it in its entirety to the Post Office Archives. In 1995 material was sent to the Archive from Hemel Hempstead, and as other items have come to hand, they too have been transferred and added to this list. Please refer to the individual sub-series for the dates that they cover.
Sans titreThis series comprises minutes, reports, correspondence and statistics relating to postage stamps. It relates to the design, selection of designs and production of postage stamps and stamp books, matters concerning responsibility for production costs, the use of stamps as remittance, the introduction of King George V postage stamps, and questions regarding postage stamps put to the Postmaster General through Parliament.
Sans titreThis Post class comprises material on how the Post Office operated during wartime and civil emergencies. The greater part of the collection relates to the vital task of maintaining communications, including handling prisoners-of-war mail, censorship and civil defence arrangements during the First World War (1914-1918) and the Second World War (1939-1945). Among the early papers are documents relating to the South African War of 1899-1902 and some nineteenth century notices and field manuals of the Post Office Rifles Association.
Some records have been transferred from POST 14.
Sans titreThis series relates to the provision of medical care for staff through the appointment of medical officers, the monitoring of sick leave and the establishment of the Post Office Ambulance Corps.
Sans titreThis series consists of Royal Letters Patent to Postmasters General and Receiver Generals giving the sovereign's written authority to perform their duties. The series also contains a letters patent for the office of Court Post. The patents give: name of appointee; dates of appointment; salary and duties. All have their seals missing but the original seal attached.
Sans titreSchedules of annual property and income tax assessments made upon the salaries, annuities, and pensions of employees in the General Post Office in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, with signed certificates of affirmation and verification by the GPO Assessors and Commissioners (senior officers in the GPO, notably from the offices of the Secretary and Receiver General).
Accounts are arranged mainly by department or section and cover: establishments in GPO headquarters in London, Edinburgh and, from 1854, Dublin, including the Postmaster General, Secretary, Accountant General, Receiver General, Solicitor, Surveyors, heads of departments such as the Inland, Money Order, Returned Letter and Circulation offices, and their inspectors, clerks, sorters, stampers and messengers; letter carriers and receivers in London, under the General Post (up to 1856), Twopenny Post (up to 1844) and London District Post (from 1844); superannuated officers; provincial establishments in England, Wales, Scotland and, from 1854, Ireland, including postmasters, sub-postmasters, clerks, letter receivers and messengers; Colonial agents and postmasters; mail guards; officers of the railway or travelling post; telegraph and engineering establishments (from 1871); and Savings Bank staff (from 1862).
Entries state the name of employee, office or position held, amount of income assessable, exempt amount of income, duty payable and rate, rebates allowed and total deducted.
From POST 7/2 onwards, volumes consist of standard, printed schedule and certificate forms. POST 7/1 contains various pasted-in summary lists and certificates, covering 1813-1818. It is divided into Domestic and West Indies taxes assessed by the Receiver General.
This series is a useful source for family historians, containing lists of staff employed in the GPO between 1843 and 1884 and in 1891, including their position and annual salary.
Sans titreThis class consists of papers spanning the period from pre-regionalisation, when the country was separated into Districts run by District Surveyors, reporting directly to the Postmaster General, up until the early 1990s.
It includes papers on Regional surveying duties and the stretching of resources in the light of an increase in work load due to rapid expansion of the Post Office in the nineteenth century.
In addition it incorporates papers from various Committees including:
-The Decentralisation Committee, appointed to consider devolution of powers in the light of mounting criticism of centralisation of Post Office administration leading to inefficiency and an inability to concentrate on development of policy.
-The Committee of Enquiry on the Post Office (Bridgeman Committee) appointed to consider change in Post Office administration, which had various wide ranging recommendations, including that of the introduction of a Regional system with powers devolved on Regional Directors.
-The Committee on Metropolitan and Regional organisation (Gardiner Committee), appointed to carry through the recommendations of the Bridgeman Report, culminating in the creation of two experimental Regions in Scotland and the North East.
-The Working Party on Regionalisation appointed to assess the progress of Regionalisation and to recommend further innovations if necessary.
It also includes papers from the experimental Regions and various Regional Conferences, as well as papers from the individual Regions. Subjects covered by this material include papers covering the civil disturbances in Northern Ireland and papers relating to the London Postal Service and the inauguration of the London Postal Region. Also included are papers concerning the input of the London and Midlands Regions into the several reviews of efficiency of the Post Office conducted by McKinsey and Company.
There are also papers relating to the split of the Post Office into two separate divisions: Postal and Telecommunications, and how this might best be carried out across the Regional structure.
The papers incorporate a wide range of material, including annual reports, meeting minutes and papers, financial paperwork, organisational diagrams, Regional Board papers, Regional publications, reviews, strategic plans and photographs of Regional representatives.
Sans titreThis series consists of reports, memoranda and accounts relating to the organisation, structure, functions and operations of Post Office factories and the Factories Department.
Sans titreThis series comprises the records of private telephone companies which were taken over by the Post Office in 1912. It consists of items relating to individual companies, National Telephone Company rules and instructions, staff related records, agreements, judicial proceedings, valuation of assets and a collection of early telephone directories.
Sans titreThis series comprises items on telephone rates and charges, forms of licence issued by the Postmaster General, reports, memoranda and papers relating to matters of telephone policy, items of general interest and a collection of select committee and departmental reports.
Sans titreThis series consists of a few specimen agreements between Britain and other countries for the establishment of an overseas telephone service, and a collection of reports on various overseas telephone systems.
Sans titreThis series consists of a collection of reports on trials and demonstrations of various systems, applications and agreements for the establishment of stations, permits to conduct experiments, departmental and Parliamentary reports and miscellaneous correspondence on the subject, including references to the establishment of an Imperial Wireless Chain.
Significant items in this series include a collection of original letters to Sir William Preece, the Post Office Engineer-in-Chief and electrician, from Guglielmo Marconi dating from the latter's arrival in the United Kingdom, and which describe a number of experiments in wireless telegraphy.
Sans titreIncludes papers of the Sykes, Crawford, Selsdon, Ullswater and Beveridge broadcasting committees. Also includes reports of the Television Advisory Committees and correspondence and papers relating to the technical aspects of broadcasting. Also contains reports relating to licensing and licence evasion.
Sans titrePost Office publications. This series consists of publications produced by the Post Office with the purpose of disseminating news throughout the organisation, and publications intended for the general public. Publications cover annual reports and accounts, the provision of postal services throughout the country, and staff newsletters from across the organisation, lecture notes, philatelic publications, and publications regarding postal history.
Sans titreThis series contains reports from the Managing Directors of LUL concerning expenditure, financial results and funding requirements, manpower and personnel issues, industrial relations, operations, engineering, development, passenger services, safety, information technology, quality of service targets, Department of Transport delivery contract and the Private Finance Initiative.
Sans titreThis series contains correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning permission granted and refused to various companies regarding the operation of bus and coach services. Also includes details of the acquisition of certain routes by the LPTB and references for ex-London Transport employees.
Sans titreThis series contains correspondence, memoranda, reports and minutes concerning the design and construction of power stations and substations including details of costs, equipment, repairs and maintenance, current supplies and complaints regarding the emission of grit and fumes. Also includes details of the Kearny Station, New Jersey and the power station of the Ohio River Edison Company.
Sans titreThis series contains correspondence, memoranda and notes concerning new works and improvements to the railway including details of proposed extensions and subways.
Sans titreThis series contains correspondence and memoranda concerning the construction, alteration and enlargement of garages including details of the installation of equipment and the purchase of garages and land.
Sans titreThis series contains memoranda and extracts from minutes concerning general maintenance including details of the cleaning of vehicles and buildings, the renovation of premises and defects on railways and buses.
Sans titreThis series contains details of proposed office accommodation and new garage space, as well as of future requirements for office accommodation and details of the Business Efficiency Exhibition for 1937. Also included are notes on the replacement of office machines, the furniture and office equipment budget for 1938/1939 and notes of equipment expenditure.
Sans titreThis series contains London Transport Passenger Board minutes, including details on special meeting notices, financial assistance and pensions, and memoranda concerning the Railway Benevolent Institution, London General Omnibus Company Employees' Friendly Society, London Transport (Railways) Clerical Staff Benefit Fund, London Transport (Country Buses) Employees' Friendly Society, Metropolitan Railway Provident Savings Bank, Pension Fund, Central Charities Fund, Railway Convalescent Homes and the Omnibus Railway Tramway and Equipment Companies' Staff Superannuation Fund.
Sans titreThis series contains details of weekly traffic receipts, including details of passenger takings on the LPTB rail network, traffic summaries, general factors affecting the traffic on LPTB's system, resumption of receipt publications, including notes on when the figures should be published and copies of the receipt cards.
Sans titreLondon Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) and Successors: Operating Manager (Central Buses) and Successors: Garage, Works and Depot Papers, 1934-1976: This series contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, statements, drawings, plans, Standing Instructions and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning various subjects including the provision and modernisation of bus washing facilities, the reconstruction and modernisation of garages, the maintenance of gardens, the disposal and sale of surplus and redundant property, engineering works, the tram and trolleybus conversion programmes and instructions for dealing with lost property. Also includes papers and memoranda concerning uniform requirements of transport workers during the period of clothes rationing during and after World War Two.
File level records comprise: LT000013/001: 1 folder 'Chiswick Works', 9 Feb 1934-15 Feb 1934, Memoranda concerning the cost of laboratory work; LT000013/002: 'Washing Facilities', 19 Oct 1934-5 Mar 1940, Correspondence, memoranda and statements concerning the provision and modernisation of washing facilities at garages; LT000013/003: 'Hackney Garage Reconstruction', 25 Sep 1937-30 Jul 1940, Correspondence and memoranda. Also includes sketch drawings of the ticket stockroom; LT000013/004: 'Gardens and allotments at garages', 13 Sep 1938-20 Mar 1939, Correspondence, memoranda and papers concerning the maintenance of gardens at garages; LT000013/005: 'Accommodation - Proposed Garages', 25 Jul 1938-1 Sep 1939, Memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning proposals for additional garages at Giilingham Street and Shepherd's Bush (Wood Lane); LT000013/006: 'Alperton Garage', 1 Sep 1937-14 Dec 1939, Correspondence and memoranda concerning the reconstruction of Alperton Garage. Also includes drawings; LT000013/007: 'Gillingham Street', 27 Nov 1939-14 Mar 1940, Memoranda concerning the maintenance of weighting machines and lists of furniture and equipment for Gillingham Street Garage; LT000013/008: 'Clapham Depot', 20 Oct 1948-23 Feb 1959, Correspondence, memoranda, extracts from minutes of meetings and drawings concerning the reconstruction of Clapham Garage and Depot; LT000013/009: 'Land for garages', 19 May 1950-31 Dec 1956, Correspondence, memoranda, reports and plans concerning the disposal and sale of surplus and redundant property. Includes details of sites such as land near Oakwood Station; Westdown Road, Leyton (Drapers Field); Sussex Place; Watford Bypass; Lea Bridge trolleybus depot; East Finchley Station and King's Cross coach station (Britannia Street).
LT000013/010: 'Leyton', 20 Apr 1944-9 Oct 1958, Correspondence, memoranda, drawings and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning the reconstruction of Leyton Garage; LT000013/011: 'New Cross', 22 Nov 1946-16 Jan 1958, Correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings. Subjects include lavatory accommodation, the reconstruction of New Cross Depot and the proposed changeover to Central Bus operation. Also includes drawings; LT000013/012: 'Garage wardens', 30 Jul 1946-17 May 1976, Correspondence, memoranda, reports and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning the employment of garage wardens and the control of access to garages, depots, works and generating stations. Also includes a draft organisation chart; LT000013/013: 'Elmers End',14 Sep 1944-10 Nov 1955, Correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning parking facilities and the reconstruction and extension of Elmers End Garage. Also includes drawings; LT000013/014: 'West Green', 12 Nov 1948-8 Aug 1974, Correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning engineering works and parking facilities. Also includes drawings; LT000013/015: 'Garage visits', 21 Sep 1939-8 Jul 1964, Correspondence and memoranda concerning the inspection of garages; LT000013/016: 'Heating and lighting of garages and offices', 1 Nov 1939-27 Feb 1953, Correspondence and drawings.
LT000013/016/001: 'Stockwell Garage Relationship of the shops and offices showing the run of duct below the drive in', 28 Nov 1950, drawing (item level); LT000013/016/002: 'Stockwell Garage Shops - East end and boiler room layout', 16 Nov 1950, drawing (item level); LT000013/016/003: 'Stockwell Garage - Pits Area - Heating and HWS installation',16 Nov 1950, drawing (item level); LT000013/016/004: 'Stockwell Garage Canteen and Office Block - Heating and HWS installation', 16 Nov 1950, drawing (item level).
LT000013/017: 'Land for garages', 20 Dec 1956-5 Nov 1962, Correspondence and memoranda concerning the disposal and sale of surplus and redundant property. Also includes drawings; LT000013/018: 'Garages - General', Aug 1951-13 Sep 1976, Correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning the 1954 schedule of works, the trolleybus conversion programme, the disposal and sale of surplus and redundant property, the modernisation of garages and the washing of buses; LT000013/019: 'Tram Conversion - Stage 1', Jul 1950-Oct 1950, Correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning the location of bus stops on converted tram routes. Includes tables showing stops to be modified or abolished and new stops to be created; LT000013/020: 'Tram Conversion - Stage 2', Oct 1950-Jan 1951, Correspondence and memoranda concerning the location of bus stops on converted tram routes. Includes tables showing stops to be modified or abolished and new stops to be created; LT000013/021: 'Stage 3', Jan 1951-Apr 1951, Correspondence and memoranda concerning the position of bus stops on converted tram routes. Includes tables showing stops to be modified or abolished and new stops to be created by Central Buses. Also includes plans of Westminster Bridge Road roundabout showing bus and tram routes and stops; LT000013/022: 'Stage 4', Apr 1951-Jul 1951, Correspondence and memoranda concerning the position of bus stops on converted tram routes. Includes tables showing which stops are to be modified or abolished and new stops to be created by Central Buses; LT000013/023: 'Stage 5', Feb 1951-Oct 1951, Correspondence and memoranda concerning the position of bus stops on converted tram routes. Includes tables showing stops to be modified or abolished and new stops to be created by Central Buses. Includes Traffic Circular of Central Road Buses, dated 5 October 1951; LT000013/024: 'Stage 6', Sep 1951-Jan 1952, Correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning the position of bus stops on converted tram routes. Includes tables showing stops to be modified or abolished and new stops to be created by Central Buses.
LT000013/025: 'Stage 7', Feb 1952-May 1952, Correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning the position of bus stops on converted tram routes. Includes tables showing stops to be modified or abolished and new stops to be created by Central Buses. Also includes plan of Holloway Road showing bus routes and proposed bus stops; LT000013/026: 'Stage 8', Oct 1951-Jun 1952, Correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes of meetings concerning the position of bus stops on converted tram routes. Includes tables showing stops to be modified or abolished and new stops to be created by Central Buses. Also includes plan of proposed new bus stand at General Gordon Place, Woolwich; LT000013/027: 'Minutes of Operating Managers' (Central Road Services) Meeting, 18 Jan 1954-16 Dec 1954, Minutes of meetings. Subjects include traffic receipts, public relations, staff wages and special bus excursions to horse races.
LT000013/028: 'Minutes of Operating Managers' (Central Road Services) Meeting', 19 Jan 1953-7 Dec 1953, Minutes of meetings. Subjects include the number of accidents involving Central Buses and trolleybuses, failures and delays to road services, staff recruitment and wages, and special arrangements concerning the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II; LT000013/029: 'Minutes of Operating Managers' (Central Road Services) Meeting',18 Jan 1952-15 Dec 1952, Minutes of meetings. Subjects include circulation of the staff magazine, accidents involving Central Buses and trolleybuses and staff recruitment and wages; LT000013/030: 'Minutes of Operating Managers' (Central Road Services) Meeting', 5 Jan 1951-4 Jan 1952, Minutes of meetings. Subjects include collection of fares, delays to services, ticket issuing machines and the retention of staff beyond the normal age of retirement; LT000013/031: 'Minutes of the Operating Managers' Meetings', 21 Jan 1949-28 Dec 1949, Minutes of meetings. Subjects include traffic receipts, queues for buses, delays to services, and sales of Christmas cards; LT000013/032: 'Minutes of the Operating Managers' Meetings - Meeting Numbers 1-23', 31 Dec 1947-24 Dec 1948, Minutes of meetings. Subjects include awards for safe driving, analysis of accidents involving Central Buses and trolleybuses, interviews for employees on probation and the preservation of sporting trophies in garages; LT000013/033: 'Minutes of Operating Meeting', 7 Feb 1947-17 Dec 1947; LT000013/034: 'Operating Manager (Central Buses): Operating Meeting',19 Nov 1945-7 Jan 1946, Minutes of meetings. Subjects include on-time buses, refresher courses for drivers returning from the armed forces, accident reports and special arrangements for Victory Week celebrations; LT000013/035: 'Operating Managers' Meetings with Divisional and District Superintendents', 29 Apr 1946-19 Apr 1948, Minutes of meetings. Subjects include staff promotions, rest rooms for women conductors, staff discipline and mechanical breakdowns. Also includes notes and tables of statistics showing traffic receipts and working expenses for use during meetings; LT000013/036: 'Memoranda and Tables - Staff Uniforms', Mar 1949-May 1949, Memoranda concerning uniforms of London Transport staff, and tables showing uniform requirements of staff employed at bus depots; LT000013/037: 'Clothes Rationing Instructions', 7 Oct 1941-8 Apr 1952, Memoranda, correspondence and Government leaflets concerning rationing and the issue of extra clothing coupons for uniforms for transport workers. Includes a booklet entitled 'The 1943-1944 Clothing Quiz', issued by the Board of Trade explaining how to use clothing coupons and providing answers to frequently asked questions regarding the clothes rationing scheme; LT000013/038: 'Tramcars and trolleybuses written off from 1 January 1948', 1 Jan 1948-1 Dec 1962, Register listing date the vehicle was disposed of, its car number, AWRA number and remarks; LT000013/039: 'London Transport Central Road Services Department: Garage and Depot Standing Instructions', Jan 1956-Oct 1968, Standing Orders and instructions issued by the Operating Manager, Central Road Services and the Chief Operating Manager, Central Buses. Subjects include fatal accidents, conductor instructors, cap badges, eyesight examinations for drivers and retention schedules for documents.
Sans titreWatercolour drawing of a quartz crystal with asbestos inclusions, by Charlotte Caroline Sowerby, [1854].
Caption reads: 'Mineralogical phenomenon
Rock crystal with an hexahedral pyramid in the centre formed of Asbestos. This Crystal is supposed to be unique, Mr Sowerby never having seen a similar one, so extraordinarily curious and beautiful. Charlotte C Sowerby.'
Sans titreNine black and white photographs showing the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Pelée, Martinique, in 1902. Six of the photographs are of the town of Saint-Pierre. Also, manuscript sections of the volcano showing the various stages of the eruption, November 1902-October 1904, by Major W M Hodder, Royal Engineers, 27 October 1904.
Sans titreLarge, conte and pencil drawing of a Cruziana semiplicata fossil by John Lucas Tupper, Rugby School, Rugby, [1875].
Sans titreDrawings and watercolour paintings of fossil fish by Joseph Dinkel, J C Weber, Cécilie Agassiz, Jacques Bourkhardt, G A H Köppel and Sixtus Heinrich Jarwart and others, commissioned by Jean Louis Rudolphe Agassiz for his publications 'Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles' (1833-1844) and the follow up 'Monographie des Poissons Fossiles du Vieux Grès Rouge' (1844-1845). Also includes drawings commissioned by Lord William Willoughby Cole (1807-1886), later the Earl of Enniskillen, and Sir Philip de Malpas Egerton (1806-1881) of their own fossil cabinets.
Sans titrePart one of manuscript of paper, 'On the geology of portions of the Turko-Persian frontier and of the districts adjoining' by William Kennett Loftus, [1854-1855], from research conducted during Loftus' tenure as part of the joint Turco-Persian frontier commission between 1849-1852. Also large volume containing the manuscript watercolour and ink drawings of landscapes and geological sections, which illustrated the paper, by Loftus and Henry Adrian Churchill who was the secretary of the British contingent of the joint commission, [1849-1855].
Sans titreManuscript notebook, containing a draft of a paper on the distribution of flint in the Chalk of Yorkshire, by John Robert Mortimer, [1875]. [Note: paper makes reference to a map and tracings, however these are not included.]
Sans titrePapers of Nathaniel John Winch, [1808]-1820, comprising:
Drawing of a plan of the dykes in Montagu Main Colliery, [1808]; Sketches of sections showing dykes in Whitley Quarry and Walbottle Dean, [c 1814]; Letter to Thomas Webster describing a fossil plant found near Whitby, 1820.
Sans titreThis series consists of records relating to the supervision of the General Post Office's financial business, including correspondence relating to authorisation of expenditure, development of services and applications for pensions.
POST 1 is commonly used by researchers investigating their family history. This is because a large proportion of this class consists of documentation relating to pensions and gratuities awarded to individual Post Office employees for the years 1686-1959. Amongst the numerous bound volumes of treasury letters are the pension details of thousands of employees. Additional information is often included such as the officer's name, rank and office, date of birth, career history, last salary, cause of retirement or date of death and a statement of reference. Case statements, reports and correspondence are sometimes included where retirement was on grounds of ill-health or the cause of death under investigation. The names of these individuals can be traced through the pension and gratuity indexes, which can in turn be found in separate POST classes, usually made available on microfilm.
Researchers pursuing their own family history are advised to consult the 'Guide to Family History' which can be found in the Search Room and is available to download online. This guide provides step by step advice on how to trace pension records, as well as appointment records.
The majority of these pension records can be found in Sub-Series 1 'Treasury letters, general correspondence' and Sub-Series 6 'Pensions and gratuities applications and awards' (pp. 1-259 and 271-349 of the POST 1 printed catalogue respectively).
Sub-Series 1 'Treasury letters, general correspondence' accounts for the majority of the material held in POST 1. In addition to pension records, this series comprises a record of communications between the Treasury and Postmaster General concerning the financial management of the inland, foreign and colonial services. This includes Treasury authorisation for expenditure on salaries and allowances; new establishments, buildings, facilities and equipment; extension of postal routes, services and postage rates. Developments in transport and technology, rapid expansion of the GPO and increasing complexity of the Civil Service are reflected in the letter books from the early nineteenth century. Volumes contain correspondence concerning road surveys; conveyance of mails by steam packets and railways; contracts for building work and ship conveyance; extension of telegraphic and telephonic communications; Post Office Savings Bank; Civil Service grades and pay scales.
Many of the letters in Sub-Series 2-5 are helpfully grouped and indexed by subject, such as Sub-Series 4 containing copies of letters authorising expenditure on postal telegraphic and telephone services. However, many of these letters are in fact duplicates of the records found in Sub-Series 1.
Sans titreThis section contains papers relating to nursing and public health courses offered at Bedford College. The papers concern the administration of the courses including correspondence and minutes of committee meetings as well as a number of press clippings, pamphlets related to the course and sample certificates.
Sans titrePrivate correspondence and diaries, 1598-1847, comprising:
E1: An extended letter from John Sargeant (1623-1710) in his defence, bound in a volume, giving 'a catalogue of all the pieces I have writ for Catholic Faith; together with the Occasion, the Process and Upshot of the Controversies between myself and the Protestant writers', Paris, 1700.
E 2: Volume of letters, 1596-1606, chiefly in Spanish, notably from Don Gomez Suarez de Figueroa of Cordova, Duke of Feria to Thomas Fitzherbert and from Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria; Lord Bothwell; Thomas Fitzherbert and Sir Francis Inglefield.
E 7 and 8: Two volumes of Bishop Robert Gradwell's journal whilst rector of the English College, Rome. Volume 1, 1817-1825 and volume 2, 1825-1828.
E 11 Volume of the correspondence of Charles Edward Stuart, c 1764-1769 including with Henry Benedict Stuart and members of the French Court including the French Queen. The volume also contains the correspondence of Lady Webb.
E 12 Volume containing notes on legal practice, possibly made by Edmund Blount, Clifford's Inn, 1695.
Sans titreManuscript treatises and follows:
F 1: 'Annales Elizabethae Reginae', by Anthony Champney, 1558-1603. 1 vol. Latin.
F 3: Declaration of the Vicars Apostolic and their Coadjutors in Great Britain in defense of the Catholic faith, 1826. 1 vol. English.
F 4: Treatise from regular leaders (Jesuits or Benedictines) of England, against Richard Smith, Bishop of Chalcedon as part of the approbation controversy entitled 'A survey of the Answere to the Bishop of Chalcedon his letter to the lay Catholics of England sent to him by the heads of three regular orders in England', 1629. 1 vol. English.
F 5: De quimdecim gloriosis Anglia martyribus breuis historia,
ab Henrico Stilo Benedictino, ex Anglico sermone, in Lamu translate, ex me'I ciori ordine collocate.Pro verae virtutis preniys, falsisceleris poenas subimus.
Gislenpopoli. 1 vol. Latin.
F 6: Sixteenth century Commonplace book concerning the reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries. 1 vol. Latin.
F 7: Volume of additions to Charles Butler's Historical Memoirs of the English, Irish and Scottish Roman Catholics, given to the Vicar Apostolic of the London District by Butler, 1822. 1 vol. English.
F 8: Partial transcript of B28: Volume of contemporary catalogues of the English martyrs, 17th century.
F 9: Transcriptions of manuscripts in Series A comprising:
Transcription of 'Collectanea B' or 'Collectanea de martyribus', the collection of Father Christopher Greene, chiefly containing correspondence between Richard Verstegen and Father Person's, 1592-1594. This collection is no longer in the possession of the Westminster Diocesan Archives as it was exchanged with Stonyhurst College in 1921.
Transcription of Shelly's supplication to Queen Elizabeth I, 1585, in Series A, volume 4, p 33.
Transcriptions of papers relating to martyrs from Series A.
F 10: Transcriptions of papers relating to martyrs from Series A. 1 file.
F11-F17: Biographical notes on priests in penal times by Canon Edward Burton, arranged alphabetically. 7 boxes. English.
F18-19: Theological treatises by Jos[eph] Stapleton, eighteenth century. 2 vols. Latin.
F 20: Sermon notes on the Resurrection and other topics. 1 vol. English.
F 21: Two unbound manuscripts: 'The origin, distinction and mutual independence of the Civil and Ecclesiastical Power' by Bishop William Poynter, and 'The Contemplative Solitaire and Spiritual Guide' by Father George of St Joseph. 2 items. English.
Sans titreThis Class relates mainly to the railways but includes some material concerning conveyance of mail by mail coaches and steam ships.
Sans titreWhen Stephen Tallents became GPO (General Post Office) Public Relations Manager in 1933, he decided to adopt the use of posters to carry information from the Post Office to the public. The bulk of POST 110 consists of over 6000 posters produced by the Post Office from the creation of its Public Relations Department in 1934 up to the present day.
Posters were initially produced for distribution to schools as an educational aid, or for display on mail vans, but soon the decision was taken to produce posters specifically designed to be displayed inside public offices; subject matter included public information and sales of philatelic items.
Posters for internal purposes were also produced by the Joint Production Council from the 1950s, these variously encouraged staff to be industrious, vigilant and to be thrifty.
Many well-known artists and designers have been commissioned by the Post Office (particularly in the 1930s-1950s) to produce posters. These artists include Peter Huveneers, Hans Schleger (Zero), Abram Games, Austin Cooper, Eric Fraser, Jan Lewitt, George Him, Tom Eckersley, Edward McKnight Kauffer, Harold Sandys Williamson, Frederic Henri Kay Henrion, Hans Arnold Rothholz, Ronald Searle and Barnett Freedman.
POST 110 also includes POPOS (Post Office Point of Sale) display instructions produced for branches, giving information on the display material they should obtain and display for particular periods. It also includes other publicity material such as leaflets and calendars.
There is an ongoing project to catalogue POST 110, with the main focus currently on the posters; there are 1,837 posters catalogued and available for viewing via our online catalogue, the majority of these records also include images of the posters.
Sans titreThis series comprises reports, papers, presentations by postal IT staff, handbooks and user guides relating to the different aspects of data processing in the Post Office. Although automatic data processing (ADP) was first introduced to the Post Office on a large scale with the LEAPS system in 1958, POST 113 focuses on ADP in the Post Office from the 1960s onwards. It charts the process of the introduction and implementation of ADP and computer applications and systems to different areas of postal work in order to capture data, streamline postal operational processes and generally improve the daily running of the Post Office.
Examples of material include: a number of reports from the 1960s on new proposals to implement ADP and several files which provide background to: the planning and control of ADP in the Post Office (POST 113/5), the structure of the Computer Development and Office Services Department (POST 113/10) and details of the different computer hardware already in place by the 1960s (POST 113/11).
This series also contains information on the different computer applications and systems proposed and implemented within the Post Office, such as PIVOT (POST 113/23-POST 113/25) and reviews undertaken by the Post Office and external organisations to suggest improvements to existing systems (for example, POST 113/21). In addition, there are files covering the Mails Circulation Project (POST 113/33 and POST 113/34) and the Counter Automation Project (POST 113/38 and POST 113/40).
Finally, there is information on IT strategies within the Post Office and details of the work of the National Data Processing Service (see POST 113/37 for details on the considerations of data protection and computers).There are also examples of computer handbooks and user guides in POST 113/41, POST 113/42 and POST 113/43.
Sans titreThis series is comprised of serialised publications produced by, for, or relating to, Post Office staff associations, unions and societies. The publications contain information on all aspects of union and association internal activity and their negotiations with management on wages, recruitment, grading and conditions. They also report on Annual Conferences and convey general staff news, such as appointments and the development and re-structuring of The Post Office and its subsequent effect on workers.
Many of the publication titles have changed, they are listed as a continuous series and details of the change in title is given at the beginning of the series. Details of those that have undergone significant changes are given.
Please note that in some series many of the publications have been numbered incorrectly or inconsistently at publication stage. The volume and issue numbers given in the description are those that appear on the original.
Sans titreThis class comprises of Headquarters case files that came to light after the appropriate class catalogues (POST 30, POST 31, POST 32, POST 33, POST 102 and POST 122) had been completed. It includes files found in the registry repository in the former Headquarters at St Martin's le Grand, which were filed upon completion and then forgotten. It also includes papers which remained with the originating Headquarters departments until the Headquarters moved in 1984. The majority of these are accumulations of files on a common subject spanning several years.
The manner in which this class accumulated means that it covers a wide range of subjects, ranging from allowances for keeping horses (POST 121/159) and cats (POST 121/22) to the Post Office's official attitude to divorce (POST 121/341). There are also a few appointment papers (POST 121/340, POST 121/344, POST 121/352, POST 121/430, and POST 121/431).
Sans titre