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This 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.

The newspaper cuttings follow the development of the postal and telecommunications services from the postal declaration of 1685, and early accounts of the collection of mail from coffee houses in the eighteenth century, through to contemporary reports.

The most complete run of catalogued material covers the period 1843-1903, during which time the cuttings were bound into large volumes, each volume spanning one to two years. These cuttings are largely concerned with the early development of the telegraph and telephone and include details of private telegraph companies (particularly the Electric Telegraph Company, founded in 1846) and their takeover by the state; the relationship between the postal and telegraph services and the railways; international expansion of the system; and, later, the growth of the telephone service, and negotiations which eventually led to the transfer of ownership from the private telephone companies to the state in 1912. Some items are included because the report was received by telegraph and do not have any obvious postal connection. The majority of cuttings were collated centrally, with some early selections marked 'For the information of the Postmaster General', but the collection also includes albums collected by individuals or at a local level.

The twentieth century is not represented as comprehensively, with very little material from the First or Second World Wars, or the interwar period. Wartime reporting restrictions and the rising cost of newsprint, combined with the role of the Post Office on the home front probably contributed to the absence of material during this period. In the second half of the twentieth century, cuttings are more likely to be found arranged by local area or by subject, e.g. the 1971 postal strike. Since 1999, photocopies of selected cuttings, entitled 'What the media are saying', have been received from the Royal Mail Press Office on a weekly basis, and these are arranged chronologically, but have not been catalogued.

During BPMA stocktaking 2005 a quantity of material was transferred from the search room portfolio collection to the archive. These cuttings cover both the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, and have been catalogued by decade or, in a very few cases, by subject. The nineteenth century material includes many engravings and illustrations.

Cuttings have been taken from a variety of sources - national and local newspapers; satirical magazines; government and Post Office publications; and scientific and trade journals; but the volumes also include original items such as share application forms, annual reports, tariffs, technological specifications, photographs, cartoons and illustrations. The cuttings cover many aspects of postal history and legislation which are officially documented in other post classes, but offer alternative perspectives and provide a good indication of both public opinion of the postal administration, and public response to postal innovations, including new issues of stamps, new buildings and the introduction of new uniforms. They also provide an opportunity to gain an overview of developments in the service during a particular period.

In addition to specific postal information, the class provides a record of the influence of the Post Office on British culture, demonstrating its role in the growth of mass communication and technological advances; education; the development of employment opportunities for women; and the trade union movement. Some volumes contain personal stories of the lives of postal workers, which may be of interest to family historians, and many volumes include interviews with employees and accounts of the daily running of the postal service which provide information about the duties attached to particular posts. Obituaries are a particularly good source of personal information relating to senior postal officials.

The catalogue entries include an overview of the material with a list of examples of particular interest, some volumes contain indexes of every item.

The records in this class cover a variety of aspects regarding working for the Post Office. The material relating to pay includes volumes detailing salaries and allowances paid to staff, official reports into pay and conditions, comparisons of pay with other companies and papers relating to numerous pay claims. Under allowances can be found copies of correspondence between the Post Office and the Treasury, Committee reports, claims before arbitration for changes to various allowances, schedules showing extra duty rates and special allowances payable and a history of good conduct stripes. Conditions of service includes papers on Sunday labour, promotion, exemption from jury service, hours of working, annual leave, and grade restructuring. There is also a section on Committee/Group reports looking into the way both individual departments and working methods could be changed to allow improvements, and papers from the Tweedmouth, Hobhouse, and Holt Committees to consider improvements in Post Office wages and conditions.

Photo library created by a number of different departments within the Post Office, including the Public Relations/Communications department.

This POST Class contains the annual accounts of the Accountant General (mainly the income and expenditure of the Post Office) and the general accounts of individual postmasters and agents.

General accounts

POST 3/3-5, 7, 9, 11, 13-17, 20-23 and 26 comprise the Accountant General's annual accounts of the income and expenditure of the General Post Office, based on receipts and payments made by the Receiver General. All of the volumes, except POST 3/23 and 26, contain accounts audited by the Commissioners for Public Accounts. The latter two items contain rough accounts only.

The accounts cover foreign, colonial and inland post offices and services, including salaries paid to deputy postmasters in England and Wales, officers and letter carriers at the Inland and Foreign departments in London, mail guards and overseas agents; money due to deputy postmasters; balances due from deputy postmasters and agents in England and Wales, Edinburgh, Dublin and overseas; old debts of inland postmasters, including those declared irrecoverable; packet boat hire costs, general expenses and passenger revenue; returned letters costs; income and expenditure on express mails; window money receipts; letter carriers' money; money received for postage and conveyance of inland, foreign, cross and bye road, penny/twopenny post and inland packet letters; stamp revenue; riding work allowances; incident payments; ship letter gratuities; franked letter costs; taxes; and expenditure on management of the GPO in Scotland and Ireland.

The lists of individual postmasters' salaries, balances due and old debts provide a valuable source of information for local and family historians, as they give the name and post town of each postmaster. Researchers should, however, note that: a) POST 3/23 and 26 are rough accounts and do not contain these lists; b) volumes are not indexed; c) lists containing similar information on postmasters in Scotland and Ireland are not contained in these volumes.

The general annual accounts in POST 3/27-34, covering 1854-1938, reflect the expansion and increasing complexity of GPO business and services. To an extent, the type of information included, and its arrangement, differs from that in the preceding annual accounts. They do not contain lists of individual postmasters salaries, balances due and old debts. Volumes include GPO accounts with other government departments and foreign post offices; UK, colonial and overseas postage stamp revenue; accounts for returned, refused, missent, redirected and overcharged letters; summaries of salaries, allowances and wages to London Headquarters staff, Surveyors and their clerks, postmasters, agents, sub-postmasters and receivers in the UK, Ireland and abroad, letter carriers and mail guards; compensation payments for loss of fees to postmasters and agents in the UK and abroad; income and expenditure on mail conveyance by railway, mail coach, omnibus, cart, contract packet boats and private ships; cost of sites, buildings, rents, rates, taxes and fuel; pensions and superannuation payments; Money Order, Post Office Savings Bank, Government Annuities and Life Insurance accounts. POST 3/27 also contains the annual accounts of individual colonial, foreign and UK packet station agents and postmasters, arranged alphabetically by location.

POST 3/33-34 comprise general statements of annual income and expenditure, signed by the Comptroller and Accountant General. They contain information similar to that in POST 3/27-32, though in a more summary form.

Postmasters' general annual accounts

POST 3/1, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 19, 24 and 25 contain annual general accounts of individual postmasters and agents. The first five volumes cover England and Wales, Edinburgh, Dublin and some packet stations in Europe, such as Amsterdam, Lisbon, Corunna and Rotterdam. The last four volumes cover only England and Wales. They include payments to the Inland or General Office and Bye and Cross Road Office for letters, and expenditure on salaries and allowances for riding work, office duty, sub postmasters and letter carriers, mail conveyance, returned letters, incidents, mail guards wages, ship letters and express mails.

In volumes POST 3/6, 8, 10 and 12, the general annual account of the GPO precedes the postmasters' accounts. These general annual accounts correspond to the respective account in POST 3/7, 9, 11 and 13, although they are presented in a different format.

This group of records also forms a useful source for family historians, as it gives the names of postmasters and agents at each office. Unfortunately, only POST 3/1 includes a name index. Volumes POST 3/6, 8, 10 and 12 are indexed by place. Volumes POST 3/18-19 and POST 3/24-25 do not contain any indexes, although the accounts are arranged alphabetically by place (within each division for POST 3/18-19).

Postal Divisions

The information in the lists of postmasters' salaries, some lists of balances due, and in the postmasters' accounts, (see POST 3/1-15), is arranged by the six postal roads. However, the roads are not stated at the beginning of each section, one running into another without apparent break. Some reference to the postal roads does however occasionally appear. The six roads, West, North, Bristol, Chester, Yarmouth and Kent, are first named in the account for 1787 (see POST 3/16), the last four not being geographically restricted to the town or county named. In 1788 the six roads system is replaced by nine divisions, apparently of no geographical arrangement, e.g. division 8 includes both Durham and Croydon. Accounts for the West Indies division, including Barbados, Tobago, St Vincent, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua, Trinidad and Bermuda, are entered in POST 3/16-17 and POST 3/20-22. Accounts for the East Indies division, including St Helena, Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, Madras, Calcutta and Bombay, are entered in POST 3/21 and POST 3/22.

This series comprises a wide variety of 18th, 19th and some 20th century account books and schedules relating to Post Office business.

A number of items in this series will be useful to researchers of 19th century family history. POST 9/112-130 contains names of mail conveyance contractors, 1854-1874; POST 9/139 list names of postmasters, 1847- 1848; POST 9/66-76 includes names of postmasters and their date of appointment, 1855-1873; POST 9/146-163 contains names of officers working in the Post Office in London. The volumes do not contain name indexes.

This 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.

POST 114 comprises Acts of Parliament relating to Post Office business covering the years 1657-1986. Parliamentary warrants, treasury warrants, details of parliamentary debates, memoranda and related reports can also be found within this class. The class is thematically separated into 24 Sub-Series' (which in turn are organised chronologically) covering a wide range of legislature, from major Post Office Acts that established such historic privileges as the state monopoly of postal communications, to numerous acts of a less celebrated nature, such as Road Repair Acts or Electric Lighting Acts. A number of important Acts can be found in Sub-Series 1 'The Establishment of the Post Office and Postage Rates', including the Post Office Acts of 1657 and 1969. Reports, policy reviews, various bills and other papers of a similar nature are gathered in Sub-Series 2 'Growth and Expansion of the Modern Post Office'. These records cover the years 1951-1986. All of the major branches of business that have been under the control of the Post Office during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are represented in this class, including: telegraphs and telephones (Sub-Series 7); savings banks (Sub-Series 12); pensions (Sub-Series 15); and National Insurance (Sub-Series 16), amongst much else.

This Post Class comprises reports, minutes, papers, leaflets and newsletters produced by Post Office Advisory Councils. These were external bodies set up to liaise with users of the Post Office, to monitor and review the performance and activities of the business and advise the Post Office on matters of mutual concern to the customer and the business.

This series comprises material relating to the introduction and operation of agency services provided by The Post Office. It covers: the payment of Old Age Pensions at post offices; the sale of Health Insurance and Unemployment Insurance stamps; the floatation of the 'War Loan', in 1915, to help finance the war; and the payment of money due to public corporations through The Post Office.

This series comprises material relating to Post Office services supplementary to the core activity of the business. It consists of reports, minutes, correspondence and memoranda relating to the introduction, operation and development of individual Post Office ancillary services, their profit and expenditure, recommended improvements and alterations, and information sheets and guides to the services.

Contains some pieces originally in POST 22.

Papers of the Post Office Investigation Department (POID), consisting of reports, instructions, memoranda, annual reports and research notes.

This series consists of records of the Public Accounts Audit Commissioners' checks on GPO annual accounts and the Accountant General's checks on accounts received from agents and postmasters in the first half of the 19th century. Also included are various reports and other papers relating to financial systems, methods of accounting and collecting, collating and presenting business statistics in the Post Office.

Includes 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.

This series relates to conveyance of mails within the United Kingdom and Ireland by sea. The majority of records are on the Irish and Scottish packet services, with a few contracts for mail services to the Scilly Isles, Lundy Island and the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands, placed at the end of the series.

This series consists of annual reports of the Contracts Department, reports, correspondence and papers relating to the organisation, staffing, functions, policy and review of procedure of the Contracts Department and of contracting functions.

This 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.

This record series mainly comprises reports, correspondence, statistics, staff manuals and historical summaries on the organisation, policy, development and operation of The Post Office Engineering Department and its successors.

This series consists of reports, memoranda and accounts relating to the organisation, structure, functions and operations of Post Office factories and the Factories Department.

This series contains Post Office documentation relating to the lifespan of Girobank, from its setting up until after its sale. Documentation takes the form of annual reports, organisational reviews, correspondence with other branches of the Post Office and with external bidders, press releases and clippings, press briefings, minutes of committees representing the Girobank sale or other businesses within Royal Mail, correspondence with Government officials and departments, promotional material, specimen samples of stationery, staff training leaflets and analytical studies. This series also takes into account the impact of the sale of Girobank on Post Office Counters Ltd and charts subsequent Post Office events during the 1990s.

This series consists primarily of 'proof books', that is bound volumes and files containing specimen impressions of new date, machine cancellation or other handstruck stamps (both steel and rubber) for postal use, authorisations and instructions for use, handstamp destruction records and historical summaries of machine cancellations.

These two main collections of proof books have substantial gaps, notably, for steel stamps, for the period after 1821, and, for rubber stamps, after 1831. It is believed that the proof books for these periods were lost in the major fire which occurred in 1957 at the Supplies Department, Mount Pleasant, where these records were once housed. Regrettably, when the surviving volumes in these two collections were rebound in c1960, the original volume numbers were lost, and new artificial numbering sequences were given to the newly-bound volumes. This destroyed the evidence once offered by the original bindings, making it impossible now to determine exactly what has been lost from the original series.

This series consists of a series of quarterly accounts of salaries and allowances due and payable by incidents to the officers, clerks and tradesmen employed by the General, Twopenny and London District Post Offices (the Twopenny Post was replaced by the London District Post in 1844). Items 6/4-6, covering 1794-1799, also include separate quarterly accounts of tradesmen's bills and incidental warrants paid out of the revenue of the Bye and Cross Road Letter Office. Accounts cover a wide variety of items and are arranged under general subject headings, such as 'pensions', 'packets', 'tradesmen' and 'rents'. Entries include what the bill is for, name of person owed and the amount. The date of the Treasury warrant authorising payment is often included at the end of each quarterly account. Volumes are not indexed. The accounts include bills for:

• Pensions, salaries and allowances to chief and senior officers, clerks, sorters, messengers and servants working in London headquarters departments, including offices of the Secretary and Accountant General, and the Foreign, Inland, Express, Mail Coach, Dead Letter, Ship Letter and Bye 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, arms and ammunition stores, 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 positions or duties

• Items supplied or work done by tradesmen

• Legal expenses notably relating to investigation, detection, capture, and trail 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'

Item 6/11, covering 1805-1809, is different to the rest of the series. It contains certified accounts of the quarterly salaries and allowances paid by incidents upon which the Civil List deduction, or tax, of six pence in the pound is chargeable. Each account lists the 'salaries' and 'incidents' of individual officers and clerks at the General Post Office headquarters in London, including the Postmaster General, Secretary and other senior officers, and the total duty payable each quarter.

These accounts probably originate from the office of the Receiver General, who was in charge of all moneys received and paid out of the revenue of the Post Office.

POST 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.

This Post class comprises material concerned with postage rates in the form of reports, correspondence relating to alterations of postage rates and franking privileges, postage rate tables based on individual post towns both inland and overseas, and House of Commons journal extracts covering franking privileges.

This 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.

This series contains historical accounts, annual, financial and other reports, letter copy books, minutes and correspondence on the establishment, operation and development of the money order and postal order services. The series also contains records on the prevention and detection of fraud, the use of postal orders as currency in wartime, and information on agreements with other Empire or Commonwealth countries for the sale of British postal or money orders in their territories.

Reports, 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.

This 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.

This class relates to the arrangements for circulation of mails in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland between the 18th and 20th centuries. It comprises three major sections: letter copy books of the Inland Office, 1794-1836, order and notice books of the Inland Office and Circulation Department, 1794-1868, and volumes and files relating to the revision of rural posts in the mid-19th century. The rest of the class is made up of a variety of items on the management of inland mails, including a number of London Postal Service order books, records of the Dead Letter Office, Bye and Cross Road Letter Office and Twopenny Post Office. Due to the incorporation of the Foreign Office with the Inland Office in 1840, a number of records in this Class also refer to the circulation of overseas mails, particularly the orders and notices books of the Inland Office and Circulation Office, (14/289-334).

POST Class 17 contains papers on the mail handling cycle, from collection to delivery. The bulk of material relates to sorting and processing operations. The Class is divided into 19 series. Series 1 and 2 comprise sorting and circulation directories. Series 3-9 generally relate to mechanisation of processing and sorting operations, including development of mechanical aids and the postcode system, letter, packet and parcel sorting machinery, the Post Office Letter and Parcel Post Plans introduced in the late 1960s, new mechanised offices and environmental controls. Series 10-12 concerns the introduction and marketing of postcodes. Series 13 and 14 comprise papers and audit reports on operational organisation and efficiency. The next four series cover local authorities and postal addressing, various sorting methods, processing and sorting equipment, and delivery and collection methods. Series 19 comprises papers relating to general circulation issues.

This series comprises copy letter books relating to administration of the Post Office in Britain and Ireland and, to an extent, overseas.

This series consists of volumes containing a précis of, or reference to, every minute submitted by the Post Office Secretaries, of England and Ireland, to the Postmaster General in London, in relation to all aspects of postal operations and administration within the Irish postal service.

Much of the actual paperwork referred to in these volumes can be found in the accompanying class POST 31 (Irish Minute Papers). For further details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.

This 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.

This is an 'artificial' series, as maps have been removed from other POST classes and added to POST 21 in order to group them together by format; in addition, maps from numerous different depositors, both internal and external have been mixed together so that it is difficult to find any strands of original order. It has been possible to impose a loose order on the maps by grouping them together by subject as follows:

circulation maps, county maps, town maps, district maps, postcode maps and overseas mail maps.

The majority of the series consists of maps that were commissioned by the Post Office or maps that have been adapted for use in the daily routine of various post office departments.

It includes Ordnance Survey maps which have been annotated to indicate changes to postal boundaries as well as printed town maps, post office directory maps, road maps and hand drawn sketch maps. The maps have been produced using a variety of different methods including lithography, engraving and printing; many of the maps have ornamental cartouches and many are coloured.

Several of the maps in the collection are black and white copies of originals which have not been retained. Unfortunately it is not possible to discern the significance of lines which were colour coded on the original map.

Many of the maps centre on London and there is a sub-series of maps relating to the different postal districts in London, including maps depicting the official postal districts after they were put in place during the period 1857-1858 (see particularly POST 21/772: a reproduction of a map of the London postal districts produced by Richard Weller in 1858, which gives information on the division process). There is also a set of maps from 1948 showing the routes taken by postmen on their daily rounds in the west end of London, which include buildings damaged by bombs during World War Two.

Other maps include postcode maps for areas in Sheffield, Lincoln, Manchester and London; several nineteenth century District Surveyors' maps, some of which show 'armed and unarmed rides' in the various districts and include letters to Francis Freeling and several maps from 'Atlas Universel' (1757) produced by the Vaugondy family [Father and son], depicting various European postal routes and including ornamental cartouches engraved by the Haussard sisters.

This POST class consists of volumes containing a précis of, or reference to, every minute submitted to the Postmaster General from the Secretary relating to all aspects of Post Office administration. There are also separate bound indices to the minutes arranged by different subjects. POST 35/1-6 consists of volumes of minutes from the Postmaster General to the Secretary relating to all aspects of Post Office administration.

Much of the actual paperwork referred to in these volumes can be found in the accompanying class POST 30 (England and Wales Minute Papers). For further details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.

The class is divided into four Sub-Series. The date range for almost all of the records in the class is 1792-1921. However, there are three volumes in Sub-Series 3 'Indices to minutes between the Secretary and the Postmaster General' that contain records that cover the period up to 1969 (see POST 35/1699-1701).

The material is arranged in date order within series. All pieces consist of one volume unless otherwise stated.

This series relates to the transmission of newspapers by post and comprises records relating to the franking privilege of the Clerks of the Road, the transmission of newspapers overseas, and the postage rates of Newspaper Post. The majority of the class consists of published lists of newspapers registered at the Post Office for transmission under the Newspaper Post, (POST 24/21 - 24/72). Also included are items relating to the introduction of a rural newspaper delivery service in the 1970s.

This series relates to the establishment and operation of colonial post offices in British North America [Canada], Australia and New Zealand. The records include instructions from the Postmaster General via the Secretary (POST 44/1-12), returns to surveys relating to the volume of mail processed and the costs of running the offices, details of the staff employed at these offices and their duties (POST 44/24-33).

This POST class comprises contracts of agreement between, the Postmaster General and individual persons and shipping companies, for the conveyance of mail overseas by packet boat. The contracts lay down the standards required by the Postmaster General, for example the equipment and maintenance of the vessels, routes, ports of call and penalties incurred by non-compliance with the terms of agreement. The class also includes correspondence concerning applications for tender, papers relating to profits made by particular companies, returns showing particulars of existing contracts, and contracts for the establishment of a packet service between the UK and other countries.

This class primarily relates to the establishment and organisation of the packet boat and shipping services between the United Kingdom and overseas. There are a small number of records relating to operational procedures between the Post Office and HM Customs and Excise Office. The records mainly consist of Post Office Daily Lists of ship's departure and arrival times, and mail carried. It also contains Packet boat log books, voyage record books and Packet station correspondence relating to personnel, stores held, and armed conflict.

It also includes some later records concerning the general organisation of overseas mail including by air.

Some records have been re-classified from POST 12 and POST 45.

This 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.

The Packet Minute series (POST 29 and 34) comprise minutes to the Postmaster General from the Secretary to the Post Office, on the Packet Boat and overseas mails services. It began in 1811, at which date those subjects were transferred from the Postmaster General's Minute series (POST 30 and 35).

POST 29 consists of volumes containing a copy of, or reference to, every minute submitted to the Postmaster General, including those which have since been destroyed. POST 34/1 - 105 are indexed. The Postmaster General's decision on each case is also recorded. POST 29 consists of those actual papers which are still in existence (comprising both the original minute to the Postmaster General and the papers leading up to, and following from, the Secretary's submission). It has been produced in two versions, one numerical and the other alphabetical, i.e., set out under subject headings. When requisitioning papers, both the catalogue reference Nos. and the Minute No. should be quoted, e.g., POST 29/4, Pkt 203B/1314.

For details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.

The packet report series (POST 39 and 41) comprises reports to the Postmaster General from the Secretary to the Post Office, on the packet boat service and overseas mail arrangements. These are the surviving reports from those listed in POST 41.

POST 39 therefore consists of the actual Reports which are still in existence, with any enclosures. POST 41 consists of indexed volumes containing a copy of every Report submitted to the Postmaster General (including those which have since been destroyed) and is the only guide to the contents of POST 39. The Postmaster General's decision on each case is recorded. Examples of incidents recorded in the reports include the capture of packet ships, possibly due to pirates, smuggling of dry goods, loss of crew, terms and conditions of ship hire, victualling of crew and route changes and times.

In 1811 a parallel series entitled Packet Minutes (POST 29 and POST 34) was created. Cases for the attention of the Postmaster General were sometimes recorded in both series, but at other times in only one of the two series. Upon the cessation of the Report series POST 29 and POST 34 continued alone.

For further details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.

The Packet Report series (POST 39 and POST 41) comprise reports to the Postmaster General, from the Secretary to the Post Office, on the Packet Boat service and overseas mail arrangements.

POST 41 consists of indexed volumes containing a copy of every report submitted to the Postmaster General (including those which have since been destroyed) and is the only guide to the contents of POST 39 (Packet Service Report Papers). The Postmaster General's decision on each case is also recorded. POST 39 consists of those actual reports which are still in existence, with any enclosures.

In 1811 a parallel series entitled Packet Minutes (POST 29 and POST 34) was created. Cases for the attention of the Postmaster General were sometimes recorded in both series, but at other times in only one of the two series. Upon the cessation of the Report series POST 29 and POST 34 continued alone.

For further details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.

This 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.

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).

This series relates to the postal draft system from its inception in 1912 until it ceased in 1969 with the introduction of Girobank services. It comprises correspondence between the Post Office and government departments, committee minutes, reports, and specimens of postal drafts.

The 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 42 comprises reports on all aspects of Post Office business and until 1837, when this report series faded out, the reports referred to important cases, such as the running of major departments and key decisions. It 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.

The class includes a degree of duplication. [Series A], which are Indices of subjects, persons and places, are duplicated with additional notes in [Series B]. [Series A] are duplicated as abstracts in [Series D], and [Series D] are duplicated with additional notes in [Series E].

In 1794 a parallel series 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.

For further details of how this class relates to the other report and minute classes, see the following section 'Related Material'.

The 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.

Private papers of John Palmer, Surveyor and Comptroller General of Mails 1786-1792. Palmer was responsible for the introduction of the mail coach service. He submitted his plans for the service and changes in franking and postage to William Pitt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Disputes over the service and over his dismissal of his deputy resulted in his suspension and dismissal from duty in 1792. He received a pension but fought for a claim of the percentage and no settlement was agreed until 1813. The papers include a collection of pamphlets and reports concerning a dispute with his deputy and claims for percentage of revenue, surveyor's and deputy surveyor's minutes for matters of the day; letters, reports and memoranda on foreign posts and packet boat services, postal reforms, mail coach services, staff, establishments, revenue, accounts and various city freedoms awarded to John Palmer. Some of the sources are indexed.

This series consists of correspondence between the Marquess of Salisbury, Postmaster General, and Francis Freeling, Secretary of The Post Office, and mainly unnamed individuals. Subjects covered include staff appointments, the establishment and implementation of new Post Office services, letter traffic, the operation of services and instructions to staff.