Mostrar 104 resultados

Records relating to the operation, policy, development and social impact of the British Post Office from 1636 to the present day. In addition to the provision of postal services, the Post Office's responsibilities have included telecommunications between 1868 and 1981, broadcasting until 1961 and selected banking and financial services. This collection was Designated as an outstanding collection by the MLA in October 2005.

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 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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On 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.

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 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.

This 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.

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.

Schedules 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.

This 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.

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 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.

This 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.

This 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.

This 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.

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.

Post 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.

This series of records comprises the private office papers of Rowland Hill including, Rowland Hill's Post Office Journals, extracts from the volumes of Secretary's minutes to the Postmaster General and some original documentation relating to those minutes, volumes of Rowland Hill's minutes to the Postmaster General, correspondence and general material relating particularly to postal reform and including a copy of all volumes of 'History of Penny Postage' by Sir Rowland Hill, KCB (published by William Clowes & Sons).

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.

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

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

This series comprises 'minuted' papers relating to all manner of Post Office matters.

'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 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.

Some abbreviations used in file titles (not an exhaustive list):

BFPO: British Forces Post Office

DG: Director General

IHDS: International Household Delivery Service

IMP: Integrated Mail Processor

IMS: Institute of Manpower Studies

IOC: International Olympic Committee

IPBS: Infectious Perishable Biological Substances

IPC: International Post Corporation

IPT: Industry and Parliamentary Trust

ISIS (pay): Individual Salary Increase System

ISIS (postage stamps): Immediate Sales Indicator Systems

ISM: Information Systems Manager(s)

LPR: London Postal Region

NPM: National Postal Museum

PMG: Postmaster General

POB: Post Office Board

POC: Post Office Circular

POP: Post Office Preferred

POUNC: Post Office Users' National Council

P&TO: Postal and Telegraph Officers

PRU: Pay Research Unit

RFU: Rugby Football Union

TPO(S): Travelling Post Office(s)

UPW: Union of Post Office Workers

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).

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.

This series relates to the conveyance of mail on the railways. In the latter half of the 19th century railway mail services were known as Travelling Post Offices and sorting tenders. During the early 19th century sorting tenders became known as sorting carriages. In general terminology sorting carriages were also often referred to as TPOs. The railway mail service also included bag duties or tenders. TPOs and sorting carriages comprised either special trains run exclusively for conveyance and sorting of mails or carriages on passenger trains hired to convey and sort mails. Bag duties were run solely for transportation of mails.

This series includes papers on the mail bag exchange apparatus, TPO mail circulation and sorting lists, railway rolling stock lists and diagrams, schedules of TPO services, minutes of the TPO Whitley Sub-Committee and files on TPO staffing, during railway strikes and after service alterations.

This Class relates mainly to the railways but includes some material concerning conveyance of mail by mail coaches and steam ships.

When 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.

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.

This 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.

This 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).

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.

POST 2 comprises the Receiver General's monthly record of all money received and expended on a monthly or quarterly basis by the Post Office. However, POST 2/107-112, covering the Bye and Cross Road Letter Office, contain quarterly accounts only. Subject, place and name indexes are included in POST 2/1-44, covering 1677-1748, although they are not contemporary compilations. Dates on volumes prior to 1752 have been revised in the catalogue to conform to the modern Gregorian calendar.

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'.

This series comprises 'minuted' papers relating to all manner of Post Office matters.

'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.

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 volumes containing the title of every minute submitted to the Postmaster General relating to all aspects of Post Office administration. There are also separate bound indices to the minutes. This general minute series was introduced in 1921, replacing the formerly separate England and Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Packet series of minutes.

Much of the actual paperwork referred to in these volumes can be found in the accompanying class POST 33 (Postmaster General's Minute Papers). Minutes referred to in this class can also be found in POST 102 (Decimal Filing Series) and POST 122 (Minuted and Decentralised Registry Papers). 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 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'.

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 series contains material on the recruitment of Post Office staff. It covers methods of recruitment, the examinations involved, the various types of posts, the different methods of admission, and the problems encountered regarding recruitment, such as shortage of labour and the employment of disabled persons.

This series contains records relating to the nomination and appointment of staff, both Established and non-Established. It consists mainly of volumes, in which vacancies, nominations, and appointments were recorded. It also contains records relating to bonds paid, and papers relating to the appointment of specific individuals.

Prior to 1831 appointment records were not kept uniformly over the country and separate series were created. In 1831 centralised employment records were created by copying the relevant minute numbers and brief details relating to appointment, transfer, dismissal, resignation, retirement, or death.

Some records were transferred from POST 14.

This series consists of reports, memoranda and correspondence outlining training activities in The Post Office and considering the training needs of Post Office staff.

This series comprises material relating to the formation, functions and administration of Post Office Staff Associations.