Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet ministerial position in HM Government. From at least 1609, this government officer held a monopoly power to deliver mails and corresponding duties to build and maintain the various elements of the postal system; the Telegraph Act 1868 extended these to electric telegraphs. These arrangements would subsequently be expanded to cover telecommunications and broadcasting.
The office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969. A replacement public corporation, governed ultimately by a board and chairman, was established under the name of the Post Office (later subsumed by Royal Mail Group). The cabinet position of Postmaster General was replaced by a Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, with reduced powers, until 1974; most regulatory functions have now been delegated to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
History
In England, the monarch's letters to his subjects are known to have been carried by relays of couriers as long ago as the 15th century. The earliest mention of Master of the Posts is in the King's Book of Payments where a payment of £100 was authorised for Brian Tuke as master of the posts in February 1512. Belatedly, in 1517, he was officially appointed to the office of Governor of the King's Posts, a precursor to the office of Postmaster General of the United Kingdom, by Henry VIII. In 1609 it was decreed that letters could only be carried and delivered by persons authorised by the Postmaster General.
In 1655 John Thurloe became Postmaster-General, a post he held until he was accused of treason and arrested in May 1660. His spies were able to intercept mail, and he exposed Edward Sexby's 1657 plot to assassinate Cromwell and captured would-be assassin Miles Sindercombe and his group. Ironically, Thurloe's own department was also infiltrated: his secretary Samuel Morland became a Royalist agent and in 1659 alleged that Thurloe, Richard Cromwell and Sir Richard Willis – a Sealed Knot member turned Cromwell agent – were plotting to kill the future King Charles II. About forty years after his death, a false ceiling was found in his rooms at Lincoln's Inn, the space was full of letters seized during his occupation of the office of Postmaster-General. These letters are now at the Bodleian Library.
In 1657 an act of the Commonwealth Parliament, entitled 'Postage of England, Scotland and Ireland Settled', set up a system for the British Isles and enacted the position of Postmaster General. The act also reasserted the postal monopoly for letter delivery and for post horses. After the Restoration in 1660, a further act, the Post Office Act 1660 (12 Cha. 2. c. 35), confirmed this and the post of Postmaster-General, the previous Cromwellian act being void.
thumb|The former site of the General Letter Office in London
1660 saw the establishment of the General Letter Office, which would later become the General Post Office (GPO). with regulatory functions transferring to the Home Office, the Post Office retaining control of television licensing. Since 1992, most regulatory functions formerly conducted by the Postmaster General generally fall within the remit of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, although the present-day Royal Mail Group was overseen by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy until flotation.
Masters of the King's Post
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Years!!Master of the King's Post
|-
|1517–1545 ||Brian Tuke
|-
|1545–1566||John Mason
|-
|1566–1590||Thomas Randolph
|-
|1590–1607||John Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope
|-
|1607–1635||Charles Stanhope, 2nd Baron Stanhope
|-
|1637–1642||Philip Burlamachi
|-
|1642–1649|| Edmund Prideaux
|}
Postmaster under the Commonwealth
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Years!!Postmaster under the Commonwealth
|-
|1649–1653|| Edmund Prideaux
|-
|1653–1655|| John Manley
|-
|1655–1660||John Thurloe
|}
Postmasters General of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom
The earliest postmasters had responsibility for England and Wales. In 1707, on the Union with Scotland, the responsibility of the office was extended to cover the whole of the new Kingdom of Great Britain as well as Ireland, but with some powers held by a Post Office Manager for Scotland. By the Post Office (Revenues) Act 1710, with effect from 1711, the services were united, but with a Deputy Postmaster for Scotland. From 1784, there were also Postmasters General of Ireland, but under the Postmaster-General Act 1831, the postmasters based at Westminster became responsible for the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, the Irish Free State became independent, and in 1923 it established its own arrangements under a Postmaster General of the Irish Free State. In 1924 the title became Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Years!!Postmaster General
|-
|1660–1663||Henry Bishop
|-
|1663–1664||Daniel O'Neill
|-
|1664–1667||Katherine O'Neill, Countess of Chesterfield
|-
|1667–1685||Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
|-
|1686–1689||Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester
|-
|1689–1691||John Wildman
|}
Two Postmasters General, 1691–1823
From 1691 to 1823 there were two Postmasters General, to divide the patronage between the Whigs and Tories.
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!Year!!colspan="2"|1st Postmaster General!!1st Party!!colspan="2"|2nd Postmaster General!!2nd Party
|-
|1691||rowspan="2" style="background-color: white" |
|rowspan="2" | Sir Thomas Frankland ||rowspan="2"|
|style="background-color: " |
| Sir Robert Cotton
| Tory
|-
|1708 || style="background-color: white" |
| Sir John Evelyn ||
|-
|1715 || style="background-color: white" |
| James Craggs the Elder || |
|style="background-color: " |
| Charles Cornwallis, 4th Baron Cornwallis
| Whig
|-
|1720 || style="background-color: white" |
|Galfridus Walpole|| |
|rowspan="3" style="background-color: white" |
|rowspan="3"|Edward Carteret || rowspan="3"|
|-
|1725 || style="background-color: white" |
|Edward Harrison|| |
|-
|1733 || rowspan="3" style="background-color: white" |
|rowspan="3" |Thomas Coke, 1st Baron Lovel <br/>(Earl of Leicester from 1744)||rowspan="3" |
|-
| 1739|| style="background-color: white" |
|Sir John Eyles, 2nd Baronet|| |
|-
|1745 || style="background-color: white" |
|Everard Fawkener|| |
|-
|1759 ||rowspan="3" style="background-color: white" |
|rowspan="3"| Robert Hampden, 4th Baron Trevor|| rowspan="3"|
|style="background-color: white" |
|William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough ||
|-
|1762 || style="background-color: white" |
|John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont|| |
|-
|1763 || style="background-color: white" |
|Thomas Villiers, 1st Baron Hyde|| |
|-
|1765 || style="background-color: white" |
|Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham|| |
|style="background-color: white" |
|William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough ||
|-
| 1766|| style="background-color: white" |
|Wills Hill, 2nd Viscount Hillsborough|| |
| rowspan="3" style="background-color: white" |
| rowspan="3"|Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer || rowspan="3"|
|-
| 1768|| style="background-color: white" |
|John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich|| |
|-
|1771 || rowspan="7" style="background-color: white" |
|rowspan="7"|Henry Carteret<br />(from 1784 Baron Carteret) || rowspan="7"|
|-
| 1782|| style="background-color: white" |
|The Viscount Barrington|| |
|-
| 1782|| style="background-color: white" |
| Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville|| |
|-
|1783 || style="background-color: white" |
||Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley
| 10 April 1900 <br/>
| 8 August 1902
| | Conservative
| | Salisbury IV
|-
! style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Austen Chamberlain<br>MP for East Worcestershire<br>
| 8 August 1902
| 6 October 1903
| | Conservative
| rowspan=2 | Balfour
|-
! style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Edward Stanley, Lord Stanley<br>MP for Westhoughton<br>
| 6 October 1903
| 10 December 1905
| | Conservative
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Sydney Buxton<br>MP for Poplar<br>
| rowspan=2 | 10 December 1905
| rowspan=2 | 14 February 1910
| rowspan=2 | Liberal
| | Campbell-Bannerman
|-
| | Asquith I
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Herbert Samuel<br>MP for Cleveland<br>
| rowspan=2|10 November 1931
| rowspan=2|7 June 1935
| rowspan=2 | Conservative
|-
| | National II
|-
! rowspan=3 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=3|75px
| rowspan=3|George Tryon<br>MP for Brighton<br>
| rowspan=3|7 June 1935
| rowspan=3|3 April 1940
| rowspan=3 | Conservative
| | National III<br>
|-
| | National IV
|-
| rowspan=2 | Chamberlain War
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=2|75px
| rowspan=2|William Morrison<br>MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury<br>
| rowspan=2|3 April 1940
| rowspan=2|7 November 1943
| rowspan=2 | Conservative
|-
| rowspan=2 | Churchill War<br>
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=2|75px
| rowspan=2|Harry Crookshank<br>MP for Gainsborough<br>
| rowspan=2|7 November 1943
| rowspan=2|4 August 1945
| rowspan=2 | Conservative
|-
| | Churchill Caretaker<br>
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|<!-- Deleted image removed: 75px -->
| William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel<br>
| 4 August 1945
| 17 April 1947
| | Labour
| rowspan=2 | Attlee I
|-
! style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Wilfred Paling<br>MP for Wentworth<br>
| 17 April 1947
| 28 February 1950
| | Labour
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|<!-- Deleted image removed: 75px -->
| Ness Edwards<br>MP for Caerphilly<br>
| 28 February 1950
| 5 November 1951
| | Labour
| | Attlee II
|-
! style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr<br>
| 5 November 1951
| 7 April 1955
| | Conservative
| | Churchill III
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|
| Charles Hill<br>MP for Luton<br>
| 7 April 1955
| 16 January 1957
| | National Liberal
| | Eden
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|<!-- Deleted image removed: 75px -->
| Ernest Marples<br>MP for Wallasey<br>
| 16 January 1957
| 22 October 1959
| | Conservative
| | Macmillan I
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=2|<!-- Deleted image removed: 75px -->
| rowspan=2|Reginald Bevins<br>MP for Liverpool Toxteth<br>
| rowspan=2|22 October 1959
| rowspan=2|19 October 1964
| rowspan=2 | Conservative
| | Macmillan II
|-
| | Douglas-Home
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Tony Benn<br>MP for Bristol South East<br>
| rowspan=2 | 19 October 1964
| rowspan=2 | 4 July 1966
| rowspan=2 | Labour
| | Wilson I
|-
| rowspan=4 | Wilson II
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|
| Edward Short<br>MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central<br>
| 4 July 1966
| 6 April 1968
| | Labour
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|
| Roy Mason<br>MP for Barnsley<br>
| 6 April 1968
| 1 July 1968
| | Labour
|-
! style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| John Stonehouse<br>MP for Wednesbury<br>
| 1 July 1968
| 1 October 1969
| | Labour
|-
|}
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, 1969–1974
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan=2|Portrait
! width=220|Name<br>
! colspan=2 width=300|Term of office
! width=100|Party
! width=100|Ministry
|-
! style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| John Stonehouse<br>MP for Wednesbury<br>
| 1 October 1969
| 19 June 1970
| | Labour
| | Wilson II
|-
! style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Christopher Chataway<br>MP for Chichester<br>
| 24 June 1970
| 7 April 1972
| rowspan=2 | Conservative
| rowspan=2 | Heath
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|
| John Eden<br>MP for Bournemouth West<br>
| 7 April 1972
| 4 March 1974
|}
See also
- Postmaster General (disambiguation)
- Postmasters General of Ireland
- Postmaster General for Scotland
- Postmaster and Deputy Postmaster for Canada 1763–1851 – who reported to the Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
- Postmaster General of Canada
- Postmaster General of Hong Kong – created in 1870 to replace the Royal Mail and under British administration until 1 July 1997
Notes
References
External links
- Postmaster General PDF