Postmaster General of the United Kingdom


The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs. This would subsequently extend to telecommunications and broadcasting.
The office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969. A replacement public authority governed by a chairman was established under the name of the "Post Office ". The position of "Postmaster General" was, with reduced powers, replaced with "Minister of Posts and Telecommunications"; since when most such regulation instead has been delegated to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. However the present-day Royal Mail Group was overseen by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills prior to flotation.

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 1657 an Act 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 confirmed this and the post of Postmaster-General, the previous Cromwellian Act being void.
1660 saw the establishment of the General Letter Office, which would later become the General Post Office. A similar position evolved in the Kingdom of Scotland prior to the 1707 Act of Union.
The office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969. A new public authority governed by a chairman was established under the name of the Post Office. The position of Postmaster General was initially replaced with Minister of Posts and Telecommunications with less direct involvement; since this 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 is overseen by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Masters of the King's Post

Postmaster under the Commonwealth

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 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 from 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.
YearsPostmaster General
1660–1663Henry Bishop
1663–1664Daniel O'Neill
1664–1667Katherine O'Neill, Countess of Chesterfield
1667–1685Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
1686–1689Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester
1689–1691John Wildman

Two Postmasters General, 1691–1823

From 1691 to 1823 there were two Postmasters General, to divide the patronage between the Whigs and Tories.

A single Postmaster General, 1823–1931

In 1823 the idea of a Whig and a Tory sharing the post was abolished.
YearsPostmaster General
1823Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester
continuing in office alone
1826–1827Lord Frederick Montagu
1827–1830William Montagu, 5th Duke of Manchester
1830–1834Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond and Lennox
1834Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham
1834–1835William Wellesley-Pole, 1st Baron Maryborough
1835Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham
1835–1841Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield
1841–1845William Lowther, Viscount Lowther
1845–1846Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans
1846–1852Ulick John de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde
1852Charles Philip Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke
1853–1855Charles John Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning
1855–1858George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll
1858–1859Charles Edward Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester
1859–1860James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
1860–1866Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley
1866–1868James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose
1868–1871Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington
1871–1873William Monsell
1873–1874Lyon Playfair
1874–1880Lord John Manners
1880–1884Henry Fawcett
1884–1885George John Shaw-Lefevre
1885–1886Lord John Manners
1886George Grenfell Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton
1886–1891Henry Cecil Raikes
1891–1892Sir James Fergusson
1892–1895Arnold Morley
1895–1900Henry Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk
1900–1902Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry
1902–1903Austen Chamberlain
1903–1905Edward George Villiers Stanley, Lord Stanley
1905–1910Sidney Buxton
1910–1914Herbert Samuel
1914–1915Charles Hobhouse
1915–1916Herbert Samuel
1916Joseph Pease
1916–1921Albert Illingworth
1921–1922Frederick Kellaway
1922–1923Neville Chamberlain
1923Sir William Joynson-Hicks
1923–1924Sir Laming Worthington-Evans
1924Vernon Hartshorn
1924–1929Sir William Mitchell-Thomson
1929–1931Hastings Lees-Smith
1931Clement Attlee
1931Sir William Ormsby-Gore

A single Postmaster General, 1931–1969