Genealogy Chat

Hi can anybody actually tell me what a postmaster general was or what they did. Many thanks

As far as I know he is or was the head man in the post office A goverment appointment i Think.

I think he was what is probably now the manager of the Post office. The title was probably in use when the Post office was HM Post office and he would have been a Civil servant. Ann Glos

I think Tony Benn was Postmaster General in the 1960s. I believe the job became Minister of Posts and Telecommunications at a later date. I guess it was downgraded when Telecom was privatised. (Hmm... think, believe, guess ... it seems I don't KNOW much!)

Prior to 1969 the General Post Office (GPO) was a Civil Service department all staff were civil servants,responsible to the Crown, The Postmaster General was appointed by the government. After 1969 The Post Office was detached from the Civil Service and controlled by a Board of Directors, but still retaining the Crown. which means loosely that all staff still worked directly for the Queen, hence the term Queen's Mail or Royal Mail. In the time of the Civil Service era. When a letter was posted it no longer belonged to the person that sent it or to the person it was addressed to, It became the property of the Crown,when the item was delivered to the address the Crown discharged their responsibility to the addressee. In transit in broad terms The Queen was in charge of it. It may interest you to know that as we invented the postage stamp, we are the only country in the world that do not have to put the name of our country on the stamps. General historical agreement with the Universal postal union

A true story for you---A man posted two letters in Putney in the 1960's ,one to his wife and one to his girlfriend. But after dropping them in the box he realised that they were in the wrong envelopes. He waited for the Postman to clear the box, and asked for them back. The Postman rightly refused. (there were a great pile of cigarette ends round the box, dropped by the man while he was waiting!) Back at the Sorting Office. The man was asked to descibe in total detail the envelopes and addresses. He was exceptionally allowed to exchange the contents in the presence of the Chief Inspector ! We later saw the man drunk in Putney High Street !

Thanks everyone for your replies and thanks maurice for the story, made me laugh.