| Postmaster General of the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
_(St_Edwards_Crown).svg) | |
| Style | Postmaster General |
| Appointer | Monarch of the United Kingdom on advice of thePrime Minister |
| Precursor | Master of the King's Post |
| Formation | 1517 |
| First holder | Brian Tuke as Master of the King's Post |
| Final holder | John Stonehouse |
| Abolished | 1 October 1969 |
| Succession | Overseen by the following: Department of Trade and Industry (1974–2007) Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2007–2015) Home Office (1974–1992) Department for Culture, Media and Sport (1992–present) |
Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was aCabinetministerial position inHM Government. Aside from maintainingthe postal system, theTelegraph Act 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electrictelegraphs. This would subsequently extend totelecommunications and broadcasting.
The office was abolished in 1969 by thePost Office Act 1969. A replacementpublic corporation, governed by a chairman, was established under the name of thePost Office (later subsumed byRoyal 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 theSecretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and theSecretary of State for Business and Trade.
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 ofMaster of the Posts is in theKing's Book of Payments where a payment of £100 was authorised forBrian Tuke as master of the posts in February 1512.[1] Belatedly, in 1517, he was officially appointed to the office ofGovernor of the King's Posts, a precursor to the office of Postmaster General of the United Kingdom, byHenry VIII.[2] In 1609 it was decreed that letters could only be carried and delivered by persons authorised by the Postmaster General.[3]
In 1655John Thurloe became Postmaster-General, a post he held until he was accused of treason and arrested in May 1660.[4] His spies were able to intercept mail, and he exposedEdward Sexby's 1657 plot to assassinateCromwell and captured would-be assassinMiles Sindercombe and his group. Ironically, Thurloe's own department was also infiltrated: his secretarySamuel Morland became aRoyalist agent and in 1659 alleged that Thurloe,Richard Cromwell and SirRichard Willis - aSealed Knot member turned Cromwell agent - were plotting to kill the future KingCharles II. About forty years after his death, a false ceiling was found in his rooms atLincoln's Inn, the space was full of letters seized during his occupation of the office of Postmaster-General. These letters are now at theBodleian Library.[5]
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 theRestoration in 1660, a further act, thePost Office Act 1660 (12 Cha. 2. c. 35), confirmed this and the post of Postmaster-General, the previousCromwellian act being void.
1660 saw the establishment of the General Letter Office, which would later become theGeneral Post Office (GPO).[3] A similar position evolved in theKingdom of Scotland prior to the 1707Act of Union.
| Postmaster-General Act 1831 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for enabling His Majesty to appoint a Postmaster General for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. |
| Citation | 1 Will. 4. c. 8 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 11 March 1831 |
| Commencement | 11 March 1831 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Post Office (Repeal of Laws) Act 1837 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
ThePostmaster-General Act 1831 (1 Will. 4. c. 8) established the unified office of Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
The office was abolished in 1969 by thePost Office Act 1969.[3] A new public corporation, governed by a chairman, was established under the name of thePost Office (the part later subsumed byRoyal Mail), which also had responsibility fortelecommunications and theGirobank). The cabinet position of Postmaster General was initially replaced by a Minister of Posts and Telecommunications with less direct involvement; this department was dissolved in March 1974,[6] with regulatory functions transferring to theHome Office, the Post Office retaining control oftelevision licensing. Since 1992, most regulatory functions formerly conducted by the Postmaster General generally fall within the remit of theSecretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, although the present-dayRoyal Mail Group was overseen by theSecretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy untilflotation.
| 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 |
| Years | Postmaster under theCommonwealth |
|---|---|
| 1649–1653 | Edmund Prideaux |
| 1653–1655 | John Manley[7] |
| 1655–1660 | John Thurloe |
The earliest postmasters had responsibility forEngland and Wales. In 1707, on the Union with Scotland, the responsibility of the office was extended to cover the whole of the newKingdom of Great Britain as well as Ireland, but with some powers held by a Post Office Manager for Scotland. By thePost Office (Revenues) Act 1710, with effect from 1711, the services were united, but with a Deputy Postmaster for Scotland. From 1784, there were alsoPostmasters General of Ireland, but under the Postmaster-General Act 1831, the postmasters based at Westminster became responsible for the whole of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.[8] In 1922, theIrish 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 becameMinister for Posts and Telegraphs.
| 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 |
From 1691 to 1823 there were two Postmasters General, to divide the patronage between the Whigs and Tories.
In 1823 the idea of a Whig and a Tory sharing the post was abolished.[9]
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Party | Ministry | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_-_53Fi1742_(John_Stonehouse).jpg) | John Stonehouse MP forWednesbury (1925–1988) | 1 October 1969 | 19 June 1970 | Labour | Wilson II | |
.jpg) | Christopher Chataway MP forChichester (1931–2014) | 24 June 1970 | 7 April 1972 | Conservative | Heath | |
| John Eden MP forBournemouth West (1925–2020) | 7 April 1972 | 4 March 1974 | ||||
_-_53Fi1748_(Tony_Benn).jpg)