GPO - PMG's & Secretaries

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=185 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="040b9c00dduajq.jpg"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="70" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 76 WIDTH="66"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="76" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="66" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFBF0" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Falmouth Packet Archives 1688-1850</B></FONT>    |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Falmouth Packet Archives 16881850"><U>home</U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> GPO - PMG's & Secretaries</div> <div> The earliest mention of chief Post-Master for England, is in Camden’s <I>Annals</I>, under date 1581. James I. erected the first Post-Office for the conveyance of letters to and from foreign parts, which he placed under the control of one Matthew de l’Equester. This office was afterwards claimed by Lord Stanhope; but, in 1632, was confirmed and continued to Wm. Frizel and Thomas Witherings, by Charles I.; and in 1635, all private inland posts were forbidden. </div> <div> I<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >n 1656, a new and regular Post-Office was established, by the authority of the Protector and his Parliament, upon nearly the same plan as at present; and in 1660, an act of Parliament passed, re-establishing the regulations of 1656, with some improvements, and authorizing the king to establish a Post-Office in London, and Post-Houses in such parts of the country as were unprovided, both on the post and by-roads</FONT></div> <div> The General Post-Office was originally situated in Cloak-lane, near Dowgate; whence it was afterwards removed to the Black Sean, in Bishopsgate-street; and finally to the mansion of Sir Robert Vyner, in Lombard-street, </div> <div> <I>This office is under the control of two noblemen, holding a situation termed joint post-masters general. The present post-masters are the </I><I><B>Earl of Chichester</B></I><I> and the </I><I><B>Earl of Sandwich</B></I><I>, from whom all appointments in the office must proceed, and whose sanction is necessary to all orders and regulations. The duty of the </I><I><B>secretary </B></I><I>is, to manage, under the post-masters general, the correspondence by post throughout the country, to deliver his opinion upon all regulations submitted for the consideration of the board, and its orders are issued through this channel. The duty of the inland department is under the management of a superintending president, in conjunction with three presidents and three vice-presidents; it commences at six o’clock, and is usually finished at ten or eleven in the morning. The letters, after they are taken from the bags, are carefully counted, and the amount of postage taken, to check the account of the deputy post-masters in the country; they then pass through the hands of persons by whom they are all individually examined as to the correctness of the charges made by the post-masters from whence they come; and, after being stamped, are assorted to the different districts, as they are divided among the letter-carriers. Previous to their being issued from this office into the hands of the letter-carriers, the amount of each parcel of letters is twice counted up. Every letter-carrier is responsible for the account taken of those letters that belong immediately to his division. The payment of the postage is made by them into the receiver-general’s office three times a week, where a check for each day’s amount is kept against them. The utmost care and diligence are exerted, in order to prevent the public and the revenue from suffering from the numerous hands through which letters must necessarily pass before they reach the owners: the apparently precarious mode of collecting these levies, is regulated by plans that insure the revenue from frauds, that might otherwise so easily exist. The circumstance of this great engine to the commercial world, commencing its operations at so early an hour, enables the public to receive their correspondence before the business of the day is begun; an advantage which exists only in London. </I></div> <div> The principal officers of the General Post-Office are,</div> <div> <I>The secretary and principal resident surveyor,</I> Francis Freeling, Esq.</div> <div> <I>Superintending president of the inland office,</I> Daniel Stow, Esq. </div> <div> <I>Comptroller of the foreign office,</I> Arthur Stanhope, Esq.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Mr. Anthony Todd</B>, a man of singular abilities and generally beloved, was <B>secretary to the Post-Office sixty-one years:</B> He died about twelve years ago (circa 1798)</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.printsgeorge.com/Jane_Austen-places.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.printsgeorge.com/Jane_Austen-"><U>Ackermann’s “</U></A><A HREF="http://www.printsgeorge.com/Jane_Austen-places.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.printsgeorge.com/Jane_Austen-"><U><I>Microcosm of London</I></U></A><A HREF="http://www.printsgeorge.com/Jane_Austen-places.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.printsgeorge.com/Jane_Austen-"><U>,” 1810</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> CALENDAR OF STATE PAPERS, DOMESTIC SERIES, CHARLES II.  (1666-1667)</div> <div> Preface:     "James Hicks, senior clerk of the <B>Post Office</B>, writes on Sept. 3rd, <B>1666</B>, that Sir Philip Frowde had fled at midnight on the 2nd from the Post Office for safety.  He himself stayed until 1 a.m., when his wife and children's patience could endure no longer, and fearing lest the streets would soon be blocked up, he escaped to the <I>Golden Lion</I> in Red Cross Street. </div> <div> (13,000 houses were destroyed in the Fire of London.)</div> <bR> <div> <B>Falmouth. Aug.1, 1666.</B></div> <div> 3.  Thos. Holden to Williamson (Joseph Williamson, Editor of the <I>Gazette,</I> later Secretary of State).</div> <div> <B>A French man-of-war</B> chased two Falmouth vessels, which escaped. <B>Took the Scilly packet boat</B> and a collier.</div> <bR> <div> <B>So far, this appears to be the first reference to Falmouth AND 'packet' in these archives....22 years before Falmouth was chosen as a packet station. The Scilly packet boat, or bye-boat, operated from Penzance.</B></div> <bR> <div> CALENDAR OF STATE PAPERS, DOMESTIC SERIES, CHARLES II.  (1666-1667) [Directory, RIC Truro]</div> <div> p.346.     Bristol, Dec. 15, <B>1666 </B>     118.Sir Thos. Langton, Mayor of Bristol to Williamson.</div> <div> Most of the Plantation ships, 30 vessels, sailed three days since. As the <I>Golden Lion</I> was unable to sail through neglect, sent the [mail] packet for Virginia to the <I>Elizabeth</I>, which is gone. </div> <div> Encloses; 118 i)     Receipt by John Weaver, commander of the <I>Elizabeth,</I> from Sir Thos. Langton, Mayor of Bristol, of two packets of letters on the King's business, for Sir. Wm. Berkeley, Governor of Virginia, and Col. Rich. Nicholls, commissioner for visiting the colonies in New England, and promise to deliver the same faithfully, or<B> in case of meeting with an enemy, to throw them overboard.</B></div> <div> Endorsed "<B>Duplicate to the Plantations</B>."</div> <bR> <div> <B>The above serves to illustrate the established practice of communicating via merchant vessels, around the time Falmouth was incorporated, in 1661.  </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>----------------------------</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><B><IMG SRC="18d46460.png" border=0 width="70" height="70" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Notes on the history of the British Post Office</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Between the time of Sir Thomas Frankland in 1690 until Lord Frederick Montague's tenure of office in 1826-7, no fewer than<B> twenty-four of the Falmouth Packets were named after different Postmasters General.</B></div> <bR> <div> The Act of <B>1657</B> was the first comprehensive attempt to regulate the Postal Service by statute. It established a government  monopoly. For the first time the head of the Post Office was called Postmaster-General.  </div> <div> [Previously known as <I>Master of the Posts</I>, <I>Comptroller General of the Posts</I>, <I>Postmaster of England</I>]</div> <div> During most of the 17th century the Post Office headship was in <I><B>farm</B></I>.</div> <div> Annual rent was paid for the appointment, the holder retained the profits over and above his outlay.</div> <bR> <div> The Headship of the Post Office prior to 1657.</div> <bR> <div> 1516-1545     Sir Brian Tuke               [Reign of King Henry VIII] </div> <bR> <div> 1545-1566     John Mason</div> <div> 1567-1590     Thomas Randolph</div> <div> 1590-1607     John Stanhope</div> <div> 1607-1621     John Stanhope (Baron Stanhope of Harrington 1605. Died 1621)</div> <div> 1621-1635     Charles Stanhope (son of John Stanhope)</div> <div> <B>1619-1632</B>     Mathew de Quester - <B>Postmaster for Foreign Parts</B></div> <div> 1632-1640     Thomas Witherings - for England & Scotland</div> <div> 1635 -1637     Thomas Witherings - Postmaster for Foreign Parts</div> <div> 1637-1642     Philip Burlamachi - for England & Scotland, under the Secretaries of State</div> <div> 1642-1653     Edmund Prideaux     -   ditto -</div> <div> 1653-1655     John Manley          -   ditto -</div> <div> 1655 1660     John Thurloe          - Secretary of State</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>[Falmouth was incorporated in 1661]</B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>The Office of Postmaster General from 1660</B></I>.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> 1660-1663     Col. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/Letter2.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/Le"><U>Henry Bishop</U></A></FONT> -Annual rent £21,500, patent for 7years, surrendered 1663 (see "<I><B>Bishop's</B></I> (Post)<I><B> Mark</B></I>")</div> <div> 1663-1667     Daniel O'Neale      - Died in 1664. Patent held by his widow until her death 1667</div> <div> 1667- 1685     Henry Bennett     (Lord Arlington)    </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">1667-1672     - Sir John Bennet      Deputy PMG</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">1672               - John Ellis                Deputy PMG</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">1672-1677     - Col. Roger Whitley Deputy PMG</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">1677-1685     - Philip Frowde          Deputy PMG   </div> <div> 1686-1689  Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester  (Philip Frowde continued as 'Governor' of the Post Office)</div> <bR> <div> <B>The office was a political appointment after the 1688 revolution & exile of James II</B></div> <bR> <div> 1689-1691     Major John Wildman </div> <bR> <div> <I>qf. </I>Robertson, Alan W. <I>The Maritime Postal History of the British Isles </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >(p. A.54/A) </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >Courtesy of Falmouth Library.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>British Postmasters General</B></div> <bR> <div> Commencing in 1691 <B>two</B> Postmasters General were appointed, to hold office conjointly.</div> <div> At that time, one was a member of the Whig party and the other a member of the Tory party. </div> <div> This joint appointment continued as a government policy until 1831. (Political ramifications waned) </div> <bR> <div> 1691-1708     Sir Robert Co          1691-1715     Sir Thom <A NAME="frankland__pmg_1691_1715_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> 1708-1715     Sir John Evelyn               </div> <div> 1715-1720     James Cra <A NAME="craggs__pmg_1715_1720_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>               1715-1720     Lord Cornwallis</div> <div> 1720-1725     Galfridius Walpole      1720-1739     <A NAME="carteret"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> 1725-1732     Edward Harrison         1739-1744     Sir John Eyles</div> <div>                                                              1745- <A NAME="fawkener__pmg_1745_1758_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> 1733-1759     Lord Lovell (Earl of Leicester)  <A NAME="lovell__pmg_1733_1759_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> 1759-1762     Earl of Bessborough</div> <div> 1762-1765     Robert Hampden          1762-1763     Earl of Egmont  <A NAME="robery_hyde__pmg_1763_1765_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> 1765-1766     Earl of Bessborough, again     1765-1766     Earl  <A NAME="grantham__pmg_1765_1766_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> 1766-1768     Earl of Hillsborough          1766-1771     L <A NAME="despencer__pmg_1766_1771_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> 1768-1771     Earl of Sandwich          </div> <div> 1771-1789     H.F. Thynne (Lord Carteret)</div> <div> 1782-              Viscount Barrington</div> <div> 1782-1783     Earl of Tankerville, again,     </div> <div> 1784-1786     Earl of Tankerville, </div> <div> 1783-1784     Lord Foley</div> <div> 1786-             Earl of Clarenden</div> <div> 1787-1794     Lord Walsingham</div> <div> 1790-1798     Earl of Chesterfield        1794-1799     Earl of Leicester</div> <div> 1798-1804     Lord Auckland                1799-1801     Lord Gower</div> <div> 1804-1806     Duke of Montrose          1801-1806     Lord Charles Spencer</div> <div> 1806-1807     Earl of Carysfort             1806-1807           Earl of Buckinghamshire</div> <div> 1807-1823     Earl of Chichester           1807-1814           Earl of Sandwich     </div> <div>                               1814-1816     Earl of Clancarty</div> <div>                               1816-1823     Marquess of Salisbury</div> <bR> <div> A Single Postmaster General since 1823* </div> <div> <B>[1823*     Admiralty took over the Falmouth Packets]</B></div> <div> 1823-1826     <B>Earl of Chichester</B>     </div> <div> 4 July, 1826     <B>Lord Frederick Montague</B></div> <div> 17 Sep. 1827     <B>Duke of Manchester</B></div> <div> 14 Dec. 1820     <B>Duke of Richmond     </B></div> <div> <B>[1830     Admiralty Steam packets start operating on some routes from Falmouth]</B></div> <div> 5 July, 1834     <B>Marquess of Conyngham     </B>     </div> <div> 31 Dec. 1834     <B>Lord Maryborough</B></div> <div> 8 May,  1835     <B>Marquess of Conyngham     </B></div> <div> <B>[1837     Peninsular Steam Navigation Co. contracted Mail to the 'Groyne' (Corunna)]</B></div> <div> 30 May, 1835     <B>Earl of Lichfield</B></div> <div> <B>[1840     Cunard's steamships were contracted to carry Mail from Liverpool - New York]</B></div> <div> 15 Sept. 1841     Lord Lowther (<B>Earl Lonsdale</B>)</div> <div> 2 Jan. 1846     <B>Earl of St. Germans</B></div> <div> 14 July, 1846     <B>Marquess of Clanricarde</B></div> <div> <B>[1850     Falmouth Packet Service ended December 1850] </B></div> <div> 6 May 1852     Earl of Hardwicke</div> <bR> <div> <B>See also: </B></div> <div> <B>1810-1821: Falmouth agent Christopher Saverland's Letters (S.L.) at Post Office Archives, Mount Pleasant, London.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Secretary of the Post Office</B> (dates from the time of the first Joint Postmasters General)</div> <bR> <div> 1700-1714     Benjamin Waterhouse</div> <div> 1714-1720     Henry Weston</div> <div> 1720-1730     Joseph Goodman</div> <div> 1730-1737     W. Rouse</div> <div> 1737-1738     Thomas Robinson</div> <div> 1738-1742     John D. Barbutt</div> <div> 1742-1760     George Shelvocke (sic)    [Shevlocke ?]     </div> <div> 1760-1762     Henry Potts</div> <div> 1762-1765     Anthony Todd</div> <div> 1765-1768     Henry Potts</div> <div> 1768-1798     Anthony Todd</div> <div> 1798-1836     Sir Francis Freeling </div> <div> 29/9/1836     Col. W. L. Maberley , </div> <div> [until 22/4/1854, including when Packets operated from Southampton.(from January 1851)]</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>