Postmaster General of the United Kingdom

The Postmaster General in the United Kingdom is a defunct 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 new public authority governed by a chairman was established under the name of the "Post Office." The position of "Postmaster General" was replaced with "Minister of Posts and Telecommunications"; subsequently such functions generally fall within the remit of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

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. In 1510, Sir Brian Tuke was appointed as "Master of the King's Post". In 1609 it was decreed that letters could only be carried and delivered by persons authorised by the Postmaster General. 1660 saw the establishment of the General Letter Office, this would later become the General Post Office (GPO). A similar position evolved in the Kingdom of Scotland prior to the 1707 Act of Union.

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 (12 Car II, c.35) confirmed this, the previous Cromwellian Act being void.

Former Postmasters General of England and the UK

*Henry Bishop 1660-1663
*Daniel O'Neill 1663-1664
*Katherine Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield 1664-1667
*Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington 1667-1685
*Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester 1686-1689
*John Wildman 1689-1691

Two Postmasters General

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

A single Postmaster

In 1823 the idea of a Whig and a Tory sharing the post was abolished.
* Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester - continuing in office alone
* Lord Frederick Montagu 1826-1827
* William Montagu, 5th Duke of Manchester 1827-1830
* Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond and Lennox 1830-1834
* Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham 1834
* William Wellesley-Pole, 1st Baron Maryborough 1834-1835
* Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham 1835
* Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield 1835-1841
* William Lowther, Viscount Lowther 1841-1845
* Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans 1845-1846
* Ulick John de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde 1846-1852
* Charles Philip Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke 1852
* Charles John Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning 1853-1855
* George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll 1855-1858
* Charles Edward Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester 1858-1859
* James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin 1859-1860
* Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley 1860-1866
* James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose 1866-1868
* Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington 1868-1871
* William Monsell 1871-1873
* Lyon Playfair 1873-1874
* Lord John Manners 1874-1880
* Henry Fawcett 1880-1884
* George John Shaw-Lefevre 1884-1885
* Lord John Manners 1885-1886
* George Grenfell Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton 1886
* Henry Cecil Raikes 1886-1891
* Sir James Fergusson 1891-1892
* Arnold Morley 1892-1895
* Henry Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk 1895 -1900
* Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry 1900-1902
* Austen Chamberlain 1902-1903
* Edward George Villiers Stanley, Lord Stanley 1903-1905
* Sidney Buxton 1905-1910
* Herbert Samuel 1910-1914
* Charles Hobhouse 1914-1915
* Herbert Samuel 1915-1916
* Joseph Pease 1916
* Albert Illingworth 1916-1921
* Frederick Kellaway 1921-1922
* Neville Chamberlain 1922-1923
* Sir William Joynson-Hicks 1923
* Sir Laming Worthington-Evans 1923-1924
* Vernon Hartshorn 1924
* Sir William Mitchell-Thomson 1924-1929
* Hastings Lees-Smith 1929-1931
* Clement Attlee 1931
* Sir William Ormsby-Gore 1931
* Sir Kingsley Wood 1931-1935
* Geoffrey Tryon 1935-1940
* William Morrison 1940-1942
* Harry Crookshank 1942-1945
* William Francis Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel 1945-1947
* Wilfred Paling 1947-1950
* Ness Edwards 1950-1951
* Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr 1951-1955
* Charles Hill 1955-1957
* Ernest Marples 1957-1959
* Reginald Bevins 1959-1964
* Tony Benn 1964-1966
* Edward Short 1966-1968
* Roy Mason 1968
* John Stonehouse 1968-1969

References

[http://www.xjt60.dial.pipex.com/id70.htm Falmouth Packet Archives]