Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom is a defunct 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 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, although the present-day Royal Mail Group is overseen by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
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 1517, Sir Brian Tuke was appointed by King Henry VIII 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.
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 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 (GPO). A similar position evolved in the Kingdom of Scotland prior to the 1707 Act of Union.
Masters of the King's Post
Former Postmasters General of England and the UK
Two Postmasters General
From 1691 to 1823 there were two Postmasters General, to divide the patronage between the Whigs and Tories.
| Year |
1st Postmaster-General |
1st Party |
2nd Postmaster-General |
2nd Party |
| 1691 |
|
Sir Thomas Frankland |
|
|
Sir Robert Cotton |
Tory |
| 1708 |
|
Sir John Evelyn |
|
| 1715 |
|
James Craggs the Elder |
|
|
Charles Cornwallis, 4th Baron Cornwallis |
Whig |
| 1720 |
|
Galfridus Walpole |
|
|
Edward Carteret |
|
| 1725 |
|
Edward Harrison |
|
| 1733 |
|
Thomas Coke, 1st Baron Lovel
(Earl of Leicester from 1744) |
|
| 1739 |
|
Sir John Eyles, Bt |
|
| 1745 |
|
Everard Fawkener |
|
| 1759 |
|
Robert Hampden, 4th Baron Trevor |
|
|
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough |
|
| 1762 |
|
John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont |
|
| 1763 |
|
Thomas Villiers, 1st Baron Hyde |
|
| 1765 |
|
Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham |
|
|
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough |
|
| 1766 |
|
Wills Hill, 2nd Viscount Hillsborough |
|
|
Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer |
|
| 1768 |
|
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich |
|
| 1771 |
|
Henry Carteret
(from 1784 Baron Carteret) |
|
| 1782 |
|
The Viscount Barrington |
|
| 1782 |
|
Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville[1] |
|
| 1783 |
|
Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley [1] |
|
| 1784 |
|
Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville [1] |
|
| 1786 |
|
Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon |
|
| 1787 |
|
Thomas de Grey, 2nd Baron Walsingham |
|
| 1789 |
|
John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland |
Tory |
| 1790 |
|
Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield |
|
| 1794 |
|
George Townshend, 1st Earl of Leicester |
|
| 1798 |
|
William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland |
|
| 1799 |
|
George Leveson-Gower, Baron Gower |
|
| 1801 |
|
Lord Charles Spencer |
|
| 1804 |
|
James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose |
|
| 1806 |
|
John Proby, 1st Earl of Carysfort |
|
|
Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire |
|
| 1807 |
|
Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester |
Whig |
|
John Montagu, 5th Earl of Sandwich |
Tory |
| 1814 |
|
Richard Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty |
|
| 1816 |
|
James Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury |
|
A single Postmaster
In 1823 the idea of a Whig and a Tory sharing the post was abolished.[1]
| Years |
Postmaster General |
| 1823 |
Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester
continuing in office alone |
| 1826-1827 |
Lord Frederick Montagu |
| 1827-1830 |
William Montagu, 5th Duke of Manchester |
| 1830-1834 |
Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond and Lennox |
| 1834 |
Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham |
| 1834-1835 |
William Wellesley-Pole, 1st Baron Maryborough |
| 1835 |
Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham |
| 1835-1841 |
Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield |
| 1841-1845 |
William Lowther, Viscount Lowther |
| 1845-1846 |
Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans |
| 1846-1852 |
Ulick John de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde |
| 1852 |
Charles Philip Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke |
| 1853-1855 |
Charles John Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning |
| 1855-1858 |
George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll |
| 1858-1859 |
Charles Edward Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester |
| 1859-1860 |
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin |
| 1860-1866 |
Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley |
| 1866-1868 |
James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose |
| 1868-1871 |
Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington |
| 1871-1873 |
William Monsell |
| 1873-1874 |
Lyon Playfair |
| 1874-1880 |
Lord John Manners |
| 1880-1884 |
Henry Fawcett |
| 1884-1885 |
George John Shaw-Lefevre |
| 1885-1886 |
Lord John Manners |
| 1886 |
George Grenfell Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton |
| 1886-1891 |
Henry Cecil Raikes |
| 1891-1892 |
Sir James Fergusson |
| 1892-1895 |
Arnold Morley |
| 1895-1900 |
Henry Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk |
| 1900-1902 |
Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry |
| 1902-1903 |
Austen Chamberlain |
| 1903-1905 |
Edward George Villiers Stanley, Lord Stanley |
| 1905-1910 |
Sidney Buxton |
| 1910-1914 |
Herbert Samuel |
| 1914-1915 |
Charles Hobhouse |
| 1915-1916 |
Herbert Samuel |
| 1916 |
Joseph Pease |
| 1916-1921 |
Albert Illingworth |
| 1921-1922 |
Frederick Kellaway |
| 1922-1923 |
Neville Chamberlain |
| 1923 |
Sir William Joynson-Hicks |
| 1923-1924 |
Sir Laming Worthington-Evans |
| 1924 |
Vernon Hartshorn |
| 1924-1929 |
Sir William Mitchell-Thomson |
| 1929-1931 |
Hastings Lees-Smith |
| 1931 |
Clement Attlee |
| 1931 |
Sir William Ormsby-Gore |
| 1931-1935 |
Sir Kingsley Wood |
| 1935-1940 |
Geoffrey Tryon |
| 1940-1942 |
William Morrison |
| 1942-1945 |
Harry Crookshank |
| 1945-1947 |
William Francis Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel |
| 1947-1950 |
Wilfred Paling |
| 1950-1951 |
Ness Edwards |
| 1951-1955 |
Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr |
| 1955-1957 |
Charles Hill |
| 1957-1959 |
Ernest Marples |
| 1959-1964 |
Reginald Bevins |
| 1964-1966 |
Tony Benn |
| 1966-1968 |
Edward Short |
| 1968 |
Roy Mason |
| 1968-1969 |
John Stonehouse |
See also
References