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Have you ever wondered if any of your forebears worked for the Post Office? The Royal Mail Archive at The Postal Museum in London may hold the answers.<\/p>\n\n
The archive covers the whole of the UK and, up until 1920, Ireland too. Since the Post Office was one of the largest employers in these islands, its archive is a rich resource when searching for postal relatives. The main records that are helpful for this are appointment books, records of pensions and gratuities, and staff magazines. There are also establishment books, which record more senior and clerical staff. You can search the catalogue at catalogue.postalmuseum.org<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n The first thing to do is to gather any information you already have about your ancestor. This includes their full name, their dates of birth and death if known, the area where they lived, and if they were a woman the date of her marriage if applicable.<\/p>\n\n If you have Ancestry access then you should next search the collection \u2018UK, Postal Service Appointment Books, 1737\u20131969\u2019 for your ancestor\u2019s surname (<\/span>ancestry.co.uk\/search\/collections\/1933<\/strong><\/a>). <\/strong>You may well find multiple relations. Generations of the same family sometimes worked for the Post Office, such as the Evans family who were river postmen in London in the 19th and 20th centuries. They delivered post by rowing boat, including in the Port of London. Just imagine how much skill would have been required to negotiate the tidal River Thames and all of the large vessels in a small rowing boat.<\/p>\n\n When you manage to find an appointment record for your ancestor it will tell you the date that they were appointed, which job they were appointed to, and where they worked at the time of the appointment.<\/p>\n\n Once you have the appointment information, you can move on to the pension and gratuity records. This is where the date of birth, or marriage, can be useful, because they can help you work out where to look in the records.<\/p>\n\n TOP TIP! The Post Office was a government department until 1969 and its staff were civil servants. This meant that staff had to retire at the age of 60, although there are exceptions to this with people retiring early, often due to ill health, or working beyond the usual retirement age.<\/p>\n\n Being a civil servant also meant, until 1946, that women were forced to leave the service when they got married, consequently they received a \u2018marriage gratuity\u2019.<\/p>\n\n If a staff member died while working for the Post Office, a so-called \u2018death gratuity\u2019 was paid to their dependents. These are also recorded in the pension and gratuity records.<\/p>\n\n The pension records are currently only available on microfilm or as the original documents in The Royal Mail Archive at the museum. However, the new \u2018Addressing Health Data Mapper\u2019 website gives access to some details for the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The site is free to use and you can search a map of the UK and Ireland for Post Office pensioners: data.addressinghealth.org.uk<\/a>. <\/strong>The website is part of the<\/p>\n\n \u2018Addressing Health\u2019 project looking at the health of past postal workers, which was one of Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine\u2019s <\/em>four Transcription Tuesday projects in February 2021. More information about the project, in which The Postal Museum is involved, is available on its website.<\/p>\n\n If you have managed to find a pension record for your ancestor then it will generally tell you when your forebear retired, what their final salary was, how much their pension was, and how many days\u2019 sick leave they had taken in the years leading up to their retirement.<\/p>\n\n Sometimes there are additional comments. These will provide an insight into the person\u2019s life such as if they were reprimanded for fighting in the sorting office, or were known to drink heavily and that it did not, or did, affect their work. If a staff member had received a serious reprimand then it might affect the level of pension they received. However, the most typical comment is a commendation for good service in the Post Office: \u201c[John Smith] has discharged his duties with diligence and fidelity to the satisfaction of his superior officers. He is recommended for the award of the Imperial Service Medal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n This medal was awarded in the 20th century to staff if they had worked for 25 years or more and had given \u201cmeritorious service\u201d.<\/p>\n\n Once you know when your ancestor worked for the Post Office, you can try browsing through the staff magazines for the period. These are available to view in the archive, some in digital format and some as the original paper issues.<\/p>\n\n If your ancestor had a hobby or played sport, then they might possibly be mentioned in these magazines. You never know, you may find out that they were on the Post Office swimming team, had a flair for art, or grew prize vegetables! Even if you don\u2019t find any mentions of your ancestor, the magazines give you a valuable sense of the time when they worked at the Post Office.<\/p>\n\n DID YOU KNOW? If your research in The Royal Mail Archive reveals that your ancestor held a senior or clerical post, or, for example, worked in the telephone, Savings Bank or engineering departments, the establishment books are your next port of call. The originals are available in the archive and library at The Postal Museum. They give a brief potted history of the person\u2019s career, including <\/span>dates of promotions and their salary, so they can also be a source of valuable information for your research into your family history.<\/p>\n\n If you\u2019ve been able to find your ancestor in the records then all of these various sources will add nuggets of detail, to hopefully create a picture of their working life in the Post Office. The records may even give you glimpses of their interests outside work too \u2013 think of those prize vegetables!<\/p>\n\n If you don\u2019t have access to the online resources mentioned above, or you want to research the original records in person, then the archive can be visited by appointment. A paid Family History Research Service is also available.<\/span><\/p>\n\n The archive contains two-and-a-half miles of records, housing a vast range of documents recording how the Post Office was run. In addition to the family history resources, you can discover how mail was transported across the UK and overseas, including maps tracing postal routes; plans of buildings; artwork for posters; changes in uniforms; photographs taken all over the country; how important decisions were reached; developments in staff safety and training; relationships with unions; and how postal mechanisation and postcodes were introduced.<\/span><\/p>\n\n SUSANNAH COSTER is an archivist at The Postal Museum, where she advises genealogical researchers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n This appointment book includes a record of Tommy Rees\u2019 employment \u2013 see the box on page 66. It is held by The Postal Museum, and available on Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 DATE <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Days of the month are not always given, but it appears that Tommy Rees was appointed between 1 and 8 December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 SURNAME<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many appointment books are arranged alphabetically by surname, and then divided again according to the first vowel in the surname.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 CHRISTIAN NAME <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes middle initials are given. You may also see abbreviations, eg \u201cThos\u201d for \u201cThomas\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 SITUATION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This column reveals the role that someone was appointed to. \u201cP\u2019man\u201d is often used instead of \u201cPostman\u201d, while \u201cSC&T\u201d means \u201cSorting clerk and telegraphist\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 PLACE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the location of their job, for example Carmarthen for Tommy, or their department: \u201cEngr Provs\u201d is short for \u201cEngineering Provinces\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6 MINUTE NUMBER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This refers to an entry in minute books. Two digits at the end after a slash indicate the year that the appointment was recorded.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n Susannah explains how she researched a postman who worked in the south-west of Wales<\/strong><\/p>\n\n It is extremely rare to find photographs of Post Office staff with their names attached. So it was a delight to find this picture of Tommy Rees, who is included in the annotated document on page 65. The photo was taken in May 1949 at St Clears, Carmarthen.<\/p>\n\n Research using The Royal Mail Archive\u2019s family history resources revealed more than one record for a \u2018Thomas Rees\u2019 in Carmarthen in the appointment books. The records use formal names and the most likely appointment for Tommy Rees seems to be December 1931. The pension indexes show that a Thomas Rees, a postman in St Clears, Carmarthen, retired in 1953. Unfortunately, the full record of his pension has not survived. Earlier pension records usually contain more details.<\/p>\n\n However, other records can give a flavour of what working life was like for him. A handwritten entry for St Clears contained in one of our establishment books shows that in the 1930s there were three \u2018pn. r\u2019 (postman rural) and four auxiliary (part-time) postmen rural, one cycle allowance, and a medical officer.<\/p>\n\n Furthermore, the Post Office Magazine <\/em>reveals that in Carmarthen in the late 1940s and early 1950s workers were given \u2018Safe Driving\u2019 awards and outdoor staff, such as postmen, held an annual dinner at the Red Lion Hotel. The local postmen also had to contend with letter boxes occupied by bees, birds nesting in them, and even snails gaining entry and eating their way through letters.<\/p>\n\n This research for Tommy Rees gives a good idea of the material that can be found for ancestors who were employed by the Post Office in the mid-20th century.<\/p>\n\n These are the essential websites for learning about your relations who worked for the Post Office<\/strong><\/p>\n\n w data.addressinghealth.org.uk<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n This free website summarises key details for Post Office pensioners who retired in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is searched by a map.<\/span><\/p>\n\nThe First Step<\/h5>\n\n
Telegraph messengers were employed from the age of 13, but usually only appear in the appointment books aged 18 when they took another Post Office job such as postman.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\nRules For Civil Servants<\/h5>\n\n
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Staff Magazines<\/h5>\n\n
The Post Office employed women in large numbers from 1870 onwards, first as telegraphists and later as clerks at the Savings Bank and Returned Letter Office. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\nAlternative Options<\/h5>\n\n
\n\nAPPOINTMENT BOOK, 1931<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRESEARCHING A POSTAL WORKER<\/h4>\n\n
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\n\nExpert Picks<\/h4>\n\n
Addressing Health Data Mapper <\/h5>\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\nAncestry <\/h5>\n\n
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