Guide to the Records of the Post Office Archives (as filmed by the AJCP)
M2263 - M2270, M2350 - M2391
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: 2019
Collection Summary
- Creator
- General Post Office (United Kingdom)
- Title
- Records held by the Royal Mail Archives (as filmed by the AJCP)
- Date Range
- 1828 - 1958
- Collection Number
- M2263 - M2270, M2350 - M2391
- Extent
- 303 items
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- Australian Joint Copying Project
- Sponsor
- The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) online portal was created with the assistance of the Australian Public Service Modernisation Fund, 2017-2020. The National Library of Australia gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the other foundation AJCP partners, the State Library of New South Wales and The National Archives of the UK, and all other organisations which supported the work of the AJCP, the world's most extensive collaborative copying project, operating from 1948 to 1997.
Introduction
Scope and Contents
Post 34. Selections from minutes 1828-1900 from the Secretary of the Post Office to the Postmaster-General dealing with overseas mail services, including legislation, contracts, rates, international agreements and shipping routes.
Post 44. Reports 1841-47 by Edward D. James and R. Richard Smith of postal services in New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand. Each report summarises the history of postal services in the colony, as well as dealing with current staffing and administration, postal routes, revenue and expenditure, and number of letters sent and received.
M2350-2391:
Post 29. Records 1842-1939 comprising minutes, correspondence and other papers concerning the packet boat service and overseas mail services generally, including mail services to Australia and New Zealand.
Post 34. Secretaries of the Post Office
- 1798-1838 Sir Francis Freeling
- 1836-1854 W.L. Maberley
- 1854-1864 Sir Rowland Hill
- 1864-1880 Sir John Tilley
- 1880-1893 Sir Stevenson Blackwood
- 1893-1899 Sir Spencer Walpole
- 1899-1903 Sir George Murray
Conditions Governing Access
Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use
Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
Preferred Citation
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.
Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.
Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)
Archival History
Material selectively filmed at the Post Office Archives, London, as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project, 1986-1987 (AJCP Reels: M2263-M2270, M2350-M2391). Original microfilm digitised as part of the AJCP Online Delivery Project, 2017-2020.
Existence and Location of Originals
The records filmed by the AJCP were orignally held at Post Office Archives. Freeling House, Mount Pleasant Complex, London EC1A 1BB, England.
The records appear to have been transfered to the Postal Museum as part of the Royal Mail Archives.
For more information see: Archive collection at the Post Museum (https://www.postalmuseum.org/discover/collections/archive-collection/) and An overview of the Royal Mail Archives.
Existence and Location of Copies
The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn8046990] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.
Finding-aid Notes
This finding aid is a revised online version of the original finding aid prepared by the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP), published by the National Library of Australia in 2019. The original AJCP finding aids were unpublished typescripts or photocopies available from libraries that held copies of the original microfilm.
Dates used in this finding aid refer to the date range of the records selected for filming rather than to the date range of the Series or Files.
Subjects
Australia; First Fleet to New South Wales; Great Britain; Great Britain. Post Office; James, Edward D.; Postal services; Smith, R. Richard
Bibliography
Originally cited in Australian Joint Copying Project Handbook. Part 8: Miscellaneous (M) Series. Third Edition, published 1998. Entry 379, p144.
Biographical / Historical
In 1844 the British Government decided that the Australian postal services should be placed under the control of the Postmaster General in London. In March 1844 the Postmaster General approved the proposal of the Secretary of the Post Office, W.L, Maberlay, that two officers should be sent to Australia to obtain information on local regulations, rates of postage, amounts of revenue and expenditure, and general procedures, with a view to establishing a uniform system for the whole or Australia. The officers selected were Edward D. James of the Inland Office and R. Richard Smith, a clerk to the Surveyors. In each colony they were assisted by the local Postmaster General. Each of their reports summarizes the history of the postal services in the particular colony, as well as dealing with current staffing and administration, postal routes, revenue and expenditure, and a number of letters sent and recieved. The appendices include lists of post offices and other returns, specimen forms, and local ordinances.
Item Descriptions
Series Post 44. Post Office. Overseas Mail Organisations. Colonial Post Offices Records Relating to Australia and New Zealand, 1841 - 1847
11 itemsArchival History
Originally filmed on AJCP reels M2263-M2264.
Subseries. Post Office Commission of Enquiry Reports, 31 July 1845 - 27 March 1847
5 itemsSeries Post 34. Packet Minutes, 1828 - 1900
159 itemsPost 34, which covers the period 1811-1920, comprises volumes containing copies of all the minutes from the Secretary of the Post Office to the Postmaster general dealing with overseas mail services. The 1901-1920 volumes have not been listed.
Single sentence covering minutes which accompanied documents sent by the Secretary to the Postmaster general have not been listed.
The legibility of the minutes varies considerably.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP reel M2265-M2270.
Packet Minutes, 31 January 1841 - 8 April 1843 (File 41)
9 itemsFlimed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 29 January 1844 - 26 April 1844 (File 45)
15 itemsFilmed selectively.
Offer of Marshall and Eldridge to carry mails to Van Diemen's Land, 13 February 1844 (Item 45/86-87)
Bill for placing Australian postal services under control of Postmaster General, 12 March 1844 (Item 45/234-36)
Illegal order of Administrator of New Zealand; objection to Collector of Customs holding post of Deputy Postmaster, 24 March 1844 (Item 45/261-69)
Packet Minutes, 31 March 1842 - 14 May 1845 (File 49)
9 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 20 May 1845 - 21 August 1845 (File 50)
7 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 26 February 1846 - 24 April 1846 (File 53)
5 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 10 July 1846 - 7 September 1846 (File 55)
11 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 25 August 1851 - 1 November 1851 (File 73)
4 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 13 March 1851 - 7 May 1852 (File 74)
4 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 12 October 1853 - 29 November 1853 (File 80)
15 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 20 January 1854 - 16 March 1854 (File 82)
8 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 20 October 1854 - 11 December 1854 (File 85)
14 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 24 January 1853 - 13 February 1856 (File 91)
13 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 27 December 1856 - 3 March 1857 (File 95)
12 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 20 August 1861 - 4 December 1861 (File 111)
9 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 1 July 1862 - 29 October 1862 (File 113)
12 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 6 October 1863 - 16 December 1863 (File 116)
9 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 12 April 1870 - 30 May 1870 (File 135)
9 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 25 May 1871 - 11 December 1871 (File 137)
16 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 8 January 1872 - 17 September 1872 (File 138)
20 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 7 May 1875 - 9 November 1875 (File 145)
12 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 14 February 1877 - 9 November 1877 (File 148)
7 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 28 December 1877 - 10 December 1878 (File 149)
7 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 7 July 1879 - 31 December 1879 (File 152)
11 itemsFilmed selectively.
Eastern mails; suggested reduction of transit rate through France and Italy, 7 July 1879 (Item 152/1-10)
Proposal to abrogate rule for stopping unpaid letters to Australian colonies, 1 October 1879 (Item 152/248-50)
Packet Minutes, 1 January 1880 - 10 August 1880 (File 153)
20 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 16 August 1880 - 6 April 1881 (File 154)
16 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 9 April 1881 - 22 September 1881 (File 155)
21 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 10 July 1884 - December 1884 (File 162)
16 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 18 March 1886 - June 1886 (File 167)
16 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 18 June 1886 - October 1886 (File 168)
11 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 15 March 1887 - 7 July 1887 (File 170)
17 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 18 September 1888 - 21 December 1888 (File 177)
27 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 7 January 1889 - 30 April 1889 (File 178)
17 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 4 November 1890 - 6 April 1891 (File 183)
11 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 25 February 1892 - 23 June 1892 (File 186)
5 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 18 July 1892 - 12 January 1893 (File 187)
10 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 7 August 1894 - 24 April 1895 (File 192)
15 itemsFilmed selectively.
Dispute between New Zealand Post Office and an Australian Post Office, 29 November 1894 (Item 192/185-89)
Dispute between New Zealand Post Office and an Australian Post Office, 8 December 1894 (Item 192/210-13)
Packet Minutes, 23 May 1895 - 19 February 1896 (File 193)
14 itemsFilmed selectively.
Packet Minutes, 24 March 1896 - 11 December 1896 (File 194)
19 itemsFilmed selectively.
Series Post 29. Post Office. Packet minutes: Documents Records relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, 1842 - 1958
133 itemsArchival History
Originally filmed on AJCP reels M2350-M2391.
Biographical / Historical
Post 29 comprises minutes, correspondence and other papers concerning the packet boat service and overseas mail services generally, including mail services in the colonies. Each piece consists of one or more bundles of papers. A bundle often consists of a single file, but in some cases several files on the same subject, covering many years, have been tied together.
There are relatively few records for the period 1811-50. Although there are far more records for the period 1850-1900, the Post Office has disposed of many of its files. Thus Post 29 by no means provides a complete record of the overseas mail services. However, all the minutes from the Secretary of the Post Office to the Postmaster General on the packet boat service and overseas mail services, 1811-1920, can be found in Post 34.
Australian mails; proposals for regular steam route via Cape of Good Hope, 1846 - 1849 (File 51/Pkt.1905Z/1849)
(250 pp.)
Australia; direct packet service between U.K. and Sydney; proposal to place posts under control of P.M.G., 1842 - 1844 (File 52/Pkt.1775Z/1849)
(180pp.)
New Zealand; transfer of control of Post Office to colony, 1849 - 1853 (File 55/Pkt.1712B/1851)
(270pp.)
Australian mail service; tenders from steamship companies, 1853 - 1856 (File 70/Pkt.277G/1856)
(160pp.)
Northern Europe to Australia; mail service via Trieste, 1852 - 1857 (File 78/Pkt.308H/1857)
(c.450pp.)
Australian mail service; contract with Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., 1858 - 1861 (File 102/Pkt.473M/1861)
(c.500pp.)
Sydney and Hobart; registered letters missing and violated, 1857 - 1864 (File 107/Pkt.960/1863)
(c.500pp.)
Australian mail service; new contract with Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., 1864 - 1866 (File 127/Pkt.428R/1866)
(c.500pp.)
France - Australia, New Zealand and Mauritius; direct mails exchanged, 1860 - 1868 (File 129/Pkt.810R/1866)
(c.400pp.)
Australasian colonies; proposed postage rates increase suspended; proposed second monthly mail, 1863 - 1868 (File 150/Pkt.865T/1868)
(c.450pp.)
Australian colonies; postal services with Intercolonial Conference at Melbourne, 1859 - 1868 (File 151/Pkt.819T/1868)
(c.600pp.)
India, China and Australian mails; marine sorting discontinued on homeward packets, 1869 - 1870 (File 162/Pkt.86V/1870)
(136pp.)
Australian colonies; payments made in connection with mail contract, 1860 - 1872 (File 175/Pkt.436X/1872)
(c.500pp.)
Australian mail service; proposals for new service on expiration of contract with Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., 1871 - 1873 (File 177/Pkt.81Y/1873)
(c.600pp.)
Australia and Italy; postage rates reduced on correspondence sent in mails for Italy, 1872 - 1885 (File 197/Pkt.338A/1875)
(c.450pp.)
South Australia; report of Commission on working of Post Office, 1874 - 1875 (File 198/Pkt.419A/1875)
(118pp. printed, 8pp. ms.)
Fiji mail service; colonial stamps recognized in payment for letters, 1873 - 1881 (File 201/Pkt.472A/1875)
(230pp.)
Australian colonies; general accounts prepared in colonies, 1875 - 1877 (File 205/Pkt.674A/1875)
(104pp.)
South Pacific countries; postage rates reduced on letters via Panama, 1878 (File 243/Pkt.209D/1878)
(150pp.)
United States and Australian colonies; Postal Conventions, 1870 - 1879 (File 265/Pkt.472E/1879)
(137pp.)
Australian colonies and New Zealand; division of postage, 1873 - 1880 (File 269/Pkt.574E/1879)
(c.700pp.)
Queensland, Hong Kong and Straits Settlements; Postal Conventions, 1875 - 1880 (File 276/Pkt.81F/1880)
(77pp.)
N.S.W. and New Zealand mail service via San Francisco; date of despatch revised, 1877 - 1880 (File 276/Pkt.82F/1880)
(100pp.)
Australian mail service; Parliamentary Question by Mr Baxter, 1879 - 1880 (File 283/Pkt.294F/1880)
(125pp.)
Melbourne - Ceylon mail service; contract between Victoria and Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., 1878 - 1880 (File 286/Pkt.315F/1880)
(273pp.)
New Zealand and N.S.W. mail service via San Francisco, 1875 - 1880 (File 287/Pkt.335F/1880)
(144pp.)
New Zealand; objection to new postal rates via Brindisi, 1880 - 1881 (File 288/Pkt.384F/1880)
(70pp.)
Australian colonies; undelivered items returned to U.K.; form of account revised, 1881 - 1886 (File 296/Pkt.112G/1881)
(245pp.)
Italy and New Caledonia; transit payments for closed mails, 1881 - 1890 (File 309/Pkt.376G/1881)
(134pp.)
Australian colonies and New Zealand; quarterly mail tables, 1881 - 1882 (File 311/Pkt.402G/1881)
(36pp.)
Australian colonies, New Zealand and Fiji; treatment of unpaid correspondence, 1878 - 1882 (File 311/Pkt.427G/1881)
(138pp.)
Australian colonies, New Zealand, Cape Colony and Natal; entry into Postal Union, 1880 - 1883 (File 314/Pkt.48H/1882)
(205pp.)
Australian mails; appropriation of postage on intermediate correspondence, 1882 - 1883 (File 330/Pkt.451/1883)
(100pp.)
France and Australia; agreement to regulate postal relations, 1880 - 1883 (File 337/Pkt.1571/1883)
(c.450pp.)
France and Australia; agreement to regulate postal relations, 1882 - 1887 (File 338/Pkt.1571/1883)
(c.500pp.)
Australian and New Zealand mails via Brindisi; postage rates reduced, 1879 - 1883 (File 339/Pkt.1641/1883)
(c.500pp.)
Australian and Mauritius mail service by French packet, 1883 - 1885 (File 345/Pkt.3301/1883)
(93pp.)
Australian and New Zealand mail service; 1884 timetable, 1883 - 1884 (File 351/Pkt.41K/1884)
(27pp.)
N.S.W. and Victoria; agreement for mutual use of mail lines, 1882 - 1888 (File 353/Pkt.90K/1884)
(c.650pp.)
New Zealand; Auckland, Sydney and San Francisco new mail service, 1885 - 1886 (File 390/Pkt.503L/1885)
(90pp.)
South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania; parcel post established, 1885 - 1900 (File 419/Pkt.506M/1886)
(c.700pp.)
Australasian mails; transit rates paid to Australian colonies, 1886 - 1905 (File 456/Pkt.2600/1888)
(268pp.)
Australian and Mauritius mail service by French packet revised, 1888 - 1889 (File 461/Pkt.3800/1888)
(132pp.)
Australian mail service; contracts with Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. and Orient Line, 1887 - 1888 (File 462/Pkt.4080/1888)
(c.400pp.)
Australian mail service; contracts with Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. and Orient Line, 1887 - 1888 (File 463/Pkt.4080/1888)
(c.450pp.)
Australian, Indian and other closed mails by British packets; sea postage rates reduced, 1888 - 1891 (File 464/Pkt.4550/1888)
(180pp.)
Australian colonies; mails by Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. and Orient Line packets; revised accounting, 1888 - 1892 (File 466/Pkt.5290/1888)
(170pp.)
Distribution of 1d charge for newspapers to Australia; Parliamentary Question by Sir G. Campbell, 1889 (File 480/Pkt.120aP/1889)
(7pp.)
Indian and Australian mail contracts; Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.; question of absolute penalties, 1889 - 1891 (File 513/Pkt.234R/1891)
(160pp.)
Australian and New Zealand Postal and Telegraph Conference, Sydney; reports of proceedings, 1891 (File 515/Pkt.279R/1891)
(265pp. printed, 11pp. ms.)
Australian mail service; all sea routes discontin except for seamen's letters, 1887 - 1891 (File 521/Pkt.356R/1891)
(c.450pp.)
Australian colonies; samples of liquids admitted by post, 1892 - 1894 (File 531/Pkt.70S/1892)
(42pp.)
Australian homeward mails; correspondence sent by steamers other than British contract packets, 1892 (File 534/Pkt.135S/1892)
(42pp.)
Australian colonies; 1892 Postal and Telegraph Conference, Hobart, 1892 - 1897 (File 540/Pkt.231S/1892)
(265pp.)
Australia - Europe via United Kingdom; parcel post rates reduced, 1886 - 1893 (File 564/Pkt.349T/1893)
(c.350pp.)
New Zealand and Pacific colonies; parcel post service, 1893 - 1894 (File 573/Pkt.127U/1894)
(c.250pp.)
Australian mail service; contracts with Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. and Orient Line, 1894 - 1896 (File 587/Pkt.8W/1896)
(c.400pp.)
India, China and Australia mail service; new contracts, 1896 - 1897 (File 636/Pkt.232Y/1898)
(c.500pp.)
India, China and Australia mail service; new contracts, 1896 - 1901 (File 637/Pkt.232Y/1898)
(290pp.)
Australasia; prepayment of parcel post charges by senders, 1897 - 1938 (File 658/Pkt.185Z/1899)
(145pp.)