Occupations
Post Office Occupations
| Standard Occupation | Notes |
|---|---|
| Agent | PO official stationed overseas to facilitate PO business and the passage of GB mails. |
| Bag maker | A maker of new mailbags. |
| Bagman | Dealt with the sorting and arranging of emptymailbags at large sorting offices. |
| Batteryman | (Telegraphs) A manual worker in the engineering grades of the Telegraph service. |
| Boatman | Employed at a harbour in connection with the PO packet ship service. |
| Bookkeeper | A role within one of the administrative departments of the PO (located in London, Edinburgh or Dublin) dealing with financial management and accounts. |
| Cablehand | (Telegraphs) A manual worker in the telegraph service involved in the handling of cables. Some worked at the PO Factory, others on board one of the PO cable ships. |
| Carman | Driver of a horse-drawn van. |
| Cashier | Senior role in the financial administration of the PO located in the Controller and Accountant General’s Office, London. The Accountant’s Offices in Edinburgh and Dublin also had a Cashier. |
| Charge taker | Postman at a larger office having supervisory and clerical responsibilities. |
| Chief clerk | Senior administrative position. |
| Chief constable | Assumed to refer to the most senior of the police constables assigned to the GPO in London, or to one of the equivalent positions at the few large provincial offices with police constables assigned. |
| Chief examiner | Senior role in the Controller and Accountant General’s Office, London. |
| Clerk | Generic job title used in a diverse range of PO functions. In addition to the numerous clerical and administrative roles performed by Clerks, large numbers of them had also been employed by the GPO on the sorting of mail. However, the reforms of the Rowland Hill era much reduced the participation of Clerks in sorting duties. Clerks in all functions were ranked by an extensive hierarchy of classes and pay scales. Levels of remuneration varied greatly. |
| Clerk in Charge | A general description for a Clerk put in charge of other Clerks within a particular office or function. Also a specific job title for an official on the staff of one of the regional PO Surveyors who was sent out to temporarily take charge of a Post Office or Sub-Post Office when the Postmastership/Sub-Postmastership had become vacant at short notice. |
| Commander of Telegraphs | (Telegraphs) One of the senior officers on board a PO cable-laying ship (Cable Ship/Telegraph Ship) held the rank of ‘Navigating Commander’. |
| Contractor | Working for the PO by virtue of a contract, but not on the PO establishment. (For example, a Mail Cart Driver). |
| Controller | The high-ranking head of a large PO Department, such as the Controller of the London Postal Service or the Controller of the PO Savings Bank. One of the top jobs. |
| Corridor Officer | Assumed to have duties similar to those of a ‘Lobby Officer’ |
| Counterclerk & Telegraphist | Clerk working behind the counter at a branch Post Office whose duties also included Telegraphist work. |
| Counterman & Telegraphist | Male clerk working behind the counter at a branch Post Office whose duties also included Telegraphist work. |
| Counterwoman | Female clerk working behind the counter at a branch Post Office. |
| Counterwoman & Telegraphist | Female clerk working behind the counter at a branch Post Office whose duties also included Telegraphist work. |
| Director | High-ranking administrative official. |
| Dispenser | A role in the dispensary at the PO Medical Department. |
| Examiner | Administrative official in the Controller and Accountant General’s Office in London and in the Accountant’s Offices in Edinburgh and Dublin. Involved with keeping the financial accounts of the PO. |
| Ferryman | Assumed to refer to a contractor providing a ferry service carrying mail across a river or in coastal waters. |
| Financial Secretary | The Financial Secretary to the Post Office was a very senior administrative post which featured in the top level of the PO hierarchy during the period 1874-1896. |
| Foreman | Supervisory role found mostly in the Engineering and Stores departments. |
| Fourth secretary | Top-level post created in 1875 as a final promotion in the PO for Frederic Hill, Assistant Secretary (and brother of Sir Rowland Hill). The role was abolished after Frederic Hill’s retirement later in 1875. |
| Hall Porter | A role similar to that of a commissionaire, stationed at the public entrance of principal PO buildings |
| Hammerman | Assumed to refer to a metal worker in a PO factory. |
| Head Postman | Postman having superior duties concerned with the day to day running of an office, including record keeping and assisting the Overseer in the supervision of the other Postmen. At smaller offices some Head Postmen could be in sole charge. Some had delivery of mail included as part of their duties. (A London grade) |
| Indian Mail Officer | Clerk from the PO Secretary’s Office in London who personally accompanied despatches of mail to India as far as the Mediterranean. For much of its existence the role involved travelling with the mail by train from London to Dover, cross-channel ferry to Calais and then by train through France and Italy to Brindisi. Here the Indian Mail Officer handed his mail over to steamers contracted by the PO to take it on to Egypt, Suez and then to Bombay. |
| Inspector | Supervisory grade found across a variety of departments and functions. Most typically a middle-ranking official in a sorting office. |
| Letter Carrier | Person delivering and collecting letters. Job title changed in 1883 to ‘Postman’ to incorporate the delivery and collection of parcels as well as letters. (PO Parcel Post introduced in 1883). |
| Letter Receiver | Similar to a Sub-Postmaster. Typically a shopkeeper who provided a facility for the public to post letters and conduct other types of PO business. In London and other places post offices were known as ‘Receiving Houses’ before the expansion of the service brought about the growth of branch post offices staffed by full-time established PO officials. |
| Letter Returner | Role in the Returned Letter Office in London, performed mostly by female staff. |
| Lineman | (Telegraphs) A worker employed on the installation and maintenance of telegraph lines. |
| Lobby Keeper | Role dealing with the receipt and despatch of mail at a large sorting office. |
| Lobby messenger | Role dealing with the receipt and despatch of mail at a large sorting office. |
| Lobby Officer | Role dealing with the receipt and despatch of mail at a large sorting office. |
| Mail assistant | Role at the Mail Office in Dublin involved in the transport arrangements for mail. |
| Mail Guard | Mail Guards had been employed by the PO to protect the mail on horse-drawn mail coaches in the late 18th century. The role transferred to duties on board mail trains and at stations when the railways took over the carriage of mail in the 1830s -1850s. During the 1850s and 1860s many Mail Guards became Travelling Sorters on the Travelling Post Offices. |
| Mail messenger | A variant job title for Letter Carrier/Postman, particularly in rural areas. |
| Mail Officer | Job title for a variety of roles involved in the movement of mail. Employed in various locations, including railway stations and the yard of the GPO in London. Also used for PO sorting staff employed on board transatlantic liners |
| Mail Porter | Worker involved in the handling of mail bags in transit, particularly in London. Employed at railway stations and at large sorting offices. |
| Marine mail guard | Accompanied mail conveyed on board ship. |
| Marine officer | PO clerk employed in the Marine Mail Service. For a period, clerks were sent out from the foreign mail sorting office in London to certain overseas locations to accompany mail being sent to GB by ship. They pre-sorted the mail on board, thereby accelerating its delivery after arrival in GB. |
| Matron | (Telegraphs) A female official occupying a senior supervisory role at the Central Telegraph Office in London (which employed a large number of women). |
| Mechanic | Worker employed at a PO factory. |
| Medical officer | Responsible for providing medical care for the workforce |
| Messenger | A variant job title for Letter Carrier/Postman, particularly in rural areas. Can also apply to a carrier of messages within a PO building. Might also be an abbreviated form of ‘Telegraph Messenger’. |
| Money Order Officer | Employed at the Money Order Office in London. |
| News distributor | (Telegraphs) One of a group of specialist officials in the ‘Intelligence Branch’ of the Secretary’s Office. Involved in ensuring the speedy telegraphic dissemination of news reports to newspapers and press agencies. |
| Office keeper | Official having responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of designated office premises. |
| Overseer | Front line supervisor typically employed in a London sorting office. Some worked on the Travelling Post Offices. |
| Packer | A grade of worker employed in a PO factory. Also can refer to a parcel packer working in a Parcel Post depot. |
| Packet agent | PO official stationed overseas to facilitate PO business and the passage of GB mails. |
| Paper sorter | Role in the PO Savings Bank, London. |
| Paperkeeper | Clerical role concerned with filing and record keeping. In the 1890s over 70 Paperkeepers were employed in the Registry, one of the functions of the Secretary’s Office in London. |
| Porter | Worker having manual handling duties, typically at a large sorting office or railway station in London. Tasks included the loading, unloading, segregation and transfer of mailbags or other containers. Porters were also employed at some other locations, such as the PO Savings Bank. |
| Post Office Agent | PO official stationed overseas to facilitate PO business and the passage of GB mails. |
| Postal store keeper | Role in the Postal Stores Department (PSD). The PSD had responsibility for the procurement and distribution of all consumable material necessary for the day to day running of the postal service, including stationery and uniforms. |
| Postman | Man employed in the delivery and collection of mail. Job title had existed historically in several PO departments but Letter Carrier had been the more prevalent job title. Following the introduction of the Parcel Post in 1883 the Letter Carrier job title was superseded and ‘Postman’ became the most numerous grade in the PO, employed on the delivery and collection of parcels as well as letters. |
| Postmaster | Salaried male official in charge of PO operations and staff within a specific area defined by its Post Town. The size and scope of duties varied enormously from place to place and the jobs were later divided into a number of different ‘Classes’ and paid according to workload and level of responsibility. The term Postmaster was often used colloquially to refer to a Sub-Postmaster. |
| Postmaster General | A politician appointed by the government of the day as the ministerial head of the PO. In the 19th century most Postmasters General were members of the peerage. |
| Postmistress | Salaried female official in charge of PO operations and staff within a specific area defined by its Post Town. Duties and responsibilities were the same as those of Postmasters. In the late 1890s there were less than 150 Postmistresses compared with more than 750 Postmasters. Fewer career opportunities for women meant that Postmistresses were generally in charge of smaller locations and had accordingly lower average salaries than their Postmaster colleagues. The term Postmistress was often used colloquially to refer to a Sub-Postmistress. |
| Postwoman | Woman employed in the delivery and collection of mail. Relatively few in number before the First World War. Most were in unestablished jobs, often working from rural Sub-Post Offices. |
| Railway messenger | Responsible for taking mail to/from a railway station or sometimes a lineside Mailbag Apparatus location. |
| Railway porter | (see Porter). Porter designated to the handling of mail at a railway station and/or moving mail between a railway station and a sorting office. |
| Receiver | Assumed to refer to a Letter Receiver. Similar to a Sub-Postmaster. Typically a shopkeeper who provided a facility for the public to post letters and conduct other types of PO business. In London and other places post offices were known as ‘Receiving Houses’ before the expansion of the service brought about the growth of branch post offices staffed by full-time established PO officials. |
| Registrar | Senior post in the Registry, a department within the Secretary’s Office responsible for recording, processing and filing all official paperwork passing through the GPO in London. |
| Returner | Role within the Returned Letter Office performed mostly by female members of staff. |
| Rural Messenger | A variant job title for a Postman or Postwoman delivering and collecting mail in a rural area. |
| Rural Postman/Postwoman | Postman or Postwoman delivering and collecting mail in a rural area. |
| Secretary | The Secretary was the executive head of the Post Office. He reported to the Postmaster General, the ministerial head of the Post Office appointed by the Government of the day. |
| Signalman | (Telegraphs) A technical grade involved with coastal communications. |
| Sorter | A sorter of mail. Staff of the Sorter grade were employed in large numbers at the major central London sorting offices. They sorted outward provincial and foreign mail, which was deemed to require superior skill and job knowledge. Consequently, Sorters had more remunerative pay scales than Postmen. London-based Sorters also provided the staff on board most of the Travelling Post Offices. The equivalent grade outside London was Sorting Clerk or Sorting Clerk & Telegraphist |
| Sorting Clerk | A sorter of mail in provincial sorting offices. |
| Sorting Clerk & Telegraphist | A sorter of mail who was also qualified as a Telegraphist. A grade in provincial offices. |
| Staff officer | Higher grade administrative official. |
| Stamper | Stamped letters with a postmark to cancel the postage stamps and to indicate the place, date and time of posting. |
| Station messenger | Responsible for taking mail to/from a railway station. |
| Storekeeper | Role in the Postal Stores Department (PSD). The PSD had responsibility for the procurement and distribution of all consumable material necessary for the day to day running of the postal service, including stationery and uniforms. |
| Submarine superintendent | (Telegraphs). Senior engineering official involved with undersea telegraph cable laying and the PO Cable-ships. |
| Superintendent | Official with higher level managerial responsibilities. Located in various departments. |
| Supervisor | Grade associated mostly with counter and telegraph work in London. |
| Surveyor | Surveyors were an historic ‘corps d’elite’ of the PO provincial organisation. Their position had some similarities to the role of a regional director in modern business parlance. By the 1890s there were 16 District Surveyors stationed at various locations across the UK. They reported directly to the Secretary of the PO and were his ‘eyes and ears’ outside London. Each Surveyor had oversight of all PO activities within his allotted District and had a team of administrative and inspectorial staff at his disposal. The Surveyor and his staff spent a lot of their time travelling around the District. |
| Technical Officer | (Telegraphs) Managerial grade within the Engineer-In-Chief’s Office. |
| Telegraph mechanic | (Telegraphs) Manual worker involved in the upkeep and maintenance of telegraphic equipment. |
| Telegraph messenger | (Telegraphs) Employed on the delivery of telegrams. Telegraph Messengers were predominantly boys and young men. |
| Telegraph Wireman | (Telegraphs) Manual worker involved in the installation and repair of telegraph wires. |
| Telegraphist | (Telegraphs) An operator of telegraphic transmitting and receiving equipment. Many Telegraphists were female. By the 1890s the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) in London had around 800 women Telegraphists on its staff. |
| Third Secretary | A top-level post. In existence 1881-1897 and 1911-1914. |
| Town Postman | Postman who worked in a town. |
| Tracer | (Telegraphs) A clerical post in the Controller and Accountant General’s department in London responsible for tracing the records of sent telegrams in connection with complaints and enquiries made by the public. |
| Travelling officer | An official in the Missing Letter Branch (later known as the Confidential Enquiry Branch), part of the Secretary’s Office. Travelling Officers were employed in this Branch to detect and investigate suspected crime against the PO. They were also involved in the prosecution of offenders. |
| Travelling Sorter | Travelling Sorters worked in the Travelling Post Office (TPO) Department, sorting mail on board trains. The grade was introduced in the late 1850s as a more economical way of staffing the sorting duties on TPOs, which had been performed by higher-paid Clerks since the TPO function was first introduced in 1838. A further economy measure came with an administrative reorganisation in 1879-1880 which abolished the separate TPO Department and also abolished the separate grade of Travelling Sorter. Many of the Travelling Sorters were pensioned on ‘Abolition Terms’ at this time. The functions of the TPO Department passed to the Circulation Office which became part of the London Postal Service. Henceforth, staff volunteering for sorting duties on board TPOs were provided on loan from sorting offices for set periods (‘Terms’) of up to five years duration. Most of the TPO staff in the revised system were Sorters headquartered in London at the Circulation Office (later the Inland Section), but they often lived in the provincial towns and cities which were the destinations of the TPOs. Some were Sorting Clerks/Sorting Clerk & Telegraphists on the establishment of provincial Post Offices who worked on one of the smaller cross-country TPOs. |
| Tube attendant | (Telegraphs) A number of important and busy post offices in London were linked to the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) at St Martins-le-Grand by an underground network of metal pneumatic tubes (approximately 2 or 3 inches in diameter). These tubes conveyed handwritten paper telegram message forms, placed inside small containers (called Carriers) which were then propelled through the tubes at high speed by means of compressed air/vacuum. On arrival at the CTO the Carrier was removed from the tube and the telegram form was distributed to one of a large number of Telegraphists who then keyed in the message and sent it electrically to its destination via the telegraph network. The Tube Attendant’s job at the CTO was to deal with the despatch or receipt of Carriers to/from the pneumatic tubes and to ensure that telegram messages were forwarded correctly. |
| Warehouseman | Role in PO Factory or in PO Stores Department. |
| Watchman | Provided for security purposes at certain larger offices. |
| Wireman | (Telegraphs) Manual worker involved in the installation and maintenance of telegraph wires. |
| Yard Officer | Official employed at the yard of the Postal Stores building in London. |
Notes
This table was compiled by Alex Obradovic based on the following sources:
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers:
- Estimates Revenue Departments.
- Reports of the Postmaster General on the Post Office.
- Superannuations in Public Offices.
- Evidence to Select Committees on the Post Office:
- Tweedmouth, Post Office Establishments PP 1897 XLIV
- Bradford, Committee on Post Office Wages PP 1904 XXXIII
- Hobhouse, Select Committee on Post Office Servants PP 1906 XII, PP 1907 VII
- Holt, Select Committee on Post Office Servants PP 1913 X to XIII
St-Martin’s-Le-Grand: The Post Office Magazine
List of Officers in the General Post Offices of London. Edinburgh and Dublin (HMSO 1897)
List of the Principal Officers of the Post Office (HMSO 1936)
Monarchs of all they Surveyed. The Story of the Post Office Surveyors (HMSO 1952)
M.J. Daunton, The Royal Mail. The Post Office since 1840 (Athlone Press, London 1985)
Alan Clinton, Post Office Workers. A Trade Union and Social History (George Allen & Unwin, London 1984)