Postmaster

[Judy M]

John LEWIS of Henstridge Somerset is listed as a Postmaster in 1841 census when he was 70. His occupation up until then was bootmaker.
I noticed there was a postmistress listed in the 1830 Pigots.

Does anyone know who appointed a postmaster/mistress? - Church warden? How he/she was renumerated?

[Colin Moretti]

Hello Judy

My guess is that they would have been appointed by the Post Office. Royal Mail have a very good archive centre with records going back to its earliest days (1719). They have appointments books introduced in 1831 when a central register commenced for every employee. The archive is within walking distance of the FRC in Islington.

For more details go to
http://www.royalmailgroup.com/heritage/dda/index.htm

Good luck

Colin

[Peter Goodey]

I think that in the early days a postmaster was reckoned to be a civic post and the appointment was basically in the gift of the great and the good in the locality. The position of a postmaster in relation to the Post Office would have been more like a contractor rather than an employee. But I stand ready to be corrected on this.