The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific sender to a specific receiver ; it was overseen by a Government minister, the Postmaster General. Over time its remit was extended to Scotland and Ireland, and across parts of the British Empire.
'The Post Horse' (from The Life of a Racehorse, or The High-Mettled Racer) by Thomas Rowlandson, 1789.
North Country Mails at the Peacock, Islington by James Pollard (1821).
Telegraph sent in 1907
Telegraphic Operating Room in the Central Telegraph Office (GPO West), St Martin's Le Grand, London.
Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs. This would subsequently extend to telecommunications and broadcasting.
Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
The former site of the General Letter Office in London
Image: The 6th Marquess of Londonderry as viceroy of Ireland
Image: Austen Chamberlain MP
