The History of the Post Office - Part 27
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Part 27

July 6, 1787 to September 19, 1789.

Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret, and Thomas, Lord Walsingham.

September 19, 1789 to March 13, 1790.

Thomas, Lord Walsingham, and John, Earl of Westmorland.

March 13, 1790 to July 28, 1794.

Thomas, Lord Walsingham, and Philip, Earl of Chesterfield.

July 28, 1794 to March 1, 1798.

Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, and George, Earl of Leicester.

March 1, 1798 to February 27, 1799.

George, Earl of Leicester, and William, Lord Auckland.

February 27, 1799 to March 31, 1801.

William, Lord Auckland, and George, Lord Gower.

March 31, 1801 to July 19, 1804.

William, Lord Auckland, and Lord Charles Spencer.

July 19, 1804 to February 20, 1806.

Lord Charles Spencer and James, Duke of Montrose.

February 20, 1806 to May 5, 1807.

Robert, Earl of Buckinghamshire, and John Joshua, Earl of Carysfort.

May 5, 1807 to June 6, 1814.

John, Earl of Sandwich, and Thomas, Earl of Chichester.

June 6 to September 30, 1814.

Thomas, Earl of Chichester, alone.

September 30, 1814 to April 6, 1816.

Thomas, Earl of Chichester, and Richard, Earl of Clancarty.

April 6, 1816 to June 13, 1823.

Thomas, Earl of Chichester, and James, Marquess of Salisbury.

Since Lord Salisbury's death on the 13th of June 1823, no second Postmaster-General has been appointed.

June 13, 1823 to July 4, 1826.

Thomas, Earl of Chichester.

July 4, 1826 to September 17, 1827.

Lord Frederick Montague.

September 17, 1827 to December 14, 1830.

William, Duke of Manchester.

December 14, 1830 to July 5, 1834.

Charles, Duke of Richmond.

By his first patent, dated the 14th of December 1830, the Duke was appointed Postmaster-General of Great Britain; and by a second patent, dated the 14th of April 1831, he was appointed Postmaster-General of Great Britain and Ireland.

July 5 to December 31, 1834.

Francis Nathaniel, Marquess Conyngham.

December 31, 1834 to May 8, 1835.

William, Lord Maryborough.

May 8 to May 30, 1835.

Francis Nathaniel, Marquess Conyngham.

May 30, 1835, to September 15, 1841.

Thomas William, Earl of Lichfield.

SUCCESSION OF SECRETARIES TO THE POST OFFICE DOWN TO 1836.

The appointment of Secretary was created by Treasury Warrant dated the 20th of June 1694.

1694 to 1700.

Name uncertain; but probably Willboyl.

[In 1694 the Postmasters-General urge the creation of the appointment of Secretary; in 1697 they speak of "having sent our Secretary down to Worcester"; and in October 1701, when reporting on a paper which had been referred to them as far back as June 1699, they explain that "by the death of our late Secretary y^e paper has been mislaid and but very lately recovered." That there was a Secretary during this period is, therefore, beyond doubt.

During the same period the Post Office letter books are written in a handwriting as peculiar as it is good; and in the same handwriting, of the ident.i.ty of which there can be no question, there is in the Frankland-Blaithwaite correspondence, until lately in the possession of Sir Thomas Phillipps, a letter from the General Post Office dated the 27th of May 1697, and docketed thus, the docket having obviously been written at the time of receipt:--"From Mr. Willboyl, Commissioner of the Post Office." Now, Commissioner of the Post Office he certainly was not, there being at that time no such appointment; but it is probable that he was Secretary, and that with this official t.i.tle, which had been only recently given, Blaithwaite was not acquainted.]

1700 to 1714.

Benjamin Waterhouse.

1714 to 1715.

Henry Weston.

1715 to 1721.

James Craggs.

1721 to (about) 1730.

Joseph G.o.dman.

(About) 1730 to 1737.

W. Rouse.

1737 to 1738.

Thomas Robinson.

September 1738 to July 1742.

John David Barb.u.t.t.