“Postmaster General of the United Kingdom”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs. This would subsequently extend to telecommunications and broadcasting.

The office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969. A replacement public authority governed by a chairman was established under the name of the "Post Office (that part subsumed by Royal Mail)". The position of "Postmaster General" was, with reduced powers, replaced with "Minister of Posts and Telecommunications"; since which most such regulation instead has been delegated to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport however the present-day Royal Mail Group was overseen by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills prior to flotation.

History

In England, the monarch's letters to his subjects are known to have been carried by relays of couriers as long ago as the 15th century. The earliest mention of Master of the Posts is in the King's Book of Payments where a payment of £100 was authorised for Brian Tuke as master of the posts in February 1512.^[1] Belatedly, in 1517, he was officially appointed to the office of Governor of the King's Posts, a precursor to the office of Postmaster General of the United Kingdom, by Henry VIII.^[2] In 1609 it was decreed that letters could only be carried and delivered by persons authorised by the Postmaster General.^[3]

In 1657 an Act entitled 'Postage of England, Scotland and Ireland Settled' set up a system for the British Isles and enacted the position of Postmaster General. The Act also reasserted the postal monopoly for letter delivery and for post horses. After the Restoration in 1660, a further Act (12 Car II, c.35) confirmed this and the post of Postmaster-General, the previous Cromwellian Act being void.

1660 saw the establishment of the General Letter Office, which would later become the General Post Office (GPO).^[3] A similar position evolved in the Kingdom of Scotland prior to the 1707 Act of Union.

The office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969.^[3] A new public authority governed by a chairman was established under the name of the Post Office (however, the part later subsumed by Royal Mail). The position of Postmaster General was initially replaced with Minister of Posts and Telecommunications with less direct involvement; since this most regulatory functions formerly conducted by the Postmaster General generally fall within the remit of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, although the present-day Royal Mail Group is overseen by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Masters of the King's Post

Postmaster under the Commonwealth

Postmasters General of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom

The earliest Postmasters had responsibility for England and Wales. In 1707, on the Union with Scotland, the responsibility of the office was extended to cover the whole of the new Kingdom of Great Britain as well as Ireland, but with some powers held by a Post Office Manager for Scotland. By the Post Office (Revenues) Act 1710, with effect from 1711, the services were united, but with a Deputy Postmaster for Scotland. From 1784, there were also Postmasters General of Ireland, but from 1831, the Postmasters based at Westminster became responsible for the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.^[5] In 1922, the Irish Free State became independent, and in 1923 it established its own arrangements under a Postmaster General of the Irish Free State. In 1924 the title became Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.

Two Postmasters General

From 1691 to 1823 there were two Postmasters General, to divide the patronage between the Whigs and Tories.

A single Postmaster

Postmaster-General, 1931–1969

See also

References

1. ^{{cite book |last=Brewer |first=J.S. |title=Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII |publisher=Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts |year=1864 |location=London |pages=1454 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=XXoXAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PPA1454,M1 |author2=Brewer, John Sherren |author3=Brodie, Robert Henry |author4=Gairdner, James }}
2. ^Walker (1938), p. 37
3. ^¹²{{cite web |title=Division No. 1 (Postal Services Bill) [15 Jun 2000] – Column 1782 |work=Volume No. 613 – Part No. 104 |date=15 June 2000 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/vo000615/text/00615-08.htm |accessdate=17 August 2013 }}
4. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/manley-john-1622-99 |title=Manley, John (c. 1622–99) |work=History of Parliament Online |year=2012 |accessdate=13 April 2012}}
5. ^Chambers's Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge: Vol. VIII (London: W. & R. Chambers, Ltd., 1901), [https://archive.org/stream/chamberssency08lond#page/347 p. 347]
6. ^¹²³Falmouth packet archives {{webarchive|url=https://archive.is/20121216110211/http://www.falmouth.packet.archives.dial.pipex.com/id70.htm |date=16 December 2012 }}. Retrieved 9 June 2008