Genealogy Chat

Good source if your ancestor worked in the right place

The Royal Mail Archive holds Pensions and Gratuities records for its employees from 1719 to 1959. They can be found in POST 1: Treasury Letters. However, records before 1860 generally only list senior officers as not every postal worker was entitled to a pension until 1860. Pensions were awarded to Post Office employees when they retired. Marriage gratuities were awarded to female workers when they left the Post Office and gave up work to get married. Death gratuities were also given to the families of postal workers who died while they were working for the Post Office. The Pensions and Gratuities records tend to be the main source of information for family historians. The information they sometimes provide includes name, rank, date of birth, years of service, positions held, and amount of pension/gratuity awarded. We also hold material that deals with the administration of pensions and gratuities. These records are indexed, making it easier to search the records. For information on how to search for a pension record, see Case Study 1: Moses Nobbs, Mail Coach Guard. Clive

and because the Post Office used to be part of the Civil Service, some promotions and exam passes are posted in the London Gazette which is online Jim

Thanks Clive, Bookmarking for tomorrow - granddad was a postman for most of his working life. Angela :-)

Just bookmarking for later, as I too have a postmaster in the family. Kath. x

nudge

Hi Clive What a great resource...but...why can't I find my Samuel Newton who was a letter sorter at the GPO from at least 1871 - 1891, he had retired by 1901 What am I doing wrong? I am putting his name in the free text box and post 1 in the 'finding number' box Any suggestions please Sylvia

Are they doing this online now Clive? Last time I contacted the Museum they wanted £30 for a search.

I paid a visit a few years ago so do not know about on line. I put this here when updating records and thought it was worth spreading the news. I always find looking for a name on line is difficult! Trying to sort out my Cattermoles in Sweffling I downloaded the complete village for 41, 51, 61, 71, 81 and studied the hard copies. I still do not know what happened to George Smith or where he was in 1881. I think he died in 1883. George was the son of Mary Anne Cattermole and her second husband. Clive

I thought Id get info on my letter carrier - he died in 1860 a few months short of the pensions for all date but I found his wife in 1861 as an annuitant, so assume that they took pity on her and added her to the pensioners anyway. The people at the Royal Mail museum are lovely but they were just starting a service for look ups and wanted £30 which I thought was a bit steep.

HPT I do not think it was a question of taking pity. The pension scheme then (as now with any decent scheme) provided for a widow's pension. Clive

The point being Clive he died BEFORE the pensions agreement for postal workers, just by a few months. Perhaps pity was the wrong word - they seemed to have been unusually generous towards someone who on the face of it would not have qualified for the widows pension.

Sorry, did not make myself clear. Most pension schemes will pay to the widow of a worker a lump sum related to his annual salary plus a pension if worker dies whilst still in employment. If he dies after retirement widow is likely to only get the pension part. Pension is related to the amount of money paid in if retirement come first. If death is whilst in employment it is related to his salary - er, uhm, usually and hopefully! This covers the new worker who is killed in the course of duty. Clive