Sorting and Delivery

The BPMA has a large collection of archives relating to the sorting and delivery of post. These archives begin in 1635 and continue until the present day. The majority of the material relates to developments that occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

We have circulation directories, papers concerning the mechanisation of processing and sorting operations, and documents concerning the introduction and marketing of postcodes. We also hold correspondence and reports relating to the establishment, development and operation of Britain’s Inland Letter Post service.

Here are four examples of records concerning sorting and delivery in our collection.

Appliances to assist one-armed postal workers, c.1921, finding number: POST 33/72

This document is part of a file suggesting ways of facilitating the work of disabled ex-servicemen returning to postal work after the First World War.

It shows special sorting trays and letter holders for postal workers with artificial arms. Other suggestions included 'the pouch for one-armed postmen'.

This file shows an early attempt to tackle the issue of disability in the workplace. This was one of the positive developments that grew out of the tragedy of the First World War.

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Postal mechanisation brochure, 1959, finding number: POST 17/446

This brochure relates to the growing need for mechanisation in the postal service in the mid-twentieth century. It explains the contemporary state of mechanisation in 1959 and speculates on the future of mechanisation.

It describes the concept of ‘the perfect sorting machine – a robot’ as well as the possibility of the ordinary written address being replaced by an address ‘in machine language’.

The entertaining tone of the brochure captures something of the excitement and uncertainty regarding the untapped possibility of technology in the mid-twentieth century.

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Letter concerning delivery of Ulysses, 1932, finding number: POST 23/9

This is part of a file of letters and newspaper articles relating to the banning of the James Joyce novel Ulysses in Britain. This particular letter is to the Post Office from a member of the public enquiring about the non-delivery of his copy of Ulysses.

The file also includes correspondence from the Secretary of State to the Postmaster General instructing the Post Office not to deliver packages suspected of containing a copy of the book.

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Document about introduction of postal coding, 1968-1972, finding number: POST 122/12401

This comes from a file of documents relating to the reconstruction of the Post Office’s existing circulation system in the late 1960s. This particular document relates to Reading and the surrounding area. It considers population growth, residential development, and ways of creating an effective coding system in the area. It includes various maps and proposals.

This file reveals a more human dimension to the topic of postal delivery. The reconfiguration of towns and villages into new coding areas had a lasting impact on people’s sense of regional identity. These records are a good demonstration of the wide-reaching impact that postal reforms in the twentieth century had on people’s lives.

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