Mail by sea

The conveyance of mail by sea was for a long time the principal means of moving international mail.  The Royal Mail Archive holds records pertaining to both the movement of inland and overseas mail by sea. 

The Archive holds documents such as log listings, contracts by companies for the conveyance of mail, voyage records and packet boat reports.  Details of the conveyance of mail by sea appear across the Archive but principally in POST 12, POST 29, POST 39 and POST 43.

Packet Boat Commanders employment records, c.1820, finding number: POST 39/19

Image of a page from the Packet Boat commanders employment records c.1820. This page details the names of the commanders at Falmouth. It also lists the dates on which they were appointed. It includes all the packet stations except Lisbon.

POST 39 holds a large series of reports on the packet boat service. They were written by Secretaries of the Post Office to the Postmaster General. 

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Mail conveyance by sea contract, 1945, finding number: POST 12/41

This contract is between the Post Office and Brocket Estates Limited who provided mail conveyance by motorboat. It is one of a number in POST 12. It deals with a mail service to the Maillaig, Knoydart and Loch Nevis Head. It was for a term of one year at a rate of £180 per annum.

Many such contracts were entered into by the Post Office to deal with transport of mail on more difficult routes. 

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Packet service voyage records, 1893-1894, finding number: POST 12/16

This volume of records is for the packet service between Holyhead and Kingstown.

The Irish Sea Packet boat service was one of the most important, connecting Britain with Ireland by post. 

Within POST 12 there are a series of 11 volumes detailing the voyage records of this service. The records give details of the timings of sailings. They also log any delays to the service caused by any means, most notably of course the weather.

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Blue print of mail room on Titanic, c. 1912, finding number: POST 29/1117

These blue prints are the original plans of the mail room onboard the Titanic. We also hold details of the compensation claim by families of the Postal Clerks who went down with the ship.

As well as being probably the most famous steamship ever the Titanic was also a mail carrier. It was fitted with its own post room, staffed by postal workers from Britain and the USA. 

The postal workers died trying to save the mail when the ship struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912. 

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