Business history objects

All of our collections reflect the development of the postal service but this section tells you about those which also illustrate the history of the Post Office and Royal Mail as a business.

Our collection illustrates the changing face of Royal Mail from its conception in 1635 until the present day. In 1635 King Charles I as King of England opened up his private mail carrying service for use by the public. It became known as ‘The Royal Mail’.  That service developed over the 370 years since then into the company we know today. In that time, despite many changes, Royal Mail has always maintained a public presence that is instantly recognisable, most particularly with the GPO, The Post Office and Royal Mail.

Access

This material is accessible by appointment only. For more information, or to make an appointment, please contact us by telephone on 020 7239 2570 or by email to info@postalheritage.org.uk. Please quote the accession number of the object you would like to see when making your enquiry.

Here are four examples of Business history objects in our collection:

Sir Rowland Hill's desk, nineteenth century, accession number: 2004-0026/1

This is the desk at which Sir Rowland Hill and subsequent company secretaries worked.

Rowland Hill was the brains behind the introduction of uniform penny postage in 1840. The future of the company changed forever as a result as the postal service was opened to the wider public. 

The reforms meant that now it was possible to send a letter anywhere in the country for only one penny.  The result was the world’s first postage stamp, the Penny Black, and a revolution in the way people used the post.   

Find this in the catalogue    

‘The Royal Mail’s Departure from the General Post Office’, 1828, accession number: OB1997.7

This painting by James Pollard shows the General Post Office (GPO) built at St Martins-le-Grand.

The GPO is featured in a number of paintings in the BPMA’s collection but this one is one of the most traditional. For many the Post Office is still the GPO, but in truth the GPO was one building, most memorably, this one at St Martins-le-Grand.

Find this in the catalogue

Post Office Counter sign, late twentieth century, accession number: 2006-0258

This is a typical Post Office sign that is a familiar sight on any high street. The distinctive red and yellow signs will always represent the public face of the Royal Mail business.

The BPMA holds a number of examples of this logo, in many different styles and sizes.

Consignia sign, c. 2001, accession number: 2006-0257/1

This Consignia sign dates from the brief period when The Post Office adopted a new company name, Consignia. This courted much controversy.

The name was only every intended to be a company holding name and was never going to replace either Royal Mail or Post Office. However, bad press was generated from the start and eventually the name and associated logo was dropped. 

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