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British Postal Museum and Archive: The Royal Mail Archive

Post Office: Incident Bills Accounts


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0813 POST 6 Series

Held at: British Postal Museum and Archive: The Royal Mail Archive

Title: Post Office: Incident Bills Accounts

Date(s): 1766-1854

Level of description: Series

Extent: 34 volumes

Name of creator(s):

No further information available

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

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CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

This series consists of a series of quarterly accounts of salaries and allowances due and payable by incidents to the officers, clerks and tradesmen employed by the General, Twopenny and London District Post Offices (the Twopenny Post was replaced by the London District Post in 1844). Items 6/4-6, covering 1794-1799, also include separate quarterly accounts of tradesmen's bills and incidental warrants paid out of the revenue of the Bye and Cross Road Letter Office. Accounts cover a wide variety of items and are arranged under general subject headings, such as 'pensions', 'packets', 'tradesmen' and 'rents'. Entries include what the bill is for, name of person owed and the amount. The date of the Treasury warrant authorising payment is often included at the end of each quarterly account. Volumes are not indexed. The accounts include bills for:

* Pensions, salaries and allowances to chief and senior officers, clerks, sorters, messengers and servants working in London headquarters departments, including offices of the Secretary and Accountant General, and the Foreign, Inland, Express, Mail Coach, Dead Letter, Ship Letter and Bye Letter offices; packet agents; surveyors; postmasters inspectors of mails, letter receivers and carriers and packet ships; commanders and mates of packet ships, or their widows; letter receivers and carriers in London; and mail guards

* Expenses for mail conveyance by sea, including costs incurred by packet ships operating from Falmouth, Harwich, Dover, Whitehaven, Donaghadee, Weymouth, Milford Haven and Holyhead, and in the West and East Indies, notably hire charges, lighting dues, arms and ammunition stores, wages and victualling for captains, officers and crew whilst at sea, out of employ or while the ship is undergoing repairs; and ship letter mails

* Expenses for inland mail conveyance, notably for payments to mail coach contractors; road, bridge and ferry tolls; supply and upkeep of fire arms, time pieces, mail bags and mail guards uniforms; mail coach maintenance; and railway and steam packet company charges

* Compensation for abolished positions or duties

* Items supplied or work done by tradesmen

* Legal expenses notably relating to investigation, detection, capture, and trail of felons

* Rents, taxes and rates for offices in London

* Stationery printing costs

* Transit postage and tonnage dues to foreign post offices

* Travelling expenses, particularly surveyors'

Item 6/11, covering 1805-1809, is different to the rest of the series. It contains certified accounts of the quarterly salaries and allowances paid by incidents upon which the Civil List deduction, or tax, of six pence in the pound is chargeable. Each account lists the 'salaries' and 'incidents' of individual officers and clerks at the General Post Office headquarters in London, including the Postmaster General, Secretary and other senior officers, and the total duty payable each quarter.

These accounts probably originate from the office of the Receiver General, who was in charge of all moneys received and paid out of the revenue of the Post Office.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Please see scope and content.

Conditions governing access:

Public Record

Conditions governing reproduction:

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Finding aids:

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ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

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Immediate source of acquisition:

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ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of copies:

Some items in this series are available for viewing in the Search Room.

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note:

Record amended by Barbara Ball

Rules or conventions:

Compiled in compliance with General Internation Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G) second edition 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997

Date(s) of descriptions: June 2011


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Accounting | Financial administration | Finance
Accounts ledgers | Accounts | Financial records | Documents | Information sources
Ledger | Financial records | Documents | Information sources
Post offices | Postal services | Communication industry
Shipping | Maritime transport | Transport
Wages | Personnel management | Organization and administration | Health services administration | Public administration | Government
Public buildings
Water transport

Personal names

Corporate names
Post Office | GPO

Places