Transport
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Transport has always been a
crucial part of the operation of postal services. This is reflected in the
quantity and variety of transport-related records which survive in The Royal
Mail Archive. The earliest of these date from the 1680s and are held in archive class POST 43.
Our records cover all periods from the days of packet ships and mail coaches, through to air mail and the post bus. More detailed summaries of transport records classes can be found in our Guide to The Royal Mail Archive (PDF, 1MB) or on our online catalogue.
Find out about our Transport objects in the Museum collection
In our collection...
Mail by road
Material in archive class POST 10 covers the transport of mail first by horse or mail cart and later by mail coach.
See examples of our records on transporting mail by road...
Mail by rail
Archive classes POST 11 and POST 18 relate to the sorting of mail during
rail transit.
See examples of our records on transporting mail by rail...
Mail by sea
The records in archives classes POST 12, POST 39 and POST 43 deal with the transport of mail by packet boats.
See examples of our records about transporting mail by sea...
Mail by air
Archive classes POST 13 and POST 50 contain material about transporting mail by air.
See examples of our records about transporting mail by air...
We also have records related to the Post Office Railway in London (later known as “Mail Rail”) in archive class POST 20, and attempts at starting helicopter mail in POST 13/3 (click on the links to see these items in our online catalogue).
Access
The best way to see all our transport-related records is to visit The Royal Mail Archive in Freeling House (see the Visiting section for details). A few of the records are yet to be catalogued but most have been processed. You can search for them in our online catalogue. To protect original material some records may be on microfilm.
