Pensions & Gratuities
Hear this page read aloud
The Royal Mail Archive holds Pensions and Gratuities records for its employees from 1719 to 1959. They can be found in POST 1. However, records before 1860 generally only list senior officers as not every postal worker was entitled to a pension until 1860.
Pensions were awarded to Post Office employees when they retired. Marriage gratuities were awarded to female workers when they left the Post Office and gave up work to get married. Death gratuities were also given to the families of postal workers who died while they were working for the Post Office.
The Pensions and Gratuities records tend to be the main source of information for family historians. The information they sometimes provide includes name, rank, date of birth, years of service, positions held, and amount of pension/gratuity awarded. We also hold material that deals with the administration of pensions and gratuities.
These records are indexed, making it easier to search the records. For information on how to search for a pension record, see Case Study 2: Moses Nobbs, Mail Coach Guard.
Here are four examples of pensions or gratuities records in our collection:
Treasury minute, 14 June 1859, finding number: POST 66/4
This
Treasury Minute suggests ways of covering the pensions of Civil Service
employees who had begun work before the 1859 Superannuation Act.
Before
1860, not all Post Office employees were entitled to a pension or
gratuity. Employees had to be nominated. This meant it was mainly the
senior clerical grades or those considered to be hardship cases who
were awarded a pension.
The Superannuation Act in 1859
meant that postal employees, if eligible, were now entitled to a
pension or gratuity from the Post Office.
Large image (553.5 KB)
Marriage Gratuity for Miss Annie Fairbairn Buchanan, 1906, finding number: POST 1/376, p188
This is an example of a gratuity application, made by Miss Annie
Fairbairn Buchanan upon marriage to Mr Bell. The three page application
provides us with a lot of information about Annie and her time at the
Post Office.
Large image of first page (749.9 KB)
Large image of second page (830.7 KB)
Large image of third page (689.7 KB)
Death Gratuity for Mr Albert James Reading, 1933 POST 1/1051, p. 490
This is an example of a typical death gratuity application. It is from the family of Mr
Albert James Reading. Standard forms for pensions
and gratuities applications were used so the same information was asked for
from all applicants.
Mortality used to be higher than it is now. The Post Office was an employer known for looking after its staff. As a result, it was relatively uncommon for people to take early retirement or apply for gratuities due to ill health.
Large image of first page (919.7KB KB)
Large image of second page (890.4 KB)
Staff Superannuation Scheme Booklet, 1971, finding number: POST 66/28
This booklet outlines the main provisions and benefits made under the
new contributory superannuation scheme introduced in 1971. This particular page gives the definitions of terms used in the scheme.
The Post Office Superannuation Scheme experienced many changes over the years after its introduction in 1821.
Large size image (220.8 KB)
