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Postmaster General for Scotland


The Postmaster General for Scotland, based in Edinburgh, was responsible for the postal service in the Kingdom of Scotland from about 1616 until the Act of Union merged Scotland with England in 1707, creating a new state called the Kingdom of Great Britain. From 1711, the posts in Scotland were the responsibility of the Deputy Postmaster General for Scotland, until in 1831 that position was into the duties of the Postmaster General of the United Kingdom.

The Union of the Crowns took place in 1603 and on 5 May a public postal system was approved by the Parliament of Scotland's Act William III c.31, to be set up between Berwick, just south of the Scottish border, and Edinburgh. At some time after 1603 the post of Postmaster General for Scotland was established by the Privy Council of Scotland with the first appointment mentioned in 1616 as Sir William Seton. From Privy Council records, Seton appears to have held the position until 1631, or 1633, though a 1641 Act of the Scottish Parliament ratifies his appointment for life as "His Majesty's cheefe post maister of all his Hienes postmaisteres ..." at a salary of £500 per annum. No new appointment was made until 1649 when the Commonwealth took over the post in Scotland.

Following the 1660 restoration of the monarchy, one Patrick Grahame became Postmaster General for Scotland under the Privy Seal of King Charles II from 14 September 1662 for his lifetime at the same salary of £500 per annum: officium precipui magistri cursoris lie Postmaster-Generall et Censoris omnium cursorum dicti regni Scotie. Grahame's son John obtained the position after his father's death in 1674 at a new salary of £1,000 per annum and held the office until 1689.

In August 1695 an Act of William III again established a General Post Office in Scotland to be set up in Edinburgh:


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