ROYAL Mail is commemorating its 500th anniversary this year by celebrating some of the Scots who contributed to its history.
It has teamed up with the British Postal Museum Archive (BPMA) to create an online gallery of 500 objects, people and events telling the story of the postal service.
Among the key figures are Robert Wallace, from Greenock, who was chairman of the committee that examined the penny postage scheme put forward in 1837. It was Wallace’s casting vote that ensured the ideas, including prepayment of postage costs via letter sheets or adhesive stamps, were put forward to parliament and shaped the postal service we know today.
Jean Cameron, a postwoman in Glen Cova in Angus, was responsible for a change in uniform for female workers in the 1940s.
Faced with jumping over streams and navigating stiles on her round, she asked to wear trousers instead of the standard-issue blue skirt. The General Post Office, as it was then called, agreed to issue trousers which became known as “Camerons”, with 14,000 pairs being worn by the end of 1943.
In 1961 teenager Bill Cockburn joined Royal Mail in Glasgow. After working his way up he served as a member of the board for 14 years and became chief executive in 1993.
The first mail coach to Scotland was launched between London and Edinburgh in 1786. The 400-mile journey took about 60 hours.
Scotland’s first postbox was installed in 1861 and the box – on the front of the Golspie Inn in Sutherland _ can still be seen today.
This year commemorates 500 years since Henry VIII knighted Brian Tuke, the first Master of the Posts, in 1516.
The online gallery can be seen at www.royalmailgroup.com/500years.
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