Frequently Asked Questions about the Catalogue

• What information does the catalogue hold?
• How do I access material described in the catalogue?
• Does the catalogue contain information about the philatelic collections?
• What is the best way to begin my research?
• I can't find my ancestor's name. Does this mean you don't hold records on them?
• How do I know which catalogues are available to search online?
• Can I use this catalogue to search for merchandise sold by the BPMA?
• Can I order my search results by date?
• What do all the Search box options mean?

If you have any other questions about using the online catalogue, please email info@postalheritage.org.uk

What information does the catalogue hold?

The online catalogue contains data about the holdings of The British Postal Museum & Archive, and allows you to search across both our museum and archive collections.

We have just met our target to make over 95,000 records available to search online by May 2011. The amount of records available will continue to increase as material is catalogued in line with our cataloguing plan.

The online catalogue does not contain reference to any uncatalogued material held by The British Postal Museum & Archive. Please contact us if you want to see something you think is held by the BPMA but you cannot find reference to.

The online catalogue contains some records relating to material held at other institutions, which is of direct relevance. The repository field will show you if it held by the BPMA here at Freeling House. Please read the information about access to this material.

More information about the type of collections held by the BPMA can be found in the collections section.

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How do I access material described in the catalogue

Access to The Royal Mail Archive is provided at our Search Room in Freeling House. The Visiting section has details of opening times.

As a general rule all archive material with a POST class reference, which is catalogued and over 30 years old, is available on demand.
However, some material is available subject to certain conditions and restrictions, usually for reasons of conservation as follows:

• Surrogate copies: Some material is not suitable for viewing on conservation grounds, and some material will be made available on microfilm to both preserve the originals and allow copies to be made more easily.
• Conservation: Some fragile material is available only under 1:1 supervision to ensure it receives the specialist handling it needs. Access to such material (for example, some of the material held in POST 52: Stamp depot) may require a prior appointment.
• Freedom of Information: If your research relates to public record material which is less than 30 years old, you may still be able to see relevant material under the Freedom of Information Act. Please make an enquiry to us in writing (by post, fax or email) in the first instance, explaining clearly what you wish to see. Freedom of Information requests, for records in the Royal Mail Archive, are processed by Royal Mail Group, and your request will be passed to them to answer within the statutory framework.
• Philatelic material: (POST 141 to POST 150) is Public Record material, but for security and conservation reasons access is only possible by prior appointment, and with close supervision. If you are interested in seeing material from philatelic material please telephone the Curator, Philately, on 020 7239 2565, to discuss your requirements. We are working to provide catalogues to all our philatelic material. Some fascinating philatelic material is always on display in our small exhibition at The Royal Mail Archive.
• Access to the Museum Collections: (material without a POST class reference on the catalogue) is not available on demand, as we do not have suitable facilities for providing such access at present. It may still be possible for you to see items you are interested in: please contact us outlining what you would like to see and we will try and help you. Our Museum Store (near Loughton in Essex) is, however, open to the public on certain days throughout the year, and you can book for a tour of our object collections. Please contact us for further details.
• Material held at other institutions: Some material included on our catalogue is held at other institutions. This information is clearly indicated in the Repository field, and you should contact the named institution in order to view the material.

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Does the catalogue include information about Philatelic collections?

Classes POST 141 – 150 form our philatelic collections. All this material is Public Record. POST 141: The R M Phillips collection is fully catalogued and available to search online. The Phillips collection has also been digitised thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, so you can study the full range of the Victorian philatelic treasure at home.

For security and conservation reasons access is only possible by prior appointment, and with one-to-one supervision. If you are interested in seeing material from the philatelic collections, please telephone the Curator, Philately, on +44 (0)20 7239 2565, to discuss your requirements.
Some fascinating philatelic material is always on display in our small exhibition at The Royal Mail Archive. See What's On for information about our current exhibition.

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What is the best way to begin my research?

The best place to start general research is to use the Overview Guide to The Royal Mail Archive. This will give you a better understanding of the range of our archive collection, before you search the online catalogue. For genealogists, there is the specific Family History Research Guide which focuses on the archive classes and processes most commonly used to find postal ancestors.

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I can't find my ancestor's name. Does this mean you don't hold records on them?

Not necessarily. The catalogue does not usually contain the names of individual employees. However many of our staff records are indexed, and the indexes are available on microfilm in our public Search Room. You will have to Visit to see these records.

Examples of staff records include pension and gratuity records which are held up to 1959, staff and union publications, and records relating to disciplinary action and dismissal.

To find out if we are likely to hold records relating to your ancestor, please read the Family History Research Guide, or Contact our Search Room team.

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How do I know which catalogues are available to search online?

A summary list of catalogued material is available which is updated frequently. If a catalogue is not available to search online, a paper version may be available in our Search Room. Contact us for assistance.

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Can I use this catalogue to find merchandise sold by the BPMA?

No, this catalogue only holds information about the archive records and museum objects held by the BPMA, and closely related historic material held at other institutions.

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Can I order my search results by date?

It is possible to order search results by date for material held in The Royal Mail Archive. On the Search Results page, simply click on the title in the date column and the results will be reorganised by date, starting with the earliest dated objects or records.

The date format for material held in The Royal Mail Archive is given Year/Month/Day, in accordance with standards laid down for Public Record material by the The National Archives. Museum collections do not have to comply with this standard, and so follow the more common Day/Month/Year format.

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What do all the Search box options mean?

You can use the search boxes to search across both our archive and museum collections, using your own keywords.

• 'AnyText' search box. This box allows you to search for any term you choose, e.g. 'mail coach'. Below the any text box are three option buttons:
• With the exact Phrase (default setting). Search results for 'mail coach' will only include records where that exact phrase is present.
• With all the words. Search results on the term 'mail coach' will include all records which include both the term 'mail' and 'coach' in the same record, but with the terms not necessarily as that exact phrase.
• With at least one of the words. Search results for 'mail' with 'coach' will include all records where one or other of these terms appear, but not necessarily both terms in the same record. It will also return results where both appear together.


• 'FindingNo' search box. This box allows you to search for a particular reference, or narrow your search to a particular class of material. For example, a search for 'POST 1', would only return records included in 'POST 1: Post Office Treasury Correspondence'


• 'Match either field' (default setting). Complete both the 'Anytext' box and the 'FindingNo' box with search terms. Leave the search options as they are (the box empty) to match both fields in a search, e.g., for 'mail coach' and 'POST 10', search results will include records that include the term 'mail coach', but only where this term occurs within the POST 10 class of records.
  Search results will include records that include the term mail coach, but only where this term occurs within the POST 10 class of records.



If you check the 'match either field' box, searching for e.g., 'mail coach' and 'POST 10' will produce search results that include either the term mail coach, or the term POST 10, or both.

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If you have any questions about using the online catalogue, please email info@postalheritage.org.uk