1678-1899.
BRISTOL POSTMASTERS.
Official records at St. Martin's-le-Grand show that postmasters of
Bristol were appointed as follows; viz., Thomas Gale, 1678; Wm.
Dickinson, 1690; Daniel Parker, 1693; Henry Pine, September, 1694;
Thomas Pine, senior, 1740; Thomas Pine, junior, 16th January, 1760;
William Fenn, 1778; Mrs. Fenn, 1788; Mr. Fry managed the office for Mrs.
Penn from 1797 to December, 1805, when he died, and Mrs. Fenn retired on
an allowance in 1806; Mr. Cole, March, 1806, died whilst holding office;
John Gardiner, 9th June, 1825; Thomas Todd Walton, senior, 21st
February, 1832; Thomas Todd Walton, junior, 23rd May, 1842, succeeded
his father; Edward Chaddock Sampson, 21st June, 1871; Robert Charles
Tombs, 19th April, 1892, after having been invalided from Controllership
of the London postal service.
In his history of the Post Office, Mr. Joyce tells us that in 1686 the
Postmaster-General himself settled applications for salary. Thus when
Thomas Gale, postmaster of Bristol, applies for an increase of salary,
Frowde the governor satisfies the Earl of Rochester, the
Postmaster-General, that the increase will be proper. Forthwith issues a
document, of which the operative part is as follows:--
"You are therefore of opinion that the said salary (L50) is very small
considering the expense the petitioner is att, and his extraordinary
trouble, Bristoll being a greate Citty, but you say that you doe not
think all the things he setts downe in the aforesaid accompt ought to be
allowed him, the example being of very ill consequence, for (as you
informe me) you doe not allow either candles, pack-thread, wax, ink,
penns or paper to any of the postmasters, nor office-rent, nor returns
of mony, you are therefore of opinion that tenn ponnds per annum to his
former salary of L50 will be a reasonable allowance, and the petitioner
will be therewith satisfied, these are therefore to pray and require you
'to raise his salary from L50 to L60 accordingly.'
"ROCHESTER.
Whitehall Treasury Chambers,
_December 13th, 1686_."
The office of postmaster was in the hands of the Pine family,
grandfather, father, and son, from 1694 till 1778. In an old manuscript
in the public library it is stated that there was a portrait in the
possession of a descendant of the family, then residing on Kingsdown,
representing the older Pine in the midst of his official duties, a
bracket supporting a bust of Mercury, and in his hand a letter thus
addressed:--"On His Majesty's Service. To Mr. Pine, Postmaster of
Bristol," and in the corner, "P. Express. T. Strickland." Endeavours to
trace the descendants and the portrait have proved fruitless.
[Illustration: MR. JOHN GARDINER.
_Postmaster of Bristol, 1827-1832._]
There is little history obtainable of the postmasters until the time of
Mr. John Gardiner, of whom it is related that, born October 15th, 1777,
he held the office of postmaster of Bristol from 1825 till his death in
1832. It is believed that he obtained his appointment in a great measure
through friendship with Mr. Francis Freeling. Mr. Gardiner had to bear
the brunt of the Bristol Riots (1831), in so far as they affected the
Post Office administration of the city. In order to save the mails and
belongings which were portable, such as the books, post dating stamps,
etc., he set off with them in a coach and four for Bath Post Office. He
got safely through the mob and reached Bath, where the Bristol Post
Office business was carried on until the riots had been quelled. Mr.
Gardiner, in addition to being postmaster, was also an exporter of
woollen and Manchester goods, chiefly to the West Indies until the slave
trade was abolished. He then traded with Newfoundland. He was High
Sheriff of the city in the year 1820, residing at that time in Berkeley
Square. Later, however, he was enabled to live quietly at the Old Manor
House, Easton-in-Gordano. He was buried at St. Peter's Church, Bristol.
[Illustration: MR. THOMAS TODD WALTON.
_Postmaster of Bristol, 1832-1842._]
Mr. Anthony Todd, the Secretary to the Post Office, 1762-65 and 1768-98,
seems to have been attracted to Todd Walton, of Cheshunt, Herts, either
by relationship or from his name, and took him in hand. Born in 1772,
Mr. Todd Walton entered the Post Office in 1786 (fourteen years old). He
had the long spell of service of forty-six years in the foreign Post
Office and ten years as postmaster of Bristol. He was five times
selected for foreign missions, which compelled his residence in Holland,
Sweden, Spain, and Portugal during the most disturbed state of those
countries. Mr. Walton is described as having been a fine old English
gentleman, one of the olden time, who wore hair powder, blue coat with
gilt buttons, and shoes and gaiters; one who used to express his meaning
distinctly, and mean what he said too. This description is borne out by
his appearance in his portrait. He used to visit the Bristol Post Office
after his retirement, especially to have a morning glass of water from
the old well on the premises. He died in July, 1857, at his residence,
King's Parade, Clifton, in his eighty-fifth year, and was buried in the
adjacent church of St. John's. On his tombstone is this inscription:
"Here rests the body of Thomas Todd Walton, late of Cheshunt, Herts, and
of the foreign post, London, Esquire. A quarter of a century an
inhabitant of this parish, and for some years head postmaster of the
Bristol district. Deceased 13th July, 1857. Aged 85. Also of Catherine
Elizabeth, his wife, elder daughter of Thomas Todd, of Durham, Esquire.
She died April 11th, 1860, aged 77 years."
On Mr. Walton's retirement, in 1842, in view of his services, Lord
Viscount Lowther, the Postmaster-General of the day, conferred the
appointment of postmaster of Bristol on his son, Thomas Todd Walton, who
had been employed as chief clerk in the Bristol Post Office for ten
years. Mr. Todd Walton, it seems, was properly initiated into the
mysteries of the Post Office art by his father, who decreed that he
should commence at the bottom of the ladder and work his way up thence,
so that young Todd Walton was in his day to be found at mail-bag
opening, letter sorting and other routine work of the kind, which will
account for the thorough knowledge of his business which he is said to
have possessed when called upon to take the reins of office handed over
to him by his popular parent.
[Illustration: MR. THOMAS TODD WALTON (JUNIOR).
_Postmaster of Bristol, 1842-1871._]
In connection with the recent selection of the port of Bristol as a mail
station, alluded to in later pages, it may be mentioned that Mrs. Todd
Walton well remembers how, when the _Great Western_ steamship, which
carried the American mails between Bristol and New York for several
years, was first due (1838) to reach this port, her husband organised
his small staff for a night encounter with the pressure of work which
the heavy mail would inevitably occasion, and obtained auxiliary aid.
The little staff was at "attention" for two or three days, and when the
news came by means of the runner from Pill that the ship was coming up
the Avon, Mr. Walton turned out at 2 a.m., rallied his little band, and
went manfully to the work, which lasted for many hours before the
letters were fully sorted and sent off to their respective destinations
or delivered through the streets and lanes of the old city. In the
autumn of 1841 the _Great Western_ happened to arrive on the same day
that a large ship mail from Australia by the _Ruby_ was received, and
the whole staff available--then only ten men for all duties--had to work
night and day continuously to get off the letters by the mails to other
towns. As many as 20,000 letters and newspapers were brought by these
two vessels on that occasion. It is recorded that every available space
in the premises was filled with letters piled as high as they could be
got to stand, and great was the joy of the sorters when the flood of
letters subsided.
Mr. Todd Walton had many other night reminders of the mail services
besides those respecting the arrival of direct mails from America, as
the rattling of the horses' hoofs, the clang of the pole-chains and the
twang of the mail guard's horn as the coaches dashed past his house on
their way to the passages must have frequently reminded him of his
responsibilities as "mail master" of Bristol. He would have blessed
Bristol's very able General Manager of the Tramways Company had he been
to the fore in those days to procure the benefit of freedom from the
noise of traffic by the use of wood paving in our principal
thoroughfares.
Mr. Todd Walton had the interests of the staff of the Post Office at
heart, and, as an exemplification of his sympathy with them, it may be
mentioned that when a promising officer in the heyday of youth met with
an accident which eventually necessitated the amputation of his right
leg, Mr. Walton did not allow the misfortune to stand in the way of the
young man's continuing in remunerative employment in the Post Office,
but found for him a suitable sedentary duty which he performed for
fourteen years.
Mr. Todd Walton the second counted amongst his contemporaries and
personal friends those Post Office literary stars, Anthony Trollope and
Edmund Yates.
Mr. Walton retired from the Post Office in 1871. His death occurred at
the Clifton Down Hotel on the morning of Christmas day, 1885. He was in
the act of dressing to attend the early morning service at All Saints'
Church, when he fell into a fit of apoplexy, from which he did not
rally. The _Times and Mirror_ of January 2nd, 1886, gives the following
memoir of him:--"The death of this estimable gentleman calls for more
particular notice than the necessarily brief one given in last
Saturday's impression; for although Mr. Walton had for some time past
ceased to be a citizen of Bristol, he continued to feel an interest in
the old city and its surroundings, and was remembered by many
Bristolians as one who had obtained, as he deserved, their affectionate
esteem. Succeeding his father--a gentleman of the 'old school'--as
postmaster of Bristol, Mr. Todd Walton, through the long series of years
in which he occupied that public position, evinced unwearied industry,
keen intelligence, and singular courtesy in discharging the
multifarious duties connected with it, and when on his retirement
(carrying with him into private life the respect of his fellow-citizens)
he was called upon to fulfil the duties of High Sheriff of Bristol,
those duties were discharged by him for two years successively in a
manner distinguished by great public spirit and generous hospitality. He
was a man of considerable culture and taste, an extensive reader, and a
reader who, happily, remembered what he had read. He possessed also a
sense of humour and a ready wit which made him an agreeable and
intelligent companion; whilst to those who enjoyed his friendship he was
ever a friend, courteous and kind. Blessed with abundant means, he
helped without ostentation the poor and needy, many of whom in our own
city will share in the general regret his loss has occasioned."
In the centre of the church garden at All Saints', Clifton, stands a
cross, which Mrs. Walton erected in 1888 to the memory of her husband.
It was designed by Mr. J. L. Pearson, R.A. It is of granite, and stands
on three steps. In the centre of the shaft is a figure of the Good
Shepherd, and at the top are four sculptures, beautifully executed, of
the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension.
Over these rises a crocketed finial, and the whole is surmounted by a
cross. At the base are inscribed the words: "In loving memory of Thomas
Todd Walton, sometime churchwarden of the Church of All Saints, and a
most generous benefactor to that church."
By the death of Edward Chadwick Sampson, the next postmaster, which
occurred at Clevedon, December 7th, 1895, the Post Office lost one of
its most gentlemanly and genial pensioners.
For many years postmaster of Bristol, Mr. Sampson was well known
throughout the city, and held in high esteem by all with whom he was
brought into contact. He had a long service in the postal department,
dating, as it did, from 1837 to the last day of 1891. In 1837 he began
his connection with the Bristol Post Office. He went to Manchester as
chief clerk in 1865, but was away only six years, and returned in 1871
to assume the postmastership of his native city. It is interesting, as
showing the enormous increase in the postal traffic, to recall the fact
that when Mr. Sampson joined the Corn Street office in 1837 the
premises were only twenty feet square, there were only fifteen clerks
and postmen all told, and no one was allowed to have his letters from
the boxes whilst a mail was being sorted.
For his wide experience, his ability, and high integrity his work was
greatly valued by leading officials in the postal service; whilst his
sincerity and kindliness of disposition endeared him to employes of
every grade over whom he had control.
As the postman came to Mr. Sampson's door one morning, it was seen that
the man was too ill to discharge his duties. Mr. Sampson thereupon
begged the man to come into his house and rest, and he himself, with the
aid of his son, delivered every one of the letters at its destination,
afterwards seeing the poor man safely home. That kind act was indicative
of Mr. Sampson's general consideration for those over whom he ruled.
[Illustration: EDWARD CHADDOCK SAMPSON.
_Postmaster of Bristol, 1871-1891._
_From a photograph by Mr. Abel Lewis, Bristol._]
On the resignation of Mr. Sampson, it was generally felt that he should
not be allowed to retire into private life without taking with him
tangible evidence of the goodwill and respect of those with whom he
had been associated. This feeling found expression in a gratifying
manner, and the services he had rendered the commercial community during
his postmastership were gracefully recognised by the Chamber of Commerce
presenting him with an address illuminated and engrossed on vellum.
Exactly at midnight on the last night of 1891 he was invited, as his
last official act, to seal what is known to Post Office employes as the
"London and Exeter T.P.O., going west"--that is, the mail bag of the
travelling Post Office bound for Exeter. Mr. Sampson discharged the
slight duty devolving upon him, and received the new year greetings of
his former colleagues, "Auld Lang Syne" being afterwards sung.