The
General Post Office (
GPO) was officially established in England in 1660 by
Charles II and it eventually grew to combine the functions of state
postal system and
telecommunications carrier. Similar
General Post Offices were established across the
British Empire. In 1969 the GPO was abolished and the assets transferred to The Post Office, changing it from a Department of State to a
statutory corporation. In 1980 the telecommunications and postal sides were split prior to the splitting off of
British Telecommunications into a totally separate publicly owned corporation the following year as a result of the British Telecommunications Act 1981. For the more recent history of the postal system in the United Kingdom, see the article
Royal Mail and
Post Office Ltd.