[2] The Public Records Act 1838 was the first step in organizing government archives, including the civil service department known then as ‘the Post Office’.

The museum was opened by the Queen on 19 February 1969, at King Edward Building near St Paul's Cathedral in London.

[7][8] The Postal Museum has opened up to the public a 0.62 miles (1 km) stretch of track in London's Mail Rail, which was the world's first driverless electric railway.

[6][9] In the museum section, anticipated attractions include a commemorative stamp that would have been used had Scotland won the 1978 FIFA World Cup, telegrams from the night that the Titanic sank, the childhood stamp album of Freddie Mercury, and an intercepted first edition of Ulysses (banned in the United Kingdom until 1936).

Although the archive is part of the Postal Museum, because it is a public record, the ultimate responsibility for it lies with Royal Mail.