The Post 29 class or series is the "Papers" class corresponding to the "Volumes" class in Post 34 and consists of numbered subject files (packets) and reports to the Postmasters-General on all aspects of sea mail or packet boat services. Each subject file contains correspondence and other background material on a particular issue. The files document a formal action or decision at senior levels of government, on which the Secretary To The Post Office would submit a report on an issue to the Postmaster General. One copy of this report was usually retained on the file and one copied into the entry books in the corresponding volumes class (Post 34).
The class contains records on the administration, staffing, scheduling, routes and equipment of packet boat services and British packet stations (land termimi) both in Great Britain and overseas, British packet services with private shipping companies, domestic and international postal charges and regulations, interference with sea mails by acts of war, piracy and natural disasters; special payments via the mails to prisoners of war and operations of colonial and foreign post offices as they affected the packet services.
The class also includes files on army postal arrangements for the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War One and for troops serving in the South African War, packet service between Canada and other countries, contracts with steamship companies, Canadian customs duties and book post, import prohibitions, administration of criminal law, postage rates for newspapers and periodicals, mail service between Canada and other countries, parcel post with Russia, a proposed All Red Route, Canadian Pacific Railway Company packet, Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, and a background file on the state of postal services in various nations around the world before and after the introduction of the British "penny post" c. 1836-1856.
This material is available on microfilm reels A-1362 to A-1392, A-1414 to A-1456, A-1481 to A-1504, A-1783 to A-1818, and A-1990.
In addition, pieces 30 and 88, 315 and 325 are located on microfilm reels A-2170 and A-2171. This material relates to West Indies and North American mail service, 1839 to 1859; and to Newfoundland direct mail service, 1880 to 1883.