Controlling Officers' Association (COA)

Minutes, 1906-52; The Controlling Officers' Magazine, 1907-10; The Controlling Officers' Journal, 1910-19; agenda, 1921-52; publications; some subject files; Shrewsbury branch records, 1919-47.

The Assistant Superintendents and Overseers' Association was formed on 4 April 1906 and was renamed the Postal and Telegraph Controlling Officers' Association at its first general meeting on 4 June 1906. It became the Postal, Telegraph and Telephone Controlling Officers' Association in 1911, and the name was shortened to the Controlling Officers' Association, by which it was commonly already known, in 1913. In 1921 it became the Post Office Controlling Officers' Association. From 1918 the Association belonged to the Federation of Post Office Supervising Officers. In January 1952 POCOA merged with the other members of the Federation under the title of the Association of Post Office Controlling Officers (APOCO), with the exception of the Postal Inspectors' Association, which did not join the association until 1959. Reference: Arthur Marshall and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of Trade Unions. Volume 1( Gower: Farnborough, 1980).

All those unions which have now merged to form the Communication Managers' Association have been given the reference MSS.225. They are further divided into sections by an alphabetical suffix.

Constituent and related archives in the Centre include the papers of the Postal Inspectors' Association MSS.225/PIA), the Postmasters' Association (MSS.225/PMA)

Session inactive