Central Regulations, Regional Practices: The Postal Officers of Portuguese America

ABSTRACT Until 1797, the right to carry letters and to obtain profits related to the service belonged to the Gomes da Mata family, holder of the office of General Postmaster of the Kingdom and Overseas. It was on this year that the office was reincorporated, and postal services went to the Crown’s direct authority. These postal reforms were extended to Portuguese America, and a series of rules guided the inauguration, in the villages and cities of the captaincies, of Post Office administrations. Regionally, it was the role of the Royal Financial Boards to choose and provide officers to carry out the daily work of the postal administrations. Taking into consideration the emergence of this new administrative and finance office, this article aims to discuss how the Administrators of the Post Offices were provided by the Royal Finance Boards.