Sir John Tilley KCB (20 January 1813 – 18 March 1898) was Secretary to the General Post Office of the United Kingdom. Early life and family Tilley's father had died before he was born. His mother was Elizabeth Fraser, daughter of Thomas Fraser of Lane Son & Fraser (sometimes spelt 'Frazer'). He was educated privately at Bromley, Kent. Career Tilley entered the service of the General Post Office on 11 February 1829 as a clerk in the Secretary's Office in Lombard Street, London, having been nominated by a friend of his mother, the then Secretary, Francis Freeling, and appointed to the Secretary's office by the Postmaster General, the Duke of Manchester. He remained with the Post Office throughout his working life, rising from clerk to Secretary, the position he held on his retirement at the age of sixty-seven in 1880. In 1838, at the relatively young age of 27, and after only ten years with the Post Office, Tilley was appointed Surveyor of the Northern District of England on the nomination of the then Secretary of the Post Office, Colonel Maberly, while the Appointment Books show that he was formally appointed on 25 October 1838 by the Postmaster General, the Earl of Lichfield. Tilley spent ten years as Surveyor of the Northern District of England, moving to Lytham (now known as Lytham St. Annes), Lancashire where he organised the distribution of mail until on 29 September 1848 he was promoted to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Post Office. Tilley's wife Cecilia was at that time suffering from consumption, and brief mention is made of the sad family circumstances Tilley was experiencing at this time, which made him happy to return to London. Despite this, Tilley was involved in the organisation of The Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park, London in 1851. In 1854 a Commission of Enquiry into the establishment of the Post Office was set up which brought about a number of changes in the London establishment. The Postmaster General of the day, Lord Canning, sent Tilley to Edinburgh and Dublin to revise the establishments there. Tilley is credited with having ensured that the clerks, sorters and postmen received better pay. Tilley had been a great supporter of the Savings Bank Act (1861). This enabled the Post Office to offer savings accounts to less wealthy citizens with more security than banks could offer, resulting in the present-day