Freeling, Francis, Sir, 1764-1836

Freeling began his career in the Bristol Post Office and moved to London in 1787. There he held the successive Postal Service positions of surveyor, principal and resident surveyor, joint secretary, and sole secretary. In 1828, baronetcy was conferred on him for his public service. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1801 and was one of the original members of the Roxburghe Club, founded in 1812.

Sir Francis Freeling, British postal administrator and book collector. In 1792 he contributed to the founding of the anti-radical newspaper The Sun, and was the managerial head of the british Post Office from 1798 until his death.

Sir Francis Freeling was born in Radcliffe Parish, Bristol, on August 25, 1764. His first employment was with the Bristol Post Office, but when the new Palmer system of mail coaches was established in 1785, Freeling was appointed to assist Palmer. In 1787 he joined the General Post Office in London, where he served for almost half a century, rising finally to the office of Sole Secretary.

Freeling's management of the postal service was widely praised, and in 1828 a baronetcy was conferred on him for his public service. He was also a book collector and antiquarian, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a founding member of the Roxburghe Club. He died at home in Bryanston Square, London, in 1836, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, Sir George Henry Freeling, an Oxford alumnus and Commissioner of Customs.