14 Dec 1840 - Government Printer appointed

#OnThisDay 14 December 1840 John Kitchen was appointed as the first Government Printer in the newly established Government Printing Office. Kitchen had a staff of two free men as assistant printers, with 20 convict men and boys allocated as production staff. The GPO was abolished on 1 July 1989.

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Administrative history of the GPO »

Extract: ...Throughout the Nineteenth Century the work of the Government Printer expanded with the addition of new branches and production methods that included in - 1857 - Bookbinding 1860 - Perforating stamps and machine numbering 1864 - Stereotyping and electrotyping 1865 - Printing of duty stamps and paper ruling 1867 - Railway tickets printing 1868 - Photo-lithographic and lithographic 1877...

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