Lieutenant-Colonel John Pringle Appleby (1892 – 29 March 1966) was the Postmaster General of Ceylon for seven years, between 1940 and 1947. In 1907 he joined the

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

, in 1921 made a supplementary clerk, and in 1933 was appointed the postmaster in

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. Th ...

. Appleby served in the

Royal Signal Corps The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was appointed as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1917. On 4 July 1936 Appleby was made a Justice of the Peace for the District of Colombo and on 1 October he was formally appointed as the Assistant Postmaster-General, replacing Gate Mudaliyar A. G. Tillekeratne. On several occasions he served as acting Postmaster General before being formally appointed to the position in early 1940. Between 1939 and 1946 the activities and advances in telecommunications were not given much publicity due to the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. It is known that in 1946 Appleby issued the first amateur radio transmitting licenses in the country. In the

1945 New Year Honours The 1945 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1945 for the Britis ...

list he was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

for his services as Postmaster General. He retired from the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of th ...

in late 1946. Appleby died on 29 March 1996 in

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 13,258 in 2021, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

References

External links

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Sri Lanka Post
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appleby, John Pringle 1892 births 1966 deaths Postmasters general of Sri Lanka British expatriates in British Ceylon Sri Lankan people of English descent British Army personnel of World War I Royal Corps of Signals officers