Postgate family

The Postgate family is an English family whose recorded roots lie in the North York Moors, where land, fields and a farm have historically carried the Postgate name. Records of Postgate landholding extend back to around 1200, and the surname has remained particularly associated with Yorkshire rather than being widely distributed across England. The family is not a commercial brand or operating company; it is notable because several generations produced influential figures in medicine, food regulation, classical scholarship, socialism, journalism, publishing, science, children's television and the performing arts. One early prominent member was John Postgate (1820–1881), a surgeon and professor of medical jurisprudence and toxicology at Queen's College, Birmingham, later associated with the University of Birmingham. He became a leading campaigner against food adulteration, helping draw public and professional attention to the dangers of contaminated or misrepresented food. His work placed the family name in the history of Victorian public-health advocacy and food-safety reform. His son, John Percival Postgate (1853–1926), pursued an academic career in comparative philology and Latin. He taught at University College London and later at the University of Liverpool, where he was professor of Latin from 1909 to 1920. He edited the Classical Review and the Classical Quarterly and published school texts and editions of Latin poetry. Through his marriage to Edith Allen and their six children, the family became connected to several later public figures. Among John Percival's children was Dame Margaret Cole (1893–1980), a writer, political activist and London politician. She married socialist economist and writer G. D. H. Cole in 1918. Together they wrote more than 30 detective novels between 1925 and 1948, while Margaret Cole also developed an independent public career and was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Her brother Raymond Postgate (1896–1971) was a socialist, journalist, social historian, editor, mystery novelist and writer on food and politics. In 1951 he founded The Good Food Guide, an innovative restaurant guide built substantially around reports from volunteers. He was married to Daisy Lansbury, daughter and secretary of Labour politician George Lansbury. Raymond Postgate's children continued the family's presence in public and cultural life. John Postgate FRS (1922–2014) became a microbiologist, professor at the University of Sussex and a writer on science; he also had a strong connection with jazz as a writer and occasional performer. His brother Richard Oliver Postgate (1925–2008), commonly known as Oliver Postgate, became an animator, puppeteer and writer. Through the production company Smallfilms, he created or co-created enduring British children's television series including Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine and Clangers. The later Clangers revival for CBeebies was created by his son Daniel Postgate, who inherited Smallfilms and worked as a children's writer and illustrator. Oliver's other sons were Stephen Postgate and Simon Postgate. The wider family network includes actress Dame Angela Lansbury (1925–2022), whose career in film, theatre and television lasted more than seven decades. Another branch descends from Ormond Oliver Postgate (1905–1989), a teacher of Latin and history at Peter Symonds School in Winchester. His son Nicholas Postgate, born in 1945, became a leading British Assyriologist, professor at the University of Cambridge and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. The family has also been linked, probably through collateral relationships, to Blessed Nicholas Postgate, a Catholic recusant priest and martyr executed at York in 1679 during the aftermath of the Popish Plot, and to Michael Postgate, founder of the Postgate School at Great Ayton, where Captain James Cook was educated. A further connection runs through the Lansbury family to Coral Lansbury, the Australian writer and academic and mother of Malcolm Turnbull, who became Australia's 29th prime minister. These relationships are genealogical or reported family associations rather than evidence of a unified corporate organization. The family therefore has no known headquarters, product portfolio, parent company, stock listing or single commercial positioning.

The Postgate name is associated with the North York Moors, and surviving records describe land held by members of the family from approximately 1200. Fields and a farm continued to bear the name, while the surname remained comparatively rare outside Yorkshire. Over subsequent centuries, different branches became prominent in fields that had little direct connection with one another, making the family better understood as a network of notable individuals than as a single institution. John Postgate (1820–1881) was an English surgeon and professor of medical jurisprudence and toxicology at Queen's College, Birmingham. He became known for campaigning against food adulteration, a major Victorian concern involving the addition of harmful or inferior substances to food and drink. His professional expertise and public advocacy made him an important figure in the history of food-safety reform. A biography of his work was later published under the title Lethal Lozenges and Tainted Tea. His son John Percival Postgate (1853–1926) established a reputation in classical scholarship. He held professorships in comparative philology at University College London and in Latin at the University of Liverpool, where he served from 1909 to 1920. He edited major classical periodicals, including the Classical Review and the Classical Quarterly, and produced educational works and editions of Latin poetry. His marriage to Edith Allen produced six children, several of whom entered public, literary or academic life. Margaret Cole, born Margaret Postgate in 1893, became a writer and political figure. Her marriage to G. D. H. Cole linked the family to British socialism and cooperative political thought. The couple wrote a substantial series of detective novels between 1925 and 1948, while Margaret also participated in London politics and later received a DBE. Her brother Raymond Postgate developed a parallel career as a socialist journalist, editor, social historian and mystery writer. His 1951 creation of The Good Food Guide used volunteer restaurant reports and anticipated later forms of participatory food criticism. Raymond's marriage to Daisy Lansbury connected the Postgates to the Lansbury political family. Raymond's sons carried the family into science and television. John Postgate FRS became a microbiologist and professor at the University of Sussex. He wrote for general audiences as well as scientific readers and maintained an interest in jazz. Richard Oliver Postgate, known professionally as Oliver Postgate, worked with illustrator and animator Peter Firmin through Smallfilms. Their productions, including Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine and Clangers, became distinctive examples of British children's television from the 1950s onward. Oliver's son Daniel Postgate later inherited Smallfilms, wrote and illustrated children's books and developed a new Clangers series for CBeebies. Oliver's other sons were Stephen and Simon Postgate. The family's cultural associations extend to Dame Angela Lansbury, whose long career covered cinema, stage performance and television. In another branch, Ormond Oliver Postgate taught Latin and history at Peter Symonds School in Winchester until his retirement in 1970. His son Nicholas Postgate became a Cambridge professor and fellow specializing in Assyriology, the study of the languages, cultures and history of ancient Mesopotamia. Genealogical accounts also associate the family, probably through collateral lines, with Blessed Nicholas Postgate, the Catholic priest executed at York in 1679, and with Michael Postgate, who founded the Postgate School at Great Ayton. Through the Lansburys, the wider network includes Coral Lansbury and her son Malcolm Turnbull, later Australia's 29th prime minister. These connections illustrate the breadth of the family's historical and social network, but they do not constitute a formal organization, business group or brand ownership structure.

• 1951

  The Good Food Guide is founded

  [1]Postgate familyen.wikipedia.org

  Raymond Postgate founded The Good Food Guide, using largely volunteer restaurant reports and giving the publication an unusually independent approach for its time.

• 1950

  Smallfilms-era children's television

  [1]Postgate familyen.wikipedia.org

  Oliver Postgate's work in animation and puppetry led to influential children's programmes including Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine and later Clangers.

• 1925

  Margaret Cole and G. D. H. Cole begin detective-novel collaboration

  [1]Postgate familyen.wikipedia.org

  The married writers began publishing the detective novels for which they were jointly known, continuing the collaboration until 1948.

• 1909

  John Percival Postgate joins the University of Liverpool

  [1]Postgate familyen.wikipedia.org

  He became professor of Latin at the University of Liverpool, a post he held until 1920.

• 1851

  Birth of John Percival Postgate

  [1]Postgate familyen.wikipedia.org

  John Percival Postgate, later a professor of comparative philology and Latin, was born in 1853; the family chronology places his scholarly career in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

• Early recorded land association

  [1]Postgate familyen.wikipedia.org

  Records cited for the family trace Postgate landholding in the North York Moors to around this period.

Not applicable as a commercial brand; the family is recognized for contributions to public health, academia, socialist politics, journalism, food criticism, microbiology, children's television and the performing arts.

• Restaurant guide · 1951

  The Good Food Guide

  Founded by Raymond Postgate in 1951, The Good Food Guide was a restaurant guide distinguished by its use of largely volunteer reports. It represented an early form of independent, participatory food criticism and became the most prominent publication associated with Raymond Postgate's food writing and campaigning.

• Children's television series

  Clangers

  Clangers is a stop-motion children's television series created through Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms. Its original production formed part of the family's major contribution to British children's broadcasting, and a later series was developed by Daniel Postgate for CBeebies.

• Children's television series

  Noggin the Nog

  Noggin the Nog was one of Oliver Postgate's best-known Smallfilms productions. The series used distinctive puppet and stop-motion techniques and helped establish the durable visual and narrative style associated with Postgate's children's television work.

• Children's television series

  Ivor the Engine

  Ivor the Engine was a Smallfilms children's series written and produced by Oliver Postgate with Peter Firmin. It is part of the body of British children's programming for which the Postgate name became widely recognized.

• Campaign against food adulteration

  England

  John Postgate was a leading Victorian campaigner against the adulteration of food. His medical and toxicological expertise supported public concern over unsafe or misrepresented food products.

  Source

1. 1Postgate familyen.wikipedia.org