1529 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1903) V. 383 David Mullray usher of the kitchen door, John Anderson, postman [etc.].

1600 in F. J. Furnivall Child-marriages, Divorces, & Ratifications Diocese Chester (1897) 179 Receiued one packquet..to be conveyed by the poste to Sir Roberte Cecill; which was, presentley vppon the receipt thereof, deliuered to the post-man to be conveyed accordingly.

1621 F. Quarles Hadassa viii. sig. G2 By speedy Post-men were the Letters sent.

1691 in Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1838) 3rd Ser. VII. 54 Any ferryman..[who] shall at any time neglect, or refuse, or delay the conveying over his..ferry, any post-man or his horse,..shall forfeit the sum of five pounds.

1758 in Howell State Trials 1371 I received every one of these letters from the postman of the walk.

1785 G. Crabbe News-paper 17 We..Wait till the post-man brings the packet down.

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1783 II. 437 [Johnson:] I may as well make a present to the post-man who brings me a letter.

1839 W. M. Thackeray Major Gahagan iii As every twopenny postman knows.

1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. vii. 178 The postman came over the plains..very irregularly to Santa Tarsilla.

1933 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 772 ‘Mr. Garnett’ said the village postman importantly ‘is gone to Spain.’

1994 Best 2 June 5/2 I'd pour my heart out and look forward to her response, each morning waiting anxiously for the postman.

1695 22 Oct. (title) The Post Man, and the Historical Account.

1700 S. Pepys Corr. 12 Apr. You want..some news: there~fore let me be your postman, and tell you that the State has been for some time under no small convulsion in Parliament.

1709 J. Addison Tatler No. 18. ⁋6 I mean the News Writers of Great Britain, whether Post-Men or Post-Boys, or by what other Name or Title soever dignified or distinguished.

1711 Spectator 1 Mar. I smoak a Pipe at Child's; and whilst I seem attentive to nothing but the Post-Man, over-hear the Conversation of every Table in the Room.

1726 (title) The Dublin Postman.

1836 17 Sept. (title) The Beaufort House Gazette, or Penny Postman.

1880–2 (title) The Postman. A paper for the people and house to house evangel.

1912 Mar. (title) Auxiliary Postman.

1901 Munsey's Mag. June 421/1 In his home life, the postman pigeon is most exemplary. He is a faithful husband and a fond father.

1832 M. R. Mitford Our Village V. 49 More sins than I can remember, of forgetfulness, irregularity, and all manner of postman-like faults.

1890 A. Conan Doyle Sign of Four v. 72 Our guide knocked with a peculiar postman-like rat-tat.

1985 Financial Times (Nexis) 26 Apr. 23 His cat's-whiskers military moustache and the absurd, perched, postman-like cap he wears.

2000 Daily Mail (Nexis) 15 Feb. 64 He would then carry them, postman-like, to the living room, where Elton sat at the piano.

1605 E. Sandys Relation State of Relig. sig. I 2^v These men in blacking the lives and actions of the reformers, have partly devised matter of..notorious vntruth..; partly suborned other Post men to write their Legends, that afterwards they might cite them as approoved Authours, and Histories.

1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. iii. 28 (margin) In the Court of Exchequer two of the most experienced barristers, called the postman and the tubman (from the places in which they sit) have also a precedence in motions.

1882 Daily News 15 Dec. 2/1 The last of the postmen was Mr. Charles Hall, Q.C., Attorney-General to the Prince of Wales.

1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 9 Aug. 6/1 Sir R. Webster..was called to the bar (Lincoln's Inn) in 1868, held the obsolete posts of ‘tubman’ of the Court of Exchequer 1872–74, and ‘postman’ 1874–78, and took silk in 1878.

1959 Earl Jowitt & C. Walsh Dict. Eng. Law II. 1373/1 The last postman was Sir Charles Hall, Recorder of London, 1892–1900.