John Lowther du Plat Taylor Colonel John Lowther du Plat Taylor CB VD ( 1829 – 5 March 1904 ) was the founder of the Army Post Office Corps and the Post Office Rifles . Du Plat Taylor trained at The Royal Military College , Sandhurst but left in 1844 before he was commissioned . He then joined the Consular Service and was posted to China but was invalided back home after just 2 years . He joined the General Post Office in 1852 and worked as a Private Secretary to the Secretary of the Post Office , Sir Rowland Hill and then to Postmaster General . Volunteer Movement and Formation of the Post Office Rifles and Army Post Office Corps . In 1860 , he joined the Civil Service Rifle Volunteers and was promoted to Captain ; by 1865 he held the rank of Major and so began a lifelong association with the Volunteer Movement . He formed the 49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers in 1868 and was its Commanding Officer until 1896 . In 1880 the regiment was renumbered 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers and he was appointed its honorary Colonel on 27 February 1901 . He proposed at his regiment ' s 1872 annual prize giving the formation of a reservist Telegraph and Postal Corps and in 1877 the War Office established a committee " “ to consider the formation of a Corps for the performance of Postal Duties in the Field ” " . The War Office rejected the committee ’ s recommendation that such an organisation should be formed , reasoning that it would be too expensive . However , in mid July 1882 du Plat Taylor was authorised by the Postmaster General , Henry Fawcett and the Secretary of State for War , Hugh Childers to organise an Army Post Office Corps ( APOC ) , and on Saturday 22 July 1882 Queen Victoria issued a Royal Warrant to that effect . The Army Post Office Corps was formed from ' M ' Company 24th Middlesex Rifles Volunteers and deployed on active service during the 1882 Anglo - Egyptian War . Their service resulted in them becoming the first Volunteer unit to earn a Battle Honour ( Egypt 1882 ) . The APOC also saw active service during the Suakin Expedition ( 1884 - 5 ) and the Second Boer War ( 1899 – 1902 ) . In 1913 the APOC was reformed as the Royal Engineers ( Postal Section ) Special Reserve . Career after 1870 . He resigned his position with the General Post Office in 1870 to take up a new appointment as the Secretary and General Manager of the East and West India Docks Company ( E & WIDC ) , at the time the largest docking operation in the world . Between 1882 - 86 , under his stewardship , the company purchased the marsh land upon which was built Tilbury Docks . The Tilbury Docks were officially opened on 17 April 1886 . He was at the helm of the company when the London Dock Strike ( 1889 ) began at the West India Docks . He was awarded a CB in June 1887 for services to the Volunteer Movement . Du Plat Taylor died on 5 March 1904 and was buried with full military honours at Brookwood Cemetery near Woking , Surrey . Family . His father was Captain du Plat Taylor , Paymaster of Pensioners of the King ' s German Legion ( KGL ) . He married Emily Emma Charlotte ( b 1841 ) , the only daughter of the late William Corbet , High Sheriff of Leicestershire and the Honourable Mrs Emily Arabella Jane St . John Smith daughter of Henry St John , 4th Viscount Bolingbroke , 5th Viscount St John , of Bitteswell Hall , near Lutterworth , Leicestershire at the parish church of St Leonard ’ s - on - Sea , East Sussex on 2 February 1863 . They had four sons : John Corbert Guthrie ( b 22 Nov 1863 ) , St . John Louis Hyde ( b 22 Jan 1865 ) , George Philip ( b 22 Nov 1867 ) and Francis Maurice Gustavus ( 1878 - 1954 ) , The maritime archaeologist , Joan du Plat Taylor ( 1906 – 1983 ) , is his granddaughter although he died two years before she was born . Sons . Lieutenant Colonel St . John Louis Hyde du Plat Taylor , DSO , Royal Artillery - Born on 22 January 1865 educated at Haileybury School ( 1878 - 1883 ) and the Royal Military Academy . Woolwich He was commissioned in the Royal Artillery 9 December 1884 ; was promoted Captain 22 March 1894 , and Major 18 April , 1900 . Major du Plat - Taylor served in the South African War , 1899 - 1900 , taking part in operations in the Orange Free State in April , 1900 . He was present at the Relief of Mafeking . Operations in the Transvaal in May and June , 1900 ; operations in the Transvaal , east of Pretoria , in July 1900 ; operations in the Transvaal , west of Pretoria , including action at Zilikat ' s Nek . He was mentioned in Despatches [ London Gazette , 16 April . 1901 ] ; received the Queen ' s Medal with three clasps , and was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order [ London Gazette , 27 September 1901 ] : " St John Louis Hyde du Plat - Taylor , Major , Royal Artillery . In recognition of services during the operations in South Africa " which was presented to him by the King 28 October 1901 . Major Taylor retired 16 May 1906 . He served in the European War , 1914 — 18 , and was mentioned in Despatches . He married Alice , sister of Sir John Purves - Hume Campbell , 8th Baronet , in 1904 . They had one daughter , Joan du Plat Taylor ( 1906 – 1983 ) . Major George Philip Du Plat Taylor , OBE , Grenadier Guards , - Died 16 July 1926 married Miss Sydney Hilda Hutton Croft ( c1872 - 1930 ) on 23 January 1896 .