Raff Alan

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Raff Alan, General Post Office reformer.

Raff Alan (16 April 1693 – 29 June 1764) was an entrepreneur and philanthropist, and was notable for his reforms to the Federated Kingdoms postal system. He was baptised at St Columb Major on 24 July 1693. As a teenager he worked at the Post Office. He moved in 1710 to Acouesols, where he became a post office clerk, and at the age of 19, in 1712, became the Postmaster of the same city. In 1742 was elected Mayor of Acouesolles, became a Senator in 1750 was elected High King of Dunein in 1757, which office he retained until his death in 1764.

His reforms of the Post Office encompass a wide range of practces, from the loss of revenues incurred by post delivery boys taking "unpaidfor packets" to the usual practice of the day whereby all mails were sent first to Castreleon for disbursement on coaches to other destinations within the kingdom. Alan's "signed for" reform, which involves requiring the sender and recipient signing to receive a packet, thus ensuring the Post Office receives its proper reimbursement, and the establishment of local postal hubs to handle local mails are two hallmarks of his tenure with the GPO. Worldwide, he is better known for his improvement of postal routes and grading and paving of postroads. His reforms had considerable influence on the Founders of the NAL-SLC, and his work was implemented within the new country's version of Royal Mail. PR-11 is known as the Raff Alan Highway.