| Historical notes: | Background
The first official postal service in Australia was established in April 1809, when the Sydney merchant Isaac Nichols was appointed as the first Postmaster in the colony of NSW. Prior to this, mail had been distributed directly by the captain of the ship on which the mail arrived, however this system was neither reliable nor secure.
In 1825 the colonial administration was empowered to establish a Postmaster General's Department, which had previously been administered from Britain.
In 1828 the first post offices outside of Sydney were established, with offices in Bathurst, Campbelltown, Parramatta, Liverpool, Newcastle, Penrith and Windsor. By 1839 there were forty post offices in the colony, with more opened as settlement spread. During the 1860s, the advance of postal services was further increased as the railway network began to be established throughout NSW. In 1863, the Postmaster General WH Christie noted that accommodation facilities for Postmasters in some post offices was quite limited, and stated that it was a matter of importance that 'post masters should reside and sleep under the same roof as the office'.
The first telegraph line was opened in Victoria in March 1854 and in NSW in 1858. The NSW colonial government constructed two lines from the GPO, one to the South Head Signal Station, the other to Liverpool. Development was slow in NSW compared to the other states, with the Government concentrating on the development of country offices before suburban ones. As the line spread, however, telegraph offices were built to accommodate the operators.
Unlike the Post Office, the telegraph office needed specialised equipment and could not be easily accommodated in a local store or private residence. Post and telegraph offices operated separately until 1870 when the departments were amalgamated, after which time new offices were built to include both postal and telegraph services. In 1881 the first telephone exchange was opened in Sydney, three years after the first tests in Adelaide. As with the telegraph, the telephone system soon began to extend into country areas, with telephone exchanges appearing in country NSW from the late 1880s onwards. Again the Post Office was responsible for the public telephone exchange, further emphasising its place in the community as a provider of communications services.
The appointment of James Barnet as Acting Colonial Architect in 1862 coincided with a considerable increase in funding to the public works program. Between 1865 and 1890 the Colonial Architects Office was responsible for the building and maintenance of 169 Post Offices and telegraph offices in NSW. The post offices constructed during this period featured in a variety of architectural styles, as Barnet argued that the local parliamentary representatives always preferred 'different patterns'.
James Johnstone Barnet (1827-1904) was made acting Colonial Architect in 1862 and appointed Colonial Architect from 1865-90. He was born in Scotland and studied in London under Charles Richardson, RIBA and William Dyce, Professor of Fine Arts at King's College, London. He was strongly influenced by Charles Robert Cockerell, leading classical theorist at the time and by the fine arts, particularly works of painters Claude Lorrain and JRM Turner. He arrived in Sydney in 1854 and worked as a self-employed builder. He served as Edmund Blacket's clerk of works on the foundations of the Randwick (Destitute Childrens') Asylum. Blacket then appointed Barnet as clerk-of-works on the Great Hall at Sydney University. By 1859 he was appointed second clerk of works at the Colonial Architect's Office and in 1861 was Acting Colonial Architect. Thus began a long career. He dominated public architecture in NSW, as the longest-serving Colonial Architect in Australian history. Until he resigned in 1890 his office undertook some 12,000 works, Barnet himself designing almost 1000. They included those edifices so vital to promoting communication, the law and safe sea arrivals in colonial Australia. Altogether there were 169 post and telegraph offices, 130 courthouses, 155 police buildings, 110 lockups and 20 lighthouses, including the present Macquarie Lighthouse on South Head, which replaced the earlier one designed by Francis Greenway. Barnet's vision for Sydney is most clearly seen in the Customs House at Circular Quay, the General Post Office in Martin Place and the Lands Department and Colonial Secretary's Office in Bridge Street. There he applied the classicism he had absorbed in London, with a theatricality which came from his knowledge of art (Le Sueur, 2016, 6).
The construction of new post offices continued throughout the Depression years under the leadership of Walter Liberty Vernon, who held office from 1890 to 1911. While twenty-seven post offices were built between 1892 and 1895, funding to the Government Architect's Office was cut from 1893 to 1895, causing Vernon to postpone a number of projects.
Walter Liberty Vernon (1846-1914) was both architect and soldier. Born in England, he ran successful practices in Hastings and London and had estimable connections in artistic and architectural circles. In 1883 he had a recurrence of bronchitic asthma and was advised to leave the damp of England. He and his wife sailed to New South Wales. Before leaving, he gained a commission to build new premesis for Merrrs David Jones and Co., in Sydney's George Street. In 1890 he was appointed Government Architect - the first to hold that title - in the newly reorganised branch of the Public Works Department. He saw his role as building 'monuments to art'. His major buildings, such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales (1904-6) are large in scale, finely wrought in sandstone, and maintaining the classical tradition. Among others are the Mitchell Wing of the State Library, Fisher Library at the University of Sydney and Central Railway Station. He also added to a number of buildings designed by his predecessors, including Customs House, the GPO and Chief Secretary's Building - with changes which did not meet with the approval of his immediate precedessor, James Barnet who, nine years after his resignation, denounced Vernon's additions in an essay and documentation of his own works. In England, Vernon had delighted his clients with buildings in the fashionable Queen Anne style. In NSW, a number of British trained architects whow were proponents of hte Arts and Crafts style joined his office and under their influence, Vernon changed his approach to suburban projects. Buildings such as the Darlinghurst First Station (Federation Free style, 1910) took on the sacale and character of their surroundings. Under Vernon's leadership, an impressive array of buildings was produced which were distinguished by interesting brickwork and careful climatic considerations, by shady verandahs, sheltered courtyards and provision for cross-flow ventilation. Examples are courthouses in Parkes (1904), Wellington (1912) and Bourke, Lands Offices in Dubbo (1897) and Orange (1904) and the Post Office in Wellington (1904)(Le Sueur, 2016, 7).
Following Federation in 1901, the Commonwealth Government took over responsibility for post, telegraph and telephone offices, with the Department of Home Affairs Works Division being made responsible for post office construction. In 1916 construction was transferred to the Department of Works and Railways, with the Department of the Interior responsible during World War II.
On 22 December 1975, the Postmaster General's Department was abolished and replaced by the Post and Telecommunications Department. This was the creation of Telecom and Australia Post. In 1989, the Australian Postal Corporation Act established Australia Post as a self-funding entity, heralding a new direction in property management, including a move away from the larger more traditional buildings towards smaller shop front style post offices.
For much of its history, the post office has been responsible for a wide variety of community services including mail distribution, an agency for the Commonwealth Savings Bank, electoral enrolments, and the provision of telegraph and telephone services. The town post office has served as a focal point for the community, most often built in a prominent position in the centre of town close to other public buildings, creating a nucleus of civic buildings and community pride.
Yass Post Office
On January 29, 1835 Mr WH Dutton, on behalf of the residents of Yass, requested the establishment of a Post Office by the Postmaster General and Colonial Secretary. On March 2, the Colonial Secretary recommended that an office be established with a Mr EI Abrahams as Deputy Postmaster for Yass and twenty shillings per week allowance for the conveyance of mail. The first office was then opened on April 1, 1835 with Mr Abrahams as postmaster. Abrahams resigned from the position in December as he was planning to return to England, prompting WH Dutton to recommend Mr JW Croaker as his replacement, the appointment being confirmed in March 1836.
From 1837 the overland mail to Melbourne travelled through Yass once per fortnight. The overland mail was run in a relay style, with the horses being changed at regular intervals along the way to allow for the most efficient trip. The mail was originally delivered once per week, with the service increasing to three times per week during 1848 and to six times per week from 1859. However, the coach trip was still a laborious and sometimes dangerous journey, with accidents not uncommon and robbery by bushrangers reported on the Yass coach right through until the 1860s. In 1864 a report to the Postmaster general claimed that (Pounds)12,000 had been recovered in cheques and bills from robberies on the mail coach, with an unknown figure lost.
While the Yass Post Office operated out of a rented premise in a mixed business, the new telegraph office had a purpose designed station when it opened in August 1858. Prior to 1867, the electric telegraph was administered by the Public Works Department and as such had their own offices constructed for them. The telegraph was seen as requiring purpose-built stations to house their specialised equipment, and it was not until after 1870 when the Post Master General was administering the telegraph that offices began to be amalgamated.
The introduction of the telegraph system in NSW had a profound effect on the operations of the Post Office. The telegraph operators were employed as full time civil servants, something that the postal workers were not. Between 1828 and 1862 all Postmasters and Postmistresses, other then the Postmaster in Sydney, were part-time and many ran a second business to support themselves. This resulted in many complaints during this period that the Postmaster mistresses had an unfair commercial advantage through access to confidential information. In his report of 1861, the Postal Inspector Levinge recommended two improvements to the Postal system. The first was the introduction of Money Orders to Post Offices and, in line with this, that official Post Office buildings should be erected and that permanent postal staff should be employed with no interest in any other business. These recommendations were implemented from the following year.
Yass's first official Postmaster was George Robinson, who was appointed on September 1, 1862 on a salary of (Pounds)200 per annum. Robinson was succeeded as Postmaster in February 1864 by Thomas Levinge, the former Postal Inspector, who in turn was replaced by Richard Crackanthorp later in the same month. Levinge had been unhappy about his transfer to Yass and resigned from the service shortly after his arrival.
In 1871 Postmaster Goold wrote to the GPO requesting that a new post office building be rented in Yass. The office had been operating from a weatherboard building, and Goold suggested they move to a brick building in the same street for (Pounds)30 per annum, close by the main business houses. His proposal was approved and the move took place on November 1, 1871. From September 1871, NSW Post Offices also began operating as agencies for the Government Savings Bank, which opened a branch in Yass on September 11, 1872. Also in 1872, the first iron letter receiving box was installed in Yass.
In February 1874, the then Postmaster William Johnson reported that a new premises was again needed and suggested a former general store for (Pounds)100 per annum. During the same period the search for a site to erect an official Post Office had begun. On May 30, the Lands Department advised that Allotment 8 of Section 1 in the town had been reserved as an official site for a Government Post and Telegraph building. Despite this, in August a report from Postal Inspector Moyse stated that a new post office was not yet required. Moyse put forward two main reasons for his decision: firstly that the current office was sufficient in size for the service; and secondly, that the coming of the railway, with the station some four miles from town, would see a large section of the Postal Service removed to the railway station. Moyse recommended that the Department wait and see what the effect of the railway would be before proceeding with the new office. Moyse had also inspected the site proposed for the new office, commenting on its unsuitability due to it being prone to flooding.
In November 1877, Michael Fitzpatrick MP wrote to the Postmaster General requesting a new Post Office offering suitable accommodation, noting that the present building was unsightly and did not afford adequate accommodation for the Postmaster. Furthermore, the new railway had not caused a decrease in the Postal business and so arrangements were made in May 1878 to invite tenders for a new Post and Telegraph Office. Following this notice a public meeting was held on July 16, which called for a deputation to the PMG asking for the speedy erection of a post office. The site recommended was Allotment 10 of Section 17 in Comur Street, which was the nearest position available to the other public buildings in Yass. The Comur Street site was owned by the Catholic Church and negotiations for the land began with Father O'Keefe who was acting as trustee for the Bishop. Following negotiations, the lot was purchased for (Pounds)8 per foot, with a frontage of 66 feet and depth of 132 feet. The sale was completed in October 1878.
With the land secured (Pounds)1500 was put on the estimates for the construction of the new building. By April 1881, however, the funds had lapsed, while plans had been provided for a building that would cost (Pounds)4000. In October 1881, Michael Fitzpatrick claimed that the chosen site was not suitable and that a second plot, also owned by the Catholic Church was better suited. This site was almost ninety yards from the original plot, adjoined land of the Commercial Bank and was in every way better suited for a post office. The Church was prepared to exchange the land for an extra (Pounds)2 per foot, which was approved in December 1881.
In February 1882 it was reported that a new building had been approved and plans drawn with provision made for an office, a sitting room, private office, four bedrooms, a kitchen, pantry and storeroom. The design was rejected by the residents of Yass as being inadequate for the business being done in both the post and the telegraph offices, the residents also being against the amalgamation of the two offices. Despite public protest the Department proceeded with the proposal, accepting the tender of Mr W. Bundock on March 24, 1882 for the erection of a Post and Telegraph Office for the cost of (Pounds)2,758.3.6, to be completed in twelve months.
Twelve months later, in March 1883, it was reported that the contractor had fallen behind schedule and was asked to hasten towards completion. During this period the office had also relocated to another rented premises in Yass, with a three year lease at (Pounds)90 per year. In March 1884 the Yass Courier reported that the Post Office was still some months from completion, slowed down by the original contractor abandoning the project and the alteration of the original plans. The Courier also noted that without the provision of a battery room the office would be useless as a telegraph office, as it was one of the principle repeating stations of the south districts. In July 1884, the Courier again reported that the Post Office was not yet completed despite having been under construction for two and a half years, with new tenders required to build the outbuildings due to the original money having been spent.
The Post and Telegraph Office was finally completed and ready for occupation in October 1884. However, in February 1887, the postmaster advised that the additions which had been approved two years previous had yet to be finalised. These included the battery room, stables and wash shed. A second stable and store were also proposed but deemed unnecessary.
A clock turret was erected in October 1888, with the clock being installed by Mr A Tornaghi, a well known Sydney clock maker. The clock was converted from a manual mechanism to an electrically driven one in June 1980. |