Junee Post Office

About

Junee Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 119 Lorne Street, Junee, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Designed by the Colonial Architect's Office under James Barnet and built by Gatby and Flock. The property is owned by Australia Post.

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 New South Wales. 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 General Post Office, Sydney, 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".

The construction of new post offices continued throughout the 1890s 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.

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 & 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 Postal & Telecommunications Department. This saw the foundation of Australia Post and Telecom. 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 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.

On 20 January 1862, the residents of Junee (now Old Junee ) petitioned the Postmaster General to have a post office established there. Junee was the largest town in the district known collectively as The Levels, and its central position in the district aided in its choice as the post office site. The petition was successful with a post office established at Junee on 1 May 1862 in the store of Edward Smith, who was also appointed postmaster on a salary of £12 per annum. The post office continued to operate from Smith's store until November 1867 when it moved to Mrs Dacey's Inn. The operation of the post office from the business premises of the postmaster or postmistress was common practice prior to the restructuring of the Postal Service into a professional government agency in 1862. Junee continued this tradition due to the town's small size in the 1860s, which did not justify the construction of a separate office at this time.

In May 1878, in anticipation of the opening of the new railway ( Main Southern railway line ) linking Sydney to Junee (opened 6 June 1878), the residents of Junee, Boree and Wantabadgery requested that a new office be opened at Junee railway station. A receiving station was subsequently opened at the station on 12 June 1878 in George Dobbyns' store near the station, just six days after the opening of the railway. Dobbyns also had the contract to transport the mail between the station and the Junee township for £25 per annum until November when it was transferred to Denis Kaveneh. In November a petition was forwarded requesting that money order facilities be provided at the Railway Station Post Office, as they were from 5 May 1879.

In July 1881 Junee Railway Station Post Office was renamed Junee Junction Post Office, with a branch of the Government Savings Bank opened there on 1 July 1882. The "junction" referred to the junction of the south western railway and the main southern railway around which a small township had developed.

In March 1883 a portable wooden building was purchased for £135 to be used as a temporary telegraph office at Junee Junction. The telegraph had operated in Junee since 1878 with Francis Turner as the telegraph master at Junee. The new "American Cottage" style telegraph office was converted in August 1883 to serve as the post office as well. The local residents petitioned for the postmaster, Mr Mann, to be retained as Postmaster after the move, which he was in the position of Temporary Postmaster. The staff at Junee Junction consisted of Mann on £104 plus £12 porterage allowance per annum, a telegraph master on £104 and a messenger on £26 per annum.

Later, in 1883, Junee Junction became an official post office with Mr Mann as the first official postmaster. An assistant, A. Henriques, joined Mann in October 1884, after requesting help to cope with the increasing business at Junee Junction. Mann reported that the population of Junee Junction, taking in the three settlements of Crawlys Town, Dobbyns Town and Loftus, was 1100 adults.

In September 1884 the Junee Junction Progress Committee recommended that a post and telegraph office be erected on land adjoining the railway station.

As Junee Junction grew, the residents of old Junee began to call for the name to be changed. In June 1886 Mr S Storey, a storekeeper from Junee, complained that it was a great nuisance to have the Junction called by the same name as the town that had been in existence since the 1850s. A report noted that at this time the Junction had a population of 2000, while old Junee had approximately 100 people.

With the growing population, pressure to build the new post office increased and in 1886 the PMG approved construction of the new building. A site was purchased from the Railway Department for £700 on Lorne Street. The block had a frontage of seventy five feet to Lorne street and was 100 feet deep. The Colonial Architect, James Barnet, forwarded the plans for the post office to the Works Department on 11 January 1887. As the building was to be attached to a railway premises, the Railway Department took charge of the construction and advised the cost would be approximately £1200.

The tender for the construction was given out to Messrs Gatby and Flock by the railway department for £1304.18.6, with construction completed and the building occupied by 11 July 1888. In August 1888 it was again suggested that the name of the post office be changed, this time to Junee which was the Borough name. However, the Department of Railways objected and so no change was made.

In October 1891 a Postal Inspector visited Junee Junction Post and Telegraph Office reported that the hours of the telegraph operators were too long, as there was only two in the office. As Junee was an important telegraph junction and relay station for messages the two operators often worked from 7.30am until 8.15pm, while taking turns working on Sunday. In contrast, the post office work was fairly distributed between the postmaster and his operators.