Tamworth Post Office

About

The Tamworth Post Office is a State heritage-listed post office located on the corner of Fitzroy Street and Peel Street, Tamworth in the Tamworth Regional Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by the Colonial Architect's Office under James Barnet and built by W. C. Cains. The property is owned by Australia Post and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 December 2000.

The first official postal service in Australia was established in April 1809, when 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 NSW 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 opening as settlement spread. The advance of postal services was further increased as the railway network began to be established throughout NSW from the 1860s. Also, in 1863, the Postmaster General W. H. 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 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 Architect's Office was responsible for the building and maintenance of 169 post offices and telegraph offices in NSW. The post offices constructed during this period were designed 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 depression years under the leadership of Walter Liberty Vernon, who retained 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 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 Postal and Telecommunications Department, with Telecom and Australia Post being created. In 1989, the Australian Postal Corporation Act established Australia Post as a self-funding entity, which heralded a new direction in property management, including a move towards smaller, shop-front style post offices away from the larger more traditional buildings.

For much of its history, the post office has been responsible for a wide variety of community services including mail distribution, as agencies for the Commonwealth Savings Bank, electoral enrolments, and the provision of telegraph and telephone services. The town post office served as a focal point for the community, most often built in a prominent position in the center of town close to other public buildings, creating a nucleus of civic buildings and community pride.

Europeans first crossed the Peel River Valley and Tamworth district in 1818, when John Oxley explored the area during his second expedition north from Bathurst. Despite his favourable assessment of the areas' rich grazing land it was another nine years before the first pastoralists began to settle in the district. In 1832 the Australian Agricultural Company (AA Co) took up two large plots of land in exchange for land they already held in Port Stephens. One of these plots equalling 313,298 acres (121,410 hectares) included the site that would be selected for the settlement of Tamworth. In July 1834 the first buildings were erected by the AA Co to house their employees, their stores and their two hundred assigned convicts. The site chosen was in what is now Ebsworth Street. Initially the AA Co provided all the essential community services including doctor, hospital and school; however, by the close of the 1830s, several shops and hotels had been built privately to service the Company's employees. This constituted the beginning of the township of Tamworth.

In November 1835, James White opened a store on the east side of the river in what is now Peel Street. His was the first building on the east side. White traded for eighteen months before selling the business to Richard Stubbs and his partner J. J. C. Irving. In 1839 they too sold the store, this time to Thomas Byrne, who in 1840 became Tamworth's first Postmaster. In 1847 the AA Co Commissioner, Phillip Parker King, suggested to the Commissioner for Crown Lands, Roderick Mitchell, that Tamworth be laid out as a town. Surveyor John Gorman submitted his plan for a Tamworth Reserve on 31 July 1849, after which Sir Thomas Mitchell, Roderick's father, began laying out the design for the town and named its original streets. The first sale of building blocks in the Government town took place in July 1850, with most of the land being sold by 1853. However, the town was slow to develop, with only 600 residents by the end of the 1850s.

Tamworth continued to grow steadily through the 1860s. In 1861 the telegraph line was extended to Tamworth with a new telegraph office being built in 1866. Within this office a room was set aside for use as a post office but soon proved to be too small. Following agitation from the local residents, £1,000 was set aside in 1876 for the construction of an extension. Despite objections from the Postmaster as to the positioning of the new extension, close to a stable, water closets and cowyard, the room was completed in October 1881. Measuring 6.1 by 7.6 metres (20 ft × 25 ft) at a cost of £345, the room was only a temporary measure and was soon viewed as too small to operate effectively. In March 1881, before the new extension was even completed, a public meeting produced a petition from Tamworth residents calling for the erection of a new Post and Telegraph Office to replace the 1866 building and extensions.

The railway was extended to East Tamworth in 1882, which initiated a building boom as a newfound confidence settled over the town. Also in 1882, £4,000 was assigned and plans were commenced for a new office. The tender was awarded in November 1883 to J. Conlon for a cost of £4,845. Still deemed too small, two further land purchases in late 1883 were made to accommodate the planned building, which included a colonnade to both Peel and Fitzroy Streets. The Colonial Architect's Office drew up the final plans in 1884 with the tender for construction going to W. C. Cains from Sydney for £6,859. The Hon J. Norton, Postmaster General, laid the foundation stone on 23 January 1886 and the new building was occupied by the Post Office on 31 May 1886. The clock was not ready for installation at the official opening but was installed late in 1886.

In December 1870 the Post Office and Telegraph Office were combined while in December 1871 a branch of the Government Savings Bank was opened in the Post Office. In February 1900 the Telephone Exchange was opened, with 80 subscribers by 1902. The exchange went automatic in March 1939, the first country automatic exchange apart from Canberra.

During the 1960s the first major alteration was undertaken at a cost of $160,000. This work included doubling the length of the facade in Fitzroy Street with a new colonnade constructed to the ground and first floors matching the original 1886 work. The extension increased the floor space by 6.0 square metres (65 sq ft).

In 1986 a further $355,200 was spent on renovations, alterations and repairs including an increase in the public space and business area and a total refurbishment of the first floor office space and reception areas.

The first official postal service in Australia was established in April 1809, when 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 NSW 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 opening as settlement spread. The advance of postal services was further increased as the railway network began to be established throughout NSW from the 1860s. Also, in 1863, the Postmaster General W. H. 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 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 Architect's Office was responsible for the building and maintenance of 169 post offices and telegraph offices in NSW. The post offices constructed during this period were designed in a variety of architectural styles, as Barnet argued that the local parliamentary representatives always preferred "different patterns".