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’.
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.
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.
Kiama Post Office
The earliest record of a postal service to Kiama is a reference to a letter from the Colonial Secretary dated 10 May 1840 referring to Mr Alexander Wilson’s letter proposing a post office for Kiama. Prior to this, mail was bought via steamer from Sydney, as circumstances permitted, or overland to Wollongong once a week from 1832. The Colonial Secretary informed Mr Wilson that the Post Master General, James Raymond, would bring forward a proposal for Kiama in the arrangements of 1841. Kiama’s first post office opened on 1 January 1841, 13 years after the first offices outside of Sydney had been established, making it one of the oldest post services in the state. The first postmaster was George Hindmarsh who held the position until 1844. The mail contract between Campbelltown and Wollongong was held by Ben Rixon who delivered to Wollongong once per week. By 1848 the Campbelltown to Wollongong service ran daily via Appin and Dapto, with an extension between Dapto, Kiama and Shoalhaven twice a week. By 1856 a steamer delivered the mail three times per week to Kiama.
The telegraph line was extended to Kiama in 1862, with the Telegraph Office opening in a rented premises separate to the Post Office. The Station Master was William Camper whose yearly salary was (Pounds)150, over four times the salary of the Postmaster Thomas Fuller. At the time it was deemed that the telegraph master’s job required greater technical skill, and so deserved a higher salary to reflect this.
In 1868 Kiama post office was embroiled in a dispute between Postmaster Fuller and the local residents. In April 1868, the PMG received a letter from a Selina C Cooper of Hartwell House, Kiama, complaining about Fuller and an apparent delay in the delivery of letters to residents. The letter expressed a general dissatisfaction with Fuller from the people of Kiama and called for an inquiry into his running of the post office. An investigation by the Superintendent of the Mail Branch found no evidence of the claims against Fuller and the matter was thought to be over. In May 1868 a second letter of complaint was received regarding Fuller, this time from a local doctor, Doctor Nolan. Another complaint was then received from a Mr Budd, of the Free Trade Stores, which in turn referred to further complaints from within the town. Following these letters, the Secretary at the GPO instructed Inspector Moyse to visit Kiama and report on the growing controversy. Moyse arrived in Kiama on 5 May 1868 and began to first interview those who had complained, then postmaster Fuller.
Moyse filed a report on his return to Goulburn in which he stated that it appeared that ‘Mr Fuller is much too independent in his manners for the position he holds, does not treat the inhabitants generally with the courtesy which is due from an official to the public, his office joins his brother’s store (and) it is thought that Mr Fuller the storekeeper is at times in possession of information not participated in by other storekeepers’. Moyse recommended that the post office be transferred to the telegraph office under the direction of the Telegraph master John Tyter and his wife Agnes. In 1867 the telegraph office had come under the ministerial control of the PMG, but amalgamation of the two offices did not commence until 1870. Following Moyse’s report, the PMG moved the post office to the telegraph office with Agnes Tyter appointed as postmistress from 1 July 1868.
In 1870 Agnes Tyter resigned as postmistress due to poor health and was replaced by her husband John, who became both post and telegraph master. Initially the office was located in a cottage in Shoalhaven Street, after which it was transferred to the Council Chambers.
In July 1874, John Stewart, MP, made a representation on behalf of the residents of Kiama to the Parliament for an official post office building in the town. As a result, (Pounds)1500 was placed on the Estimates for 1875 and the search for a site began. The site selected for the new office was at the corner of Manning and Terralong Streets, which was part of the site reserved for the Town Hall, a point which had caused some delay in the site selection. The first suggestion for the new office was that it be based on the same design as the office in Carcoar that had cost (Pounds)1500. This was approved by the Postmaster general, J.T. Burns. On 19 February 1877, James Barnett the Colonial Architect, forwarded a plan for an office estimated to cost (Pounds)3000, a cost that was questioned by both the Secretary for the GPO and the Electric Telegraph Department, but was nonetheless approved by the Postmaster General Saul Samuel.
On 9 July 1877, a further (Pounds)1700 was added to the estimates for the new building with the call for tenders being made in October. On 2 January 1878 the tender was awarded to W.R. Vaughan for (Pounds)3300 with the office being completed on 13 December 1878. On 17 December 1878 a further (Pounds)225.12.0 was requested for the erection of fencing, gates and other works for the office. On 12 January 1879 Postal Inspector Davies forwarded another list of required fittings, which was referred to the Colonial Architect. Davies reported again in April on the building stating that arrangements for posting letters in the new building were unsafe, and that there was no provision to transact money orders or Government Savings Bank business.
By December 1879 the new building was still unoccupied despite having been completed for over a year. On 6 January 1880 the Postmaster Mr Tyter advised that he was preparing to occupy the building, but that the Telegraph arrangements were still not complete. He was ordered to occupy the building in any case, and the office opened for business on 19 January 1880.
Throughout 1880, Postmaster Tyter kept up a correspondence with the department requesting a number of additional fittings to the office, including a stable and shed for storage, a 400 gallon water tank and extra lighting under the colonnade to light the post boxes at night. In September 1881, Tyter requested that a bathroom and wash house also be erected, an item that was not considered essential for official residences at the time. The request provoked the Secretary to prepare a lengthy minute in which the apparent extra expenses that had been incurred on the Kiama office were listed. It was noted that the combined postal and telegraph revenue for Kiama was only (Pounds)800 per annum and it was recommended that no further expenditure be approved beyond that already agreed to. It was not until April 1900 that approval for the erection of a wash house was given.
In December 1895 John Tyter retired as Postmaster of Kiama after 25 years service. Luke Kingsmill, then Postmaster at Forbes, who had specifically requested the position replaced Tyter as Postmaster. Tyter was granted a pension of (Pounds)151.5.0 per year by the Department from 1 February 1896. He died in October 1897 at the age of 62.
The small size of Kiama created some problems for the office through the 1890s as a number of staff were transferred away. Following complaints from local residents, the post office and local press, an inquiry was held in 1898. The investigation found no reason to increase the staff at the office, adding that with proper management the staff problems could be resolved internally.
In 1905 the Progress Association requested that a counter be provided for the transaction of business as the public were still being served via a delivery window. A cedar counter and writing slope were provided shortly afterwards. In 1911 the telephone exchange was opened at Kiama with a daytime-only service being provided. A full service was introduced from May 1914.
Little remains in way of detail for any work carried out at Kiama after this date, although it appears that no significant external work has been carried out. Renovations in 1978 saw three downstairs rooms of the Postmasters residence absorbed for office use, with the residence being confined to the upstairs portion of the office.
The exterior of Kiama Post Office was repainted from a white wash finish to the current colour scheme in the mid-1990s.
Source: New South Wales Heritage Register.
