Newcastle Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 96 Hunter Street, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Walter Liberty Vernon in his capacity as New South Wales Government Architect and was built from 1900 to 1903 by R. Saunders (freestone), Loveridge & Hudson (trachyte), Mountney & Co. (steel joists and girders), Chas Dobson & Co. (mosaic tile floors) and J. P. Woods (carver's work). It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 December 2000.
History
Postal services
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. 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 Architect's Office was responsible for the building and maintenance of 169 post offices and telegraph offices in NSW. Those constructed during this period featured 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 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. 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.
Newcastle Post Office
The first Newcastle Post Office was opened on 1 March 1828, being one of the first seven opened outside Sydney. The original office was situated in the "Sessions House" on the corner of Watt and Church Streets, with Duncan Forbes Mackay, the Superintendent of Convicts, as the first Postmaster. Mail was delivered once per week from Sydney on the "Lord Liverpool", a 71-ton cutter recently arrived from England. In 1832 steam vessels were being used to carry the mail from Sydney, with the service extending to Maitland. As Maitland was closer to the expanding settlements further up the Hunter Valley, the Post Office there soon outstripped Newcastle in terms of postal business, being described as a principal office of the area by 1844, making more than twice as much per year as Newcastle.
In July 1851 it was reported that the post office premise had been burnt down but that all post office property had been saved. The post office was relocated to a Government-owned cottage occupied by Major Russell. The cottage had been constructed in Watt Street in 1818 as the Commissariat Store and was considered to be one of the principal buildings in town. In 1862 the status of the Newcastle Post Office was raised to that of an official office. This conversion prepared the way for the introduction of money order facilities to be made available at Newcastle, making it one of the first branch offices for money orders when they became available in 1863.
A Government Savings Branch was opened in 1871. This remained as the Post Office until 1872 when a new office was constructed on the northwest corner of Hunter and Watt Streets. The site for the new office had been debated in the council since a new post office had been proposed in 1871. The council, who voted for a site in the main street as close to the wharves as possible, favoured the chosen location. This post office still stands today.
The new office was completed in 1872 by local contractors Messrs Laing and Wylie. The office was two storeys high, of brick construction, with cement rendering. It was officially opened on 10 June 1873. During the 1870s the telegraph office in the city was handling 55,000 messages per year, which provides an indication of the importance of this form of communication at the time.
In 1881 alterations and additions were approved, providing a separate place to sort mail, a room for the use of the postmen, and increased office space. A small washing shed was also to be constructed for the use of the Postmaster's wife, Mrs Thompson, who had been doing the washing in the yard of the office. In 1883 the ceiling of the office was replaced (following the collapse of the original) and the provision of a balcony similar to "one at the Joint Stock bank" was also approved.
During the alterations temporary accommodation was sought in a shop leased from local developer Mr Fleming, who had built four shops close by in Hunter Street. The new work also included a portico over the front entrance (later removed), two new letter receivers opposite the office and a colonnade with a letter delivery window facing it. The post office was ready for reoccupation on 13 April 1886.
The city experienced a period of considerable economic and social growth, arising from the development of the coal industry in the latter part of the nineteenth century. During the 1880s the colonial government responded to the development of its Second City by improving its public buildings.
By 1899 the Government decided to build a new post office building on the site of the old Court House on the corner of Hunter and Bolton Streets. Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon designed the office with tenders for the erection of the post and telegraph office, set at £19,229, accepted in March 1900. However, after two of the contractors withdrew from their contracts in April 1900, the Department of Works decided to continue with the construction using day labour, at an estimated cost of £20,000. The work was carried out under the supervision of George McRae, Principal Assistant Architect, with Captain T. S. Phillips as Clerk of Works. Some of the tenders included R/ Saunders of Pyrmont for freestone, Messrs Loveridge and Hudson for trachyte, Mountney & Co of Sydney for rolled steel joists and girders, Chas Dobson and Co for tile mosaic floors and JP Woods of Waverley for carving work.
In March 1902 the Department advised that work would stop unless more money was made available. Progress had been delayed due to the change of system for financial approval that had come with the transfer from State to Federal control after Federation. The total cost of the building was (Pounds)33,500.
The Post Master General, Senator Drake, opened the building on Saturday 8 August 1903. Despite this, it was not until February 1904 that the building was actually occupied. The new office consisted of a ground floor main office, mail room and offices, with clerks accommodation upstairs, as well as an operating room, telephone exchange, night officer's bedroom, bathroom, retiring rooms and lavatory for telephone operators. In the basement there was a battery room, workshops, store, heating chamber, lavatory and sanitary accommodation. Cables for the telegraph and telephone equipment were brought into the office via tunnels and then to the appropriate rooms.
Unspecified additions were made to the Post Office during 1912–13, costing £100.
In 1938 the adjoining building in Bolton Street was acquired by the post office. The building had been built by Castlemaine Brewery as a Bond Store and had more recently housed the Bowery Restaurant. The new addition was then used to house an extended mail handling section, remaining there until its relocation to New Lambton in 1973.
The interior of the office has undergone a series of changes to accommodate more recent retail requirements. The post office has subsequently vacated the building and moved to modern premises.
The building was sold by the federal government in 2002 to Sydney-based developer, Sean Ngu for about $2m. Mr Ngu released plans for an upmarket bar. After this plan was rejected, the state government purchased the building in 2010 for a rumoured $5m. In 2011 the state government rejected a claim on the site by the Awabakal Land Council, which appealed the ruling in the NSW Land & Environment Court. The Court ruled in Awabakal's favour in 2014. Awabakal hoped to use the building as an Aboriginal health and cultural centre, but were unable to raise the $5 million necessary to restore the building to the state where it could be occupied.Connell, 2016, 3