Time Travellers in Essendon, Flemington and the Keilor Plains

 

Return to Boy on a Bike

Boy on a Bike, part 2

 

by Marilyn Kenny

 

Essendon Post Office 1905-1907

 

Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works plan, 1678, Town of Essendon, 1906. The detail shows the Post Office next to the northern underpass. Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection.  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/125715 

 

 

Harold Augustus Osmond Revell has left the most detailed memoir. He was born in Port Fairy where his family was prominent. Born in 1888 Harry was nearly 17 years of age when he came to Essendon Post Office in 1905. Harry’s father was then Postmaster at Poowong in South Gippsland, five miles from the equally small township of Loch. Harry delivered mail on horseback for his parents. He went on to work more formally at Loch Post Office when he was summoned to Essendon by the new Postmistress who had previously had charge there. At this time the Essendon Post Office was a simple two room wooden structure built adjacent to the eastern side of the railway station immediately abutting the northern underpass.

 

The street was on the cusp of a name change from Railway Place to Russell Street. The office contained a corner telephone box, a counter for general post office business and incoming mail. The other room was for the telegraph receiver, beside which the operator slept. There was also a safe whose alarm was connected to the local police station. This was switched on and off only at opening and closing times. The office did not deal with or deliver outgoing mail as this was under the purview of Moonee Ponds. The offices hours were 9 am to 6 pm. It then closed for an hour and reopened till 8 pm. For a period Harry was supplied with a uniform of cap, red coat and blue/black trousers. The trouser dye was unsatisfactory and his underpants were always a blue colour.[iii] This supply of clothing ceased once it was realized that the Essendon Office did not qualify, being a Non Staff office i. e. a Non Official office.

 

The telegraph line was part of a chain starting as Elizabeth St North (Victoria Market), Ascot Vale, Moonee Ponds then Essendon. On Wednesday the operator might also deal with part of the telegraphic traffic for the stockyards in New Market. The current for the line was generated in the post office yard by a rack of up to three dozen vessels containing bluestone and Epsom salts with a lead insert. Periodically it was Harry’s duty to take out the lead, clean off the copper which had collected on this and recharge the vessels. The area for the delivery of telegrams was extensive, extending to Melville Rd, the Bulla Rd and Keilor Rd junction, part of Pascoe Vale and the streets east of the railway line between Park St and the railway station. When telegrams were received in the evening Harry had to wait till GN goodnight, the signing off signal before he could go out on delivery sometimes not finishing till 11pm.

 

One of his efforts did not go unnoticed and resulted in an improvement in working conditions.  16 November 1905 was a warm 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29C) day, sultry with a north wind blowing. There were six telegrams to deliver, one marked urgent. A considerable distance was involved so Harry arranged the round to cut out as much walking as possible. The urgent telegram was near the end of the round. The next day a commendatory letter appeared in the Herald. The correspondent wrote in appreciation for the machine like rapidity of the service. He explained that the message had been lodged at Albert Park at 11-57 am. It was received at Essendon at 12-30 pm. Two hours 20 minutes it later delivered to my house. He honoured the creditable service especially given the disagreeable weather. This gave the writer confidence in the postal service saying that with such a speedy service it is unnecessary to send out a special messenger.

 

This letter aroused interest in the Postmaster General’s Department and the Essendon Postmistress was required to submit a report. It was noted that all deliveries were made on foot. The decision was handed down that, providing he found his own bicycle, Harry would be allowed 6/8 a month for upkeep of a vehicle.[iv] This offer was accepted and from henceforth all deliveries were made at any distance by bike. The only exception was when the Postmistress’s Shetland pony needed exercising and Harry, using his own saddle, would deliver by horseback.

 

Harold left the Post Office for a position with the Australian Explosives Company in the city. He worked at several firms in a clerical /accountancy capacity returning for a time to Port Fairy where his father was Mayor in 1924. After retirement Harold moved to Northcote where he served for some years as President of the Northcote V.F.A. club.

 

The Post Mistresses of Victoria

 

All three telegraph messengers reported to a Postmistress. This in itself was not unusual as in Victoria about 40% of the Post Offices were run by women. This was partly an inheritance from the British system of the village Postmistress a la Lark Rise to Candleford.[v]  Providing a position as Postmistress to the widows of Civil Servants could also reduce the drain on the public purse and was a useful display of patronage. In the Fortunes of Richard Mahoney, Henry Handel Richardson (Ethel Richardson) left a pen picture of the type of obstacles a woman might have to overcome in fulfilling this role. In 1879 Ethel’s Mother Mary Richardson nee Bailey (1835-1896) obtained from her patron a position as Postmistress at Koroit Post Office in order to support her invalid husband and family. After Dr Richardson’s death the family moved to Maldon Post Office in 1880 and Richmond in 1887. The feelings attributed to Mrs. Mahoney by the author must have reflected many of the author’s mother and those of women working in what was a man’s world. [See Appendix 1 below.]

 

In this earlier epoch a gently bred female rarely had a public presence. However a Postmistress did have public responsibilities, was accountable and was forced to adapt to a routine. She could not expect to be accorded the courtesies that a gentlewoman would expect from a gentleman. Even having to work bareheaded was a trial at a time when women wore a cap indoors and bonnet outside. There were other challenges such as the nightly mail run which disturbed sleep and the possibility of being held up. One memoir records[vi] that a pistol was kept under the counter because of this danger and that one postmistress had pointed this at a would-be thief, though did not fire.

 

Such a position however could be a lifesaver. As well as the salary (£72 in Mrs Richardson’s case), the remuneration included accommodation, firewood and fuel-kerosene for lighting.[vii] From the Government’s point of view, women employees were cheaper, enabling a large number of Post Offices to be established at lower cost. [viii]

 

By the time Harry and Jack met their Postmistress the competitive examinations for position and promotion had been entrenched for nearly two decades. Merit in telegraphist’s examinations, competence and length of service were vital for advancement. This was mandatory for Official Post Offices; in the non-official smaller offices a local woman or man might still get into the service on the basis of connections alone. A career in the Post Office was one to which many middle class women aspired. It had the attraction of being indoor work, requiring female skills such as dexterity, patience and application. It offered a career, status and contact with the latest technology. Often it was a family occupation with children assisting and learning on the job.

 

 

Miss Young at Moonee Ponds

 

We do not know what, if any, qualifications Miss Young held, however we do know she was highly valued by the Moonee Ponds community. Albert Edward Young had taken on the Moonee Ponds Post Office in October 1885. In July 1895 he received a letter informing him that the tender had been let to another for £500, only £50 less than Young’s bid. The Essendon Council expressed outrage and there was a delegation to the Postmaster General and general protest. Questions were asked in Parliament, it being alleged that the new Postmaster would not pay a living wage. The seven letter carriers at the office wrote to the Essendon Gazette stating that four of them had been offered re-employment, however refused as the offer was not tempting enough to accept even under the present depressed state of things.

 

A committee of twenty was formed, under Council patronage, to present a testimonial to A E and Miss Young. This took place on 25 September, seven weeks after the Youngs had relinquished the office. Forty people gathered to express their esteem and approbation for the careful manner in which the Youngs had performed their duties. Miss Young was praised for carrying out her duties admirably with common sense and no red tape. She was described as A true woman in every sense of the word. She was presented with a handsome gold bracelet set with diamonds, the bright jewels being symbolic of the bright friendships she had formed. She also received a solid silver epergne with a vine leaf pattern, the fruits of the earth representing a life of gladness and thankfulness. She and her noble brother had made brothers and sisters of them all. A E Young received his own gifts and returned thanks for them both expressing concern for the diligent staff of ten at the Post Office whose lives had been adversely affected by the change.

 

WHO Was Miss Young?

 

Albert Edward Young was one of a close large family variously born in Tasmania and Flemington. At the time he held the Moonee Ponds Post Office he was assisted by his sister Miss Young. But who was Miss Young? She is never given a Christian name by either the newspapers or her telegraph boy Tom. As this is an unofficial Post Office the names of staff do not appear in the Government Gazette. At this time Albert Edward Young had three unmarried sisters.

 

 Louisa Sophia Young 1846-1918 would according to the conventions of the time would as the oldest have been Miss Young. In 1891 she would have been 45 years of age. She does not appear in any records as having a public profile and from the 1903 the Electoral Rolls onwards her occupation is always given as Home Duties. Louisa always made her home with one of her siblings. Her will is a holograph which shows her hand to be unskilled (though this is 1916 when she was 70 years. ). Her estate of several hundred pounds was left equally to her siblings. Louisa is the least likely to have been a Postmistress.  

 

Alice Mahala Young would have been 31 yrs. in 1891. During A E Young’s first Mayoral term, 1902-03, Alice acted as Mayoress. The photograph, taken then, shows her certainly to have a charming appearance. As Mayoress she bowled the first Jack at the opening of the Lawn Bowls season and co-hosted a Moonlight Entertainment in Queens Park attended by 7000 citizens. The 1903 Electoral Roll shows her as residing with her siblings and her occupation as Clerk, probably in A E Young’s Puckle St Real Estate and Auctioneers business. In 1905 she applied for a trademark Mahala in respect of eye lotions - by Alice M Young. Alice went on to travel extensively in Europe and Asia living overseas for fourteen years. In 1915 she was in London visiting sick ANZACS in hospital. On her return to Australia she involved herself extensively in local charity work. When she died in 1934 her large estate, including the home in which she lived with her two brothers and a sister was left to Albert (Bert).  The inventory lists a bracelet /bangle possibly the one that was presented in 1895. Alice is the most likely to have been the Postmistress.

 

Miss Alice Mahala Young, Punch, 26 Mar 1903.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page20473569

 

Annie Maud Young, 1862-1932, is also on the early Electoral rolls as Home Duties for a time with A E and then with another unmarried brother in Violet St. She is sociable person during the 1890s. Miss Alice and Miss Annie Young’s names appear several times as attending Essendon Town Hall costume balls. In 1909 she became the third wife of the 60 year old John Butler Maling the first Mayor of Camberwell and closely associated with the Anglican Church. In 1926, however, Annie left her husband’s home and returned to live with her siblings. Her will shows her hand to be educated, amongst her possessions are a ring a watch and a brooch (but no bangle). Her large estate is left to her sister Alice who is also executor. Annie is said to be devout - both sisters had been Sunday School pupils of Mary Shaw Puckle and maintained a lifelong friendship with her. In 1935 at St Thomas a memorial window to Alice and Annie was unveiled They are depicted as Mary and Martha. Annie is probably the Martha the home loving fastidious housekeeper. Annie may also have been the Postmistress but is less likely than Alice.

 

Miss Davies at Ascot Vale

 

In Ascot Vale Gwen Davies had been in the service of the Post Office since her first appointment on 23 January 1882 when she was 23 years of age. Gwenllian had been born in Ballarat in 1859, one of a large family of William Davies and Mary nee Pierce.  Her first appointment, 1882 – 1883, was at Gordon where her first year wage was £65 and second year £72. Her departure from Gordon was noted in The Age Country News column with the comment,  

 

Miss Davies’s uniform courtesy has won her general respect.

 

Courtesy may be code for discreet. Post Office staff especially those that dealt with the telegrams were privy to the secrets of a community and this and their technical ability meant that they held a focal position in a district.

 

Townfolk wanted skilled Post Office staff whose work could facilitate business. One vital duty of the telegraph system, for example, was timekeeping. Time signals were transmitted to all telegraph stations in each colony at one o'clock each day and the office clock set. Weather observations were also transmitted back to Melbourne. The person in charge of the Post Office was equivalent to the Station Master or Head Teacher and was looked for to add tone to the community.

 

Gwen Davies then moved from Gordon in 1884 to Winchelsea for a year - wage £80 - then Rushworth in November 1885 for £108. For three years 1886 to 1889 she was at Allendale. Gwen then moved during 1890 - 1900 to Malmsbury at £100 p a. Her long tenure at Malmsbury may have been related to her sister’s marriage to the town doctor, Dr Harry Findley Main. On 25 Oct 1899 Gwen was bridesmaid at Beatrice’s (b 1870) wedding which took place at the Cathedral Church, Ballarat, with The Dean of Ballarat officiating. Gwen wore a stylish costume of black and white, with silk trimmings[ix] ornamented with a gold muff chain set with rubies and pearls which was the gift of the bridegroom. After the ceremony the wedding breakfast was served at Tarwyn, the Dana-street residence of another sister, Ethel May Odlum.

 

Harry’s father had been Secretary of the Victorian Education Department in 1889-91 and later a barrister. Bea’s marriage also connected Gwen to Harry Main’s sister Dr Bertha Main (b 1873) who had graduated in medicine in 1895. Dr Bertha Main was a co-founder of the Queen Victoria Hospital and after her marriage to Walter Leitch (later Sir Walter) she went on to a distinguished career in hospital and health service.

 

By 1900 Gwen was 41 years of age. She was confident in herself and we can see in her exchange with young Jack that she was determined to extract and install good manners in her business dealings, hence her question when she sold him the stamp, What do you say ?

 

However well respected, Gwen was not the equal of her male counterparts. Like all female workers Miss Davies did not receive equal pay for her work. She, at Ascot Vale, after 17 years’ service and standing 24th in female seniority as Class 5f Grade 111 Postmistress, received £100 pound per annum. Her male equivalent received £160. As well as the normal differential the gap was now larger as in the Depression of the 1890s, as an economy measure, the Victorian Government had ceased paying increments to female employees. Gwen’s salary was, however, higher than paid to most females, roughly half of the male rate, which was about 7/- a day. In NSW however, since 1895 postmistresses were awarded equal pay wherever they were classified as performing the same duties as men. Encouraged by this a committee of Victorian women telegraphists and postmistresses presented a case for equal pay in the Post and Telegraph Department of Victoria. They received some increases in salary, though not equality with men telegraphists. Those at the forefront of the movement however were punitively treated by the Post and Telegraph Department. Postmistress and female telegraphists in Victoria continued to be banned from the male-only Post and Telegraph Association.

 

The new Australian Constitution gave all power over postal, telegraph and telephonic and 'other like services' to the Federal government. In 1900 the Victorian Women's Post and Telegraph Association was formed to lobby for the higher salaries paid in New South Wales postmistresses and female assistants to be the ones that were adopted by the Commonwealth Department at Federation. The Commonwealth Postmaster General's Office officially began operating in March 1901 from its headquarters in the federal capital of Melbourne. The first Commonwealth Public Service Act of 1902 embodied the principle of equal pay for postmistresses and women telegraphists.

 

The Federal Public Service Act also provided that clerical officers who had served three years in the public service, and were in receipt of a salary less than £110 per annum, would be entitled to receive that salary if they satisfied the Commissioner of their ability to perform work worth that amount. This required many long-standing staff to sit an examination. In February 1903 Gwen Davies passed the required examination to qualify her for the minimum salary of £110. Gwen moved to Victoria St, North Melbourne working in the city. In 1922 Gwen, still self-supporting, was working in the Engineers Branch at the Melbourne GPO and living at 24 Davis Avenue, South Yarra. She died at Ballarat aged 83 yrs. in 1941.

 

 

Miss Rudd at Essendon

 

Annie Louisa Rudd seems like the type of New Woman who might have been a member of the Female Association, someone who took on the job not only because of necessity but because it also matched her character. Annie Louisa Rudd was born in Clunes in 1876. Her parents George Arthur and Ellen, nee Martyn, were an Irish /Cornish migrant couple who raised a family of high achievers.

 

George was a schoolteacher and Ellen often was employed as Sewing Mistress in the rural schools to which they were posted. In 1891 George built a substantial brick house, Craigie, on a double lot No 40 Ardoch St, Essendon. This was an eight room dwelling with return verandah, a wide hallway, towering ceilings, marble fireplaces and ornate plasterwork.[x] This home seems to have been for the benefit of his children, to give them access to higher education opportunities. George continued in his positions as teacher at rural schools at Bulla, Walhalla and Alexandra.

 

The eldest son Arthur went to Scotch, studied law at the University of Melbourne and in 1902 established what is now Brisbane Boys’ College. Arthur is described slightly eccentric, somewhat adventurous, and educationally ahead of his time which may give some insight into the family character.

 

Arthur W Rudd, courtesy of the State Library of Queensland. 

http://hdl.handle.net/10462/deriv/231481

 

Brother Alfred became an actuary and Percy studied at Glenthorpe College in Maribyrnong Rd. Percy was Co Dux in 1901 with special mentions in General Information and History. He matriculated and became a businessman. At least one of Annie’s sisters also attended Glenthorpe, and another was a music teacher offering piano lessons from Ardoch St.

 

During the family’s sojourn at Pine Lodge West, from 1882-1889, George Rudd had acted as Postmaster. It was not unusual for a teacher, with Departmental permission, to take on this agency where the town was not big enough to sustain a separate facility. This may have been the impetus for Annie to seek her own career in the Post Office.

 

In July 1893 Annie passed fourth in the class at The Working Men's College telegraphy examination. The fees for this course were £1 per term and usually extended over two terms of lectures and practical classes. A course in telegraphy had been introduced into Victoria in 1872. This was held at the Industrial and Technological Museum in Melbourne (State Library of Victoria) and was to overcome the shortage of telegraphy operators. From the first the classes were dominated by women. Males as Telegram messengers had the formal opportunity to learn on the job and to sit for an examination for promotion to assistant operators. The number of courses increased and was popular at Schools of Mines. At first a Certificate of Competency from a school was sufficient to ensure a position in the Department. As the numbers holding certificates increased this changed and standards were raised. By 1890 the Department demanded competence in receiving and sending messages at a rate of twenty words a minute.

 

With the Depression the numbers being appointed to employment dropped. In 1892 only three female operators were admitted to the Department.[xi] Annie, in undertaking the course when she did, was swimming against the tide and showing a degree of optimism regarding the future.

 

This image shows how normal and manageable telegraphy classes were for women, and highlighted them as eye candy - attractive public women upon whom one’s gaze could linger unrebuked. https://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Women_in_telegraphy#/media /File:Telegraphy_School,_Technological_Museum,_Melbourne_18_June_1872. png

 

In 1902 Annie’s mother died and a year later her father remarried a widow. The siblings, four sisters and a brother stayed at Ardoch St. Annie was posted to Loch in 1903. In 1905 she took charge of the Essendon Post Office. Annie rode either (daringly) a bicycle or her Shetland pony (side saddle) to the office, the pony being stabled in the office yard. Young Harry Revell was boarded at the Ardoch St home. It was usual for the telegram boy when living at a distance from the Post Office to be boarded with the family of the officer in charge as young Tom had been.

 

In March 1907 Annie Louisa left Melbourne on the ship Persic. On arrival in South Africa she was married in Durban Natal to Hugh Peter Trainor (b 1869 in Colac), son of a family from Donald, Victoria. Hugh was a telegraph operator who had been at Coolgardie in 1896. He also appears to have been a competitive runner and active in Catholic Church affairs. In South Africa he was the District Engineer of Telegraphs and Telephones at Pretoria, Transvaal. The announcement of the marriage hinted at some estrangement from her family. Hugh’s family connections are noted, Annie’s are not. She is however Annie Louisa Rudd, of G. P. O Essendon, Melbourne, Victoria. The couple had a family and lived lifelong in South Africa, Annie dying in 1970.

 

By the time Annie left Australia the fate of women’s Postmistress had been sealed. In 1902 the Commonwealth Public Service Act embodied the principle of equal pay for equal work. However, there was entrenched opposition to the recruitment and promotion of women emanating from the Federal Post and Telegraph Association, many Members of Parliament and the Public Service Commissioner. Their actions and attitudes played out over the first decade of the century to reduce the numbers of women recruited, put obstacles in the way of training and promotion within the service, leaving aside the issue of equal pay.[xii] From 1906 the number of Postmistress started to decline as marriage, retirement and death took their toll. The era of official Postmistresses ceased with the retirement of the last Postmistress in 1937.[xiii]

 

© M Kenny 2016

 

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Acknowledgements This work has been generally informed by close perusal of Claire Dunlop’s 1984 Master’s thesis.  Many thanks to Claire for the generous loan of this work and her advice. The primary content and argument of the thesis was presented at the 2nd Women and Labour Conference, Melbourne, 1980 and subsequently appeared in print as Worth her salt : women at work in Australia /​ edited by Margaret Bevege, Margaret James, and Carmel Shute, 1982.

 

References

 

Secondary

Chalmers, R W, Annals of Essendon

Frost, Lenore (ed), Federation Times Essendon Historical Society

McCuskey, Claire, ‘The History of Women in the Victorian Post Office’, MA Thesis submitted April 1984 to School of Humanities Department of History La Trobe University

Waghorn J, Index Victoria's postmasters and postmistresses 1837-1901

Waghorn J, Index Victoria's postmasters and postmistresses 1901 to 1975

 

Contemporary

PROV Wills and Probate, Shipping Records

National Archives of Australia Holdings related to Ascot Vale Essendon and Moonee Ponds Post Office

MMBW plans, State Library of Victoria

Sands and McDougall Directories

Newspapers Essendon Gazette, Argus Table Talk, The Advocate, Ballarat Star

 

Web sites

Linking a Nation: Australia's transport and communications. . .

http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/linking-nation-australias-transport-and-communications-1788-1970-6

http://adb. anu. edu. au/biography/haynes-thomas-watson-6616

http://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/htm/article/599.htm

http://www. auspostalhistory. com/articles/1687. php

 

 

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Appendix 1

 

In Ultima Thule the 42 year old Mary Mahoney wrestled with the notion of work.

 

“Women of Mary's standing (let alone her advanced age, her inexperience) did not turn out of their sheltered homes and come to grips with the world. Impossible, utterly impossible. However a wise old friend, Mrs. Spence, nodding her sage, white-capped head in sympathy, made the tentative suggestion: “I wonder, my dear. . .  has it never occurred to you to try to enter Government service?”

 

Mary winced. . .  she hoped not too perceptibly. “Oh, I'm afraid that again would need more brains than I've got”.

 

Undaunted the old lady went on. “Plenty of women before you have done it. As a postmistress, you would have
 a house rent-free, with free lighting and firing, all sorts of perquisites, and a fixed salary. And I think, my dear, 
with the many friends you have at court,  it would be easy for you to skip preliminaries”. 

“You're very kind. But I feel sure I'm too old. . .  and too stupid”.

But that night, as she tossed wakeful on the hard little bed, her friend's words came back to her, and rang in 
her ears till they had effectually chased away all chance of sleep: so she sat up in bed and, hunching her 
knees, propped her elbows on them and dug  her clenched fists into her chin. A house rent-free. . .  nothing 
to pay for light and firing. . .  a fixed salary--she didn't know how  much, of course, but it would need to be 
enough to support a family on, so many postmasters being married men. But, oh! the  come-down. . .  the
indignity. . .  the PUBLICITY of the thing--in this colony where she had been so well known.

Worse still, she herself would have men under her, young men of a class with which she had never come
in contact. And then, too, suppose she wasn't equal to the work? As she had said, and truly, she had 
no faith in her own abilities. Directly it came to book or head-learning, she thought of herself as dull and 
slow but figures didn't come hard to her. 

Once she had affirmed her interest matters moved quickly. 

……. 

Almost by return she held a page-long telegram in her hand, Mr. Henry said that he was only too happy
 to be able to help her.  Her request came in the nick of time. An up-country vacancy was on the point
 of occurring. Did she think she could be ready,  with Spence's aid, to take over charge there, say, in
 six weeks' time? If so, the P.M.G. would put in a relieving officer for that  period. She straightway
 telegraphed acceptance. 

And so the die was cast. Henceforward she was a member of the working classes. To begin with, she spent 
every afternoon  from two till six at the Shortlands' post office, learning her job.  She would never have
believed she was so sensitive, so touchy.  A host of prejudices which she hadn't even been aware of 
possessing, woke to life in her. The very fact of being tied down to  leave home at a set hour, like any 
clerk or shopman, seemed to humiliate her, who had never come and gone but at her own  sweet will. 
Then, everyone in the township knew, of course, where she was bound for. People eyed her and 
whispered about  her, and pointed her out to one another as she passed: in her full skirts flounced to
 the waist, her dolman of silk velvet, her  feathered bonnet; yes, there she went, Mrs. Dr. Mahony off to
 learn to be a postmistress! The half-mile seemed unending;  before she reached her destination her 
pale cheeks were dyed rose-pink. 

In the office she stood, a middle-aged lady (close on two-and-forty years old) bonnetless and capless, 
amid a posse of young  clerks: the telegraph operator, the messenger, the indoor clerk, the postman: 
to whom she was an object of unending curiosity.  All of whom, too, could do in a twinkling the things 
that came so hard to her. And then their manners! They jostled her, failed to  apologise, kept their hats 
on in her presence, lolled and lounged, bandied private jokes, laughed and talked openly in disregard 
of her. Her courage might sometimes have failed her, had it not been that the money side of the business 
gave her so little  trouble: she learnt in no time how to issue a money-order, to enter up a savings-book 
deposit, to handle postage stamps and registered letters; even to draw up the financial “statement” that 
was forwarded daily and monthly to Head Office. The telegraph it was that baffled her. Oh, this awful 
morse code! It was like going to school again to learn one's alphabet. Her memory was weak and undeveloped: 
she floundered and was hopelessly at sea amid the array of dots and dashes that stood for letters. The little 
paper handbook containing the code grew as shabby and dog's-eared as a child's lesson-book. For she 
carried it with her  everywhere she went, and slept with it under her pillow; of a night often starting up and 
striking a match to see if it was B that had  three dots after its dash, or K more than one between its two.
NEVER would she be able to “take by ear”! How she marvelled  at these young clerks, who could jot down 
a whole telegram without so much as a glance at the tape. Whereas she had painfully  to puzzle the 
message out, letter by letter. And the “sending” was harder still: with her lips pinched thin, her head thrown 
back, her black eyes fixed, in desperate concentration, on the empty air, laboriously she hammered out 
dash and dot, dot and dash.”

Mrs Doctor Mahoney took up residence in a small country town where her experience throws a light also 
on the life of the  telegraph messenger:

“…….Very soon after arriving she had given the relieving officer his conge. The man's manners were 
intolerable. It also  came to her ears that he was going about the township saying: “By the Lord Harry, 
there's a pair of eyes for you!” Which  explained why he and the boy who was her sole assistant sat 
stolidly by, not budging to help, while she answered knocks  at the little window: to dole out a single 
penny stamp, sell a postcard, repeat till she was tired: “Nothing to-day,” to inquiries  for letters. She
thought every man in the place must have come rapping at the wooden shutter. . .  to take a look at her. 
Once alone with the lad, however, she had small difficulty in keeping him in his place He was a heavy, 
lumpish youth; clerk,  operator, telegraph messenger rolled in one. The trouble was, he was so often
 absent. For though no letters were carried out,  yet, had a telegram to be delivered, what with the long 
distances to be covered on foot and the lad's incurable propensity for  gossip, she would find herself 
deserted for hours at a time on the run between “key” and window, getting her “statement” made 
up at any odd moment. Luckily enough, the money side of the business continued to come easy 
to her. Figures seemed just  to fall into line and to add up of themselves”.[xiv]

 

--------------------------------------------------

 

[iii] It was felt essential that messengers wore uniforms of some kind even just an armband so they could be identified by the public who might also report them if seen slacking off on the job, gossiping or playing marbles.

[iv] From 1898 onwards the Postmaster General’s Department started to extend the use of the bicycle in the metropolitan area. This was motivated by a desire for speedier services at a time of increasing demand as well as some public concern about the conditions under which boy labour was required to work. There were letters to the editor about distances walked in hot and inclement weather. When the Department provided machines it was reported that their policy was firmly against scorching (furious riding). At the Hawthorn office the boys were drilled to ride in an upright position. Lying low over the handle bars and the scorchers stoop were forbidden by official proclamation. The traditional red bike was not introduced for several decades.

[v] Lark Rise to Candleford is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical stories about the countryside of north-east England, at the end of the 19th century. They were written by Flora Thompson who, as a 14 year old, leaves her small village to work in the market town of Candleford in the Post office, a career setting she pursued for many years in different locations.

[vi] See http://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/htm/article/599.htm Cheltenham’s Scantlebury Family 1889-1923.

[vii] Attached in the Appendix are the relevant sections from Richardson’s Ultima Thule

[viii] McCuskey, Claire. Women in the Victorian Post Office.

[ix] Ballarat Star 28 October 1899

[x] This house in a neglected fairly original condition was recently sold at auction

[xi] McCuskey op cit p59

[xii] This sorry story is spelt out in detail in the last chapter The Fruits of Equality of McCuskey’s work

[xiii] McCuskey op cit p151

[xiv] From The Fortunes of Richard Mahony - Project Gutenberg Australia

gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100091h.html Title: The Fortunes of Richard Mahony Author: Henry Handel Richardson (1870-1946) * A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook * eBook No. : 0100091h.