Harden - Murrumburrah Postal Services 1860 - circa 1910

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Worth Asking For.

 

Is it about time some determined effort was made to obtain a Postman to do duty between Murrumburrah and Harden? Our municipality is of quite sufficient importance to have this concession granted, and we are confident it only needs a few of our leading residents, or the Borough Council, to move in the matter to have this necessary convenience an established fact in our midst. The delivery of say once a day - in the morning - would take only a couple of hours, and it could be done by one of the present local officials, and thus mean but little extra cost to the Department. The concession is one well worth asking for, as it would mean a great convenience to those of our residents who live a considerable distance from the Murrumburrah and Harden Post Offices (Murrumburrah Signal 2 December 1899).

 

The history of the provision of postal services to the twin towns of Harden - Murrumburrah, New South Wales, Australia, is at the outset a rather confusing one. The booklet Early Murrumburrah - Historical Notes (Littlejohn 1980) devotes two and half pages to an outline of that history prior to the 1890s. We learn that the first post office was opened at Murrimboolla / Merrimboola on 1 January 1860. J. Hawkins Butchart was postmaster along with responsibility for the mail service between there and Binalong (Elvish 1971). As the name was sometimes confused with the south coast town of Merimbula (all being a European adaptation of the original Aboriginal word), it was changed to Murrumburrah in March 1860. In September John English, a local innkeeper, took over as postmaster. The initial post office operated out of a local inn - possibly the Criterion on Albury Street - and then in a hut on the eastern side of the creek, away from town, until February 1865 when it was transferred further west on Albury to the T. & G. Barnes store. George Barnes then became postmaster, followed by H.F. Norrie, who also operated the telegraph. At some point the post office reverted back to a small room in a local hotel. This proved totally inadequate to both the person working there and the community members who came to make use of the service. This situation was brought to light in a letter published in the Cootamundra Herald on 21 August 1877. Therein, the Murrumburrah post office was described as "...perhaps the most disreputable, stuffy, poky, miserable post office in New South Wales." As a result, a 2 storey, brick building replacement was constructed next to the Barnes Store on the south side of Albury Street and opened on 16 June 1879. 

 

Original Murrumburrah Post Office, 1879-1913.

Unfortunately, 34 years after its erection, the post office and three nearby buildings were destroyed by a disastrous fire on Friday, 14 February 1913. The fire originated in one of the adjoining shops and spread to the brick and timber post office. It was rebuilt on the same site the following year with a new Art Deco facade, and opened early in 1915. 

 

The new Murrumburrah Post Office, 1915.

This building operated through to the 1980s when it was converted in a post office and craft shop. It was owned by Sue McCarthy & operated by Cheryl Keefe as shopkeeper / postmistress. This continued until circa 1993. When it closed, local resident Lorraine Brown bought the craft supplies from Sue McCarthy and a couple of old post office tables which were sold off by the Post Office, along with a set of old scales. Brown's West End Gift Shop at 226 Albury Street was situated further east, where the Terracotta Restaurant is located (2022). It had a license to sell stamps at that location. This was given up when it moved to Neill Street, Harden, as there was a post office already there. The old West End Gift Shop site was sold by Brown circa 2007 and purchased by Mandy & Hugo Sachs who later sold it to Michael & Anne Burns of the Terracotta Restaurant. Upon the closure of the old Murrumburrah Post Office it was converted into a restaurant and shop, whilst retaining many of the features of the original post office. It remains one of the heritage gems of Murrumburrah. 

In regard to the adjacent town of North Murrumburrah, a small post receiving office was opened at the railway station on 1 October 1880 in charge of George T. Richards, the railway telegraph officer and brother of John T. Richards, the then Murrumburrah postmaster (Elvish 2007). At the same time, the town was renamed Harden by the Postmaster General to remove any confusion with the Murrumburrah post office. This was officially gazetted on 1 September 1882. In 1893 the facility was moved into a specially constructed wooden building on Neill Street, Harden, where it remains in operation though to the present day, though with a brick facade. Postal services were also provided at Demondrille, west of Murrumburrah, between 1885 and 1963, in association with the railway station and the local school (Littlejohn 2002). 

 

Harden post office

A more fulsome history of these local postal services would outline in detail the various locations of the post offices, the staff involved, and support by all levels of government and the local community for improved services. The fact is, as the population of the area increased substantially with the coming of the railway depot at Harden in the 1880s, many of the residents, workers and businesses required postal services - to contact family and friends, to make and receive purchases, and to receive goods for further sale.The mail, alongside newspapers and magazines, was an important form of communication, especially in the years prior to the introduction of radio. And the simple letter or postcard was the most popular manifestation of this. Whilst few items of mail from this period survive in public or private collections, collectors of stamps and postmarks have ensured that some records have been kept to record this significant social activity. 

Numerical Postmarks 1860 - c.1910

 

Murrumboolla / Merrimboolla / Murrumburrah was allocated by the postal authorities the New South Wales numerical postmark 279 for use as of 1 January 1860. It remained in service, with slight variation, until around 1910 when a circular postmark was introduced containing the name of the town, the state, the time and date and, later, the postcode. Harden had the numerical postmark 1143, whilst Demondrille (later renamed Redbridge) was 1302. A number of stamps with the Murrumburrah numerical postmark are illustrated below, along with one for Demondrille; none for the Harden have been sighted. The date the stamp was issued is given, unless there is additional information regarding the actual date of application of the postmark, as in attachment to a letter.

 

1860  - New South Wales - Registered - Queen Victoria - red and blue - postmark 279. The stamp would have been postmarked on or after 1 January 1860.

This initial version of the postmark contained the letters 279 surrounded by a dotted star pattern. In a later version the star pattern consisted of broken lines radiating out from the number. This is seen in a number of the stamps illustrated below. 

 

1888, New South Wales - One Hundred Years - Two Pence - Emu - blue - perforation 10 x 13 - postmark 279.

1888, New South Wales Postage - One Hundred Years - One Penny - Sydney View - purple - perforation 10 x 13 - postmark 279.

The stars are not seen in the numerical postmark for Demondrille. In that case, the number 1302 is surrounded by a series of flat lines.

1888, New South Wales Postage - One Hundred Years - Sydney View - OS overprint - purple - perforation 10 x 13 - postmark 1302 - Demondrille.

1892 - New South Wales Postage - 2d - blue - perforation 13 x 11 - postmark 279.

1898 - New South Wales Postage - One Hundred Years - Six Pence - emerald green - perforation 11 x 12 - postmark 279.

 

1899 - New South Wales Postage - Six Pence - orange - postmark 279.

As noted above, the use of numerical postmarks in New South Wales generally ceased around 1910, replaced by the standard circular date stamp (cds).

 

Circular Postmarks

 

The cessation of numerical postmarks and the introduction of a circular equivalent was obviously a slow process. For example, during Christmas 1909 a postcard was mailed at Murrumburrah and sent to Miss A. Roache of nearby 'Carthona', Harden. The one penny stamp on the rear of the postcard was given the undated 279 numerical Murrumburrah postmark alongside the circular equivalent dated 23 December 1909. 

23 December 1909 - Postcard - postmarked at Murrumburrah with numerical and circular postmarks.

Surviving copies of letters and stamps postmarked at Murrumburrah and Harden prior to 1910 are  scarce.

References

Elvish, B.J., History of the Murrumburrah Post Office, Harden Murrumburrah Historical Society Bulletin, 10, November 1971, 1-2.

-----, Harden Post Office, Harden Murrumburrah Historical Society Bulletin, 391, September 2007, 3-5.

Freeman, Hugh H., The Numerical Cancellations of New South Wales, 2nd edition, Brusden White, 2017, 396p. Reprinted October 2018.

Littlejohn, R.A., Early Murrumburrah - Historical Notes, Harden Murrumburrah Historical Society, 1980, 46p.

-----, Demondrille Post Office, Harden Murrumburrah Historical Society Bulletin, 338, July 2002, 4.

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Harden Murrumburrah: Aboriginal heritage | Cinema / Picture Theatres | Council Chambers | Fossil animals | Flying into Harden 1914 | Historic Buildings | Hotels, Pubs & Inns | McMahon's Reef Goldfield | Platypus | Postal Services | Sheep |

Last updated: 29 October 2021

Michael Organ