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West Pennant Hills Mail Car.
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Date1942
DescriptionRoy Childs, Dorothy Thorby and two friends with the West Pennant Hills mail car in Aiken Rd West Pennant Hills c. 1942.
The history of West Pennant Hills Post Office is synonymous with that of Pennant Hills until 1898 when West Pennant Hills became a separate suburb during the time Mrs Ann Thomas was the postmistress. In 1903 the postmaster was John Neilson who was followed a year later by Mrs A E Morton in 1904, then by Mrs Martha Harrison in 1905. Mrs Harrison applied to the Postmaster General to have the premises moved further away from the corner. A rough sketch which she forwarded showed the location of the post office as being 'at the corner of Pennant Hills Road and Government Road (Castle Hill Road) about two hundred and fifty yards from the public school'. The proposed new premises were marked as Bowman's and were close to a large allotment marked 'resumed for school'.
Approval was given for the move on 8 February 1919. Payment of Invalid and Old Age Pensions at West Pennant Hills commenced in October 1926. In 1927 Mrs Harrison applied to have the post office transferred to its former site at the junction of Castle Hill and Pennant Hills Road as she had sold the property. John W Thorby became postmaster in 1927 and remained in that position until his death in 1966. Thorby referred to the location of his store as being at Thompsons Corner.
During his term as postmaster, money order facilities were provided beginning on 1 July 1933. Following John Thorby's death his son, Ken Thorby, succeeded him that same year for a short while until 1972 when John Thorby's daughter Dorothy became the postmistress. Mrs Dorothy (Doff) Bourgoyne remained postmistress until she retired in 1980.
In 1956 contract mailman Gordon McTaggart was injured when his motorcycle hit a car while he was delivering mail to the post office. As a contract mailman he did not qualify for the normal benefits befitting a permanent PMG employee. The West Pennant Hills Progress Association was so concerned about his welfare that they organised a public meeting that was attended by 50 residents. Both a benefit concert and an appeal for his wife and family were held and £435 was raised.
In an article in The Chronicle, something of the history of the Post Office is recorded:
'Jack Thorby and his family operated the only shop in West Pennant Hills in those days serving residents of what is today West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrook. During the 1940s Doff, the eldest of the Thorby children, would drive the mail car and Bonnie Frankish (nee Sharpe) would ride on the running board of the old de Soto, hopping on and off to deliver mail, papers, magazines, into letterboxes and at homes along the 26-mile route. They did that delivery six days a week - we had a Saturday mail delivery in those days over the most atrocious roads, most of them just dirt and many treacherous. Even four-gallon drums of petrol were delivered to customers on the mail run.'
Today the post office is situated in Thorbys Arcade.
Information supplied by Helen Barker and Patricia Dewey - Pennant Hills: People and Places 1800-2010
Physical FormatPhotograph
DescriptionRoy Childs, Dorothy Thorby and two friends with the West Pennant Hills mail car in Aiken Rd West Pennant Hills c. 1942. The history of West Pennant Hills Post Office is synonymous with that of Pennant Hills until 1898 when West Pennant Hills became a separate suburb during the time Mrs Ann Thomas was the postmistress. In 1903 the postmaster was John Neilson who was followed a year later by Mrs A E Morton in 1904, then by Mrs Martha Harrison in 1905. Mrs Harrison applied to the Postmaster General to have the premises moved further away from the corner. A rough sketch which she forwarded showed the location of the post office as being 'at the corner of Pennant Hills Road and Government Road (Castle Hill Road) about two hundred and fifty yards from the public school'. The proposed new premises were marked as Bowman's and were close to a large allotment marked 'resumed for school'.
Approval was given for the move on 8 February 1919. Payment of Invalid and Old Age Pensions at West Pennant Hills commenced in October 1926. In 1927 Mrs Harrison applied to have the post office transferred to its former site at the junction of Castle Hill and Pennant Hills Road as she had sold the property. John W Thorby became postmaster in 1927 and remained in that position until his death in 1966. Thorby referred to the location of his store as being at Thompsons Corner.
During his term as postmaster, money order facilities were provided beginning on 1 July 1933. Following John Thorby's death his son, Ken Thorby, succeeded him that same year for a short while until 1972 when John Thorby's daughter Dorothy became the postmistress. Mrs Dorothy (Doff) Bourgoyne remained postmistress until she retired in 1980.
In 1956 contract mailman Gordon McTaggart was injured when his motorcycle hit a car while he was delivering mail to the post office. As a contract mailman he did not qualify for the normal benefits befitting a permanent PMG employee. The West Pennant Hills Progress Association was so concerned about his welfare that they organised a public meeting that was attended by 50 residents. Both a benefit concert and an appeal for his wife and family were held and £435 was raised.
In an article in The Chronicle, something of the history of the Post Office is recorded:
'Jack Thorby and his family operated the only shop in West Pennant Hills in those days serving residents of what is today West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrook. During the 1940s Doff, the eldest of the Thorby children, would drive the mail car and Bonnie Frankish (nee Sharpe) would ride on the running board of the old de Soto, hopping on and off to deliver mail, papers, magazines, into letterboxes and at homes along the 26-mile route. They did that delivery six days a week - we had a Saturday mail delivery in those days over the most atrocious roads, most of them just dirt and many treacherous. Even four-gallon drums of petrol were delivered to customers on the mail run.'
Today the post office is situated in Thorbys Arcade.
Information supplied by Helen Barker and Patricia Dewey - Pennant Hills: People and Places 1800-2010
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West Pennant Hills Mail Car. (1942). Hornsby Shire, accessed 29/07/2026, https://hornsbyshire.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/2796