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Berowra: Going Postal (an early history of the postal service in Berowra)
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DetailsIn the past, postal services have been vital to communities like Berowra. Post was used to send and receive news, information, letters, and parcels and even for sending eggs! These days traditional mail is in decline because the electronic options of our era are taking over.
New South Wales had no regular postal services in operation preceding 1810. Later that year, on the 26th June, Governor Lachlan Macquarie issued an order turning the residential home of Isaac Nicholl, located in George Street Sydney, into the Colony’s first regular post office. The 1825 Act of the Legislative Council provided for the regulation of Postal Services, which included postage rates. Subsequently, the establishment of the General Post Office (GPO) finally took place on 1 September 1874.
However, postal services in places like Berowra were not established quickly, rather it was an evolving process that took time in order to fulfill the needs of the community.
This is the story of Berowra: Going Postal.
On the April 1, 1897 a receiving office was opened in Berowra, providing the first postal services to the local community. Mrs. Charlotte Pugh was given responsibility for the office, with her duties primarily as the railway attendant at Berowra Station, which also incorporated the supervision of the mail. Her annual allowance for postal work was £5. A telephone was connected to the receiving office on January 10, 1898, providing Mrs.Pugh an additional allowance of £10 a year. This new service enabled the sending and receiving of telegrams through the Railway Department telephone system.
A memorandum from the Postal Inspector to the Receiving Office Keeper on July 18, 1900 enquired about the postal usage operating from the Berowra office. Based on the 35 households of Berowra, the reply noted that 20 to 30 letters were dispatched with 20 received daily. In that same month, B. Mayfield, Secretary of the Berowra Progress Association, requested that postal notes and postal orders be made available at Berowra.
In 1901 the population of Berowra was about 100 and in relative terms, the postal services were extremely active. Hence, on August 20, 1900 the official title of ‘post office’ was conferred. Mrs. Pugh assumed the position of ‘Post-Mistress’ – her annual salary was raised to £20 per annum.
James Stewart, a well known Berowra poultry farmer, kept over 1000 laying White Leghorns on Hillcrest Farm. Demand for his ‘Pure Bred Heavy Laying Strains’ came from all Australian states and even New Zealand, as evidenced by his inquiry regarding posting eggs to these areas. The reply to his enquiries reveals that there were no restrictions to sending eggs interstate or to New Zealand. However, parcels had to be marked as “perishable”, securely packed and enclosed to “protect them from injury.”
No doubt following his successful transport of eggs via post, Stewart decided to enter an international competition, sending his prized birds to a wintery Vancouver (Canada). The birds from Berowra triumphed, laying prize-winning eggs in six inches of heavy snow, beating all the local competitors!
Mr. Robert Richards was the first known proprietor of the general store in Berowra. In 1900 Richards was granted a Stage Coach License at Ryde Police Court – the license assuming to be used in conjunction with the operation of the general store at Berowra. In those days, the general store was a hive of activity, a place where people gathered for a variety of reasons – it even acted as the voting booth on election days! Essentially, the General Store was the main place for people to call.
Being such a centre of community activity, it was perhaps a logical progression that the postal services could be located at the store.
In 1909 Mr. Richards enquired about relocating the post office to his store located about 100 metres up the road. In a letter dated 27 January 1911, Richards again made an earnest plea to the Deputy Post Master General urging that the post office should be relocated to his general store. Richards’ appeal appears to have been rejected however, as a Mr. John Gummer took up the position of postmaster on March 2, 1911, replacing Mrs. Pugh. Although the rate of pay remained the same, £20 per annum, one of the conditions imposed on Gummer’s appointment was that an amount of £100 was put forward as security.
It is evident by the June of 1913 that Berowra’s postal operations were highly active, with two mails dispatched to Sydney and Hornsby each day (with the exception of Sundays). Mails bound for Sydney closed during the week at 6.30 am and 2.30pm, whilst on Saturday at 6.30 am and noon. With such busy postal services, it may seem a logical progression to relocate the post office to the more central address of the general store, but with the impending threat of war and a tightening economy, the question of moving the Post to the General Store was put on hold.CreatorBerowra Living HistoryKeywordsBerowra
DetailsIn the past, postal services have been vital to communities like Berowra. Post was used to send and receive news, information, letters, and parcels and even for sending eggs! These days traditional mail is in decline because the electronic options of our era are taking over.New South Wales had no regular postal services in operation preceding 1810. Later that year, on the 26th June, Governor Lachlan Macquarie issued an order turning the residential home of Isaac Nicholl, located in George Street Sydney, into the Colony’s first regular post office. The 1825 Act of the Legislative Council provided for the regulation of Postal Services, which included postage rates. Subsequently, the establishment of the General Post Office (GPO) finally took place on 1 September 1874.
However, postal services in places like Berowra were not established quickly, rather it was an evolving process that took time in order to fulfill the needs of the community.
This is the story of Berowra: Going Postal.
On the April 1, 1897 a receiving office was opened in Berowra, providing the first postal services to the local community. Mrs. Charlotte Pugh was given responsibility for the office, with her duties primarily as the railway attendant at Berowra Station, which also incorporated the supervision of the mail. Her annual allowance for postal work was £5. A telephone was connected to the receiving office on January 10, 1898, providing Mrs.Pugh an additional allowance of £10 a year. This new service enabled the sending and receiving of telegrams through the Railway Department telephone system.
A memorandum from the Postal Inspector to the Receiving Office Keeper on July 18, 1900 enquired about the postal usage operating from the Berowra office. Based on the 35 households of Berowra, the reply noted that 20 to 30 letters were dispatched with 20 received daily. In that same month, B. Mayfield, Secretary of the Berowra Progress Association, requested that postal notes and postal orders be made available at Berowra.
In 1901 the population of Berowra was about 100 and in relative terms, the postal services were extremely active. Hence, on August 20, 1900 the official title of ‘post office’ was conferred. Mrs. Pugh assumed the position of ‘Post-Mistress’ – her annual salary was raised to £20 per annum.
James Stewart, a well known Berowra poultry farmer, kept over 1000 laying White Leghorns on Hillcrest Farm. Demand for his ‘Pure Bred Heavy Laying Strains’ came from all Australian states and even New Zealand, as evidenced by his inquiry regarding posting eggs to these areas. The reply to his enquiries reveals that there were no restrictions to sending eggs interstate or to New Zealand. However, parcels had to be marked as “perishable”, securely packed and enclosed to “protect them from injury.”
No doubt following his successful transport of eggs via post, Stewart decided to enter an international competition, sending his prized birds to a wintery Vancouver (Canada). The birds from Berowra triumphed, laying prize-winning eggs in six inches of heavy snow, beating all the local competitors!
Mr. Robert Richards was the first known proprietor of the general store in Berowra. In 1900 Richards was granted a Stage Coach License at Ryde Police Court – the license assuming to be used in conjunction with the operation of the general store at Berowra. In those days, the general store was a hive of activity, a place where people gathered for a variety of reasons – it even acted as the voting booth on election days! Essentially, the General Store was the main place for people to call.
Being such a centre of community activity, it was perhaps a logical progression that the postal services could be located at the store.
In 1909 Mr. Richards enquired about relocating the post office to his store located about 100 metres up the road. In a letter dated 27 January 1911, Richards again made an earnest plea to the Deputy Post Master General urging that the post office should be relocated to his general store. Richards’ appeal appears to have been rejected however, as a Mr. John Gummer took up the position of postmaster on March 2, 1911, replacing Mrs. Pugh. Although the rate of pay remained the same, £20 per annum, one of the conditions imposed on Gummer’s appointment was that an amount of £100 was put forward as security.
It is evident by the June of 1913 that Berowra’s postal operations were highly active, with two mails dispatched to Sydney and Hornsby each day (with the exception of Sundays). Mails bound for Sydney closed during the week at 6.30 am and 2.30pm, whilst on Saturday at 6.30 am and noon. With such busy postal services, it may seem a logical progression to relocate the post office to the more central address of the general store, but with the impending threat of war and a tightening economy, the question of moving the Post to the General Store was put on hold.
CreatorBerowra Living HistoryKeywordsBerowraRelated
CollectionBerowra Living History
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Berowra Living History, Berowra: Going Postal (an early history of the postal service in Berowra). Hornsby Shire, accessed 27/04/2026, https://hornsbyshire.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/3823