South Australia.
Telegraph offices on the lower northern line - Adelaide to Clare-Kooringa.


 

Auburn.

The Telegraph Office was opened in 1862.

 
   

Blyth.

The Telegraph Office was opened on 26 September 1879.

 

 
   

Bowden.

The Telegraph Office was opened in

 
   

Clare.

The Telegraph Office was opened on 20 January 1860.

 
 

Clare 1929
Clare
4 June 1929.
Used on 1½d KGV.

Diameter: 27 mm.

 

Farrell's Flat.

The Telegraph Office was opened in 1871. It changed name to Farrell Flat in 1940.

 
   

Freeling.

The Telegraph Office was opened in 1861 - just before the onset of a long drought which devastated the area.

In 1866, Freeling had a population of 60 people.

Freeling
   

Gawler.

One of the first Telegraph Offices in South Australia - Gawler opened on 13 April 1857.

The Post Office had been established in May 1841 although its location was moved to the bakery in 1852. The Telegraph Office and the Post Office were combined in July 1863. A new building for the two offices was opened in September 1867.

 
Gawler 1903 Gawler 1942
Gawler usual post office date stamp.
5 January 1942.
SC1.
Diameter:
Telegraph Offices were also opened at:
  • the Gawler Railway Station in 1859;
  • the Gawler Racecourse - in 1922 (open only on race days).

Hamley Bridge

A Telegraph Office was opened on 1 January 1870.

 

Hamley Bridge c 1921
Hamley Bridge Post & Telegraph Station about 1921.
Source: Trove/NLA B55150.

Kapunda

The Telegraph Office was opened in 1859. Soon after opening, the Admella was wrecked nearby with heavy loss of life. The South Australian Advertiser of 24 August 1859 reported that, "at a public meeting in Crase's Assembly Room in Kapunda, the Chairman was sure, before the meeting separated, the (200 people in attendance) would join with him in a vote of thanks to Mr. Darwin, Manager of the Telegraph Office there, for his attention during the previous exciting week in publishing the telegrams relative to the wreck of the Admella; which motion was carried unanimously".

Kapunda
Main street of Kapunda about 1925.

From 1 October 1859, Mr. Darwin had responsibility for both the Telegraph Office and the Post Office. By 1863, Mr Darwin was fully aware of the often incorrect complaints made by a minority of customers. In 1865, he was embroiled in an important legal discussion, also involving Charles Todd, about the legal status of telegrams and who was the actual custodian of them.

Soon after, the South Australian Register reported, on 30 August 1865, that "Mr. V. H. Darwin, Postmaster and Telegraph Officer at Kapunda, met with a very serious accident on the 29th, by a fall from his horse. He was found near the main street in an unconscious state and bleeding profusely from the ears. The fall has occasioned concussion of the brain and it is feared more serious injury to the head".

Mr Darwin clearly recuperated fully because, in the Kapunda Herald of 20 April 1866, there was a long editorial seeking mentioning his good work and calling for "a really good capricious Post-Office, as well as a good telegraphic station, with an ample staff in each, but being quite independent one another (because) the postal and telegraphic services to and from Kapunda are both amongst the most remunerative of their kind and, with the prospects of a still further extension of trade, which has caused two additional Banks to be started there, it is morally certain that the business of these offices will continue steadily ...".

On 29 June 1866, Mr Darwim was elected to Secretary of the Kapunda Institute.

Amounts of £1,000 were placed on the estimates in 1866 and 1867 for the erection of a new Post and Telegraph Office.

In July 1870, many people from the surrounding district attended the monthly sale. It was reported that "everyone was delighted to see the Post & Telegraph Office well-lit with gas for the first time".

Kooringa.

The Telegraph Office was opened on 25 January 1860. It was located in rooms of the Mechanics' Institute and next to the Burra Burra mines.

In the Assembly on 19 July 1861, the Treasurer responded to a question about a petition to amalgamate Telegraph Offices and Post Offices. He said: " there were two petitions in reference to the subject, which he should now lay upon the table of the House for the information of Hon. members. One was in favor of the amalgamation and the other against it, and he might just remark that the petitions were from the Burra, and were both signed by almost the same persons".

A new P&T Office was completed in March 1911.

 
Kooringa
Kooringa squared circle date stamp.
1 December 1905.
 

Manoora.

The Telegraph Office was opened on 18 June 1870.

 

Mintaro and Mintaro Railway.

The Post & Telegraph Office at the Railway Station was opened in 1874 and renamed Merildin on 1 July 1917.

Mintaro RLY
Mintaro Rly Te[leg. Office].
Indistinct date.

Rated: RRRR.

Riverton.

The Telegraph Office was opened in 1864.

 

Roseworthy.

The Telegraph Office was opened in 1861.

 
   

Saddleworth.

The Telegraph Office was opened at the Railway Station on 18 January 1870 while the Office in town opened on 7 June 1877.

 
   

Salisbury.

The Telegraph Office opened in 1857 as the line was constructed through to Gawler.

A post office was established at Salisbury in 1850 but closed at the end of 1851. It was reopened in 1854.

 
   

Stockport.

The Telegraph Office was opened in 1 January 1870.

 
   

Tarlee.

The Telegraph Office was opened on 1 January 1870

 
   

Watervale.

The Telegraph Office was opened in 1866.