The following information is provided below:

• details and images of the Central Telegraph Office;
  
  
• date stamps in the Colonial (pre-1901) and Interim periods:
  Chief Telegraph Office/ Perth, WA - these are all oval and made from rubber;
  Superintendent of Telegraphs;
  Perth/W.A. - these are circular;
  
  
• date stamps in the Australian period (circular unless noted otherwise):
  
  Steel date stamps:
  Perth E.T.O.;
  C.E.T.O./Perth WA;
  C.E.T.O. Perth/ WA;
  Chief Telegraph Office/Perth W.A.(circular);
  Chief Telegraph Office/Perth(circular);
  Telegraphs/Perth W.A. ;
  Telegraphs Perth/Western Australia;
  
  Rubber date stamps:
  Chief Telegraph Office/Perth W.A. (rectangular);
  Chief Telegraph Office /G.P.O. Perth (bicoloured);
  Telegraph Receiving Office/Perth. W.A.;
  Telegraphs/G.P.O. Perth (oval).
  
  
• See also Slogan cancellations used at Perth.
  
  
  

The Central Telegraph Office in Perth.

The first telegraph office in Perth was in a room in the Town Hall on the Barrack Street frontage. There were many probems which arose from the nature and position of that Office.
For example, on 13 July 1872, the Fremantle Herald reported:

"A daring attempt to break into the Savings Bank, Perth, was made on Sunday night, during the hours of Divine Service.

About half-past seven o'clock a police constable named Bourke, who was on duty in-the neighborhood of the General Post Office, heard an unusual noise in the Telegraph Station and, listening attentively, he distinctly heard movements in the Battery Room. Jumping over the fence at the rear of the office he cautiously crept up to the window of the Battery Room and, after the lapse of a few moments, he observed a man in the act of crawling through the window. Springing from his place of concealment, the constable arrested the would-be burglar and conveyed him to the police station close by. A powerful jemmy and other house-breaking instruments were discovered at the Battery Room, and three marks on the window showing clearly that the jemmy had been used in affecting an entrance.

The man's name is Kelly. He was taken before the Local Magistrate on Monday, and fully committed for trial. His object, no doubt, was to gain admission through the Telegraph Office into the Savings Bank which adjoins the Battery Room".

On 15 April 1874, the Inquirer reported that "The Telegraph and Post Office is being proceeded with rapidly, and will, I think, be completed before the wire is placed.
This building, no doubt, will be useful and fill a place, but as an ornament, pray don't mention it! The plan of the building is a lean to adjoining the cells at the lock-up".

But as Miranda Lambert sang "Storms never last do they baby ...". The West Australian of 30 June 1882 reported "The Government are inviting tenders for the erection of a new wing to the public offices at Perth, to occupy the site on which the Post and Telegraph offices now stand".

A new Perth P & TO was scheduled to be completed in about 1885.

As demands for services increase, so do the needs for facilities to meet those demands. The Western Mail of 22 May 1896 gave good news and bad news to its readers:
"The Post Office officials have removed to the new building. Assistance is urgently needed in both the Post and Telegraph Department".

The Inquirer of 15 January 1897 wrote a piece about the "Busy Department" in the Perth Post and Telegraph Office where overcrowding was a major concern - at least to those who worked there.

But ... on Tuesday 2 November 1897, the Daily News reported:

At about 8 o'clock last night, two youths employed on the third story of the General Post Office noticed smoke issuing from the lift which is used to convey messages from the receiving counter to the operating-room. They immediately gave the alarm to those on the premises, and also communicated with the fire brigade station.

An operator named Beilby showed considerable presence of mind by attaching one of the various hoses which are supplied by the department so as to be ready in case of emergency. He poured the water down the lift from the uppermost part of the building, while another official prevented the flames from extending to the Executive Council chambers. The water had the effect of speedily extinguishing the flames and, by the time that the brigade arrived, all danger of a serious conflagration had been averted.

The lift contains all the telegraph wires of the colony and, being constructed of gutta-percha and paraffine platting (the usual insulating material), they quickly conveyed the flames up the lift. The effect of this was that connection between the batteries and the operating-room was immediately suspended, communication with every station in the colony being cut off. As far as the chief lines were concerned, communication was restored in 45 minutes by the laying of special wires, under the supervision of Messrs. W. E. Ottaway and C. Richardson and, within the space of two hours, the whole service was in order.

The building being infested with rats, color is lent to the belief that they, having gnawed the insulating material in order to reach the paraffin, rendered it easily inflammable. The temperature again, during the past two days, favors the theory that thunderstorms might have existed in the neighborhood of some of the lines connected with Perth. In that case an extensive charge of the electric fluid would be conveyed to the head office and render ignition all the easier".

The accident exemplified the truth of the adage that misfortunes never come singly for, since Sunday, the line between Perth and Adelaide via Coolgardie, has been interrupted for the first time since its erection, rendering it necessary for all Coolgardie district business to be transmitted via Perth over the coastal line. The fire last night had the effect of further delaying messages.

It may be mentioned that "the Perth-Adelaide line is expected to be put in proper order early this moning, owing to the excellent work done by lineman Graham of Eyre, who has travelled over 85 miles of a waterless stage in two days".

The West Australian of 3 December 1898 reported:

"No further developments became known yesterday in connection with the robbery of £900 from the telegraph manager's room on Thursday.

Mr. Sholl, Postmaster-General, on being seen, said nothing further had transpired. The matter was still in the hands of the detectives and he had heard nothing from them.

During the day it was rumoured that several arrests had been made but, on inquiry last night, it was ascertained that there was no truth in the rumour".

Personnel:

June 1869: Mr. James Coates Fleming was the first Operator in the Perth Telegraph Office.

In April 1891, an important cricket match was held between the Post and Telegraph Department and the Public Works Department. The Post and Telegraph Department team was:

Richard A Sholl, A H Williams, E A Letch, L Ogborne, W Grundy, J P Sullivan,
W J Croft, J H Leach, F W Milbank, C Hyde, A C Baldock.

Date stamps used at the Chief Telegraph Office, Perth.

Colonial/Interim period rubber date stamps.

Chief Telegraph Office/
Perth, W.A.

1. RO2 - CTO.

2. RO6 - CTO with 4 pointed star.

3. RO6 - CTO with multi-pointed star.

4. RO7 - CTO.

Superintendent of Telegraphs/
Perth W.A.

RO6 - SOT

Perth/W.A. - Circular - rubber.

RC2 - P: PERTH at top and W.A. at base. No reference to Telegraph Office.
Unrecorded in PMI or elsewhere - perhaps too tragic to record.
Applied in various colours - see below.

Part 1: A new life.

A new circular date stamp was introduced in the second half of 1912.

Part 2: Problems begin.

In less that a year, the top has broken (above the E and R).

Part 3: The new date stamp on the counter.

Within three months, the replacement was working well.
The new version had a large separation between the E and R.

Western Australian steel circular date stamps.

Perth E.T.O. date stamps.

C.E.T.O./ Perth W.A.

There are three types of steel date stamp with the C.E.T.O. inscription:

1. A circular C.E.T.O. date stamp with a 28 mm diameter.

2. A circular C.E.T.O. date stamp with a 32 mm diameter.

3. A circular C.E.T.O. PERTH date stamp with a 30 mm diameter.

Chief Telegraph Office/ Perth W.A.

There are two types of steel date stamp with this inscription:

1. A circular Chief Telegraph Office date stamp with a 29 mm diameter.

A variation of this date stamp (dated 7 November 1930), is shown elsewhere
on a telegram to Penfold's Wines. It appears to have had CHIEF removed.
This version of the date stamp would then be the earliest recorded.

2. A circular Chief Telegraph Office/ Perth W.A. date stamp with a 30 mm diameter.

Chief Telegraph Office/ Perth

There are two types of steel date stamp with this inscription:

1. A circular Chief Telegraph Office date stamp with a 31 mm diameter.

2. A circular Chief Telegraph Office date stamp with a 32 mm diameter.

Telegraphs/
Perth W.A.

There are five formats for this TELEGRAPHS inscription on steel circular date stamps:

1. Two line date - month before day.
Has the letter "A" under the heading above the date.
Small dots for separation.

2. One line date - day before month/year.
Has no separation dot between TH and W.
has no stop after (W.)A
Has 2 mm side arcs.

Telegraphs. Perth/
WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

A remake of the date stamp (SC1 - T).

• dot between TELEGRAPHS and PERTH retained;
• WESTERN AUSTRALIA replaced with W.A. at the base.

A rubber rectangular Chief Telegraph Office date stamp.

There are four types of rubber rectangular date stamp for Perth.

1. A rectangular Chief Telegraph/ Office/ ?? W.A. date stamp (RRH2 - CTO).

2. A rubber rectangular CHIEF TELEGRAPH OFFICE/G.P.O. PERTH. date stamp (RRH1 - CTO).

3. A rubber rectangular CHIEF TELEGRAPH OFFICE/G.P.O. PERTH. date stamp (RRH1 - CTO).

4. A rubber rectangular CHIEF TELEGRAPH OFFICE/G.P.O. PERTH. date stamp (RRH1 - CTO).

5. A rubber rectangular CHIEF TELEGRAPH OFFICE/G.P.O. PERTH. date stamp (RRH1 - CTO) - bi-colour font.

12 June 1976.
Day and date reversed from usual pattern.
Date in red - other info in blue.
Used on AA-DO-13D sent by
Charles Court (Premier of Western Australia)
to Charles Pegler for his Queen's Birthday Honour).

Rectangular rubber date stamp (RRH1 - CTO) with frame.
Date stamp - blue and red.
(this and the next version are the only bi-colour date stamps recorded across
all Australia/Colonial Postal administrations).

Size: 30 × 49 mm.
Rated: RRRRR (Unrecorded elsewhere).
Number in the Census: 1.

3 November 1982.
Used on AT-DO-15B.
Day and date in usual sequence.
Image kindly supplied by Malcolm Brown of WA.

Bi-colour date stamp without frame.
Date stamp - blue and red.
Rectangular rubber date stamp (RRH - CTO) without frame.

Used: 3 November 1982.
Size: 33 × 51.5 mm. (approximate)
Rated: RRRRR (Unrecorded elsewhere).
Number in the Census: 1.

6. A rubber oval Telegraph Receiving Office date stamp.

A RO7 - TRO /Perth W.A. date stamp (RO7 - TRO).

Telegraphs/
G.P.O. Perth.

Rubber oval date stamp (RO2 - T).