The Wheatbelt region extends west from Perth to just past Southern Cross. To the north of Perth it extends to past Dundaragan. To the south it extends to just beyond Arthur River and inland from Collie.
Given the nature of the development of the telegraph lines south from Perth, it is more convenient to include the Wheatbelt Southern region in the Southern region.
About 1860, George Clinch changed the name of his property from Babano to Berkshire Valley. The Berkshire Valley Telegraph Office opened on 1 March 1874. It was operated by Miss Clinch from her homestead. The Office was upgraded to a Post & Telegraph Office on 1 January 1884. The combined Office closed on 28 February 1891. It then reopened on 20 September 1894 but then closed forever on 30 November 1898. It is unsure if any date stamps were issued to Berkshire Valley. Gouldner (p. 7) hypothesises that three date stamps might have been available during the 1874 to 1891 period including at least one for a Post & Telegraph Office. |
A Post Office was opened at Brookton on 1 January 1868. There is no record of a Telegraph Office being opened there. |
Brookton Post & Telegraph Office about 1920. |
The Post & Telegraph Office was opened on 6 December 1877. The Post Office had previously been opened on 1 May 1858. |
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A rubber oval POST & TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp
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8 October 1899. |
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24 January 1899. One of two ovals used on an unclaimed Office of Titles OHMS cover sent from Perth to Beverley (with Frank Stamp).
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A Post Office was established on 11 January 1891. It was then upgraded to a Post & Telegraph Office on 31 March 1897. |
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The Office was issued with a rubber oval POST & TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO7-P&TO):
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Just east of Northam. The Office opened as a Receiving Office on 1 July 1902 and became an Official Office on 1 July 1911. |
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The Office was issued with a rubber oval POST & TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO4-P&TO):
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12 February 1915. |
In the early days - from 1 July 1853 - Dandaragan was classified as a Stopping Place for the mails and it was centered on the Police Station. Constable Goldwyer was in charge. It remained on the main northern mail route until the route was changed to the inland on 8 January 1867. A Post & Telegraph Office was opened on 15 August 1896. It was downgraded to an Allowance Office on 1 June 1904.
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The Post Office at Dowerin opened on 1 September 1906. It became an Official Office (with Telegraph facilities) on 1 July 1912. A rubber oval POST & TELEGRAPH date stamp (RO4 - P&TO) was issued to the office for use with telegraphs. |
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13 August 1913. |
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24 July 1915. |
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7 February 1916. |
The Telegraph Office opened on 27 October 1876. Gingin is in the centre of a rich agricultural district. |
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As no special date stamps for use with Telegraphs were issued to the office, the usual post office date stamp was used for telegraphic purposes. There were several formats used. An early format was framed with a 2 digit month and a 2 digit year:
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28 May 1897. |
A Post & Telegraph Office was established at Grass Valley on 5 July 1900. Previously the office was designated as a Receiver of Mail Bags as from 1 July 1899. From 1911 it was progressively downgraded. |
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A rubber oval datestamp was issued to the office. Most sources claim that it was used in violet. The only recorded example appears to be used in a red-violet ink - which may have originally been a violet ink but the poor ink quality may have changed its appearance over the years.
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19 August 1903. |
The spelling of the town's name appears to have been interchangeable in the late 1800s between having one R or two - KELLERBERIN or KELLERBERRIN. The telegraph line and the railway were built along the Yilgarn line which extended from Northam to Southern Cross. The Telegraph Office opened on 1 September 1894 (with the building completed the following year) as Kellerberin and changed to Kellerberrin possibly about 1900. The two spellings were used interchangeably for many years. |
Kellerberrin Post & Telegraph Office about 1940. |
A position of Messenger at the Kellerberrin Telegraph Office was created and gazetted on 5 August 1926. A note in the Perth Daily News of 6 November 1915 reported that "Private G. Ford, formerly an operator in the telegraph office, and who has been wounded three times, is now telegraphist at headquarters at the Dardanelles". The Perth Daily News of 19 September 1995 carried this account of the discussion in the Assembly on the forward Estimates:
At least three (possibly four) formats of rubber oval date stamps were issued for use with telegraphs: |
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29 January 1896 (ERD). |
10 November 1896. On registered OHMS cover sent to Perth. |
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10 July 1897. Abacus Auction 7 April 2019, (Lot 1433). |
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There is one possible example on a postcard but the date stamp is very faint.
Has a rare Great Southern Railway GSR 4 postmark on reverse side. |
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This detailed scan shows the letters "BER" clearly and the "6" of the year 1896. The A of WA is to the left of the 6 above indicating there must be another letter in the name. |
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8 October 1913. Used on a registered OHMS cover from Perth to Kwollyinn where it was unclaimed and returned to the Dead Letter Office. |
25 June 1913. |
21 August 1915. |
4 March 1916. |
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A Post & Telegraph Office was opened on 4 March 1874 - the day when the Post Office was renamed from Victoria Plains. The Post Office had been opened on 14 April 1857. It was downgraded to an Administrative Office on 21 July 1905. Up to the mid 1840s, New Norcia was known as Maurin Pool. The call signal around the 1880s was NL. |
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Newcastle (Toodyay).
Toodyay was gazetted as Newcastle in 1860 when it was moved 2 km to higher ground to avoid flooding. In 1910, to avoid confusion with the Newcastle in NSW, the name was changed back to Toodyay. The Telegraph Office was opened at Newcastle on 6 January 1872. The call signal around the 1880s was N. The Toodyay Post Office had opened on 23 April 1847 but closed during the move on 6 October 1864. It was renamed from Newcastle as a P&T Office on 6 May 1910. In November 1891, Mr. W. Harris, the Telegraph Operator at Albany was promoted to be the Post and Telegraph Master at Newcastle. |
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An original postal date stamp for Toodyay - presumably used between 1847 and 1864. | |
Three rubber oval date stamps were issued to the office when it was named Newcastle for use with telegraphs:
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22 September 1898 (earliest recorded date). |
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26 January 1900. Used on a block of 10 1d red Swans (reunited blocks of 4 and 6 purchased 6 years apart) . |
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10 April 1902. Arrival backstamp on cover from England. Abacus Auctions, February 2022 Lot 892. |
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9 October 1918. |
The usual postal date stamps were also used on telegrams: | 28 September 1932. |
Northam.
The Post Office opened at Northam on 23 April 1847 and it was upgraded to a Post & Telegraph Office on 11 January 1872. The first telegraph post for the new line was erected on 18 March 1871 (Perth: Inquirer and Commercial News, 29 March 1871). The call signal around the 1880s was NR. |
Northam Post & Telegraph Office about 1910. |
Tenders were called for a new building for the Post & Telegraph Office Quarters in the West Australian of 1 September 1892 and, on 1 October, the tender by M. Byatt and H. Cody was accepted for £975. |
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Three formats for oval rubber Post & Telegraph datestamps were issued to Northam. | |
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No discernible date. |
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9 July 1919. NOTE: has separtion dots between the upper and lower inscriptions. |
The form (AE-DO-1D) on which the above RO7-P&TO oval date stamp was used. Indeed there are two strikes. |
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2 January 1940. Note: No separation dots. |
The usual Post Office date stamp was sometimes used on telegrams. |
19 July 1906. |
Pingelly is between Beverley and Wagin. The Post Office at Moorumbine (sometimes spelt Mourumbine) was replaced by Pingelly on 4 October 1889. It was upgraded to a Post & Telegraph Office on 1 August 1893. |
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Pingelly Post & Telegraph Office in 1908. |
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A rubber oval date stamp (RO2 P&TO) was issued to the Office.
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Southern Cross.
The original Post Office in the area was opened at Golden Valley in 1888. After significant gold finds close to Southern Cross, the Post office was moved. As the building was to house the Post Office and Residence, the Court House and the Mining Registrar's Office, a new building was commenced. Just after construction commenced, the telegraph line arrived - with no place to be housed. The Postmaster (Mr. Harvey) therefore established a site in the middle of the main street and erected a large umbrella over the instruments. The Post Office was then upgraded to a Post & Telegraph Office on 4 February 1892. On 2 April 1892, the Western Mail noted that "the telegraph line, our first and only completed public work, is more than a success. It is a most profitable investment to the Government. Over eleven hundred messages have passed through this office this month". In August 1894, Mr. J. O. Tepper was appointed Post & Telegraph Master to replace Mr Harvey. |
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Local group outside the Post & Telegraph Office about 1892. |
Southern Cross Post & Telegraph Office about 1940. |
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The office was issued with three types of rubber oval date stamps for use with telegraphs:
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November 1897 (ERD). |
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29 March 1898. |
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24 August 1899 . Detail of the date stamp on the cover below. |
22 October 1898. |
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Cover bearing the above oval RO7-P&TO date stamp of 24 August 1899. |
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17 November ?? (only example recorded). |
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25 May 1904. ACE Auctions, Sale 7 Lot 690. |
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An unframed steel postal date stamp was also used on telegrams.
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19 December 1895. Used on WC-DO-2B. |
A Post Office had opened on 18 December 1866. This Office was closed on 5 April 1870. The Office was then rebuilt and reopened as a Post & Telegraph Office opened on 12 August 1896. The new Office was constructed with stone quarried on a nearby site. It was a repeater station to assist in the transmissions of telegraphic communications between Perth and Geraldton. |
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The Northam Advertiser of 5 May 1900 reported on a visit by the Minister of Works:
It is reported that the Post Office (presumably with a Telegraph Office) was opened at West Northam on 22 January 1901. It was apparently closed on 30 June 1901 and later reopened as an Administrative Office on 1 July 1903. Given the following date stamp, the Office must have been operating before July 1903 and using the previous date stamp - although no evidence of a date stamp being used prior to June 1901 is known. There is also evidence of the Post & Telegraph Office operating during the period cited above in which the office was alledgedly closed. |
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A rubber oval POST & TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO6 - P&TO) was issued to the office. Previous descriptions only reference a sketch:
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9 May 1903. |
York.
The Telegraph Office was opened on 17 January 1872. The first telegraph post for the new line was erected on 14 March 1871 (Perth: Inquirer and Commercial News, 29 March 1871). The call signal around the 1880s was Y. |
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York Post & Telegraph Office about 1950. |
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York to New York. OHMS deleted. Provenance: Mike Brachi. |
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30 August 1904. |
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