Timaru 100 Years of Postal Services

***Copyright has lapsed***

INTRODUCTION

Beginnings, and also their anniversaries, always hold for us a strong attraction, but this attraction is surely stronger when doubt and uncertainty are coupled with the passage of many years. Although the early history of the Post Office in Timaru is gradually piecing itself together, there remain sufficient gaps to endow the first twenty-five years of its history with a fascination which can never be attained by the last seventy-five years, for which profuse and detailed information is available. Despite the frequent references to the early files of the Timaru Herald which are to follow, this source of information has been barely touched, and the student who has the time available to search more thoroughly will find himself well rewarded.

POST OFFICE BUILDINGS

The Centennial publication, South Canterbury - A Record of Settlement, gives the rather confusing information that Belfield Woollcombe was the first Postmaster, but that the first recognised post office was operated in John Beswick's store. It continues in a more comprehensible vein by saying that for a brief period John B. Drake acted as Postmaster, before Beswick himself took over. His store was in George Street, on land bounded at the present day by George and Cain Streets and Railway Terrace.

On August 16, 1864, however, A. McLaughlin was appointed Postmaster, and two days later new premises, situated on land later bought by G. Gabites, were occupied. Photographs of the mid-1860's show that the Post Office was situated on the south side of George Street, just a few yards above the corner of Stafford Street. It is shown in a photograph included in this book. This was the first Government-owned building used for the Post Office, and McLaughlin was the first full-time postal employee to hold the position of Postmaster here. It is recorded that the office was decorated with a floral crown for the visit of the Governor, Sir George Grey, on February 6, 1867.

The Timaru Post Office in the mid-1860's. It is the building to the right of the photograph.

Several days of nor'-west winds in early December 1868 provided the prelude to the great fire which broke out at about 3.30 during the afternoon of the 7th. In two hours it had spread throughout the central part of the town, and by six o'clock all that remained of the business part of the town was an expanse of chimneys and burning debris.

The Timaru Herald of the 9th states: 'The Post and Telegraph offices were in flames before much could be saved, and the batteries of the Telegraph Department were all lost, thus cutting off communication until others can be received from Christchurch.' In fact, it was not until a special messenger had been sent to Oamaru that the rest of the Colony had any news of the disaster. On the same day as this report was published, there appeared the following:

POST OFFICE NOTICE

Until Further Notice, the Business of the Post and Telegraph offices will be conducted at the Custom House.

JOHN W. WILKIN, Postmaster

A photograph of 1865 shows the Custom House, but as it was taken from a distance it is difficult to pinpoint its location. It seems, however, to have been in Strathallan Street. No 'Further Notice' has been found to date, but information shows that premises were later found in Stafford Street South, on the site at present occupied by Butterfields.

Timaru became a Chief Post Office on January 1, 1879. A short paragraph in the Timaru Herald of July 18, 1879, ran thus: 'The work of erecting the new post office in Sophia-street was commenced yesterday by the contractors, Messrs Tubb and Tagus. The work will, we understand, be pushed on energetically now, and no more delays are likely to occur.'

The work was pushed on energetically, for September 8, 1880, saw the following note: 'The officials in the Telegraph Office here were busy last night shifting into their new quarters in the new Government Buildings, where business will be conducted on and after today. It is expected that the Post-office, Customs and other Government Departments will also flit this week.'

The present post office building at the turn of the century.

The Customs Department moved to their own premises in August 1902, and both the Education and Stock Departments moved elsewhere.

Originally, the entrance to the Post Office was from King George's Place. A photograph of the building included in Johannes Andersen's Jubilee History of South Canterbury, published in 1915, shows that the King George's Place facade has undergone no major changes - apart from the disappearance of the clock tower, of which more anon. The side facing Sophia Street, however, did not at this time have any entrance, the position of the present doorway being marked by a window. When additions were made to the building in 1921, the main entrance migrated around the corner into Sophia Street.

Some erratic behaviour from the town clock in January, 1945, prompted the publication in the Timaru Herald of a short history of the machine, part of which is of interest to the postal historian.

'Since June 21, 1913, when the chimes given by Mr. James Craigie, M.P., were first set in operation by the then Postmaster-General, the Hon. Sir R. Heaton Rhodes, the Timaru town clock has given faithful service and has had a wide reputation as an excellent timekeeper. . . .

'In the early days of Timaru, residents set their watches and timepieces by a time ball which was dropped daily at noon from the top of the tower on the Post Office. This procedure was adopted from the opening of the Post Office on September 10, 1880, until October 8, 1881, when the first clock was installed. This clock was superseded by the present timepiece and chimes were mounted in a tower on the post office.

'Early in 1932 the Public Works Department decided that the Post Office tower was unsafe from the point of view of earthquake risk, and designs were invited from Timaru architects for a clock tower to be erected by the Timaru Borough architect, Mr. V. H. Panton, and the clock was set in operation with appropriate ceremony in the present tower on December 24, 1933.'

URBAN MAIL SERVICES

Several significant pieces of information concerning the growth of postal services in the town have come to light, but, in including them here, no claim to completeness is made. What information has been gathered together can serve as some signpost for future investigation at the same time as it helps to build up a complete and coherent picture.

Post Office notices dated October 17, 1879, announced: 'A receiving box has been erected at Hall's store, corner of North and Bank streets, which will be cleared at 8.30 a.m. and 3.45 p.m.

'The receiving box at Cornish's store, corner of William street and the Main South road will in future be cleared at 8 a.m. and 3.30 p.m.

'N.B.- Receiving boxes are for the receipt of letters only.'

The original box at Hall's store (now a shoe shop) is still in use, but the other has not survived the years, although that corner is still the site for a posting box.

On November 5, 1880, it was announced that a further receiving box had been erected at Messrs. P. W. Hutton and Co's., on the Main South Road. Clearing times were 8.45 a.m., 12.40 p.m., 2.40 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The Timaru Herald published on Boxing Day, 1879, the information that the letter carriers would make only one delivery on that day, namely the 9 a.m. one. Multiple daily postmen's deliveries were brought to an end during World War II.

Only a few days after the present building was occupied, it was announced that 'boxes may now be obtained upon application at the Chief Post Office'. This information is interpreted as referring to private boxes at the Post Office.

SUBURBAN POST OFFICES

In a consideration of the history of postal services within the area of the town, mention must be made of the various suburban offices. The earliest such office was Sandie Town, which was open from September 1, 1876, to September 30, 1894. It was situated on the site now occupied by the Cullmantown Hall. Strictly speaking, this office was not at that time a suburban one, the area it served lying outside the town limits. In the minutes of the Levels Road Board, for example, mention can be found of 'Wilson St., Sandie Town'. This district is now part of the city, and centres on Church Street West.

Watlington (left) and Highfield post offices

From the closing of Sandie Town Post Office in 1894, no new office in the immediate vicinity of the Chief Post Office was opened until July 10, 1929, when the Highfield office was opened. This still functions in a grocer's shop on the corner of Wai-iti Road and Ranfurly Street. The late Mr. G . E. Peterson, a well-known philatelist, was Postmaster here for several years.

Waimataitai (in building on right) and Timaru South post offices

The next suburban office opened was that at Waimataitai, on August 7, 1939. It too operates in a grocer's shop, as do those known as Timaru South and Watlington. These last two were opened on February 2, 1948. The Waimataitai Post Office is in Evans Street, opposite the foot of Newman Street. The corner of King and Queen Streets, opposite the main entrance to the Gardens, is the site for the Timaru South office, while the Watlington office is situated on the corner of Hassall Street and Woodlands Road.

To commemorate the Centennial of Canterbury, the Timaru Philatelic Society organised a philatelic exhibition which was held in the Bay Hall from March 19, 1951, to the 22nd of the same month. A post office was provided during this period.

HISTORY OF MAIL SERVICES TO AND FROM TIMARU

In the years prior to the arrival of the Strathallan at Timaru in 1859...

In 1858, the Post Office saw fit to make arrangements concerning mails to and from the district. This suggests that all mail up to this date was transported by sea, although no cover sent to or from South Canterbury in this period has been sighted. In the return of the number of letters received and despatched at and from Timaru for the quarter ending March 31, 1866, it is recorded that 160 inward letters and 212 outward ones were carried by steamer. This indicates that sea transport played some part in the carriage of South Canterbury's mails, even after the introduction of overland services north and south. A timetable of steam mail services, published in June, 1868, however, while indicating several ports on the east coast of the South Island, does not mention Timaru, an omission which indicates that by that date Timaru no longer had a direct and regular mail service.

The most comprehensive account of the early mail services to Timaru is found in the Jubilee History, from which the following extract is quoted:

'It was not until the end of 1857 that South Canterbury was deemed of sufficient importance to warrant the establishing of postal communication. On 10th December of that year, T. Cass, the Chief Surveyor, reported to the Postmaster at Lyttelton, then the Head Office, "on the subject of the establishment of a Post from Christchurch by Timaru to the Waitangi". He reported on a route commonly taken by travellers, which, with slight deviations, would be that taken by anyone taking mails...

...Tenders were called, to close 15th April, 1858, for the conveyance of a mail fortnightly from May 1st, 1858, starting from Christchurch every alternate Wednesday, and from Timaru on the following Wednesday, weather permitting. Except owing to unavoidable accident, the mail was not to be more than three days in summer or four days in winter on the route - summer being reckoned as from 1st November to 31st March, and winter from 1st April to 31st October. The contractor was not allowed to take up letters or parcels for delivery from or to any place within one mile of a post office. No mail would exceed 40 lbs. in weight. The successful tenderer was William Baines.'

This service was commenced on May 1, 1858, and the Timaru Post Office was opened on the same day. Andersen continues: 'It was reported in The Lyttelton Times of 19th January, 1859, that the mailbags on the last trip northwards from Timaru were lost in the Rangitata. Baines was crossing on 6th January, with the bags strapped to the upper part of the saddle; and though there was no great amount of water, the stream was thick from recent freshets, and the horse dropped down a steep bank in the stream and rolled over. Baines extricated himself, and the horse was recovered, but the mailbags were lost.

'For over three years the service was fortnightly; but on 20th August, 1861, W. S. Moorhouse wrote, as Superintendent, to the Postmaster-General at Auckland, recommending, on the urging of residents at Timaru and in the country south of the Rangitata, a weekly service to Timaru, with a branch to the Mackenzie Plains, ending at Stericker's Station at Burke's Pass - the latter to be a fortnightly service.' The Provincial Council voted £500 to supplement the postal services for the year, and William Baines agreed to do this extra work.

When in 1862-63 the contract time for the run was reduced to two days in summer and three in winter from Christchurch to Timaru, and three days for the return journey from Timaru to the Waitangi, Baines was again successful in gaining the contract, being required to remain at both Timaru and Waitangi for at least four hours. In a notice of February 28, 1862, he advertised 'Christchurch to Timaru in 48 hours'.

'From 29th September, 1862, Baines made arrangements with H. D. Manning to run his mail conveyance between Christchurch and Timaru twice a week, leaving Christchurch on Mondays and Thursdays at 8 a.m., and returning on Tuesdays and Fridays, arriving in Christchurch at 6 p.m., "no responsibility for detention at rivers".

'Mails were conveyed to Timaru three times a week on and after 1st February, 1864, closing at 7 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; it was continued once a week to Waitangi.'

Under the heading 'Post Office Eccentricities', the Timaru Herald published a letter on January 12, 1866, from a correspondent signing himself 'Anti Tapist'. His complaint concerned a registered letter sent from Timuka (sic) to Timaru, which arrived at its destination on the same day as it was posted. The Postmaster refused to give delivery, however, because of a regulation which compelled him to send this letter to Christchurch, whence it would be returned before he could deliver it. The letter ended with an appeal for such nonsense to be done away with, but the Editor gave no indication of sympathy.

On February 16 of the same year, the Timaru Herald reported that 'Last Monday the north mail was detained at the Opihi, that river being in a heavy flood, owing to the previous day's rain. The Timuka (sic) was also uncrossable. The mail crossed on Tuesday night.'

Post Office notices of December 6, 1866, contained the information that 'On the 12th instant, and until further notice, the mails for the North will close at 6 in the evening on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The contractor will leave Timaru at half-past five in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for Christchurch and the North.'

In his book Daybreak in the Geraldine County, A. J. Davey states that 'Communication with Christchurch was made by coaches, usually drawn by six horses. These coaches passed through Orari but not through Geraldine .... The through coach service was discontinued in 1874. The railway service began about this time. . . .' Further postal information is given, related more specifically to Geraldine.

It was in 1865 that the first sod was cut in the construction of the Great Southern Railway, but it was not until September 6, 1878, that through rail communications were established from Christchurch to Dunedin. A month later, the first R.T.P.O. was attached to the Canterbury section, and the Timaru Herald published such notices as the following:

A travelling Post Office having been established on the line of railway between Christchurch and Dunedin, letters bearing a late fee of twopence, may be posted at any station in the mail carriage attached to the express train, and they will be included in mails made up in transit offices on the main line and branches.

W. W. BESWICK, Chief Postmaster

Frequent references to the R.P.O.'s are to be found in the Timaru Herald over the following years, for they provided the last chance anyone had of posting a letter in any one day. The following quotation from the Timaru Herald will give some indication of the change the railways made in the mail services to and from Timaru.

From 1st September (1880) the following alterations will be made in the receipt and despatch of local mails.-

Mails close at Timaru

For Christchurch and intermediate offices daily at 6 a.m., 2.50 p.m. and 4 p.m.

For Dunedin and intermediate offices, daily at 12.40 p.m., and 4 p.m.

For Oamaru and intermediate offices, daily at 6 p.m.

Mails arrive at Timaru

From Christchurch and interme

diate offices, at 10.55 p.m., 12.55 p.m. and 8.20 p.m.

From Dunedin and intermediate offices, at 10.45 a.m. and 3.5 p.m.

From Pleasant Point, Washdyke and Albury, 11.20 a.m.

W. W. BESWICK, Acting Chief Postmaster

Although there were two R.P.O.'s operating in South Canterbury, only one actually served Timaru. When they were first introduced, the clerks on the runs from Christchurch and Dunedin changed trains at St. Andrews, but when the services on the Christchurch-Invercargill run were divided into four sections, they changed over at Studholme Junction. Services south of Dunedin ceased in December 1931, but those serving South Canterbury and North Otago continued until June 15, 1942. Mail is still carried on these routes, but not even the slightest approach is made to the system of the R.P.O.'s. Any mail posted in the boxes in the guards' vans is either carried right through to the end of the journey, where it would normally receive a 'loose letter' cancellation, or else is taken off the train en route.

One of the earliest major events in the history of New Zealand aviation was the flight by J. W. H. Scotland from Timaru to Christchurch on March 6, 1914. One letter, which was dropped at Temuka, was carried, and although this was not an official mail, it is of historical significance. The first official airmail service to and from Timaru - it was also the first regular airmail service in New Zealand - was inaugurated on January 31, 1921. Capt. Euan Dickson, D.S.C., D.F.C., was the pilot on the first day of the service which ran on each week-day. One hundred and thirty-nine letters reached Timaru from Christchurch and Ashburton on the first day, and 117 were despatched. The support which the service received over the following weeks was disappointing, and it ceased on April 7, 1921.

Special airmail services were operated throughout New Zealand on December 24 in 1931 and in 1932. Timaru was included on each occasion, and special cachets were provided by the Post Office. Figures for mail received are set out in the following table:

From	1931	1932
Palmerston North	272	82
Wellington	146	54
Blenheim	123	59
Christchurch	183	75
Gisborne	132	51
Hastings	86	46

Mails despatched from Timaru are shown separately:

To	1931	1932
Oamaru	143	56
Dunedin	257	62
Invercargill	165	66

An unofficial commemorative cover was flown at the opening of the Mount Cook aerodrome on May 3, 1936, before being flown to Timaru where it was re-posted. Approximately 36 items were carried.

Fourteen items of mail, of which two are now known to exist, were carried on a special emergency flight from Timaru to Palmerston North on July 24, 1936.

Unofficial commemorative covers were carried at the opening of the Timaru airport (April 9, 1932), at the opening of the Levels airport (September 12, 1953) and on the first flights of the South Island Airways service from Christchurch to Timaru two days later. Official services were resumed when improvements at the Levels airport were followed by the inclusion of Timaru in the flights operated by National Airways Corporation D.C.3's in 1957.

As a part of South Canterbury's centennial celebrations the Centennial Association arranged for a special mail to be carried from Washdyke to Timaru by stage coach. The coach left Washdyke at about 1.10 p.m. on Friday, January 16, 1959, and arrived at the Chief Post Office, Timaru, when the mail of approximately 14,000 items was delivered to the Chief Postmaster, Mr. E. Russell.

EARLY DATESTAMPS

As it was the practice in the early days of the Post Office in New Zealand to cancel the stamps on mail with Obliterators, impressions of the early datestamps used in the Colony are elusive. The earliest such datestamp used at Timaru has been recorded with dates ranging from 19/DE/1860 to 14/OC/1864, the latter date quoted being on a cover in the Bett Collection, in the Turnbull Library, Wellington. It is unusual in that the positions of the Year and the Day/Month groups are reversed, the latter appearing below the year. This datestamp - described as an Unframed Circle datestamp, because of the arrangement of the letters without a frame - is illustrated as No. 1.

During the 1860's, two further datestamps - Nos. 2 and 3 respectively - made their appearances. The former has been seen dated 8/FE/1863, while dates for the latter range from NO/5/65 to NO/8/66. 1874 is the only year from which copies of the final datestamp in this first group have been recorded. It was in use on July 8 of that year. (No. 4.)

OBLITERATORS

Because there were only two such markings used at Timaru, examples are readily obtainable. No. 5 was one of a set of Obliterators supplied in 1855 when the London Prints of the Full Face Queens were sent out to the Colony from London. It can be distinguished from a similar cancellation used at Campbelltown (Bluff) by its thicker lines. Copies of this marking have been recorded from 1860 until 1900. No. 6, which was inscribed with the official abbreviation for Timaru, is met with on the Second Side Faces, and a copy on a 1½d. Victory stamp of 1920 shows that its period of use continued well into the present century as a killer on uncancelled stamps.

In passing, it is of interest to note that No. 5 is the only Timaru postmark in use before 1868 known to have survived the fire of that year.

MANUSCRIPT

A cover of November 1866, addressed to Sawdon Station, Mackenzie Country, has the stamp cancelled with a manuscript "T".

DOUBLE CANCELLATIONS

Only two such postmarks - with the datestamp and obliterator combined - have been used at Timaru. No. 7, the earlier and the scarcer of the two, has been recorded with dates ranging from 1878 to 1882. A comparison of this marking and No. 8 reveals several points of difference, the chief being in the number of curved bars at the side. Dates for No. 8 range from 1883 to 1892.

In Volume III of The Postage Stamps of New Zealand there is illustrated an obliterator which appears to be a part of one of these Double Cancellations. However, it has two bars on the left side and only one on the right. It is shown here as No. 9. A point to be held in mind is that it is one of a group of markings found on fiscally used stamps which have been cleaned, a fact which has led to the status of these markings being questioned.

A CLASS DATESTAMPS

This type of datestamp provides a wide field for the collector of New Zealand postmarks, and even in such a limited field as Timaru, they are of great interest.

An Index Letter indicating the time of posting is the chief distinguishing feature of No. 10. Dates for which this type is recorded range from 20/JY/78 to 30/MY/88. These are from two different cancellations, the earlier having the letters of the name distinctly taller than in the other. No. 11 - distinct in the absence of any mail indicator - has been recorded from 14/OC/90 to 10/JA/12, but it appears to be a comparatively uncommon marking. The fact that the earliest example is on a Telegram, suggests that it may have been used regularly for Telegraphic purposes.

The final group of A Class datestamps from Timaru is distinguished by the wide spacing of the N.Z. at the top. No. 12 incorporated a Mail Index Figure, and two variants can be found. Sub-Type A had the letters of the name wide and has been seen from 28/OC/91 to 1900. Dates for Sub-Type B range from 25/SP/01 to February, 1904.

By November 22, 1910, 12A was being used without an Index figure. In No. 12B the Index Figure appears to have been replaced by the time of posting. Impressions such at 12.30 p.m. have been seen from July, 1904 (it being used in its previous state until February of the same year) up to 1908.

SQUARED CIRCLE DATESTAMPS

Officially known as F Class datestamps, cancellations of this type were introduced in New Zealand in 1882. No. 13, the earliest recorded from Timaru, has been seen from October, 1893, to March, 1902. Two sub-types of No. 14 can be distinguished - 14A, which has the letters N.Z. taller than its counterpart, has been noted from September, 1903, to May, 1905; 14B was in use during the period March, 1905, to June, 1910.

CONCENTRIC CIRCLES

Datestamps of this pattern were introduced by the New Zealand Post Office in 1894, but no impression of the Timaru one dated prior to 1904 has been sighted. Copies seen range from September 24 to November of the same year, suggesting a short life.

SINGLE-LINED CIRCLES

The first of this large group of cancellations used at Timaru was in use on July 23, 1902. A further copy has been seen dated in February, 1903. This datestamp is unusual in that it has no curved bars flanking the N.Z. at the bottom. (No. 16.) By 14/FE/14 the time had been discarded from the datestamp, with No. 16A the result; it was still being used thus on 25/MR/35. Copies on a registered cover of 1921 show that it was then being used on the Counter.

No. 17 has been recorded from November, 1910, until March, 1923. Throughout this period, this cancellation was in continuous use, as is indicated by the availability of examples, and by the wear which developed. Present evidence suggests that No. 17 was recut some time between the last date quoted and 6/AU/25, on which date No. 18 is recorded for the first time. In size and in the shape of the letters, it appears to be No. 17 recut; the evidence of wear is gone, as are the curved bars at the bottom of the datestamp. The latest date for which this marking has been recorded is 5/DE/28. No copy is included in the Post Office impression books, which date from 1935.

By 1921, No. 19 had been introduced and this cancellation is still in use. In 1940, it was being used on Registered mail, and today, it is found on Telegrams. On 22/OC/58, it was impressed in red ink. Nos. 17 and 19 can be distinguished by a study of the letters of the name; in the former, they are much wider.

No. 20, hitherto recorded only on 11/FE/31, follows the same pattern as Nos. 17 and 19, but the letters are wider apart.

Three cancellations illustrated here as Nos. 21, 22 and 23, were in use at Timaru from about 1926 to 1940. No. 21 has been seen dated 26/AU/26 and 18/JL/27, and is not included in the Post Office impression books which date from 1935. This suggests that by that time it had been discarded. No. 22 has been sighted with dates from 31/MY/30 to 30/JL/35. Copies of No. 23 have been seen, dated from 23/DE/29 to 18/JA/41. No. 24 is found in the Post Office records dated 17/DE/35, this probably marking the introduction of the datestamp. In July, 1951, it was condemned and replaced. In the early copies of this datestamp, the figures of the date are uniformly small, but in the later impressions, there is a mixture of large and small type.

Of the three postmarks in use at Timaru at the present time, that which is chiefly used in the Mailroom was already in commission by November, 1955. This is shown as No. 25. Apart from a slight difference in the shape of the letters PM, a postmark in the Post Office records dated 12/JL/51 is identical, and may in fact be the same cancellation. Nos. 26 and 27 are in use at present on the Counter, serving both Registration and Delivery Counter needs indiscriminately. 26, the smaller of the two, was introduced in November, 1937, but no information concerning 27 can be given, save that it has been in use during the past two or three years.

ILLUSTRATED DATESTAMP

This cancellation, with a picture of a pioneer cottage - not the Levels Hut, as has been stated - was in use for one day only. There were two cancellations cut to the same design, which was prepared by a member of the Timaru Philatelic Society. Type A has the leg of the "4" in line with the downstroke of the "T", whereas in Type B it is to the left.

MACHINE CANCELLATIONS

When the first cancelling machines were introduced into New Zealand, they were so made that only one impression of the die fell on the envelope. Consequently, care was needed to ensure that the cancellation fell across the stamp. In 1907, however, a change was made, the dies being cut so as to give a continuous impression across the cover. The fifth such machine - a Burns hand-operated one - was allotted to Timaru, and was first used in April, 1908.

The first die is illustrated as No. 29, which had been replaced by 1918, when No. 30 was in use. Only one copy has been sighted by the writer. Dates for No. 31 range from OC/30/1926 to JL/18/1927. The normal impression seems to have five lines, but in some copies an additional line appears at the top and the bottom line disappears. Thus there can be two lines above the central inscription and two below, three above and one below, or three above and two below.

According to official records, the first slogan to be used at Timaru - SAVE STEPS/GET AN/EXTENSION TELEPHONE - was supplied in October, 1928, from which date a study of Timaru slogans begins. These slogans, of which a list follows, were changed as required.

In the early 1930's, the machine was converted from a manually operated one, to being electrically driven, a change which greatly speeded up the machine's capabilities. In June, 1930, the old Burns machine was replaced by a Universal DD machine, manufactured in the United Kingdom. As a result of war conditions, however, the Universal machine was withdrawn in 1941, being replaced by another Burns machine. The Universal DD machine was brought back into use in May, 1943, and remained in use until October, 1946, when the present machine - a heavy duty Universal CG - was introduced.

It is to be noted in passing, that impressions of slogans from the first Burns machine had the date arranged in a Month/Day/Year sequence. In the second machine, used in the 1940's, the Day precedes the Month.

The following list of slogans is based on information contained in Laurie Franks's Catalogue of New Zealand Slogans.

[List of slogans used at Timaru Post Office from 1928-1959]

MISCELLANEOUS MARKINGS

No specially inscribed Registration datestamp is recorded as having been used at Timaru. At the present time, for example, there are two cancellations inscribed TIMARU which appear on such mail. There is in use a rubber marking inscribed REGISTRATION COUNTER; this appears on the receipt the recipient signs, but on a recent cover, posted from Mount Cook without the stamp being cancelled at that office, it was cancelled with this Timaru datestamp. The earliest Registration label seen by the writer is on a cover of 1921, and is illustrated as No. 1. More recently, labels of the pattern of No. 2 were in use, and the office designation (TU) was added in 1958.

Two PARCELS cancellations have been seen from Timaru. (Nos. 3 and 4.) The copy from which the second illustration was taken was apparently impressed in the Christmas rush instead of an Unclaimed marking as it is on a letter. Similarly, only two Packet and Newspaper obliterators have been seen from this office. No. 5 is from a copy of the Edward VII 3d.; No. 6 is taken from a George V ½d. Green. There are in current use at Timaru, one dated Parcels roller and two undated Packet ones. (Nos. 7 and 8.)

No PAID datestamp has been recorded from this office, but in 1921 an OFFICIAL PAID rubber datestamp was in use. (No. 9.) In addition to this, there are many other rubber markings which serve the purpose of franks. They include some inscribed OFFICIAL PAID and several different Post Office Savings Bank markings, such as LEDGERS and ACCOUNTANT.

No DELIVERY COUNTER datestamp is in current use, but as recently as 1952 No. 10 was in commission. Three earlier datestamps of this pattern have been recorded. The first, from 1922, had the letters of the name very squat; the second (1936) had the ends of the inscription DELIVERY COUNTER out of alignment with the bottom corners of the frame; in 1940 there was in use another datestamp with this inscription in alignment and with comparatively tall letters; No. 10 differs only in that the letters at the bottom are significantly smaller.

Two rubber POSTMEN'S BRANCH datestamps have been employed at Timaru, as well as No. 11, which has been used since September, 1954. In Volume III of the Postage Stamps of New Zealand, there is illustrated a rubber marking dated 17/NOV/1952 and inscribed POSTMEN'S BRANCH; on September 15, 1953, No. 12 was in use; it differs from the preceding one only in the inscription - POSTMAN'S BRANCH. This is a most interesting and unusual error.

The markings number from 13 to 18 are all no longer used, later stamps having superseded them. A datestamp similar to No. 13 but with the letters of TIMARU spaced wider was used on 29/OC/1932. As is quite evident, No. 18 had the number of the Rural Delivery written in in manuscript; later markings of this type include the number as an integral part. No. 16 can be distinguished from others of the same pattern by the smaller letters in the word TO. Marking No. 17 was apparently of rubber which had perished. No date can be given for No. 17, but Nos. 14, 15 and 16 were used in 1919. No. 18 has been seen from 1955 and 1957.

Nos. 19 to 50 are miscellaneous markings, steel, rubber and linotype, in use at the Timaru Post Office today. In addition, several Rural Delivery markings must be available, but only one has been sighted to date. (No. 51.)

Nine different Postage Due markings are in current use at Timaru. The following is a complete list: "Double Deficient postage" 1d., 2d., 3d., 4d., 5d., 6d., 8d., Blank; "Deficient Postage, Unauthorised Enclosure". In addition, a "Deficient Postage 1½d." marking has been used.

TELEGRAPHIC SERVICES AND MARKINGS

A consideration of this aspect of the services provided by the Post and Telegraph Department is necessary to gain a complete and coherent picture of the development of communications in New Zealand; the following details of the early years of Telegraphic communications to and from Timaru are quoted from Johannes Andersen's Jubilee History of South Canterbury, published in 1916:

"The Telegraph Office at Timaru was opened on July 1, 1865, the rates charged for transmission being as follow: Between Timaru and Christchurch, or Timaru and Dunedin, 4/- for 10 words or under, exclusive of address; 7/- for 11 words up to 20; 10/- for 21 to 30; 12/- for 31 to 40. Press telegrams, 6d. for 10 words or under for any distance up to 50 miles; 9d. up to 100 miles; 1/- and 1/6 for 11 words up to 25; 2/- and 3/- for 26 to 50; 3/- and 4/6 for 51 to 100. The first news by electric telegraph in The Timaru Herald appeared on July 8, 1865. The early transmission of telegrams was often very faulty, as the Herald, in fits of exasperation, frequently made its readers aware. There is no return available as to the number of messages transmitted at Timaru until 1868: during that year the number was 3,153, the revenue amounting to £484."

Those figures steadily increased until in 1912, the last year for which Andersen quotes, they totalled 297,347 messages and a revenue of £9771.

The earliest Telegraphic item sighted from Timaru, is a Telegram sent from Christchurch in 1890. In the rectangle labelled "Office Stamp", is impressed the A-Class datestamp without an Index figure. The telegram was enclosed in a printed envelope which bore on the front a red device incorporating the words "NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGE". On the back, there is an oval in red with "NEW ZEALAND" in the centre and "ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH OFFICE" around the outside.

Only one copy of No. 1 has been recorded; it is on a 1d. Universal. No. 2 has been seen dated 14/JA/35 and 14/MY/46; in the former there is no indication of time, but in 1946 the indicator "D" is present. The Post Office copy of No. 3 is the only one sighted. Two Telegraphic datestamps are at present in use at Timaru; they are Nos. 4 and 5.

SUBURBAN OFFICES

As far as is known, only one datestamp was used at Sandie Town, and of that only one copy has come to light. It is illustrated as No. 1. Highfield still uses the datestamp with which it was first issued, but from August 3, 1949, to the 15th of the same month, a Relief cancellation, No. 3, was in use. The three remaining suburban offices - Waimataitai, Timaru South and Watlington - have used only one datestamp each. Waimataitai has an inclination towards mauve ink, postmarks noted during the last few months of 1958 being in a particularly bright shade. The Post Office opened at the Philatelic Exhibition in 1951 used cancellation No. 7.

CONCLUSION

In this survey of the Timaru Post Office over the past 100 years, we have seen how it grew, not only in itself but also in the services it provided. Instead of the sixteen souls of Timaru, 1858, it now serves 24,000. With South Canterbury's centennial year well under way, let us take Russell Clark's admirable piece of sculpture on the new telephone exchange as a symbol of a further 100 years of efficient and expanding service.

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Acknowledgements:

I HERE wish to make acknowledgement to all those collectors and organisations which have been of help in the production of this book. They include the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand with Vol. III of the 'Postage Stamps of New Zealand', edited by R. J. G. Collins, M.B.E., and C. W. Watts; the Stamps Division, G.P.O., Wellington; the Chief Postmaster, Timaru, Mr. E. Russell; the South Canterbury Historical Society; the Timaru Public Library; Dr. J. W. Avery, Messrs. R. M. Startup, S. R. Bennett, G. W. Sides, J. R. Richards, J. T. Tavener and J. Holdgate. In addition, there are all my fellow collectors who, without actively helping in the production of this booklet, have encouraged and assisted me in my investigations into the realm of postal history.

R.D.J.C.