by Ken Drury (1929 – 2010)
Postal facilities were first established at Koppin Yarratt on 16th January 1897, by James McDonald. My grandfather, John Roderick McDonald became Postmaster on the 16th July 1923. On the 1st July 1944 his daughter, Essie Beatrice May McDonald was officially appointed Postmistress. She remained Postmistress until it closed in early April 1972.
The mailman would drive a horse and sulky from Lansdowne Post Office via the Central Lansdowne Post Office. Then he would proceed on to the Upper Lansdowne Post Office and then travel back delivering and collecting the mail and newspapers. Three days a week he drove back to Lansdowne past our place. On the other days we had to ride a mile and a half to the Fingerboard Hill if we wanted to collect our mail. Fingerboard Hill was at the junction of the Central Lansdowne and Upper Lansdowne Roads. Eventually when the mail run was motorised we received a mail service five days a week. We always had a supply of postage stamps on hand for posting our mail.
If a telegram came the Post Master/Mistress had to arrange delivery to the recipient. If it was just a message the Post Mistress would slip a note in with our mail. If we needed to make a phone call or send a telegram we had to ride or drive to the Post Office. Round about 1947 dad led a group of ‘would-be-tel-o-phone’ applicants in a delegation to the Post Master General’s Department. The meeting with the representative was held in our kitchen at ‘Banksia’.
The outcome of the meeting was that the Department would install the telephones if the applicants would supply the poles and dig the holes. This condition was agreed to. Poles were cut and holes dug then a team of men from the Department rented a house nearby so they could install the telephone lines. Even though the telephone exchange was only open from 9am to 6pm week days the service was greatly appreciated by all. In an emergency the Post Mistress, Aunt Essie, would open up the exchange. These days one wonders how we ever managed without phones. It seems to me that people were more content in days gone by.
It is hard to believe that now-a-days only one Post Office is required to serve the whole district. Gone are the telephone exchanges where the operators manually plugged you into every call that you ever made and often listened in to your every conversation! Modern technology has changed the telephone service several times in my life time: underground cables and mobile phones, just to name two.
Story and photos supplied by Glenda (Drury) Dutton