Pyrland Justinian Payne was the first postmaster in Upper Lansdowne. He established a mail receiving office at his residence at what is now known as 55 Paynes Lane in September 1886 and on 1 October 1886 it was made a Post Office and operated by Pyrland. He was the eldest son of Bryant Charles Payne a convict from Beaminster, Dorset, England and Ann Devlin from Antrim, Ireland.
Postal Service 1886 – 1917
The following notes were taken from the NSW Historical Section of Australia Post:
In September 1886, the Department established a receiving office for mails at Upper Lansdowne at the residence of P G Payne.
As there was already an office at Lansdown, it was arranged for the mail contractor, Abraham Robson, to carry the mails on to Upper Lansdown, once a week.
The office was established on 1 October 1886.
Good use was being made of the postal facilities by residents of the district, so Upper Lansdown was made a post office, as from 10 October 1890 and a twice-weekly mail service was provided.
In 1896, it was pointed out by a senior postal official that the spelling of Landsdown and Upper Lansdown appeared inconsistent, as they were only 5 miles apart. The matter was referred to the Lands Department and their decision was that the correct spelling was Lansdowne.
P J Payne died in 1907 and was succeeded by his daughter Mrs Mary Bradley on 22 March of that year.
When Mrs Bradley resigned, the office was taken over by Samuel J Unger on 1 July 1908. His premises were about one mile from the previous post office premises.
Telephone:
A telephone was installed at Upper Lansdowne on 25 September 1911 and the Exchange was established on 27 August 1918.
W H Unicombe took over the post office on 9 April 1910 after the resignation of S J Unger and was still in charge in 1917.
W H Unicombe’s daughter Annie (later Mrs Hec Atkins) recalls the day the telephone and switchboard was installed and how everyone was astounded how people could talk to each other over wires. Mrs Cicolini was the first to have the phone installed in her home. As the phone became more common they each had their own special ring, the post office being three short and one long ring. Everyone then knew who was being rung.
The mail was delivered by horse and sulky. The mailman would start from Coopernook, stop at Lansdowne Post Office, then proceed to Central Lansdowne and Upper Lansdowne.
Compiled by Gloria Crittenden – May 2024