The Telegraph Offices in suburban Perth included on this page are:

Aberdeen Street	Armadale	Bassendean	Bayswater		Blackboy Hill
Brisbane Street	Burswood	Claremont	Cottesloe	Gosnells	Guildford
	Hay Street East	Helena Vale	Leederville	Marylands	Midland Junction
Mount Lawley	Mundijong	Mundaring	North Perth	Nedlands	Palace Hotel
Perth Railway Station	South Perth	Subiaco	Victoria Park	Victoria Park East	West Leederville

Aberdeen Street.

Armadale.

1. A rubber oval POST & TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO6-P&TO).

Two formats of rubber oval Post & Telegraph date stamp were issued to the office.
The first format was used in two colours.

2. A rubber oval TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO2-TO).

Bassendean.

Was originally known as West Guildford and the change of name was gazetted in 1922.
A Receiving Office was opened at West Guildford on 15 January 1906 which was changed to an Allowance Office on 3 December 1906.

Two formats of rubber Post & Telegraph date stamp were issued to the office.

1. Post & Telegraph date stamp (RO6-P&TO):

2. Post & Telegraph date stamp (RO7-P&TO):

3. Telegraph date stamp (RO2-T):

Bayswater.

A Receiver of Mail Bags was established at Bayswater on 1 January 1895. This office was upgraded to a Post & Telegraph Office on 1 August 1898.
In 1 September 1904, the Office was downgraded to an Allowance Office.

A rubber oval (RO2-P&TO) Post & Telegraph date stamp was issued to the office.

Blackboy Hill.

A Post & Telegraph Office was opened at Blackboy Hill on 29 August 1914 and it was closed on 30 November 1918.
It was reopened on 1 March 1929 but renamed Greenmount Hill on 1 November 1932.

The site was used as a military training camp due the troop buildup of World War 1.
In following years the camp was used as an isolation hospital for treating people with the Spanish flu and, during the 1930s, to accommodate unemployed relief workers.

Blackboy Hill was named after the famous and wonderful Australian native black boy plants - Xanthorrhoea preissii - which once dominated the area.

PS: See also Tit-Bit #7.

A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office date stamp (RO7-P&TO) was issued to the office:

Brisbane Street.

Perth North, which had been opened as a Post & Telegraph Office on 14 August 1894, changed name on 1 April 1898 to Brisbane Street.

No date stamp is recorded for either office for use with telegraphs.

Burswood.

Burswood is close to Victoria Park.

It was the home of Australia's first nine-hole gold course - built in 1895.
After closing and then relocating, the name was altered slightly to Royal Perth Golf Club.
A new course was constructed in 1987 but closed again to construct the Perth Stadium.

A racecourse was also built there in 1895.

Claremont.

A rubber oval Telegraph Office date stamp (RO2-TO) was used at Claremont.

A rubber oval Telegraph Office date stamp (RO5-TO) was used at Claremont.

This triple oval format (RO5-TO) is the only known example of this format used for a date stamp for a Telegraph Office.

R.A.S. (Claremont) Showground.

A Post and Telegraph Office was opened at the R.A.S. Showground which was located at Claremont.
It almost certainly only operated as a Telegraph Office.
It only opened during the Annual Royal Agricultural Society Shows which were held in September and October of each year.

The Office is not listed in the official lists of Telegraph Offices because these lists were compiled on the basis of offices operating in the first half of each year!

An Office at the Claremont Showground was (possibly) issued with two types of Telegraph date stamps:

1. A rubber oval Telegraph Office Claremont Showground date stamp (RO6-TO).
(rated RRRRR).

No example of this date stamp has been sighted.

2. A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office date stamp (RO7-P&TO) R.A.S. Ground W.A. at the Claremont Show Ground.

Cottesloe.

A Receiving Office was opened at Cottesloe in October 1894. It was upgraded to a Post & Telegraph Office on 22 November 1897.

At least five types of date stamps appear to have been issued to Cottesloe for telegram use:

1. A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office (RO6 - P&TO) date stamp.

2. A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office (RO7 - P&TO) date stamp.
Date has month before day and a stop after the day.

3. A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office (RO2 - P&TO) date stamp.

4. A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office (RO7 - P&TO) date stamp.

5. A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office (RO7 - P&TO) date stamp.

Gosnells.

An oval rubber date stamp (RO2 - P&TO) was issued to the Office. It is not recorded elsewhere although there is a reference to a date stamp with Telegraph Section.

Guildford.

The Perth-Guildford line was opened on 23 December 1871. It was not, however, until 6 August 1873, that the Perth Inquirer could report that:

"the new Post and Telegraph offices were opened on Saturday the 2nd instant. The building being close to the Court House, in the centre of the town, is much more convenient than formerly and provides very suitable offices and living-rooms for the Postmaster. In addition to these improvements, other arrangements now made will afford further benefits and facilities to the public".

It was a starting point for the telegraph line along the coast to the south.

A Post Office had been opened 22 February 1835. Guildford was one of three towns established in 1829 soon after Western Australia was settled.

Personnel:

September 1876: Mr. E. W. Snook took a mail cart to Guildford from Perth to relieve the Postmistress.

May 1891: Mr. J. Horrigan was promoted to be the first Postmaster and Telegraphist at Greenbushes and Mr. N. Gilchrist was appointed Post and Telegraph Assistant to replace him.

September 1894: Mr. R. Williams to be assistant at Guildford;

Telegram use:

The earliest recorded telegram form used at Guildford is the remarkable transmission form WC-TO-3B posted to Guildford from Perth on 14 September 1894.

The telegraph date stamps at Guildford.

Four handstamps - including three rubber oval date stamps - were issued for use with telegraph matters to Guildford:

1. a Barred Letter obliterator;
2. a rubber oval TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO6-TO);
3. a rubber oval TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO7-TO);
4. a rubber oval TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO2-TO);

1. The Guildford Barred Letter (G).

Used on a 2d chrome-yellow Swan
issued 1882-1885.

2. A rubber oval TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO6-TO):

3. A rubber oval TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO7-TO):

4. A rubber oval TELEGRAPH OFFICE date stamp (RO2-TO):

Hay Street East.

Opened as a Post & Telegraph Office on 1 April 1898 when Perth East was renamed. The latter had been opened as a Post & Telegraph Office on 10 June 1895.

No date stamp is recorded for either office for use with telegraphs.

Leederville.

The Telegraph Office was opened on 11 September 1897.

Another Post & Telegraph Office was opened at West Leederville.

The date stamps issued for use with telegrams at Leederville spanned seven formats:

1. RO7-P&TO in green.

2. RO7 - P&TO in blue.

3. RO6 - P&TO.

Used: about 1912.
Perhaps this format was continued to the 1940s but no size is known for the 1912 version to enable a comparison.

Rated: RRRR.

4. RO4 - P&TO in violet.

5. RO4 - P&TO in blue.

6. RO4 - P&TO in red.

The above image was scanned from the reverse side of a large registered cover sent from Apia, Samoa on 14 September 1915 to Subiaco and redirected to Leederville.
There is a unframed PASSED BY CENSOR handstamp in black.
The postage charge was paid with six single New Zealand stamps overprinted SAMOA in black (3) or red (3).

7. RO6 - P&TO in violet.

8. RO2 - TO in violet.

Maylands.

Four oval formats for date stamps were used at Maylands for telegraphs

1. RO4 - P & TO in green.

2. RO4 - P & TO in violet.

3. RO7 - P&TO.

Size: 37 × 43 mm (e = 0.51).

Used: about 1924

Rated: RRRR.

4. RO4 - P&TO.

Size: 35 × 42 mm (e = 0.55).

Used: about 1945

Rated: RRRR.

5. RO2 - P&T.

Size:

Used: 1975 to 1977.

Rated: RR.

Midland Junction (Helena Vale).

A Post Office was opened at Midland Junction on 1 May 1895. It was renamed Helena Vale in 1896.
A Post & Telegraph Office was opened at Helena Vale on 12 April 1897 which then was renamed back to Midland Junction on 1 January 1901.

That opening was not however without its drama. On 8 Februry 1897, the West Australian reported:

"Grievous complaints are being made as to the manner in which the Midland Junction district is being treated, or rather not treated, by the Government.

Nearly twelve months ago the Helena Vale Council (which is the corporate body at Midland Junction) waited on the Premier and requested that a Post and Telegraph office be established at Midland Junction, and that letters be delivered by a carrier instead of people having to call at the temporary office for their letters; also that a Telegraph Office and Money Order Office be opened.

Up to the present, nothing seems to have been done in the matter and the inhabitants who wish to send a telegram or a money order or to transact any other business, save buying stamps or posting a letter, have to travel two miles to Guildford, the nearest available station for miles".

Personnel:

July 1895: Mrs. E. J. Harvey was appointed Postmistress (FYI as it was before the telegraph was connected).

August 1896: Mr. E. W. Ketsch was appointed Stationmaster.

Two rubber date stamps were issued to the Offices - one under each name:

At Helena Vale: A rubber oval Post and Telegraph Office (RO7-P&TO) date stamp.

No information is available of this reported date stamp.

At Midland Junction: A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office
(RO6 - P&TO) date stamp. No side arcs.

2. A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office
(RO6 - P&TO) date stamp.

3. A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office
(RO2 - P&TO) date stamp.

Mount Lawley.

A Post & Telegraph Office was opened in 1909.

It appears as if three formats for rubber oval date stamps were issued to the Mt. Lawley office:

The third is claimed to be an RO2-T used about 1950 but there is no evidence to date that it existed.

1. A RO7-P&TO oval date stamp used in violet.

Unusually has month then day.
Letters are very round.

Mundaring.

A Post and Telegraph Office was opened in Mundaring on 24 October 1899.

Mundjong.

In the south east section of Suburban Perth, the location at the junction of the Rockingham-Jarrahdale rail line had previously been called Jarrahdale Junction.
It than changed name to Manjedal and then to Mundijong in about 1898.

A Post & Telegraph Office was opened in about 1897 but then downgraded progressively until it became an Allowance Office in 1906.

Two rubber oval date stamps appear to have been issued to the office for use with telegraphic matters:

1. A rubber oval RO6-P&T was (allegedly) issued on the transfer from Manjedal.

No details are known about this date stamp.

2. A rubber oval RO7-P&T.

Nedlands.

No special date stamp for Telegraphs appears to have been issued to Nedlands.

North Perth.

In the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday 31 July 1894, the Colonial Treasurer stated that Post and Telegraph Offices would be shortly established at North Perth and East Perth.

In the Legislative Assembly on 24 September 1895, in answer to a question about facilities at North Perth from Mr. Wood:

"The PREMIER (Hon. Sir J. Forest) replied that the Postal Department had been endeavoring to give accommodation to North Perth but, up to the present time, had been unable to secure a building suitable for a Post and Telegraph office. It was intended to build an office, but, in the meantime, a pillar box would be erected on a convenient site".

North Perth was established as an Allowance Office on 1 December 1902. In 1903, it became a Receiving Office located on Angove Street. It became an Official Office in October 1912. The date stamp shows clearly the Office was a Post & Telegraph Office before either of those designations.

Even so, it appears that planning for a Post Office really started in May 1905 when an architect - Michael Cavanagh - agreed to sell a block of land opposite the new North Perth Town Hall to the Post Master General's Department. Despite that initiative, the Post-Master General was quoted in The West Australian in July 1909 maintaining that the creation of a Post Office for North Perth was not yet required:

“"The suburb is certainly extending rapidly, but it is at present very scattered, and can, in my opinion, be better served by two or three allowance offices until more closely settled".

In 1916, the North Perth Post Office and its attached postmaster/postmistress residence was finally constructed.
Designed by architect Hillson Beasley, the new building cost £1,720.

Date stamps.

It was considered in some sources that North Perth had been issued with a rubber oval date stamp for use with telegraph matters but no details of the design were previously recorded.

Two types of oval date stamps for use with telegraphs are now known.

Palace Hotel.

The Palace Hotel was a three storey building constructed in 1897 on the corner of St Georges Terrace and William Street in Perth.
It was described as being "... one of the most beautiful and elegant hotels in Australasia".

Its central position made it an important landmark in Perth. Many commercial travellers used the Palace Hotel as a base.
The need for a communications centre was readily appreciated and a Post & Telegraph Office was opened almost immediately - on 8 July 1897.

A rubber oval date stamp (RO6-P&TO) was issued to the Office.

Perth Railway Station.

A Telegraph Office opened at Perth Railway Station on 11 June 1881. This event was noted in the Government Gazette when it notified that the Legislative Council
would be convened on Monday 25 July 1881. The line connected the General Post Office to a Telegraph Office at the Railway.
This Office continued operations until, on 1 March 1897, it was upgraded to a Post & Telegraph Office.

An improvement of a most important character, and one which will certainly be appreciated, is now being carried out at the Perth Central Station. This consists in the provision of a commodious Post and Telegraph Office in the room formerly used as the parcels office. It is expected that the Post Office will be opened in about a week or 10 days, and we understand that it will be used for all classes of postal and telegraphic business".
(West Australian 9 January 1897).

It appears as if the Office was issued with an oval rubber date stamp. The format was RO6-P&TO and there is a reference in Goulder to a possible date of 1902.
If the date stamp does exist, it would be very rare.

South Perth.

The Post & Telegraph Office was opened on 7 November 1898 and was renamed Mends Street on 10 July 1939.

On 19 June 1900, the West Australian reported that:

"The progressive suburb of South Perth has attained such a degree of prosperity in the eyes of the Colonial Secretary and the other dignitaries controlling the Postal and Telegraph Department that it is to be improved and, it is to be hoped, benefited by the erection of a Post and Telegraph office.

As to the most convenient locality for the site of the new building, there is much diversity of opinion. Mr. Randell and his officers, however, have settled the matter in their own minds and the resultant effect is that today tenders are due for the erection of a building contiguous to the Mends Street jetty, the recreation reserve and the Zoological Gardens.

For some time the business of the department has been carried on in premises connected with the Windsor Hotel. Those of the residents whose domiciles are beyond the regulation one mile radius have suffered the extra charge for delivery of telegrams with a resignation born of the thought that the arrangement was but a temporary one. Wrathfully, they have declaimed against a permanent disability in the direction named, a disability which, they state, is but slight as compared with the fact that for the receipt of their letters they are forced to depend upon the good nature of a grocer in their midst who, it is averred, takes delivery and distributes the letters, etc. as they are called for.

They have urged upon the Colonial Secretary their claims for consideration and the erection of the new post office at a spot more centrally situated, but without avail - Mr. Randell declaring against them.

As a last protest they held a meeting last evening under the shelter of the verandah of a vacant shop near the Coode Street jetty and about 50 gentlemen assembled. Mr. Manning, the Chairman of the local Roads Board, conducted the meeting which was unanimously of the opinion that a last effort should be made to secure their object. It was asserted that the majority of the residents were located on the east side of the Zoological Gardens, and that, in addition, most of those residents at "The Point", in a spirit of fairness, agreed that what they were urging was but right and just. Much discussion as to the next move was indulged in, but it was eventually decided, in the words of one of the speakers, "to give Mr. Randell one more chance". Should he not avail himself of that chance and persist in the erection of the building on the site he has already decided upon, the oppositionists will, one of them declared, "jump over his head" and approach the Premier with a deputation armed with a petition. A deputation was appointed to this end".

Two types of rubber oval date stamp were issued to the South Perth Telegraph Office

1. RO4 - P&TO.

2. RO2 - P&TO.

Subiaco.

On 6th August 1897, the Western Mail reported that:

"There seems to be a possibility of the recent fire at the Subiaco School causing, indirectly, a postponement of the erection of the permanent Post and Telegraph office at the corner of Bagot Street and Rokeby Road.

Owing to the destruction of the school premises, the Education Department found it necessary to open school in the old school buildings, which are situated on a portion of the corner block which the Minister has set apart for postal purposes. Mr. Lefroy is afraid that, though the old school buildings are not on the actual site of the new Post Office, they are sufficiently near as to render it impossible to successfully continue the school during the progress of building operations. The Department is hopeful that some arrangement can be made with the contractor for the erection of the post-office to defer beginning the work for some time, possibly until the school has been rebuilt".

Nevertheless it seems that the Telegraph Office had been opened for business on 15 July 1897.

Four formats for date stamps for telegraph purposes are recorded:

Note: These two date stamps were both used on the same Land Titles OHMS cover from Perth to Subiaco but redirected to the Dead Letter Office 21 January 1899.

1. A rubber oval Post and Telegraph Office - RO7 - P&T.
Used in violet.

2. A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office - RO7 - P & TO.
Used in blue.

3. A rubber oval TELEGRAPH OFFICE (RO6 - TO):
Used in violet.

4. A rubber oval Post and Telegraph Office (RO2 - P&TO).
Used in blue.

5. A rubber oval Post and Telegraph Office (RO6 - P&TO).
Used in violet.

Victoria Park.

A Post & Telegraph Office was opened on 1 December 1898. It was downgraded to an Allowance Office on 1 September 1904.
It became an Official Office on 24 December 1912.

Six date stamps are recorded for use with telegraphs at Victoria Park. Five of these stamps were rubber and one appears to be steel.
One of the rubber date stamps was inscribed POST OFFICE.

1. RO2-P&TO.

2. RO7-P&TO.

Used about 1912.
Rated: RRRR.

3. RO6-P&TO.

4. RO2 - TO.

5. SC1 - TELEGRAPHS VICTORIA.
WEST AUST at the base.

6. RO7 - PO.
Lower inscription is VICTORIA PARK.

Victoria Park East.

No details available.

West Leederville.

A Post & Telegraph Office was opened but no details are known.

A rubber oval Post & Telegraph Office (RO7-P&TO) date stamp was issued to the office.