VR 1876 Post Box, Bassendean

Parent Place or Precinct

25501 Red Post Boxes Group

Statement of Significance

• The pillar box has historic value as a rare remaining element from the 19th century in the Bassendean community which demonstrates the establishment of the small settlement at this time.
• The pillar box has aesthetic value as an example of 19th century design and manufacture which is in good condition.
• The pillar box has social value as on at least two occasions the proposed removal of the pillar box has seen a strong community response to retain the box at this location.

Physical Description

This pillar box is a relatively simple and unadorned example of a 19th century traditional post box. This style is known as the ‘Penfold’ design. The hexagonal post box is approximately 120cm (4ft) in height with a horizontal posting slot beneath a domed and cantilevered, projecting cap. The horizontal opening below the cap has the word ‘LETTERS’ cast into the weather flap. Above the posting slot, the royal cipher - VR, for Victoria Regina (Latin for Queen Victoria) - and the date of manufacture (1876) is cast. Below the posting slot, a single moulded band is located and a key opening door allows access to the interior of the box. The door is hinged with two metal hinges. The entire box is painted red although some fading is evident and remnant paper from former signage is present. Branding for Australia Post is located on the front face of the box. The box appears to be in good condition [2017].

History

Within six months of the establishment of the Swan River Colony, a rudimentary postal system had been established, with the Harbour Master at Fremantle being appointed postmaster of the colony. Predominately occupied with the management of mail incoming and outgoing by sea, letters could only be paid for at his office. As the population grew, post offices were established across the State, initially housed in the local postmaster's residential or business premises, and later in purpose-built post office buildings. Mail was carried
by contract, on horseback or spring cart, or by native mail-carriers. Mail routes were long, covering great distances to reach the scattered population, and expensive to maintain. The high charge of postage resulted in colonists preferring to send mail via private agency rather than use the colonial postal service. In 1854, adhesive postage stamps were introduced to Western Australia, regulating the price and making prepayment of postage compulsory. Prepaid postage facilitated the introduction and operation of post boxes - letter receivers located away from a post office or shop. First introduced in Great Britain in 1851/52
(in the Channel lslands) and Australia in 1855/56 (at Circular Quay in Sydney) Western Australia's first post boxes are thought to have been erected in Fremantle in 1868. The red hexagonal 'Penfold' design which was standard issue in Britain from 1866 to 1879.
The Penford design was created by English architect John Penfold and were manufactured between 1866 and 1879. Pillar boxes were exported across the globe however this pillar post box was manufactured locally to a similar, but less decorative, design found in Great Britain at that time It is not known who manufactured these early boxes as there is no foundry mark on this box, or the two other surviving examples of the type. However it is thought that they were made in Western Australia rather than being imported from Britain or the Eastern States. It is presumed that post boxes were erected on an ad hoc basis, as no documentation has been found to support them being erected as part of an organised scheme. It appears that the post boxes were placed where demand dictated, in locations where the nearby population was not large enough to warrant a post office but which nevertheless generated enough post to warrant a box. Pillar boxes are cast with the initials of the reigning monarch and date of manufacture. Although abandoned in Great Britain in 1879 following complaints that letters were becoming trapped in the hexagonal design, the 'Penfold' design appears to have been standard issue in Western Australia until
the Commonwealth took control of the postal system following Federation in 1901. Prior to 1901, postal services in Western Australia in the second half of the 19th century were overseen by the Colonial Post and Telegraph Office within the Colonial Secretary’s Office. Anton Helmich was the Post Master General of the Colony between 1847 and 1887 and he oversaw the introduction of adhesive postage stamps for the colony in addition to developing the provision of services throughout the colony. The decision to erect a pillar box at this site in Surrey Street c1876 was consistent with the location of the Pensioner Guard cottages in Surrey Street (built in the 1850s) and the relatively few settlers who lived in the locality known as ‘West Guildford’ until the 1920s. It has not been established when this pillar box was erected at the site. A pillar box is known to have been located near the former Lockeridge Hotel in 1910 indicating that pillar boxes were positioned around the
townsite. In 1950, a newspaper article in The West Australian stated that the pillar box was to be removed and be replaced with a contemporary ‘mail receiver’. This did not occur and it is recorded in The Bassendean Town News of March 1979 that a proposal in 1975 to remove the pillar box by Australia Post was fought and won by the Bassendean Town Council. Since that time the pillar box has been retained and continues to be used for its original purpose.

Integrity/Authenticity

High
High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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