Pambula Post Office, Quondola Street, Pambula

Image © Angela George. All rights reserved.

Pambula's present post office is a two storey brick building with flat roof. An adjoining single storey brick addition houses the private post boxes and was added in the about the 1990s. When originally constructed, the building had a symmetrical façade with a utilitarian, business-like character, plain wall surfaces and an almost complete absence of decoration, a style popular at that time. The only relief provided was by a plain crowning cornice along the top edge of the roof line. Windows on the front façade were originally symmetrical and of horizontal proportions. In more recent times, these have been shaded by corrugated iron bullnose awnings which, although at odds with the original style and presentation of the building, softens its appearance and lets it blend in more readily to the overall Pambula streetscape.

Pambula’s postal facilities were originally established on September 1, 1853 in response to a letter from Mr. J. J. Grealy. Thomas Clayton served as Postmaster until November 1854, when Syms Covington was appointed to the position. He was followed by his son, also Syms, after his death in 1861; followed by local general storekeeper Robert Beck in August the same year; and then J. H. Bennett, general storekeeper at Yowaka (now known as South Pambula). C. H. Baddeley had taken over by January 1872.

Money order facilities commenced at Pambula Post Office in 1876; and a telegraph office opened on August 4, 1880. Although the town’s postal and telegraph facilities had operated separately for many years, by May 1881 arrangements had been made to amalgamate the two offices, and on January 1, 1882 postal operations commenced at the telegraph office under the control of telegraph master Mr. Cornell.

A branch of the Government Savings Bank was established at the post office in March 1883 and in July 1890, the Postmaster reported that a gold field was about to open three miles from the main township. The resulting population increase saw a telegraph messenger added to the staff while the postmaster’s wife was granted £20 per annum for her duties as postal assistant.

For many years, the post office occupied premises provided by the postmaster of the time. This included the Forest Oak Inn in Quondola Street; Bennett’s general store and then the Grange at Yowaka (South Pambula); Beck’s Post Stores in Bullara Street; Baddeley’s residence in Monaro

The former Pambula Post Office, which burnt down in 1936.

Street; Behl’s two-storey (now Toad Hall); and a weatherboard house in Toalla Street (still standing behind a tile business). By 1900, with local residents making representations for erection of a permanent government building, the Post and Telegraph Department decided to construct a minor town office to the cost of £600 as soon as funds were available.

Although land had been previously reserved for the purpose, the Inspector felt the location was unsuitable so tenders were called for provision of a site. A Quondola Street allotment, offered by Mr. J. C. Behl for £250, was recommended, but with insufficient funds in hand, it was left in abeyance. Tenders were called again in April 1903, and in July in was announced that part of Allotment 15, Section 33 – the land offered two years earlier - had been purchased by the Federal Government.

As with the former office, there was a considerable delay in rebuilding and in the intervening months, staff operated from a temporary post office established in the Pambula Co-operative Creamery and Dairy Company’s headquarters on the corner of Quondola and Toalla Streets (now the Pambula butchery). As that building was also occupied by the local branch of the Primary Producers Union, the ongoing occupation by the Post Office drew complaints from the secretaries of both organisations.

Finally, the department gave approval for construction of a new two-storey brick building, awarding the contract to Gaskin Brothers of Waverly for £2700. Work commenced on April 20, 1937 and in May it was reported that “Good progress is now being made with Pambula’s new Post Office”, the high, narrow style reportedly “…the same as that now being followed in new suburban Post Offices.” In late July the building was officially inspected and approved, with occupation of Pambula’s new post office commencing on August 4, 1937. The local Progress Association marked the occasion with an official opening performed by the Deputy Director of Posts and Telegraphs, Mr. J. S. Duncan, followed by a banquet.

As with the former office, there was a considerable delay in rebuilding and in the intervening months, staff operated from a temporary post office established in the Pambula Co-operative Creamery and Dairy Company’s headquarters on the

The present post office building, C. 1940s.

corner of Quondola and Toalla Streets (now the Pambula butchery). As that building was also occupied by the local branch of the Primary Producers Union, the ongoing occupation by the Post Office drew complaints from the secretaries of both organisations.

Finally, the department gave approval for construction of a new two-storey brick building, awarding the contract to Gaskin Brothers of Waverly for £2700. Work commenced on April 20, 1937 and in May it was reported that “Good progress is now being made with Pambula’s new Post Office”, the high, narrow style reportedly “…the same as that now being followed in new suburban Post Offices.” In late July the building was officially inspected and approved, with occupation of Pambula’s new post office commencing on August 4, 1937. The local Progress Association marked the occasion with an official opening performed by the Deputy Director of Posts and Telegraphs, Mr. J. S. Duncan, followed by a banquet.

The Pambula Post Office is significant to the local community for its association with the historical development of the town. It is considered to be important to the local community’s sense of place. As the centre of communications for both the town proper and the surrounding district since the construction of the previous Post Office building in 1904/05, the site is socially and historically important to the community. The decision to erect a purpose built publicly owned structure reflects on the population growth and wealth derived from the late 19th century gold mining rush to nearby Yowaka and Pipeclay Creek and governmental confidence in the permanency and stability of the town by the turn of the 20th century. Both the previous post office building and the current structure provide tangible

evidence of the local community’s ability to lobby for

Pambula Post Office on the right, C. late 1960s.

improved communication services to the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and again in the 1930’s. The Pambula Post Office also provides evidence of the continually changing nature of postal and telecommunications practices in rural NSW. Aesthetically, the Pambula Post Office is an unusual architectural example locally and is a unique and notable streetscape element in the township. It is also indicative of the irrevocable impact disasters such as fires can have on townscape and streetscape features.

The brick building remains in use today, although extensive renovations and alterations were undertaken in 1990. The office itself was extended and the post boxes moved to the opposite side of the building, giving us the complex as it stands today.

Approximate location of site.

References and bibliography:

Bega Gazette and Eden District or Southern Coast Advertiser
Bega Standard
Candelo & Eden Union
Dunn’s 1921 Almanac
Eden Magnet
George, A. C. “Bubby”, comp. History of Pambula – old records early days, unpublished note book
George, Allan, pers. comm.
Kennedy, Arthur, pers. comm.
Magnet-Voice
Moore’s Almanac and NSW Country Directory, 1929
NAA: C3629, Pambula: Pambula Post Office.
NAA: MP33/1, NSW 1937/248
NAA: SP155/1, NSW 691 PMG
NAA: SP394/1, NL 17/2486
NAA: SP467/1, Official Telephone Service – Postmaster, Pambula.
NSW Government Gazette
Pambula Post Office 1861 – 1898 BVGS Z5.60.04 (original NAA)
Pambula Voice
Post Master General’s Department, Copy of letter to P. Aston Peirce, n.d.
Sand’s Sydney & NSW Directory
Sydney Morning Herald
Town and Country Journal
Twofold Bay and Maneroo Telegraph
Vogt, W. Stanley, Picturesque Travel Princes Highway Bairnsdale to Bega, n.d.
Vogt, W. Stanley, Picturesque Travel, 1928

Pambula Post Office, Quondola Street, Pambula

Image © Angela George. All rights reserved.

​

evidence of the local community’s ability to lobby for

​

The brick building remains in use today, although extensive renovations and alterations were undertaken in 1990. The office itself was extended and the post boxes moved to the opposite side of the building, giving us the complex as it stands today.

​

Approximate location of site.