New Zealand - Post Office - Shop Frontage - Petrol Station - Templeton (CH) Post Office - 1950's - Private Original Photo #329172 - Templeton is a small town on the outskirts of Christchurch. While the majority of Templeton is a part of Christchurch city, a small number of residents fall within Selwyn District. Lying along State Highway 1. Templeton has been the centre of harness racing in Canterbury, with many famous names such as Devine, Nyan, Butt, Jones, Munro and Carmichael among its people. - Its European history goes to over 140 years when it was a watering point for horses between Christchurch and the Selwyn River / Waikirikiri. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templeton,_New_Zealand) History of New Zealand Post - The earliest forms of postal communication within New Zealand and to and from its shores were haphazard at best – the first whalers, missionaries and traders having to rely on occasional passing ships for inwards and outwards communications. - During the 1830s, several Bay of Islands merchants were delegated the responsibility for inward and outward mail by the Postmaster-General of New South Wales. In 1840, the first official Post Office in New Zealand was opened at Kororareka, when Captain Hobson, the newly appointed Lieutenant-Governor, arrived in the Bay of Islands and appointed William Clayton Hayes as Clerk to the Bench of Magistrates and Postmaster. Within six months, Hayes was suspended from duty – the first civil servant to incur this penalty in New Zealand – for neglect of duty and continual inebriety. - When New Zealand was established as a Crown Colony independent of New South Wales in 1841, HM Treasury in London, unaware that Captain Hobson had already created a Post Office under his control, issued a Warrant establishing the Post Office in New Zealand under British Post Office control. Change of control did not in fact take place until some 18 months later, and was returned to Colonial control again in 1850. - The establishment of settlements across North and South Islands meant the need for an internal postal service was becoming more and more important, however New Zealand's geography, and ongoing wars between Maori and Europeans and inter-tribal fighting hindered communication. At the time, shipping mail coast-to-coast, although inefficient, was the most reliable means of transporting mail around the country. A monthly shipping service to Sydney, where mail was exchanged with outbound and inbound London ships saw the first regular overseas mail service established. - The Local Posts Act of 1856 and the Post Office Act of 1858 signalled a period of growth for the New Zealand Post Office. The Local Posts Act gave provincial councils the authority to create their own mail services and local Post Offices, while the Government continued to maintain the overland trunk postal routes and the head Post Office in each province. The Post Office Act repealed the Local Posts Act, establishing the Post Office as a separate government department, reporting to the Postmaster General, and providing for its administration. - By the end of the 1860s, 'postie' deliveries and private boxes had been introduced, agency services for other government departments were offered at Post Offices, a money order service was available and the Post Office Savings Bank had opened. The discovery of gold in the South Island and the boom of New Zealand's railway, roads and communication infrastructure as part of Julius Vogel's public works and assisted migration programme in the 1870s did much to facilitate the growth of the postal network. By 1880 there were over 850 post offices. The following year, the merger of the Electric Telegraphs Department with the Post Office Department created the enlarged New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department, which later became the New Zealand Post Office. - The New Zealand Post Office entered the 20th century as a burgeoning government department with over 1,700 branches. - Rapid growth of the Post Office continued throughout the century, with its broad role as post office, savings bank and telephone exchange cementing its place in New Zealand society. Public demand for its services, including the growth of private telephones in people's homes, and the introduction of internal and international airmail services in the 1930s, enabling faster, more efficient mail services, ensured its future. - By the middle of the century, the Post Office was a complex and financially successful organisation – fulfilling political, social and economic needs. Its role in the community was expansive. Beyond the traditional communication services, the Post Office provided important community services including registering births, marriages, deaths and cars, accepting television and fishing licence fees, enrolling people to vote, and collecting pensions. Post Offices also provided daily weather and temperature checks for the Meteorological Office, and postmasters were able to perform marriage ceremonies. - In the 1960s and 70s steps were taken towards better managing the ever-increasing volumes of national and international mail: the installation of New Zealand's first mechanical mail sorting machine in the Auckland parcel depot, and the introduction of address postal codes to simplify bulk mail sorting. However, increasingly the tension between political and commercial pressures meant the business was not operating efficiently. - By the 1980s, the variety of roles, the sometimes-conflicting needs of three different businesses, and political considerations were major constraints on the Post Office. It was increasingly unable to meet growing consumer demands and the postal side alone was losing over $20 million a year, with expectations that this would balloon in the future. - In 1985, Jonathan Hunt, Postmaster General, ordered a review of the organisational and management structure of the Post Office. The subsequent Mason-Morris report of 1986 called for sweeping changes, separating the three core businesses to operate as independent State-owned corporations. (https://www.nzpost.co.nz/about-us/who-we-are/history-of-new-zealand-post)