New Zealand - Bicycles - Post Office cycle repair shop - Early 1930s 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 The Post Office Act repealed the Local Posts Act, establishing the Post Office as a separate government department, reporting to the Postmaster General, and providing for its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. (Reference: https://www.nzpost.co.nz/about-us/who-we-are/history-of-new-zealand-post#The-early-years) ------------------- Image source; Archives reference: AAAC W5843 Box 3 / [8-10] Material from Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=24205915 https://www.flickr.com/photos/archivesnz/32640011897