Homebush Postman, Mordey (Banjo) Pattinson

 

Retiring Homebush postman, Mordey Pattinson by L. Bartholen, 28 June 1949.
Courtesy State Library of NSW

Homebush postman, Mordey Edward Pattinson was born on 3 September 1884 to John and Catherine Pattinson. They had emigrated from the UK in 1877, settling in Jones Street Croydon where they remained. John Gregory Pattinson was a landscape gardener who, for 30 years, superintended the work at The Hall, Croydon for Mr Samuel Dickenson, Director of the Royal Exchange.

At Federation, in January 1901, the postal service came under the control of the Commonwealth government. That year, at the age of 16, Mordey Pattinson was appointed a switch attendant, on probation, in the Head Office of the newly-created Postmaster General’s Department (PMG).[1] His appointment was confirmed in 1903.[2]

Later Mordey became a postman at Homebush Post Office which had been built in 1895. In 1920 he was listed as one of three postmen based at Homebush.[3] As well as the Postmaster and postmen (sometimes called letter-carriers), the staff there also included mechanics and telegraph messengers. Some of the Homebush staff were photographed outside the Post Office that year. Perhaps Mordey is in this photo too.

Homebush Post Office and staff, 1920. Courtesy National Archives of Australia

 

Occasionally the Homebush Post Office featured in the newspapers. When Clifford Doutty, the postmaster, died in 1906, the postal staff of Homebush acted as pall bearers.[4]

The postal staff worked hard but demand for their services continued to increase. By January 1909 there was concern about the workload of the postmen. At a meeting of Strathfield Council, Alderman Price pointed out that:

‘… while the business done at the Homebush Post Office had increased at a rapid rate during the past few years, the number of officers employed remained the same as it was twenty years ago. Some of the carriers on the northern side of the line had to daily deliver mail matter in no less than three municipalities.
The Mayor assured the Council that a strong letter on the matter would be sent to the federal member, and if no satisfaction was gained a deputation from the council and residents to the department would be arranged.’[5]

The issue had not been resolved by April when Strathfield Council again discussed the matter. Although an extra mail delivery had been dispatched from the city to Homebush, there had been no additional postmen appointed to actually deliver the mail.

‘Alderman Reid pointed out that what the council asked for was an additional letter-carrier, but instead of granting this the department was apparently trying to shirk the matter. He declared that it was a disgrace to the department to sweat the postmen in the manner they were doing.’[6]

At a time when all correspondence was conducted by mail, residents depended on more than one postal delivery a day. In November 1910, J.L. Pomeroy of Homebush wrote to the newspapers to complain that a letter posted at Homebush took 21 hours to be delivered to Croydon.[7]

During the first 25 years of the Postmaster General’s Department the staff had increased from 18,000 to 47,000 and the postal articles handled from 365 million to 1,000 million![8] It would appear that it was not just the Homebush postmen who were overworked.

In 1924 a sad event took place when a 16-year-old postal worker from Auburn was tragically killed in a drowning accident at Parramatta. Amongst the flowers at John Preston Hewitt’s funeral was a beautiful wreath from his co-workers at the Homebush Post Office.[9]

In 1932 one of Mordey Pattinson’s fellow letter-carriers, Michael McManus, was charged at Burwood Police Station with the theft of a bank note from a letter, although he was later discharged.[10]

Electoral rolls (available on Ancestry Library Edition) show that by 1930 Mordey was living at 12 Burlington Road Homebush. An apartment block now stands on this site.

In 1934 Mordey, known as Banjo and aged about 50, married Annie Helena Waters in Auburn and the couple settled in Lidcombe for a number of years. By 1949 they had returned to Homebush where they resided at 49 Underwood Road (formerly 56A), a house owned by Mr Alan Brown of Ashfield.

The Crescent and Homebush Post Office, 1944. Courtesy National Archives of Australia

Homebush Post Office, 1944. Courtesy National Archives of Australia

Banjo Pattinson retired as a postal officer from the close of business on 2 September 1949.[11] His retirement was photographed for posterity – the two images show him inspecting his worn-out shoes. These photos are now in the collection of the State Library of NSW.[12] They appear to have been taken for a newspaper but they may not have been published. No doubt Mordey would have been well-known to the residents of Homebush as he walked the streets over so many years.
Mordey and Annie spent their well-earned retirement years in Underwood Road Homebush until the mid-1960s when they moved to Cambridge Park. Annie died there in August 1967 and Mordey died in November 1967.

Today the former Homebush Post Office operates as the Homebush Medical & Dental Centre in The Crescent.

Homebush Medical & Dental Centre, The Crescent, Homebush, 25 August 2022. Courtesy Strathfield Local Studies

 

By J.J. MacRitchie

Local Studies Advisor

 

References

[1] Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 1 July 1901 p.108 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232126318

 

[2] Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 4 April 1904 p.186 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232344312/24972849

 

[3] Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 18 October 1920 p.1616

 

[4] Australian Star 10 July 1906 p.5 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/228472434

 

[5] The Australian Star 23 January 1909 p.15 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/229389121

 

[6] The Star 3 April 1909 p.18 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/228066854

 

[7] Sydney Morning Herald 12 November 1910 p.16 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15206157

 

[8] The Canberra Times 21 October 1926 p.8 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1208030

 

[9] The Campbelltown News 8 February 1924 p.1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/262305684

 

[10] Sydney Morning Herald 15 November 1932 p.6 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16930873

 

[11] Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 21 July 1949 p.2088 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232879044/25103991

 

[12] State Library of NSW ‘Mr Pattinson – retiring postman, 28 June 1949’ / photographs by L. Bartholen https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/1wNrGBPn