“The postal facilities at Grange are a hundred years behind the times,” said Mr. G. W. Stacey, on Tuesday morning, 30th March 1909, when, in company with Messrs. Vawser and O’Halloran, he waited upon the Deputy Postmaster-General, Mr. R. Waddy, in order to bring before the department the necessity for better postal facilities at the sea-side resort.

Senator Vardon, who introduced the deputation, said that the postal arrangements at Grange were altogether inadequate, and therefore great inconvenience was suffered by the residents. Grange was a growing place, but there was no delivery by letter-carrier, and the residents thought the time had come when they were deserving of a little more consideration by the postal authorities.

Mr. Vawser asked, first of all, for a departmental post-office, which would enable them to enjoy reasonable telegraphic and money-order facilities. Money orders transmitted to residents at Grange had to be made payable at Henley Beach or Adelaide. They had a delivery at the contract post office in the morning and one about 6 o’clock in the evening. A letter reaching Adelaide from Melbourne at 10 a.m. would not be delivered to a person living at Grange until sometime between 6 and 7 p.m. As the mail for Adelaide closed at 7 p.m. no time was given a person to reply by return of post.

The guard of the Adelaide train had often been asked to post letters at Woodville, but, being a busy man he sometimes found when he returned home after his day’s work that in his inside pocket was a letter that he had promised to post for a resident of  Grange.

The present population of Grange was equal to that of Henley Beach at the time when a post-office was established there. There were now between 120 and 130 houses at Grange.

He urged that the department should build a post-office or else rent more suitable premises.

Source: Express and Telegraph, Tues 30 March 1909, page 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article209890939.txt

Mr. O’Halloran pointed out that the telephone cabinet at Grange was a stifling compartment in summer and did not give the privilege of privacy. There were also no facilities in regard to the delivery of telegrams. Again and again telegrams had been useless by the time they were received. 

Mr. Stacey said there was no privacy in regard to the postal, telegraphic, or tele-phonic arrangements at Grange. The telephone cabinet was about 4 ft. square and 7 ft. high, and he had been sometimes forced to stand inside for an hour before he got the number he wanted.

Mr. Waddy, in reply, said that the best cabinet was, in his opinion, one formed of baize curtains, which deadened the sound well, but people thought they enjoyed more privacy when they got inside wooden walls. There was generally enough honour amongst English people to urge them to step out of hearing when anyone was using the telephone. Last year the departmental revenue from the Grange contract post-office was £65 and the expenditure £57.  The revenue from Henley Beach was £431.

The telephone exchange at Henley Beach swells the profits and many of the subscribers are residents of Grange.

Mr. Waddy went on to say that he was not allowed to recommend the erection of a post office if the departmental revenue of the place did not reach £400 a year. He would make arrangements for the sale and collection of money orders and would give them a midday mail each way and a mail to Adelaide at 9 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. which would enable them to answer letters by return of post.

In regard to the inadequate accommodation, he would personally inspect the premises and would recommend that a delivery by letter carrier be affected once a day. The expenditure thus entailed would have to be provided for on the Estimates.

The residents of Grange, if they wanted a new post-office, should do all their postal business at Grange in order to swell the receipts. He would see that the post-office there was enabled to meet all the demands of the residents as regards stamps and so forth.

Source: Express and Telegraph, Tues 30 March 1909, page 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article209890939.txt

The current Grange Post Office is an agency co-located with a pharmacy on Military Rd. (as at March, 2024)

“Despite our best attempts, things sometimes just stay the same.”
(H&GHS editor comment)

Source:Henley & Grange Newspaper, March 24 1958

There was an attempted hold-up at the Grange Post Office, on the 25^th October 1957. This was a very rare event for the time.

Source: Henley & Grange Historical Society

In the attack, Postmaster John Linkson was severely battered about the head and body when he fought off an armed assailant. He was about to close the Post Office for lunch, when a man, carrying a sawn-off .22 rifle, entered the office demanding money. John rushed through the opening in the counter and grappled with the man.

John Linkson – two weeks after the hold-up
Source: Suzanne Linkson

Although injured in the ensuing struggle, John succeeded in wrenching the rifle from the gunman throwing it through the door. An electrician working on a nearby house came to investigate and was just in time to see the would-be thief break free, rush to a car and make off at high speed.

The young man, chased by a motorist, crashed the stolen car into a creek near Marlborough Street, and ran across vacant paddocks. The police used clues obtained from the rifle to arrest him that night.

John spent three or four days in the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where he had 26 stitches inserted for head wounds. He was commended by the police for his action and was later thanked by the Department and presented with a Certificate of Merit.

Source: Suzanne Linkson

Grange PO, 3 Jetty St  c. 1990
Source: Henley & Grange Historical Society Collection

Grange PO 568 (now 314) Military Rd  c. 1936 – 1967
Source: Roger Edmonds

GRANGE POST OFFICES
Source: Sands and McDougall Directories (1890 – 1973)

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