Dood has been awarded a 2021 Award for Personal Achievement in Local History by the British Association for Local History and this was awarded at the Local History Day on 12th June 2021. Congratulations !
One of the reasons that he won this award was for the many articles he wrote for the membership while there were no meetings. The last one on Newent Postal Services – see below
Newent Postal Services
Pre-paid postage came into being in 1840. Before that mail had to be paid for by the recipient. In 1770 a Post messenger was drowned in floods between Newent and Gloucester. In the 1820s letters were carried by horse mail which left Newent for Gloucester each morning at 8-00am and returned at 4-00pm. Before pre-paid postage was introduced in 1840 there were two Newent Postal stamps (fig.1).
Fig.1 One of the pre-1840 postal stamps for Newent “NEWENT 117” can just be seen.
Fig 2 A Penny Black postage stamp introduced in 1840.
Fig.3 A stamp with the Newent post mark 1905.
Thomas Hartle was the original postmaster and saw the introduction of pre-paid post. He remained in the position until 1854 (aged 89) assisted by his daughter Jane.
James Cooper Bisco took over as Postmaster on 4th February 1855 and was the first of a long line of Biscos who ran the service for over 100 years until 1983. He was primarily a cordwainer making and repairing shoes and ran the post office from his shop. Fig.4 shows a bill dated 1862 for his services but with the address as the Post Office.
Fig.4 A bill by James Cooper Bisco dated 1862
Fig.5 The first post Office at 8 Church St. in 1855.
The first Post Office was at No.8 Church Street. James Cooper Bisco married Charlotte MacDonald and when he died in 1864 she took over as Post Mistress. Then in 1880 their son James and his wife Mary Ann continued the business. When James died in 1900, Mary Ann moved to Broad Street into what is now Falcon Court, with her son Robert Harry (Fig.6). In 1918 the family moved to the Red House, opposite St Mary’s Church and this has been the Post Office ever since. It is called the Red House because it used to be covered in Virginia Creeper giving it a distinctive colour in the autumn. Mary Ann worked there all her life and died behind the counter in 1936.
Mrs Elizabeth Rogers, the daughter of James Cooper Bisco, was the first telephone operator in Newent. The telephone arrived in 1910 with the post office being number 1. Number 2 was the local doctor and number 3 was the George Hotel. She died in 1919.
Fig.6 The post office in Broad Street 1900-1918.
Fig.7 Newent Postmen c1910. L to R back row:- Marcus Martin, unknown, Jenkins, Byard, Hawkins, unknown. Front row:- Court, Bradley, Beachus, Henry Awford(With Boer War Medals) , Cook
Robert Harry Bisco was a keen photographer and produced many fine photographs of Newent before and after the first World War. (Fig.8) He took over as Postmaster in 1932 and his son Robert James (Bob) took over in 1955, until he retired in 1983. Robin Vizor and his wife Ann then took on the roll.
Fig. 8 Robert Harry Bisco with his camera.
Fig.9 Bob Bisco taking over the Post Office from his father in 1955.
Between the two World Wars the mail was taken from the Post Office to the railway station on a flat bed trolley. The engine driver would sound his whistle once when he was arriving at the station, and this would be the signal for the mail to be sent. He gave two hoots when he had stopped in the station and three hoots when he was due to depart. This was just enough time to get from the Post Office to the Station and load the mail.
Before World War II the postmen delivered mail by bicycle as far out as Upleadon and Brand Green, collecting the mail from the boxes on the return. They were paid 12 shillings and sixpence a week with an extra 2 shillings and sixpence if they used their own bicycle.
There were 13 regular staff employed after World War II and this was increased by another dozen at Christmas when the Memorial Hall was used for the extra sorting. Three vans were used for the parcel delivery.
Before World War II every little village and hamlet had its own post office and local postman. The Victorian post box was installed at Upleadon Cross in 1896 (Fig.10) and the postman, Charlie Jenkins, would blow a whistle when he was collecting the mail so that anyone wishing to send a parcel could take it to him. He even carried a spring balance to weigh the parcel.
In 1937 Mr William Henry Hawkins (Fig.7) was awarded the Imperial Service Medal after 43 years of meritorious service to the Post Office (Fig.11). The medal came up for sale on E-bay in 2013. It was presented by the Postmaster of Gloucester Mr T S Hunt and is engraved with Mr Hawkins name around the rim.
Fig.10 The Victorian post box at Upleadon Cross installed in 1896
Fig. 11 The Imperial Service medal awarded to Mr William Hawkins in 1937
May Hill also has a Victorian post box near the Glasshouse Inn (fig12). One of the Newent postmen, Fred Beachus, was killed during World War II while serving with the RAF in the Isle of Man. He was in the back of a mail delivery vehicle when it was struck by the undercarriage of an aircraft landing at Ronaldsway Airfield. He is buried in Newent Cemetery.
The May Hill post Office was closed in 1998. For the last 25 years it had been operated by Betty Oates (fig.13).
Fig.12 The Victorian post box at May Hill.
Fig.13 The Post Mistress at May Hill retires in 1998 and the post office closed.
Fig.14 The old Post Office in Redmarley
In 2012 the main Newent post box outside the Post Office was painted gold to celebrate the winning of a gold medal at the Olympic Games by Charlotte Du Jardin on Valegro. A statue of the horse was erected in the Market Square in 2021.
In 2013 the Newent Post Office was refurbished and the position of the counter altered to where it is today.
Thanks for the historical info, what will you post next?