THE IRISH TOWN ROYAL MAIL NORTHAM W.A.

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c. 1898

Subcollections

Overview

A sepia coloured postcard of a horse and covered trap with the Irishtown mailman standing to the right of his horse.
His right arm is extended to the neck harness of the horse whose nose is near to an ornate lamppost.
Behind, to the left, is a section of a brick/stone building with two large sash windows and part of another one.
Below on the roadway is a small group of people including children.
There are rooftops of smaller buildings to the right and open country beyond.

Historical information

This photograph was published in the Saturday 10 Sep 1898 edition of The Australasian newspaper (published in Melbourne, Victoria between 1864-1946). It was captioned, 'Irish Town Royal Mail, Northam, W.A. / Irish Town is a small farming settlement about twelve miles out from Northam, which is 57 miles N.E. of Perth, on the Avon and Mortlock rivers'.
The man beside the horse is possibly William Lord (alias Thompson) who held the mail contract at this time. (Further info on the mail contract and William Lord, a Toodyay convict, can be found in the book, "In Search of William Lord" by Elaine Lord, 1992.)

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-37-2001.1168

Item type

Photographs

Themes

Communication

Inscriptions and markings

Original caption in white along the bottom of the image: "The. Irish. Town. Royal. Mail. Northam. W.A."

Contextual Information

The photo is probably taken outside the Northam Post Office. The former Northam Post Office is located at 33 Wellington Street, Northam and in 2022 the building was occupied by a medical practice.
Today, Irishtown in Western Australia is spelled without a space between Irish and Town.

Year

c. 1898

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Google Maps search term / URL

https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!4v1651676345670!6m8!1m7!1sWfoigF0reTYiw7mizvW74Q!2m2!1d-31.65208209129413!2d116.6747331861905!3f156.4650031889776!4f5.685212889890295!5f1.5333334969022983

Geotag

-31.652133000704, 116.67469186429

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Links to additional resources

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/138604562?searchTerm=Irish%20Town%20…

Photo published in 1898 edition of The Australasian newspaper.

Shire of Toodyay

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