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| BACK HOME A letter from the Department of Lands, dated April 8, 1918, pointed out that the correct spelling was Menindee and this was being used for the new railway station. The name was therefore changed from Menindie as from 1918. Post Office Building. Steps were first taken during 1876 to have a government post office building erected at Menindee and 1,000 pounds was placed on the following year's estimates. It was not until 1878 that tenders were called for a building on a site next to the court house. The new post office was occupied on April 2, 1881. The Mails. When the Menindee office was opened a mail service was in existence between Wentworth and Mount Murchison (now called Wilcannia). This was carried out by Tom Pain and Bob Driscott of Moorna on horseback once a fortnight. It was some years before a coach was placed on the run. During 1870, an interesting horseback service commenced. This was between Menindee and Mount Gipps and was carried out on horse back once a fortnight by Henry Boran of Wentworth for 214 pounds a year. The most interesting service of all, so far as Menindee is concerned, was the one that started around May 1911 by John Cleary. This was the first motor mail in NSW. It was generally accepted that it was the first in Australia but it has been found that one existed earlier in Queensland between Isisford and Iifracombe. The vehicle made famous by John Cleary was an Albion Lorry converted into a charabanc. The postal department viewed the new form of transport with distrust and refused permission for Cleary to use it unless a horse-drawn coach followed it to pick up the mails in case of a breakdown. The department was unwilling to have its proud record of the "mails must go through" risked on a new system of transport which had not been fully tried out. This concludes all the early history of the Menindee Post office END |
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