--- Mail : 1847 ; Telegrams : 1860 ; Telephone : 1908 ---
In December, 1838, Mr. Henry Watts was appointed S.A. Postmaster-General, with one clerk to complete the establishment.
Branch offices were opened in due course, the first at Port Adelaide, the second at Port Lincoln. The year's revenue of the department in 1840 was only £232 4s. 5d. The net loss on the post and telegraph services was in 1883 £15,297. That was a decrease of nearly £8,000 from the loss of the previous year.
In February, 1855, Mr. Todd received his appointment as Superintendent of Telegraphs and Observer. The first telegraph line — between Adelaide and the Port — was opened on February 18, 1856.
The first settlers in Clare gave their address as The Twins (named for a waterhole) or Inchiquin, the name of Paddy Gleeson's homestead, or Gleeson's Village. From 1846 residents' addresses in the census were recorded as Clare Village or Clareville.
The population of Clare Village was a gathering of shepherds, hut-keepers, farm and domestic servants, stockmen and artisans, all employed by a few station gentlemen. (Noye, p16)
The first mail service was established in 1847, a bag being dropped (at Inchiquin) on weekly trips to Bungaree Station, from Gawler (see above).
By the 1850's a more frequent mail service was provided with a regular coach line operating between Clare and the Gawler rail terminus. By 1851 Clare received three mail deliveries each week.
With the railway extension from Adelaide to Kapunda in 1860 the mail coach then ran between Clare and Kapunda. A rival service still ran from Gawler to Clare and then to Mt. Remarkable.
When the Peterborough railway line was opened from Riverton on 20 December 1869, then the mail coach ran from Clare to Riverton.
Telegraph Service
The Telegraph service at the Clare Post Office was connected in 1860 and then quickly extended to Burra.
The telegraph instrument was first installed in a room of the Shamrock and Thistle Hotel, (formerly Ford's Hotel) on the corner of Burton Street and Main Street.
Land for a Telegraph Office on Main Street was donated by James Wright and a foundation stone laid on 9 February 1860.
The two-story building was completed by September 1860, and the telegraphic instruments transferred to there. Later in the month, the Post Office was also moved to this building. Officer Belcher then had the dual responsibility for postal and telegraphic services.
When the Clare telegraph was completed in 1860, telegrams could be sent through Adelaide to Sydney and Melbourne.
When the Overland Telegraph was completed (by Charles Todd) to Port Darwin in 1872, telegrams could be sent to worldwide destinations.
Clare, January 24 1860:
On Friday last the telegraphic line to Clare was declared to be in complete working order, and was opened under the direction of Mr. Todd, the Superintendent of Telegraphs, and Mr. Fowler, Inspector of Lines, who dispatched a message to the Mount Gambier office, and in a minute and a half received a congratulatory reply.
The efficiency of the line being thus satisfactorily proved, messages were severally sent
by Mr. E. B. Gleeson, J.P., to His Excellency, and
by Mr. Todd to the Hon. the Commissioner of Public Works,
to which satisfactory answers were received in an inconsiderably short space of time.
Following this most unmistakable success came an inaugural luncheon, presided over by Mr. E. B. Gleeson, supported by Messrs. Lennon, Macaulay, Filgate, Todd, &c., &c., which was, however, but scantily attended, owing in a great measure to the stewards having neglected to give due notice of the day.
However, scanty as the gathering was, hilarity was the order of the occasion, the Chairman proposing "The Health of Her Majesty, the Prince Consort, and the Royal Family," and finally of the Governor, in due order.
Then came the toast of the day— "Success to the South Australian Telegraphic Communication," coupled with the name of Mr. Todd, the guest of the occasion. Mr. Todd responded in appropriate terms, and evidently was much gratified at his cordial reception.
The town and trade of Clare, Mr. Fowler's health, Mr. Lennon's, the Colonial Architect's department, Mr. Belcher's health (the local officer at Clare), Mr. Gleeson's, and the Hostess's followed in rapid succession; and at 5 o'clock the merry party separated, well pleased at the stride in advance their rising little township had taken.
In the 1870's a new third courtroom was built in Clare, and the old second courthouse in Clare was remodelled to become the new and much larger Post Office which opened in July 1880, next door to the old Post office, and near to an old brewery, now a bakery.
Sir Charles Todd retires:
TELEPHONE TO CLARE.
The Clare exchange was started in 1908 with five subscribers, and connection with Adelaide by means of the condenser process (on telegram lines) was made in 1910, but the (noisy) 'buzzer' was only the pioneer service, and the number of subscribers had increased through the work of the vigilance committee, to such an extent that the erection of the trunk line was justified.
The first telephone line in 1906 was installed between the home of Dr. Otto Wien Smith and his brother, Dr. Alfred Smith.
The first 7 private telephone subscribers from 1910, were almost all the local pastoralists:
Clare Brewery, Pioneer Ave.
D.T. Angus, Hill River Station
E.W. Hawker, Calcannia Station
W. Hawker, Anama Station
M.S. Hawker, North Bungaree Station
R. M. Hawker, Bungaree Station
J. Hill, Inchiquin
A new telephone exchange opened on 21 November 1913 behind the Post Office, and simultaneously, on the same day, November 21, 1913, at 3p.m., the Mayor of Clare (Mr. G. W. B. Lewcock) rang up the Deputy Postmaster General in Adelaide (Mr. E. W. Bramble) and congratulated him upon the completion of the trunk telephone line between Adelaide and Clare.
On behalf of the councillors and residents generally he thanked the department for providing the improved service, and expressed the hope and belief that the number of subscribers would speedily increase.
Mr. Lewcock's remarks were endorsed by Mr. T. Gillen, president of the vigilance committee; Mr. D. Menzie, secretary, and Mr. J. Bailes.
Mr. Bramble, in reply said the department realised the importance of putting all the big towns, as far as possible, in touch with the city by means of the telephone.
The connection with Clare was part of a system that would be extended to Rochester shortly, and the question of carrying a trunk line to Blyth was under consideration. The Blyth trunk line was connected via Kybunga to Adelaide. So calls from Blyth to Clare were trunk calls, costing 2s 4d. (via Adelaide).
Then Tenders were called for extensive alterations to the Post Office Building, which was in the old (second) courthouse. So postal equipment, telegraph instruments, and the telephone switchboard were moved to the new (third, and present) Courthouse, while the Court functions moved to the upstairs room of the Clare Institute.
The renovated Post Office was opened early in 1915, by which time there were 48 telephone subscribers.
Letter delivery to Clare premises was first enabled by 16-year old Alexander Taylor, the first postman, on 1 June 1915.
In 1913 there were 32 Clare subscribers, and Mr. Bramble was satisfied that the- number would Increase largely when, the public realised what an advantage it was to be able to speak to subscribers in Adelaide.
He sent his best wishes to the residents, and congratulated them on the completion of the work. The new line cost £630, and the distance between the Clare and Adelaide exchanges is about 88 miles.
The old Police Station and cells behind the Post Office were demolished to make way for a new automatic telephone exchange, which opened on 2nd December 1961. The new brick Post Office was opened on 3rd March 1969.
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