N.Z. Post and Telegraph Association

Date: 28 Nov and 5 Dec 1984 - 28 Nov 1984 - 05 Dec 1984

From: New Zealand Post Office Oral History Project

By: Reid, Maurice Sydney, 1910-1992

Reference: OHInt-0070/13

Description: Maurice Reid recalls his family background and childhood in Invercargill, education, joining the Invercargill Post Office in 1924 as a message boy, layout of the post office, his first day, the chief clerk - Mr Blick, duties, salary, bicycles, dismissals, training in morse, work in the telegraph branch in Invercargill, telecommunications in the district in the 1920s, the telephone versus the telegraph, status of the postmaster, female employees in the Post Office, Maori employees, importance of good handwriting. Describes why he had no desire to be a telegraphist, work as an exchange clerk at Woodlands Post Office in 1929, effect of the Depression in 1930s, work as an exchange clerk at Invercargill Post Office in 1933, discipline, salary, work as a postman in 1936, work as a lineman in 1937, the exams, duties, type of men working as linemen, erecting poles, digging holes, wire tension, effect of weather, relationship between the general and clerical staff, social life, brief Army service during World War II - most line staff not released by Post Office, work as foreman in charge of lines in Gore late 1940s, duties, work as senior foreman at Invercargill early 1950s, details of job. Talks about work as lineman overseer for Clyde District in the 1950s, size of district, transport, duties, effect of snow breaks in Canterbury in 1945, difficult lines, callouts for faults, climbing poles, work as overseer for Invercargill District in early 1960s, describes area, interest in early telephone history, work as a delegate to the Post and Telegraph Association, union and administration friction in 1930s, relationships between the union and the Directors General, work as inspector of lines in Wellington in early 1960s, duties, work on submarine cable at Stewart Island, Foveaux Strait, retirement. Access Contact - See oral history librarian Venue - Plimmerton Interviewer(s) - Hugo Manson Venue - At Maurice Reid's home at Plimmerton, Wellington Accompanying material - Example of handwriting mentioned on Side B of tape one Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-000784 - OHC-000786 Quantity: 3 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 2.58 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete AB 124. Black and white photographs as follows:. Maurice Reid at Whatamonga Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound. Maurice and Verena Reid, ca 1940. Maurice Reid, 1980 Search dates: 1910 - 1984

Date: 30 Nov, 7 & 8 Dec 1984; 24 Jan, 1 Feb 1985 - 30 Nov 1984 - 01 Feb 1985

From: New Zealand Post Office Oral History Project

By: Mather, Samuel, 1903-1986

Reference: OHInt-0070/10

Description: Sam Mather recalls family background and religion in family. Discusses female employees in the Post Office, Maori employees, post-retirement work at Education Board, playing the cornet in the Waihi Federal Band, major illness in 1958 and earlier illnesses. Describes work as message boy at Otane Post Office in 1916, duties, hours, postmaster and other staff. Briefly discusses later involvement in Labour party in Onslow Electorate and mentions union newspaper Katipo. Talks about childhood, education, arrival in New Zealand in 1913, salary in first job (as message boy) in the Post Office, interest in photography, work as exchange clerk at Waipawa Post Office in 1918, shift work, effect of World War I on staffing, toll board, subscriber board, rotation and duty hours, pay rates, pressure, interest in morse, gifts from subscribers, effect of influenza epidemic in 1918, going to Telegraph School at Ponsonby, Auckland in 1920, life and expenses, Auckland picture theatres, speed of sending, quality of hand writing, working hours, personalities. Describes transfer to Engineers' Clerical Branch in 1924, procedure for obtaining a radio licence, murder of Ponsonby Postmaster - Brathwaite (?) in early 1920s, the 1920 railway strike, being a cadet at Opotiki Post Office in 1920, the postmaster - George Stephenson, playing in brass bands, an orchestra and a dance band, transfer to relief staff in Waihi in 1922, the postmaster - Hugh Dawson, Waihi as a place, the Waihi Brass Band, prohibition of alcohol in Waihi, anecdotes about gold. Talks about his transfer to Kaikohe in 1923, the Ngapuhi people, postmaster P J Eccleton, mail days, mail sorting, volume of mail, telegraph work, banking work. Discusses promotion, salaries and examinations while at the Engineers' Office, the usefulness of the experience for clerical work, radio inspection work. Talks about Post and Telegraph Association and election as chairman of the Auckland Section in 1930, salary cuts. Recalls and gives details of the Queen Street riot (Auckland) of 1932. Details the Post and Telegraph Association procession and public meeting, the role of John A Lee, J H McKenzie, Jim Edwards, unemployed group, atmosphere, looting, comparison with Auckland riot on December 1984. Discusses the de-recognition of the Post and Telegraph Association following the riot. Mentions the formation of the Post and Telegraph Officers Guild in the 1930s. Outlines the main issues fought for by the association. Describes attitudes of directors-general to the association, absence of strikes, the death benefit, leaving Post Office to become a full time secretary of the association in 1939, service in Wellington during World War II. Discusses influence of the association on senior appointments. Mentions Charles McFarlane, Dawson Donaldson, Walter Nash, Gabriel Wilkes, Outlines work as General Secretary from 1946-1958, wage reviews and superannuation fund in 1946, the Public Service Investment Society, contact with members of the association. Venue - Wellington Interviewer(s) - Judith Fyfe Venue - At Sam Mather's home at Ngaio, Wellington and Ward 25, Wellington Hospital Accompanying material - Copies of newspaper articles: 'Lifetime service to Post Office and its staff: fine record of Mr Mather' from The Standard, 16 April 1958; 'Past General Secretary honoured' from The Katipo, February 1976, p. 19; 'P S Employees farewell two', from unknown source. Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-000743-OHC-000745; OHC-000758; OHC-000760; OHC-000768-OHC-000769 Quantity: 7 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 6.30 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete AB 120. Search dates: 1903 - 1984

Date: 9 Dec 1984 - 09 Dec 1984

From: New Zealand Post Office Oral History Project

By: Moir, Edward Victor, 1901-1986

Reference: OHInt-0070/11

Description: Ted Moir recalls family background, childhood in Scotland, education in Scotland, early work in the dockyards in Scotland, wartime incident between Admiral Beattie (?) and Lord Jellicoe during Battle of Jutland while Ted was switchboard operator, army service in signals at end of 1917, installing telephones in mining areas of Scotland after war, emigration to New Zealand in 1921, reasons, shipboard life aboard the 'SS Wainui', arrival in Wellington on Anzac Day in 1921, work as temporary staff in Post Office in Auckland, work at Newmarket yard making VIR jackstays, installing telephones, sitting lineman's examinations, treatment of female employees, Maori employees, inspecting wireless sets in Northland during World War II. Describes work as a faultman in Gisborne from 1925-1941, transport, the multiple switchboard, the Reeves family, activities as secretary and chairman on local committees of Post and Telegraph Association, effect of the Depression in 1930s on civil service staff, views on treatment of temporary staff, effect of de-registration of union, marriage to Peg Hately. Further details work as faultman, describes the Wheatstone Bridge instrument used to measure line faults, the Model T Ford, on call hours, George Dansey the telegraph supervisor, George McKay. Talks about work as technician at Whangarei from 1941-1965, reasons for going, explains carrier system, the Duplex teleprinter system, monthly checks on the radar stations, the working of the secriphones (scramblers), wartime security, tracking malicious calls, salary and promotion, the role of the inspectors, engineer Jeff (?) Gilchrist, friction between engineering and staff branches, social life, work as Senior Technician of Carrier and Tolls at Whangarei, retirement. Access Contact - See oral history librarian Venue - Whangarei Interviewer(s) - Hugo Manson Venue - Ted Moir's home at Whangarei Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-000795 - OHC-000797 Quantity: 3 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 2.29 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete AB 122. Black and white photograph of Ted Moir as a young man Search dates: 1901 - 1984

Date: 16 Nov 1984

From: New Zealand Post Office Oral History Project

By: Ryan, Frederick George, 1905-1996

Reference: OHInt-0070/14

Description: Paddy Ryan recalls his family background, childhood, including clothing worn, delivering telegrams during World War I, death of his father during influenza epidemic of 1918, use of inhaling stations, early work at Hawera Post Office, sitting proficiency exam, recollections of Hawera, staff at post office, uniform, wages, Maori employees, tuberculosis and Post Office Welfare Funds in 1920s and 1930s, the hierarchy within Post Office, the postmasters A W P Hewitt and Sylvanius Gabriel Daniel, the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Association and the formation of the Post and Telegraph Officers' Guild, transport for the message boys, team spirit, discipline, social life, status of Post Office workers, punishments, daily routine 1918-1924, effect of 1922 salary cut, work as an exchange clerk at Hawera Post Office. Describes arriving in Wellington to work at Head Office in accounts, layout of building, boarding houses, costs, transport costs, names of some of the personnel, marriage to Edna Murray, difficulties with mortgage payments during Depression, filing for bankruptcy and losing house, secondment to Treasury in 1932 and to Unemployment Board in 1934, return to Hawera, compares the Hawera Post Office in 1930s with 1920s and today, the other responsibilities of the Post Office, election roll procedures in 1935, service during World War II, becoming a postmaster in 1946, life as postmaster at Te Araroa, East Cape in 1948, local Maori, transactions, going to Greytown, Wairarapa as postmaster in 1952, the changes in etiquette in the Post Office by the 1950s. Talks about work as Postmaster, Manners Street Post Office, Wellington, 1954, housing problems for postmasters, refers to Charles McFarlane, move to Henderson, Auckland in 1956 and 1957 and the wineries of Corbans and Babich. Describes Kaitaia Post Office in 1957, working at Rotorua in 1958, retirement, being elected to the Rotorua Borough Council. Accompanying material - copy of photograph of Te Araroa Post Office and the two 'Alfs', 1930; copy of an electioneering poster - 'Vote Ryan for Mayor', unsourced; copy of newspaper article 'The Spanish 'flu pandemic' from Auckland star, 24 September 1984, B5. Venue - Rotorua Interviewer(s) - Judith Fyfe Venue - Paddy Ryan's home at Barron Crescent in Rotorua Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-000733 - OHC-000735 Quantity: 3 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 3 Hours Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete AB 125. Search dates: 1905 - 1984

Date: 4 Dec 1984 - 04 Dec 1984

From: New Zealand Post Office Oral History Project

By: Stuart, Wilhelmina Magdalene, 1895-1985

Reference: OHInt-0070/17

Description: Min Stuart recalls family background, childhood, education, early job as dressmaker at Brown Ewings in 1911, working conditions, hours, wages, going to Post Office Girls' Telegraph School in Dunedin during World War I, colleague Vera Pringle, morse training, need for good hearing and writing, styles of sending, work in the main office in Dunedin, being only woman in telegraph room, the multiplex system, clothing, discipline, working hours, mistakes, secrecy, telegrams, teleprinters, women prohibited from becoming supervisors, the influenza epidemic of 1918, the night shift, attitude of men to women in telegraph job, Post and Telegraph Association, her appeal for equal pay which she won in 1944 and its effect, retirement in 1951, Knox Church, entertainment, reasons for not marrying. Venue - Dunedin Interviewer(s) - Judith Fyfe Venue - Min Stuart's home at David Street, Dunedin Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-000752 - OHC-000753 Quantity: 2 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1.52 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete AB 128. Search dates: 1895 - 1984

Date: 1913

From: S P Andrew Ltd :Portrait negatives

Reference: 1/1-014595-G

Description: Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s).

Date: 1915

From: S P Andrew Ltd :Portrait negatives

Reference: 1/1-014594-G

Description: Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s).

Date: 1913

From: S P Andrew Ltd :Portrait negatives

Reference: 1/1-014596-G

Description: Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s).

Date: 1913

From: S P Andrew Ltd :Portrait negatives

Reference: 1/1-014597-G

Description: Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s).