December 2023

Contents

• Annual meeting and new office holders - page 1The Society’s annual meeting, changes to its executive and committee, and the incoming president’s message.
• A correction to Moss Vale postal history - page 2David Baxter corrects details in an earlier article about the post office, telegraph and telephone exchange; the editor introduces a fuller history.
• New executive members - page 3Profiles of president Stuart Handley, treasurer Rhonda Brown and other Society office holders.
• Charlotte Atkinson statue and local publications - page 4The planned Berrima statue and museum display, alongside Society books about local streets, Aboriginal people and historic inns.
• Freemasonry and Italian prisoners of war - page 5Alan Jacobs’s book on Kangaroo Island and Bowral lodges, and Peter Rodney’s call for information about Italian POWs in the district.
• Moss Vale’s post and telegraph services - page 6Philip Morton traces the 1867 post office, successive postmasters and premises, and the relationship between mail and the railway.
• The 1891 Moss Vale post office - page 7Competing petitions over its location, the new building and its subsequent services; the account includes details to compare with the correction on page 2.
• Society information and office bearers - page 8Contact, opening and committee details as printed in December 2023; they may have changed.

Issue highlights

• A correction clarifies details of Moss Vale postal and telephone history in an earlier issue (p.2).
• Philip Morton traces Moss Vale’s post and telegraph services, successive premises and debate over the location of the 1891 post office; compare the correction on page 2 (pp.6-7).
• The issue introduces Society office holders and describes the planned Charlotte Atkinson statue, local publications and research into Italian prisoners of war (pp.3-5).

Original Society source