Silver Jubilee Medal awarded to postmistress
As I sit here at my desk looking out at my Mountain Ash tree, I am writing in long hand on some scrap paper. In a day or two I will type the words into an email addressed to Trina at The Echo. When done I will press send and instantly the story will be at The Creemore Echo office. If I wanted to speak to Trina I could use the telephone.
Such easy communication was not the case, as you all know, until recently.
The post office handled all our communications, almost 100 per cent.
Creemore’s post office over the years has been the vital centre of our village life.
We turn now to the 1860s when Mr. Bolster, the postmaster, left Creemore for another job in Orillia. Creemore needed a new postmaster. Twenty-one- year-old Alex Gillespie was the choice, taking the position on for $85 a year. He moved the post office to the north-west corner of Mill and Edward Streets. The post office continued there until 1887, when a new building was built just to the north.
A Glimpse of Creemore’s Past tells us, “In 1888, a disastrous fire swept all of Mr. Gillespie’s property out of existence, resulting in a heavy loss as unfortunately his insurance had expired a few days previous to the fire. Arrangements to rebuild were promptly made, however, and resulted in the erection of a fine new building to house the Post Office.” The building now houses Victorian Values.
Bad fortune did not wait long to visit the Gillespie family again. In 1898, Alex Gillespie died, a young man in his early fifties. His wife, Sarah, was immediately appointed postmistress. She continued in that position until she died in 1936. Her photograph shows a kind, friendly person, someone you would be happy to meet in the post office. The Silver Jubilee Medal given by King George V was awarded to Mrs. Gillespie for her long years of service. She died in 1936. For a year her daughters, Mary and Anne, carried on the postal business.
Many changes happened over the Gillespie years. In 1878 the arrival of the train in Creemore brought mail more quickly from distant points and also from nearby centres such as Avening and Glen Huron.
Until 1930 there were four trains a day in and out of Creemore. Only two of them carried the mail.
Another change was the rural mail delivery. Mail carriers went out six days a week, rain or shine, or in a winter blizzard. There were four out of Creemore.
Today’s information was collected from the Creemore Women’s Institute Tweedsmuir History collated by Alice Emmett; Cemetery Recordings of Creemore Union Cemetery; A Glimpse of Creemore’s Past compiled by Colleen Stamp, Joan and Ed Maynard; and from Cyndie Gordon.
