Author(s): Doug Patterson; Cate Patterson (Cover Design by, Designed by, Editor)

Australian

Montville Post Office 1897 - 2022 is Book 8 in the Montville Stories Series. Although it relies heavily on the centenary history published in 1997, it is much more than a re-print or second edition of that publication. Additional information from the Smith, Cuthbertson and Blair families expanded on the stories of Henry and Jane Smith, Bob and Joyce Cuthbertson and Clive Blair when they acted as Post Masters/Mistresses for the Montville Post Office. Then, interviews with the eight Post Masters/Mistresses who ran the post office from 1983 until today capture the changing locations and business models of the post office. These interviews highlight the commitment to service and the Montville Community and the integrity of the men and women who, in doing so much more than look after the mail, became custodians of the community.Traditionally, the viability of a village rested on the village school, the village store and the village post office. Like many other small communities, Montville was fortunate that for many years, the store and the post office were under one roof and, together, operated as a community centre. Only once did Montville lose its post office, at a time that it was a stand-alone business in a time of rapid changes in the communication industry. The subsequent appreciation of a lost village postal service galvanised both the business and resident communities to fight for it to be re-instated. And although it now operates under a different commercial-based model, it still serves its vastly different community with the same care and warmth of earlier incarnations.The history of the post office reflects the history of Montville. Doug Patterson