Part 5 (2/2)
”Mr. LANE said it seemed to him that they were simply asked the question whether the Council were desirous that there should be such a change in the position of the Post Office. Every argument for the change was a thoroughly good one which should weigh with them. Selfish considerations and every consideration should be banished (applause), and they should consider it in the interest of the city and in the interest of the development of the trade of the future. The opinion of the postmaster was a great argument in favour of larger premises.
”Mr. INSKIP argued that the representatives of the ratepayers were not there to carry out the bidding of the postmaster. It might be wise and proper for him to communicate his views to the department with which he was connected, but it seemed unreasonable to ask members of the Council to vote for what he was in favour of. He ventured to suggest that the arrangement proposed by the report would be unlawful, and to enter into the exchange would be an unlawful proceeding. They acquired land in Baldwin Street under the Public Health Act for carrying out improvements, and he could not see how it could be said that the buildings in Small Street would be required for the purpose of improvements. Before they entered into the exchange they ought to obtain power by Act of Parliament. If they entered into a speculation of that sort they would be transgressing the law of the land. With regard to the matter of convenience, if they took the outlying districts of the city they would see that the people who lived there went to the Post Office after the branch offices were closed, and they would see that Small Street was appreciably more convenient for the outlying population than the Baldwin Street site could possibly be (applause). Then as to the piece of land which would be obtained, the argument of Mr. Pethick was a strong one to retain it. The Guildhall was there, and it had been promised for years that Small Street should be improved, and that improvement would be accomplished if the Government had No. 3, Small Street, which would be set back, and they would have done a great deal to redeem the promise made some years ago (applause).
”Mr. DIX said he was very much obliged to Mr. Robinson for his figures.
They all felt that there had been a great growth in the postal arrangements of the country, and that there would be a great growth in the future; and if it had been shown to him that they could not have a good building in Small Street by having the one there altered by the authorities, and that they could have a proper one in Baldwin Street, he would say let them go to Baldwin Street; but it did not come before them in that light. They were antic.i.p.ating that the postal authorities could not make a proper building in Small Street; but he could not see how Mr.
Robinson and those who advocated the Baldwin Street site came to such a conclusion. If they had the buildings in Small Street, that street would be improved, which had been antic.i.p.ated for years, and they would have the Post Office close to the Guildhall and that great place of commerce--the Commercial Rooms (applause). He argued that the city did not want the property in Small Street--it would be useless to them; and he hoped they would p.r.o.nounce against it going forth to the Postmaster-General that it was the wish of the Council to alter the site (applause).
”Mr. S. G. JAMES said he did not think that they should be saddled with a building that would not be any good to them. He suggested that it should be represented to the Government that the building would be a good one for a Stamp and Excise Office, and that it would be convenient to have those offices moved from Queen Square to the building in Small Street. He thought that would be a very wise suggestion to make to the Government.
”Mr. DANIEL said he viewed the proposition to s.h.i.+ft the Post Office as one of the most solemn and weighty that had been considered by the Town Council for years (hear, hear). By common consent, and by the development of the city trade, where the Post Office now was the centre of commerce, and they should hesitate very much before they changed it (hear, hear); and the Council, being trustees of the property owned by the city, and looking at the extent of that property in the neighbourhood of the Post Office, and the outlay made on it by the city, he could not understand why they made the suggestion to run away from Small Street (applause). They had under arbitration paid to the bank 9,600 for a piece of land, and that was surely not to keep the street as a narrow lane. If the present Post Office were retained, the authorities would take the houses that would be put in a line with the Post Office, and two-thirds of Small Street would be converted into a wide street--and it was only to shave off the Water Works offices and adjoining building, and then they would have a good wide street (hear, hear). The Corporation during the last twenty years had spent in the neighbourhood not less than 50,000, and if by establis.h.i.+ng the Post Office in Baldwin Street they would enhance the value of the adjoining property, so taking it away from the centre of the city would depreciate the property there. It would not be doing justice to the citizens to take it away from Small Street and remove it to a remote spot like Baldwin Street. ('Oh, oh!' and laughter.) It was a remote spot, and he did not know that a street through which were a tram line and continual cab traffic was the best place for a Post Office. He believed a quiet street would be the better place. He farther argued that the proper place for the Post Office was where it was--in the neighbourhood of the a.s.size Courts, where the County Court was held all the year round, and the a.s.sizes and sessions were held, and at the back of the Commercial Rooms, to which there were upwards of 600 subscribers.
”Mr. Alderman NAISH said that what weighed with him was that the Government had not applied for a better site. He apprehended that Mr.
Shaw-Lefevre was perfectly satisfied with the accommodation he could get on the present site. He had seen the draft of the Bill promoted by the Government for taking possession of a building under the compulsory powers at a fair valuation. Someone in Bristol wished them to go somewhere else. All Mr. Shaw-Lefevre said was that if the citizens wanted to go elsewhere they must take the old building. The Postmaster-General did not suggest the removal, but somebody else did (hear, hear). The Postmaster-General knew his business, and he probably considered that the present office could be enlarged so as to provide all the accommodation necessary. They could thus have a good public improvement in the centre of the city, and at the same time provide for the postal requirements. They were simply asked to go to a street in which certain people were interested, which, although a large thoroughfare, had two lines of tramways running through it. He hoped the Council would not agree to the proposal.
”Mr. MATTHEWS said if the question was put to them simply, did they require more postal accommodation?--they would unhesitatingly say that they did; but the question of site was a totally different matter. They had not gone into the question whether another site would not be a better one than the Baldwin Street one. He moved that the question of a site be remitted to a committee, with instructions to report to the Council, and that the committee consist of the Mayor, Aldermen Spark, Harvey, and Naish, and Messrs. Townsend, C. F. Hare, Barker, and Inskip.
”Mr. LEVY considered that the city was indebted to those who suggested the Baldwin Street site. There could be no two opinions about the matter (cries of 'Oh,' and laughter). They had seen an amusing correspondence in the papers about it. He would not do anything to injure the _Times and Mirror_ for a moment (laughter). In Baldwin Street a Const.i.tutional Club had been established, and the _Times and Mirror_ might consider that inst.i.tution (laughter).
”Mr. WHITWILL thought they should simply confine themselves to an expression of opinion as to the desirability of Baldwin Street site, for he should be strongly opposed to the exchange (hear, hear).
”Mr. H. G. GARDNER said the position in Small Street was preferable to him, but they ought to sink personal convenience. The Chamber of Commerce suggested the matter, and he looked on that body as young Bristol.
”Mr. ROBINSON said he only meant that the property should be taken over if an equitable arrangement could be come to. He would drop the last part of his resolution, and it would now read as follows:--'That, considering the want of adequate s.p.a.ce in Small Street for the postal telegram arrangements, it is desirable that a new Post Office be erected in Baldwin Street on the site recently viewed by the Postmaster-General.'
”The motion was then put with the following result:--_For_: Aldermen Lucas, Edwards, Jose, Spark; Messrs. Moore, Robinson, James, Pethick, Wills, Bartlett, Fear, Bush, Townsend, C. Gardner, Jefferies, H. G.
Gardner, Low, Lane, Levy, Garton, Derham, Whitwill, Barker--23.
_Against_: The Mayor; Aldermen Morgan, Smith, Naish, Fox, Jones, Hathway, Harvey, Cope-Proctor; Messrs. Terrett, Dix, Gibson, Alsop, Francis, Bastow, A. Baker, C. F. Hare, C. B. Hare, Harvey, C. Nash, Hall, Lockley, Daniel, Matthews, Follwoll, Sibly, Inskip--27. Aldermen Proctor Baker and George and Mr. Dole did not vote.
”Mr. LEVY asked if the Postmaster-General made an offer it would be entertained.
”The TOWN CLERK said he supposed that any offer from the Postmaster-General or anybody else would be considered.”
The Council dropped the matter of removal, and an enlargement of the Post Office was commenced in 1886 on 5,500 square feet of ground on which the Rectory House of St. Mary Werburgh formerly stood. The enlargement was completed in 1889. The structure was designed by the Surveyor of Her Majesty's Office of Works. In making his plan in 1868 no doubt the Surveyor thought he was building for, at least, fifty years; and so he set back his building to form a square structure, instead of following the line of street as laid down by the city authorities in their Act of Parliament. The new part of the building had to conform to the city line, and had, therefore, to be built at an angle with the old office, which detracts from the general appearance. The Post Office building in Small Street stands on a site 17,300 square feet in extent; and now, thirty-one years from the opening of the new office and ten years from its enlargement, further extension is necessary, and the erection of a second or supplementary office larger in dimensions than the present structure is about to be proceeded with.
As the work in the Post Office goes on through the whole day and night, the air in the working rooms became vitiated and over-heated when lighted with gas. In 1896 the effectual remedy of abandoning the use of gas and adopting electric light was carried out. The Corporation provides the current. The lamps used are 4 arc lamps, of approximately 750 candle-power each, and 450 glow lamps of 8, 16, or 25 candle-power.
Two million gallons of water a year are used to keep the buildings clean.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BRISTOL HEAD POST OFFICE IN 1899.
_From a photograph by Mr. Protheroe, Wine Street, Bristol._]
As the Post Office, from its size, if not from its architectural beauty, dominates Small Street in some measure it may be well here to introduce particulars from an ancient ma.n.u.script in the City Library, which show that Small Street has been a street ever since Anglo-Saxon times.
About Small Street and St. Leonard's Lane lived some of Bristol's greatest merchants. For hundreds of years there was not within the walls of Bristol a more fas.h.i.+onable street than Small Street. Many of the mansions there had good gardens. In the reign of Charles II. there were only six houses on the west, or Post Office, side of the street. Amongst the worthies who resided there were the Colstons, the Creswicks, the Kitchens, the Seymours, the Esterfields, the Codringtons, the Haymans, the Kilkes; John Foster, the founder of the almshouse on St. Michael's Hill; Nicholas Thorne, one of the founders of our Grammar School; and Thomas Fenn, attorney, who in 1762 succeeded to the Earldom of Westmoreland. It is not indicated whether he was related in any way to William Fenn, who was postmaster, 1778-88, but it might have been so, for William Fenn must have been a person of some note or the appointment would not at his death have been conferred on his widow. In Small Street, too, more Royal and n.o.ble visitors have lodged and received hospitality than in any other street in Bristol. The Earl of Bedford and his son were received there in 1569, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, one of Queen Elizabeth's favourites, and the Earl of Warwick, in 1587; the latter lodged at Robert Kitchen's. In 1643 King Charles I., with Prince Charles and the Duke of York, lodged there, so did Oliver Cromwell and his wife in 1649; and James II., with George, Prince of Denmark, and the Dukes of Grafton, Beaufort, and Somerset, in 1688.
Queen Catherine was entertained at Sir Henry Creswick's house in 1677, where Sir Henry, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the good and great Duke of Ormonde, lodged for several days in 1665. We learn that Small Street was selected for the reception of these ill.u.s.trious visitors ”by reason of the conveniency of the street for entertaining the n.o.bility.”
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