Brunswick Road Post Office
171 Brunswick Road
The way of the stand-alone post office in the 21st century: put
it into
the corner of another shop. This has happened in Bruswick Road. The
enamelled metal sign in condensed sans serif capitals is quite high up
above the shop-front.
2016 images
[UPDATE: 22.9.2016: 'I
thought I would share this gem with you. A little piece of Brunswick Rd
history has revealed itself this week – an old shop hoarding. Finally,
a new tenant has been found to take on the former post office (a
butcher, which will be warmly welcomed to the parade of shops). All the
best to the new tenant. Regards, Samantha Mardell' Thanks to Sam for spotting this and
sending it in.]
Photo
courtesy Sam Mardell
'TOBACCO
CONFECTIONERY
CHAS: WEST
[blank]
STATIONERY'
What an inventive use of the colon. Charles West probably
commissioned the signwriter and, one assumes, they decided to truncate
his first name due to space limitations. Or he might have been 'Chas'
as in Chas and Dave... These days you wouldn't put the first product
line on the shop sign, but what of that mysterious obliterated word
above Stationery'? Perhaps it's 'Cards', or 'Papers'? And presumably
this business ran the post office, too. See below for the list of
proprietors and dates.
Proprietors at No. 171 Brunswick Road
The short section of Brunswick Road off Woodbridge Road was part
of the St Helens Barracks housing built in the mid-19th century. Both
Brunswick and Belevedere Roads formed a rectangle with Parade Road and
didn't extend northwards very far (see our Parade
Field Terrace page for a 1902 map). This state of affairs remained
until the 1930s when houses past the 'kink' in the road (marking the
transition from old to new) started to extend gradually towards the
site of the parade of shops, including our Sub-Post Office. The first
mention of no. 171 appears in the Kelly's
Directory for Ipswich dated 1938: on the verge of the Second
World War, the first owner is Charles Richold. The entries below
indicate the edition of Kelly's
when a different name is found:-
(1938) Richold, Chas. confctnr & post office;
(1941) Read, Wm. library, confctnr & post office;
(1943) Read, William David confctnr
& post office;
(1952) Seager & Petch confectioners & post
office;
(1960) Seager, Mrs F.E. confectioners & post office;
(1962-3) Seager, S.A. & F.E. confectioners &
post office;
(1964-5) West, Chas. confectioners & post office;
(1972) White (?) confectioners & post office. [No
further editions of Kelly's
after this.]
It's interesting to see the addition of 'library' by the
appropriately-named William Read in 1941. Boots the Chemist ran a
famous lending library in their High Street shops. Clearly,
also, Charles West – named on the image above – ran the business from
c.1964 to c.1972. The enamelled metal sign on the
brickwork above the shop-front must date from the shop's opening
in 1938: a sub-post office from the very first.
[UPDATE 1.9.2018: 'I
note your existing page on Ipswich Lettering with regards to 171
Brunswick Road. I noticed the attached this week whilst the
premises was being refitted for a new retailer, which appears to be
from the 1960s when the Seager family occupied it. Just thought it may
be of interest as your existing article shows the sign from the
subsequent tenant - interesting that this week an earlier version
revealed itself. Kind regards, Jeff Allum'. Many thanks to Jeff for recording this.
Mrs F.E. Seager ran the shop in 1960 and, presumably with a family
member, 1962-3, just before Chas. West took over in 1964. By the way, in 2018 the enamelled
'Brunswick Road Post Office' sign was moved down to the nearby Mace
grocery shop.]
2018 image
courtesy Jeff Allum
For other 'earlier shop proprietor' signs, see C.J.
Hawes, Serjeants Wallpapers & Paints
(including the Stradbroke Bakery shop), Shortis
Motorist
Discount Store,
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