Dersingham Post Office
Dersingham Post Office - Mr & Mrs John Lindsay 1979 to date
Dersingham SPSO has two full time counter working positions serving an ever-increasing population. Consideration is being given to the need for a third position.
The attached Sorting Office now has six delivery officers on permanent contracts - 3 full time and 3 part time. Mail, including parcels and letters for Ingoldisthorpe, is delivered at 5.30am and 1.20pm. Parcels for Dersingham are delivered by van from Kings Lynn direct to addressees.
There are three collections from the SPSO each day Monday to Friday, 2 collections on a Saturday and 1 collection on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Dersingham postmen and women also deliver in Ingoldisthorpe.
On the arrival of Mr & Mrs Lindsay at Dersingham, Mr Lindsay and the staff had the responsibility for collecting and accounting for money from the following telephone boxes pre-privatisation of the telephone services:
40311 |
At SPSO (now removed further along Post Office Road) |
A40343 |
Manor Road, Dersingham |
A40414 |
Dodds Hill Road, Dersingham (old school) |
A40571 |
Ingoldisthorpe |
A41441 |
Ingoldisthorpe |
A Potted History of Dersingham Post Office
The post was apparently despatched in 1836 from Dersingham to Heacham by Mail Gig at 11.00am and to Lynn at 2.00pm but from where is not recorded but by 1846 we know that a Postman, a Mr Isaac Bunn, operate din the village and that letters were received at 8.30am and despached at 6.00pm. In 1864 the Post Office was at J.L. Alcock's a tailor and letters were despatched via Lynn at 5.40pm. Money orders were granted from the office but were not paid. On 15 August 1870 Mr E. Beckett was appointed Sub-Postmaster at a salary of £15:18:0d and he remained in post until appointment of Mrs Alice Maud Beckett on 27 October 1899 at a salary of £173:10:0d. which was an indication of the increase in business in the village. The Post Office was classified as a Sub-Post, money order, telegram and T.E.D. office in 1912 and Mrs Alice Maud Beckett was the Post Mistress. The London and other letters were received through Lynn by mail cart and arrived at 5.10am and were delivered at 7.00am and 10.15am mail was despatched at 10.55am (direct to London) and at 6.20pm and 8.00pm. Sunday delivery was at 7.00am and it was despatched at 6.20pm. There was a wall box near The Feathers Hotel which was cleared at 10.45am and 6.00pm. At the station which was cleared at 9.50am and 5.35pm and at Heath Road which was cleared at 10.45am and 6.00pm Sundays at 7.55am.
In 1936, at the time of the death of King George V an article described the Sub-Post Mistress as being an elderly lady and it is more than possible that Mrs Beckett was still in post at that date. There was no change by 1937 in the classification of the Post Office. In 1962 the Sub-Post Master was F. Lee followed by a Mr Baker. Installation of a stamp vending machine had been refused as stamps were available at two of the local shops when the Post Office was closed.
Cancels
The first known cancellation is recorded as having been issued by Head Office on 9 November 1854 and was an undated Double Arc type and has been recorded "used about 1855". This was probably in use for some time as the next recorded cancel is the Thimble type which was in use from about 1900 and is recorded as being "used as late as 11 October 1921". This cancel showed as well as the date a code letter and letters A.B. and C are known. It is assumed that this cancel was followed by the Standard Double Ring type and this is recorded used in 1974 and a single counter type stamp was also used for cancellation between 1970 and 1974. It is assumed that a parcel post cancel was also in use but no record of an example is known.
