Charles Frederick Wakely & Alice Mary Hannaford
1850–1907
A Post and Telegraph officer for nearly forty years — from a junior operator at Morpeth to Postmaster of Edgecliff, in Sydney’s east.
- Born
- 28 October 1850 · East Maitland, NSW
- Died
- 19 April 1907 · Sydney, NSW
- Married
- Alice Mary Hannaford (1851–1923)
Charles Frederick was the eldest of Frances and Charles Wakely’s children, born at East Maitland on 28 October 1850.1 He followed his father into the public service rather than a trade: on 20 June 1870 the Governor approved his appointment, together with J. W. Clinch, as a Junior Operator in the Electric Telegraph Department2 — the start of a career in the Post and Telegraph service that would last the rest of his working life.
On 28 December 1880, at Morpeth, the Rev. J. A. Foggon married him to Alice Mary Hannaford, daughter of James Kay and Ellen Hannaford.3 The couple had at least four children between 1882 and 1889, all born in the Morpeth district: Areta (or Arretta) Milo, Daisy Blanche, Alfa Roy and Russell Frederick.4 Charles was not the only Wakely in the department: his brother Joseph John Baldock Wakely — carrying their mother’s maiden name as a middle name — became station-master at Bingara, and their sister Frances Sarah worked as a postal assistant at Morpeth alongside Charles himself.5
Charles was a prominent figure in Morpeth beyond the post office counter. He was elected an Auditor for the borough in September 1879,6 and by 1883 was both postmaster and “chief telegraphist” at the Post and Telegraph Office on Swan Street, as well as honorary secretary of the School of Arts.7 That October he gave a visiting newspaper correspondent a demonstration of the new telephone lines strung to Hinton, Eales’s and Christian’s — the correspondent tried the line to Hinton and “heard distinct conversation from that distance,” while Charles “conversed with this distant speaker for some time.”8 He later served Morpeth as an alderman too — a council seat his own father had stood for unsuccessfully in 1868 — and was still contesting re-election to it in 1894.9
Official records place him at East Maitland by 1898, as Post and Telegraph Master on a salary of £210, rising to £250 the following year.1011 Eight years earlier, in June 1890, a seventeen-year-old apprentice under his charge at Morpeth, Emma Swadling, had absconded — a police-gazette notice describing her “smart appearance” and her “patent leather dancing shoes” as she made off, it was thought, for Newcastle or Sydney.12 By the time of Federation, Charles had moved to Edgecliff, in Sydney’s east, as Postmaster — grade VIII, salary including rent £285 — the family’s final move from the Hunter Valley to the city.13
Charles Frederick died in Sydney on 19 April 1907, aged fifty-six, and was buried at South Head Cemetery, Vaucluse, his headstone recording him as “husb. of Alice M. Wakely.”14 Alice survived him by sixteen years, dying at Bellevue Hill on 8 March 1923; her estate, valued at £4,330, attracted £86 4s. 10d. in probate duty.15 She was buried alongside him.
The Record
Sources & References
- 1
Birth of Charles Frederick Wakely, 1850
NSW BDM birth registration 2214/1850, district CA — Charles F. Wakely, father Charles [S.], mother Frances. NSW Public Service List, 1899, gives his date of birth as 28 October 1850 and his birthplace as East Maitland.
- 2
Appointment as Junior Operator, Electric Telegraph Department, 1870
New South Wales Government Gazette, No. 149, 21 June 1870, item [1264]: “General Post Office, Sydney, 20th June 1870. His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has been pleased to appoint Messrs. J. W. Clinch and C. F. Wakely, to be Junior Operators in the Electric Telegraph Department.” — Daniel Egan.
- 3
Marriage of Charles F. Wakely and Alice Mary Hannaford, 1880
“WAKELY—HANNAFORD.—Dec. 28th, 1880, at Morpeth, by Rev. J. A. Foggon, Charles F. Wakely, to Alice Mary Hannaford.” Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 29 January 1881, p. 4. The same notice records the death, days earlier, of Alice’s sister Kate Kay, “the beloved wife of Rev. J. A. Foggon, eldest daughter of the late James Kay Hannaford” — the minister who married Charles and Alice had himself married into the same family.
- 4
Births of Charles Frederick and Alice Wakely’s children, 1882–1889
NSW BDM birth index, father Charles F., mother Alice [M./H.], district Morpeth: Arretta Milo, 21685/1882; Daisy Blanche, 23658/1883; Russell F., 27121/1889. Alfa Roy (b. 1887) is recorded in family-tree aggregation without a located registration number.
- 5
Wakely family in the Post and Telegraph service
NSW Public Service List, “Section VII”: Wakely, Charles Frederick — Station-master, Morpeth, Electric Telegraphs; Wakely, Joseph John Baldock — Station-master, Bingera [Bingara], Electric Telegraphs; Wakeley, Elizabeth — Postal Assistant, Bingera [Bingara], Post Office; Wakeley, Frances Sarah — Postal Assistant, Morpeth, Post Office.
- 6
Elected Auditor, Borough of Morpeth, 1879
New South Wales Government Gazette, 9 September 1879 (No. 325), p. 3993: “Mr. Charles Frederick Wakely has been duly elected an Auditor for the Borough of Morpeth, vice Mr. Robert Barnier, resigned.” — William Keating, Mayor.
- 7
Postmaster, chief telegraphist and School of Arts secretary, Morpeth, 1883
Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, District News, Morpeth correspondent: 28 April 1883, p. 4, noting “Dr. Carr has been written to by Mr. Charles Wakely, secretary for the School of Arts, desiring him on behalf of the committee to lecture at an early date”; 5 May 1883, p. 4, describing a misdirected letter “now in the hands of Mr. Charles Wakely, postmaster, and chief telegraphist here.” The Post and Telegraph Office itself stood on Swan Street, Morpeth: University of Newcastle Living Histories, “Morpeth Post Office, Morpeth, NSW” (Morpeth Museum Collection).
- 8
Telephone demonstration, Morpeth, 1883
“TELEPHONE.—Yesterday Mr. C. Wakely showed me the new method of conveying sounds to distant parts. There are three telephonic communications — to Hinton, Eales’, and Christian’s. The one to Hinton P.O. I tried, and heard distinct conversation from that distance, and Mr. Wakely conversed with this distant speaker for some time.” Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, District News, Morpeth correspondent, 27 October 1883, p. 6.
- 9
Alderman, Morpeth, 1894
“At the municipal nominations yesterday the three retiring members, Alderman Charles Wakely, Joseph White, and Eli Wobblewhite, were nominated, in addition to ex-Aldermen Brookes and Murphy…” Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 7 February 1894, p. 5.
- 10
Post and Telegraph Master, East Maitland, 1899
NSW Public Service List, 1899 (Department of Postmaster-General, Post and Telegraph Masters): Wakely, Charles Frederick, born 28 October 1850, East Maitland, Clerical division, grade b1; first appointment to the service October 1870, to present position 21 April 1898; salary £210.
- 11
Salary increment, 1899
New South Wales Government Gazette, 30 March 1899, item [9257], Public Service Board, “Increments to Salaries of Public Servants”: among Post and Telegraph Masters, Assistants and Operators, “Wakely C. F. … 250,” for the year commencing 1 July 1898.
- 12
Desertion of an apprentice, Morpeth, 1890
New South Wales Police Gazette, 9 July 1890, p. 211, “Deserting Wives and Families, Service, &c.”: “Morpeth.—A warrant has been issued by the Morpeth Bench for the arrest of Emma Swadling, charged with absconding from her apprenticeship with Charles F. Wakely, at Morpeth, on the 23rd ultimo. She is about 17 years of age, about 5 feet 1 inch high, dark complexion, dark hair, rather good-looking; dressed in dark-green dress, patent leather dancing shoes, south-wester hat; smart appearance. Supposed to have gone to Newcastle or Sydney.”
- 13
Postmaster, Edgecliff, post-Federation
NSW Public Service List (Department of Postmaster-General, post-Federation), under “Edgecliff”: Wakely, C. F., born 23.10.50; Office, Post and Telegraph Master; salary £265 (State) / £275 (Commonwealth, from 1 March 1901); Work: Postmaster, VIII grade, salary including rent £285.
- 14
Death of Charles Frederick Wakely, 1907
Monumental inscription, South Head Cemetery, Vaucluse, Section H, Row 4: “Charles F[rederick], beloved husband of Alice M. Wakely, died 19th April 1907, aged 56 years.” Family-tree aggregation gives his death date as 19 April 1907.
- 15
Death and probate of Alice Mary Wakely, 1923
Alice Mary Wakely, née Hannaford, daughter of James Kay and Ellen Hannaford, died at Bellevue Hill on 8 March 1923; buried South Head Cemetery alongside Charles. NSW death duty office record, No. 23774: grant dated 2 May 1923, duty assessed on an estate of £4,330, £86 4s. 10d. paid.