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Clip description
The final stamp in the Bicentennial First Fleet series is launched, and the delivery of the first mail to the New South Wales colony is re-enacted. The replica of HMAS Bounty joins thousands of other ships and boats in Sydney Harbour on 26 January 1988.
Curator’s notes
Shane Withington presents this final segment of the program, shot on Australia Day 1988. There’s brief footage of Australia Post’s launch of a Joint Issue stamp release with the United States, which took place in Martin Place outside the Sydney GPO. This is followed by the launch, by Peter Mulholland, of the final stamp in the First Fleet series, and the re-enactment of the first mail delivery to Sydney Cove’s fledgling white colony by Isaac Nichols. These two events were staged at the now defunct ‘Old Sydney Town’. Opened on Australia Day 1975, ‘Old Sydney Town’ was a theme park located near Gosford, north of Sydney. It was based on the Sydney colony circa 1788-1810, and was frequented by tourists, families and school groups. The park prided itself on its accurate depiction of colonial life. Many an actor 'between jobs’ (read 'out of work’) played the part of a convict being flogged or hanged, or a NSW Corps officer patrolling the dusty streets. ‘Old Sydney Town’ closed in January 2003.
The actual anniversary date of Sydney Cove’s first organised postal delivery is unclear. Prior to 1809, the colony had no regular collection and distribution of mail. Items arrived on incoming vessels and were passed on to, or collected by, individuals. Fraudulent acquisition of mail became common. To circumvent the problem, in April 1809 Isaac Nichols, an entrepreneurial and prosperous ex-convict, was made the colony’s first postmaster. On 26 June the following year, Governor Macquarie designated Nichols’ home (on the corner of George Street and Circular Quay) as the colony’s first post office.
In the second part of the clip, an excerpt from Arthur Phillip’s journal is read over shots of the replica of the Bounty (built for the 1984 Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins film The Bounty, and not to be confused with the replica built for the 1962 Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard film Mutiny on the Bounty) sailing into Sydney Harbour. Australia Post’s major clients were invited on board the Bounty to celebrate the Bicentennial.
