Postmaster's son revisits his childhood home

When Alan Jamieson’s father served as Sumner’s postmaster in the 1950s and 1960s, his family lived in the post office itself.

Now more than 60 years later, the building has been transformed into a restaurant and bar – giving Alan, now 76, the chance to revisit his childhood home.

A well-known figure in cricketing circles, Alan was president of St Albans Cricket Club from 1980 to 2005 and is an honorary member of Canterbury Cricket. 

While the first floor of the old post office was unrecognisable to him, Alan was pleased to see the building repurposed.

“It’s fantastic. I think it’s a great addition to Sumner,” he said.

Gone are the front desk and private mailing booths, replaced by a bar, kitchen, and dining area.

Built in 1907, the post office was a communication hub for Sumner and surrounding suburbs until it closed in 1991. It later housed a GP’s office before being purchased and redeveloped.

From 1952 to 1961, Alan lived in the second-floor family quarters with his father, Bill, mother, Rita, and older brother, Graham.

Bill was a telegraphist who sent and received morse code messages for the air force during World War 2.

When Alan was born, Bill was working as the postmaster in Cust, North Canterbury.

His morse code skills helped him get a promotion to Sumner postmaster when Alan was about six, and the family made the move.

“The post office was a busy place to grow up. We looked after the area from the Heathcote bridge to Taylors Mistake,” Alan said.

The second floor of the building, while now leased as office space, still held some familiar features for Alan.

His former bedroom’s large glass window overlooking Nayland St remains, though the lounge and family bedrooms have been converted into offices.

“It’s good to see the building wasn’t knocked down and it was bought and redeveloped. It keeps a bit of the history around,” he said.

Alan has fond memories of helping to deliver Christmas parcels and telegrams to the then-small coastal communities like Scarborough and Richmond hills, and earning pocket money for his work.

“You’d get 10 telegrams and you’d bike to the Heathcote bridge and deliver 10 telegrams to 10 different places along the bit we looked after,” he said.

Alan’s parents were well-respected members of the Sumner community, active in the local Methodist church and other social groups.

Sumner couple Courtney Doig and Chris Lumsden bought the post office three years ago and have since transformed it into a vibrant bar and restaurant. 

In homage to its past, they named it ‘Sumner Post Office’, officially opening the venue in December.