Western Branch Post Office (1st location) [1898-1903]

After some research I can relate that:

The Western Branch Post Office opened on 1 July 1898 at 111 Praya West - this office closed on 17 July 1903.

The Western Branch re-opened on one floor of a house at the Canton Wharf on 1 July 1906.

It moved to the Old Harbour Office in the rear of Western Market north Block on 1 April 1914. I am as yet unsure of when these premises were vacated.

The marker above shows the approximate location, based on the street numbering from an 1897 map.

That map shows only buildings on the south side of Des Voeux Rd have numbers, and the buildings are numbered consecutively, 1, 2, 3, ... That makes sense as until very recently it had been the harbourfront, so there were no buildings on the north side of the road.

However reclamation was underway to extend the shoreline out to Connaught Road. That added buildings on the north side of Des Voeux Road. A 1901 map shows buildings on the south-side were re-numbered to become 2, 4, 6, ...

Number 111 on the 1897 map is number 238 on the 1901 map.

Regards, David