Another pick up at the Brighton Philatelic Society last night:
- Australian Horse Racing fdc postmarked Thomastown Vic cds postmark on fdi - 18th October 1978.
Australia Post list a fdi postmark for Thomastown but I am yet to see this one, so this will serve as a space filler till I find one.
Thomastown is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, 16 kms north of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Thomastown recorded a population of 20,234 at the 2021 census.
Thomastown is known for sharing its area with Westgarthtown, a historical settlement.
History and development
Thomastown came into existence in 1848 when the John Honniball Thomas and Mary née Hartnell family bought 106 acres, the land north of Melbourne for market gardening. Two years later, William Westgarth bought land north of Thomas' holding, which he made way for German settlers.
Thomastown Post Office opened on 9 June 1862.
The Thomastown area attracted many farmers and much horse-racing until World War II. In 1889, the Epping railway line opened and milk production and distribution grew during the 1930s when a German dairying family formed the Pura Dairy, ultimately to expand into Preston and became Metropolitan Dairies Pty. Ltd. In 1947, a housing co-operative was formed 2 km. north in the suburb of Lalor. Soon, residential development began at Thomastown. While German settlers already call this area home, more settlers moved in, mostly Italians, Yugoslavs and Greeks. In 1961 St. Clare's Primary School opened, followed by Thomastown Secondary College and then Thomastown West Primary School.
Modern Thomastown
Thomastown has a strip shopping centre in High Street parallel to the Thomastown Railway Station, a shopping centre corner of Edgars Road and Main Street and shops on Settlement Road and Dalton Road, plus various shopping strips east of the train station. Thomastown Secondary College is located on Main Street, adjacent to Thomastown West Primary School, Thomastown Recreational and Aquatic Centre (TRAC) and Thomastown Library which is managed by Yarra Plenty Regional Library. Thomastown East has a grid street configuration, predating the later configuration in Thomastown West which protects residential streets from through traffic. On the south of Thomastown there are numerous factories and an electricity terminal station, near the Metropolitan Ring Road / Northern Ring Road. There is also the Hume Freeway, which is west of Thomastown.
Thomastown railway station
Thomastown railway station opened on 23 December 1889. It was originally a single platform railway station located on High Street between Main Street and Spring Street. Thomastown railway station is directly linked to the City via the Mernda line. In 2011, the station was upgraded. A second platform, 310 parking spaces for cars, and a pedestrian overpass to cross over to the second platform were all added as were lifts for the disabled and new Myki card systems which replaced the old ticket system.
Years ago I had a client at Thomastown. It was part of a bigger group, & often required late hours to meet financial deadlines. One such night I left about 9pm & the next morning I returned to find bullet holes through the front door & in the wall behind. I tried not to work that late again out there.
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
