Changing horses on his mail run is Lance Reid (centre) on his way to deliver mail to pioneer settler farms from Katanning to Pingrup, WA

Pingrup's First Mailman

The small wheatbelt town of Pingrup has not only become prominent with its painted grain silos on WA’s Public Silo Trail, but there is also an interesting book about a local man who started delivering mail one hundred years ago by horse and cart to pioneer settlers who first started farming near Pingrup.

In 1921 Lance Reid started delivering mail each week by horse and cart through bush tracks leading from Katanning to new land settlers at Nyabing and Pingrup. To do this he had to change horses every 30 kilometres to complete his a 400 kilometre circuit. Then in 1923, he became a pioneer settler at Pingrup himself, where he continued with his mail run, until he took up contract dam sinking using a team of horses.

The book includes details about the first schools and the first stores to be built in Pingrup after it became a gazetted town in 1924 once the railway line was built to there. Pingrup is also famous for its annual Pingrup Races which have been held each year since 1932.

The book titled Lance Reid: Pingrup’s First Mailman begins with his family history at Molong until his father died when Lance was only two years old in 1892. His mother struggled with three young children, so her sister fostered Lance and he went with her to Rubyvale in Queensland, then on to Narrogin in Western Australia. He didn’t see his mother for 20 years, nor his brothers for 40 years.

As with most family stories, it includes good times, hard times and many interesting bits and pieces that link together in a biography about Lance Reid’s life but it also records much of Pingrup’s early pioneering history. Lance was always closely associated with horses and a brief story about his mail delivery achievement is on display in the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach, Queensland. 

To order a book,

Email Keith Devenish

E: kdevenish@westnet.com.au

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About the Author

Keith Devenish first moved to Pingrup when his parents started farming there in 1965. After finishing his schooling he worked on his family’s new land farm helping to clear virgin bush and develop the land for producing wheat and sheep. During some hard times Keith started shearing sheep on local farms for extra income in the 1970s. During this time he met and heard many stories about the older pioneers, which are included in his book. 

He attended local dances where he met his future wife who was the granddaughter of an early pioneer family. After running their own business in Pingrup, Keith and his wife moved to Geraldton in 1989 to work for the Department of Agriculture for over 25 years.

Keith was appointed as District Manager at Jerramungup and then to Narrogin. 

During the COVID-19 virus shutdown Keith started writing a few notes about his wife’s grandfather, Lance Reid. In doing so, he realised this was another historic story that should be told and releasing his book in 2021. This also gave Keith the opportunity to accurately record much of Pingrup’s early history, as well as some stories which have never been told before.