The Haywards Camp Post Office opened on 27 August 1951 and closed on 13 October 1961.

The names and dates of the Postmasters were: ^*1

Postmaster	Start	Postmaster	Start
G Carroll	27 Aug 1951	C B Thompson	7 Mar 1956
A Skafer	5 Nov 1954	Mrs H E Jeffrey	28 May 1956
Mrs M Skafer	8 Feb 1956

The Manor Park Camp Post Office opened on 25 May 1964 and closed on 30 October 1970.

The name of the sole Postmaster^*2 was Mrs E Bell.

Postmaster	Start
Mrs E Bell	25 May 1964

In the early 1920s the George family owned land on both sides of the main highway south of the present Silverstream bridge. It was referred to as the Manor Park estate. In 1926 the fledgling Manor Park Golf Club (formerly the Karori Golf Club) leased some of the George river flats, while the next year Mrs George bequeathed to the nation a richly forested section of the hills to be named the Keith George Memorial Park^*3 in memory of a family member killed in action in World War 1.

A Railways Department workers camp was established at Haywards in 1951 to accommodate men employed on the electrifiction of the Hutt Valley railway. The camp housed upwards of 250 men. A dismantled building from the Trade Training School at Petone was rebuilt at Haywards Camp and became the YMCA Recreation Hall and included a canteen, store and post office. The post office was run by the YMCA and post office records indicate that the salary of the Postmaster was paid to the YMCA.

In late 1962 the Electricity Department leased the camp to house the workforce engaged on the connection of the North Island terminal of the Cook Strait power cable to the Haywards Hill sub-station. The number of workers increased and in 1964 a post office opened named Manor Park Camp in the same building as the previous Haywards Camp office.

In 1968 most of the workforce had left the camp and the post office was transferred to the Bell’s home nearby. With the Bell’s home needing to be demolished to allow for the realignment of the adjacent State Highway and no other resident being prepared to take over the office it was closed.^*4

*¹ Source – Archive NZ – Post Office Record Cards listing the names and dates of Postmasters – https://collections.archives.govt.nz/en/web/arena/search#/?q= R26273392
*² Source – Archive NZ – Post Office Record Cards listing the names and dates of Postmasters – https://collections.archives.govt.nz/en/web/arena/search#/?q= R26278107
*³ Details – UHCC – https://www.upperhutt.govt.nz/Community/Sport-and-recreation/Parks-and-reserves-directory/Keith-George-Memorial-Park
^*4 Source and further reading – https://uhcl.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/33796 – From the Summit to the Gorge (Pages 47 – 50) – Geo Robertson

A “thank you” to Andrew McNiven for sending this article to The Upper Hutt Connection.

10/11/25