Post Office discovery could spark historical flame

Wednesday 12 September 2018

An old cigarette pack dating back over 100 years has been found at the Broad Street Post Office during refurbishments of the ceiling.

Now in itself, that may sound pretty meaningless, but the employee who found the packet realised that there were several names and the date 27 February 1909 written on the back.

David McGrath, Jersey Post's Head of Marketing, said that this isn’t just any ordinary cigarette packet and could actually hold a lot of relevant history about the Post Office.

“It may seem like just a cigarette packet, but this tiny item is full of history that is so important to preserve, both from a postal service perspective, but also from a community and society angle.”

Pictured: The names written on the cigarette packet are difficult to read but could direct us to part of Jersey Posts history.

Some of the writing has understandably faded away and is hard to decipher, but it looks like some of the names written are F Le Gros, who was the sub-post master responsible for the Millbrook post office from 1903. There is also the surname ‘Matson’ written, which is detailed on Jersey Post employee photos from that era.

Given that some of the names seem to match postal service history records, David thinks the packet may be more important than first thought. 

“We believe that the item may have been placed in the ceiling as a record of employees from that year, perhaps those involved with creating the post office at the front of Broad Street which was opened later in 1909.”

Pictured: The Post Office in Broad Street opened in 1909 and is still very much in use to this day.

The cigarette packet depicts the brand Player’s Navy Cut, which was a popular company in Britain and Germany in the late 19thcentury and early 20th century. 

The packet Is going to be passed to Jersey Heritage and placed in their archive.