Where have we come from?
What was it like then?
How did we get here?

Our family stories bind us together as clans and as communities, they enrich the texture of our lives and infuse our judgements of the past.

Mavis Gaff-Smith’s story of The Postmistress tells the story of the rural families of John Martin Smith and his son John Christian Smith through the eyes of the women of their lives – mothers, wives and daughters – who bore children, organised their homes, assisted with the farm work and played an essential role in the communication systems of the country.

While the book deals with one clan and one district near Crookwell NSW, it has messages for everyone who is interested in the texture of Australian history from the early nineteenth century to the late twentieth.