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;) | BERMUDA postal history 1898 cover to Mrs. Alexander Smith, "Durnford", St. Georges with pair QV ½d deep grey-green pmk'd BAILEY'S BAY B/JU 6 1898 with St. Georges C/JU 6 1898 backstamp. Durnford House (36 Wellington Street, St. George) was built in 1795 by Mayor Andrew Durnford as his residence; he was the first mayor of St. George and came to Bermuda to look after the construction work of the forts in St. George's. It is said that a part of the fund allocated for forts were diverted to build this house, and it was called 'The Fifth Fort' by some of his enemies. Durnford did not live long enough to enjoy the grounds and views of the town and harbour as he died September 11th 1798 and was buried in the grounds. £60 |
;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) | BRITISH KAFFRARIA WRAPPER from a SURVIVOR OF THE H.M.S. BIRKENHEAD TROOPSHIP DISASTER In response for requests for testimonies from survivors the only surviving letter from the Cape: 1858 wrapper docketted "Andrews 20 Nov 1858" (the content removed but published) to David Seton, Portabello, near Edinburgh marked "Registered at King W Town 25.11.58" and "K.W.T. C.G. Hope" at lower left with two damaged copies 4d blue tied triangular handstamp with CAPE PACKET DEVONPORT JA 26 1859, red Crown/REGISTERED and red oval REGISTERED/LONDON 27 JA 59 alongside address panel, reverse red CAPETOWN DE 2 1858 transit, black Edinburgh and blue PORTABELLO JA 28 1859 arrivals. Younger brother (Major) David Seton was quite determined from an early stage to gather as many facts as possible. He met many of the survivors personally and continued with his determination that the heroism displayed by his elder brother Alex should always be associated with the ‘Birkenhead’. Personal interviews, and correspondence with testimonies from survivors, continue as late as 1858-59 and he printed a little book on the Wreck of the ‘Birkenhead’ in Edinburgh in 1861, and again in 1873 and 1890 which was initially intended for private use and not for publication or sale. The Andrews testimony is published on pages 134/5 in "A Deathless Story" by A.C. Addison being a 318 page account of the Birkenhead. £7250 |
;) ;) | POLIGNAC COVER DENIED DESTINATION DUE SIEGE OF PARIS, St. Vincent postal history This Duke de Polignac wrapper arrived at Calais NO 29 1870 on the same day that the “Jacquard”, the 34th ballon monté, crashed into the Irish Sea off the Scilly Isles killing the pilot Alexandre Prince; some bags of mail were later recovered. Paris, at this time, was surrounded and besieged by the Prussian army period SP 17 1870 until the FE 28 1871 Armistice. No mail could get in, hence the re-routing to the small hamlet of St. Jean du Cardinay, Maromme in Normandy. French aeronauts suggested to the postal authorities in Paris that balloons be used to maintain communications with the provisional government in Tours, and beyond. In total 67 well documented outgoing flights were made carrying over 2 million pieces of mail to places around the world with rare survivors having reached Mauritius, Hong Kong, and Japan. This unique NO 9 1870 cover bears the earliest recorded use of the QV 1/- brown in combination with printer’s guide-line positional strip of three, and single QV 1d rose-red, the former invoiced AU 13 1869 but held back for 14 months as seemingly not a suitable oil-lamp match for the latter. All further uses of the 1/- brown pay the single rate to England, and a replacement QV 1d in black was hastily ordered on JA 6 1871. £6000 |
;) | FRENCH MAIL for FRANCE, BRITISH GUIANA postal history 1906 with printed sender "FRED J. BANKART, SUCCESSOR TO A. PEROT & Co. DEMERARA" marked "p. French Mail" to Beaune, France with 5c pmk'd Georgetown 4 JUL 1906, alongside octagonal d/ring CAYENNE A FORT-DE-FRANCE LC dated 6 JUL 06. There are strong links between the Perot's of British Guiana and Bermuda. Covers from Demerara (1859) and Berbice (1872) are known to William H. Perot, Baltimore, son of the famous William Bennett Perot of Bermuda. Two 1833 entires from Demerara to Philadelphia have manuscript endorsement “Hamilton, Bermuda. Forwarded by Your Most Ob Servant Wm. B. Perot” whilst working as a forwarding agent during the period before he was appointed Postmaster of Bermuda by warrant dated SP 6 1836. £120 |
;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) | HERO of the H.M.S. "BIRKENHEAD" SHIPWRECK DISASTER, Sierra Leone postal history 1852 letter from Lt-Colonel Alexander Seton written at Sierra Leone 29th January posted in GB QV 1d pink PSE to Edinburgh with MR 15 and MR 15 transit and arrival backstamps. This is the only letter he wrote from Sierra Leone and the penultimate letter before the tragic disaster in Simon's Bay in the early hours of 26th February 1852 which took about 445 lives. A 4 page account of the disaster accompanies as prepared for the December 2018 British West Indies Study Circle journal. £1200 |
;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) | A UNIQUE IMPERFORATE PROOF SHEET SHOWING THE UNISSUED TRANSPOSED AMERICAN PRESIDENTS ERROR 1975 200th Anniversary of American Independence issue: Two differing mint imperforate proof sheets exist (this one having DARKER PINK BACKGROUND TO LOWER MIDDLE LABEL than found on the issued stamps, the reason unknown) showing wrong portrait of Franklin Pierce on the 5c, and wrong portrait of Andrew Johnson on the 10c (transposed portraits error). The other transposed Presidents error sheet, also mounted by the printers on white card, has lighter black backgrounds behind portraits of the Presidents than found on issued stamps. This sheet is uniquely marked "Q541 BLACKS" in lower selvedge being the House of Questa printers reference number presumed connected with the black printing. The error was noted after completion of printing with ALL SHEETS DESTROYED by the Crown Agents and printers, and the corrected printing sent to St. Vincent (the two error sheets accepted by O.J. Urch, philatelic adviser, from Prime minister of St. Vincent Milton Cato per "accountable items" original envelope which is enclosed). For the complete story of how this error occurred see BLOGGS SECTION and newspaper article "A NEW STAMP ISSUE IS BORN". £1525 |
;) ;) ;) ;) | A UNIQUE IMPERFORATE PROOF SHEET SHOWING THE UNISSUED TRANSPOSED AMERICAN PRESIDENTS ERROR 1975 200th Anniversary of American Independence issue: Two differing mint imperforate proof sheets exist (this one having LIGHTER BLACK BACKGROUND behind portraits of those Presidents than found on the issued stamps) showing wrong portrait of Franklin Pierce on the 5c, and wrong portrait of Andrew Johnson on the 10c (transposed portraits error). The other transposed Presidents error sheet, also mounted by the printers on white card, has a much darker pink background to the lower middle label than found on issues stamps, and is marked "Q541 BLACKS" in lower white selvedge being the House of Questa printers reference number presumed connected with the black printing. The error was noted after completion of printing with ALL SHEETS DESTROYED by the Crown Agents and printers, and the corrected printing sent to St. Vincent (the two error sheets accepted by O.J. Urch, philatelic adviser, from Prime Minister of St. Vincent Milton Cato per photocopy of "accountable items" text enclosed). For the complete story of how this error occurred see BLOGGS SECTION and newspaper article "A NEW STAMP ISSUE IS BORN". £1500 |
;) ;) | Mail from CHEDDI JAGAN, British Guiana postal history 1948 printed flap cover from Cheddi Jagan to his eldest sister Indranie at St. James Hospital, Balham re-directed The Grove Hospital, Tooting with KG6 4c, 36c tied GPO Georgetown 24 FEB 1948 machine, flap with soiled creasing. £60 |
;) ;) ;) ;) | SMITH'S ISLAND, BERMUDA internal postal history In July 1609 Sir George Somers left Plymouth on the flagship Sea Venture as part of a fleet of 9 vessels with supplies for the new English colony at Jamestown, Virginia. In a severe storm she was separated and driven onto the reefs at Bermuda with all 150 sailors and settlers saved, this event is thought to be Shakespeare’s inspiration for The Tempest. With materials primarily stripped from the Sea Venture two new ships, The Deliverance and The Patience, were built and most set sail again on May 10 1610 for Jamestown. Smith’s island in St. George’s became Bermuda’s first settlement when three of the survivors, Christopher Carter, Edward Waters and Edward Chard (two were mutineers), set up camp becoming the first accidental permanent colonists. They built cabins, planted beans, melons, tobacco, maize, fished the coast and hunted wild hogs left there from an earlier visit by the Spanish. When the Plough arrived from England July 11 1612 with the first part of planned colonists Governor Moore was delighted with the garden produce because the Somer Isles Company in London had supplied him with some 80 varieties of seeds to try in Bermuda. Many of the first European crops Virginia and later American colonies saw were planted on Smith’s Island. The illustrated QV ½d Post Card, postmarked St. Georges 14 JA 1901, is addressed to C. W. McCallan, perhaps the only resident family on the 61 acre island, and perhaps the replied pricing for pupils at the Grammar School was intended for E.A. McCallan, the 1948 Bermudian author of “Life on Old St. David’s”. Also included u/m commemorative set plus pre-owned Gail Langer Karwoski's book "Miracle - The true story of the Wreck of the Sea Venture" (64 pages). £325 |
;) ;) | Bus drivers on strike!, BERMUDA to India postal history 1955 (AU 15) use of KG6 6d Air Letter up-rated with mixed reign QE2 3d for Kurla, Bombay, India, newsy full letter mentioning bus drivers on strike for second time in two months for 7/- and hour. £75 |
;) | 73 used Buckland, TASMANIA postal history 1863 cover to Mrs. Parsons, Queen's Orphan School, New Town with Chalon 4d imperforate tied Buckland "73" with postmaster's manuscript "Buckland 19/11/63" at left and red Pre-Paid NO 20 1863 at right, no reverse markings. Settled in 1820 and originally known as Prosser Plains. Best known for its historic Church of St. John the Baptist, convict built in 1846, and its mysterious East Window possibly from an Abbey built by William the Conqueror on the spot that King Harold died in 1066. In the early years the majority of the children at the Orphan School, built 1833, were born to convict women under sentence. £475 |
;) ;) | 10 (used Brighton), TASMANIA postal history 1861 cover "per Tasmania" to James S. Harrison, 22 Charlotte Place, Sydney, New South Wales with Chalon 2d slate-green pair (uneven setting), single superbly pmk'd Brighton "10" numerals with red PRE-PAID 4 SP 1861 alongside, reverse Sydney C/SP 9 61 arrival. James Start Harrison (1837-1902) arrived Sydney in January 1849 with his parents after a voyage of 157 days on board the Penyard Park and eventually took up the profession of an accountant working with the new partnership formed 1861 of Alexander Learmonth & Samuel Dickinson, merchant and commission agents. He is best known as a philanthropist and local newspapers capture his interests and service given to the Sydney Ragged Schools, Sydney City Mission, Sydney Female Refuge. £3500 |
;) ;) ;) | NEW SOUTH WALES postal history 1877 printed circular for two lots of land at Pottinger County (Premer Run and Moredevil Run) for SALE AT THE POLICE OFFICE, GUNNEDAH on May 2nd 1877 posted with exceptionally rare SG unlisted diagonally bisected QV 2d correctly tied Gunnedah AP 16 1877 "145" to James Wilson, Llangollew, Cassilis which can display TAMBAR SPRINGS (AP 8), COOLAH (AP 19), CASSILIS (AP 22) transits. Age marks and hinge reinforcements. £925 |
;) | FIRST ANNUAL HORSE RACING AT CEDROS, Trinidad social and postal history 1884 use of the QV 2d blue Post Card (for India and Countries in the Far East via UK) to Hampstead, London pmk'd "T.21" duplex dated C/SP 25 84 (Type 0.9, used Cedros). Writer says he has written "giving an account of the Races" and that he saw Luther "at the Races" with mention of Palmcole Estate. Cedros, one of the most isolated areas in Trinidad, had little in the social calendar. In 1884, some of the colonial officials and larger planters of the area joined to hold a series of races at Columbus Bay, the sands being firm enough for their purpose. The event, which came off on September 18, was held under the patronage of the Governor, Sir F.B. Barlee. He came down for the occasion along with many guests aboard the island steamer. It was then an annual event, being held on New Year's Day, thereafter. The last races were held in 1950. £325 |
;) ;) | The Chinese minority (period violent anti-Chinese Lambing Flat Riots), Victoria postal history 1861 exceptionally rare handmade envelope from a Chinaman sent with correct QV 4d inland postage plus 1/- for registration pmk'd Castlemaine "31" numerals (no despatch date) to a Hung Hat, 53 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne (present day Chinatown) with red REGISTERED/A/AU 22 61/MELBOURNE. Exhibition item ex PACK, FORSTER, PERRY, KELLOW. Chinese peasants had flocked to the newly discovered goldfields in the 1850's but their different organised methods of mining constantly aggravated their Europeans counterparts. By 1861 Australia had at least 38,000 Chinese in the country (1 in 9 of the population - at Bendigo gold fields there were 5367 Chinese men and only 1 woman). They were fanatically loyal to a despotic foreign emperor and the local fear was that he could order them to rise up at any moment. In 10 months of unrest at Burrangong, NSW (about 375 miles away) the most infamous riot of the goldfields occurred on the night of June 30th 1861 (some 7 weeks earlier) when a mob of 1500-2000 drove the Chinese off the Lambing Flat, and then moved to the Back Creek Diggings where they destroyed tents, stole possessions, and cruelly beat up 150-200 Chinese. This led to the NSW Chinese Immigration Act of November 1861 which seriously limited the flow of Chinese into the Colony. £2750 |
;) ;) | HRH Prince Alfred round-world-voyage ended by Fenian assassination bullet, Gibraltar postal history 1867 cover from Tinahely to W.H. Symes, HMS 'Galatea', Gibralter (sic) with pair GB QV 1d red Plate 84 and strip of three, single Plate 85 pmk'd Rathdrum "388" diamond numerals when Ireland was a part of Great Britain, Tinahely and Rathdrum backstamps for MR 16 67 with London MR 18 67 transit. Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria's second son (1844-1900) was never expected to be King and joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman aged 12. In 1867 he commissioned and commanded the 'Galatea' for a voyage around the world which would include the first royal visit to Australia. On FE 26 1867 the 'Galatea' left Plymouth Sound for the Mediterranean with stops at Lisbon, Gibraltar (MR 14 to 26), Malta, a stay at Marseilles prior a crossing to Rio de Janeiro, returning via Tristan Da Cunha, staying at Cape of Good Hope prior onwards to Adelaide, South Australia with subsequent stays at Melbourne, Victoria and Tasmania. The tour was abruptly curtailed in Sydney NSW on MR 12 1868 when Henry James O'Farrell, a Fenian sympathiser, attempted to assassinate the Prince - the Duke fell forwards on his hands and knees exclaiming "Good God! I am shot; my back is broken". On board was surgeon James Young, M.D. and Assistant Surgeons William L. Powell and William H. Symes (1851-1933 of Tinahely), the two former names being mentioned as giving immediate assistance to His Royal Highness who was tended back to health by six recently arrived nurses trained by Florence Nightingale. Full details of the voyage can be found in the 487 page book entitled "The Cruise of H.M.S. Galatea" by John Milner and Oswald Walters Brierly. Prince Alfred was the first serious stamp collector in the royal family. He sold his collection to King Edward VII who shared his enthusiasm, who in turn gave it to his son King George V. Keenly expanded by the latter the two collections became the basis of what is now the Royal Philatelic Collection. £1250 |
;) | YORK & LANCASTER REGIMENT, Barbados postal history 1890 (trace of postmark) portion of a Soldiers Letter with QV 1d (SG.92) tied by open bootheel. The York & Lancaster Regiment was a line of infantry regiment officially formed in 1881 through the amalgamation of the 65th and the 84th Regiment of Foot during the Childers Reforms £40 |
;) ;) ;) ;) | The "42" Kolkata cover from Prince Alfred, Royal Visit to Ceylon 1870, a unique exhibition item 1870 cover with spectacular four colour Royal Coat-of-Arms printed flap posted by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (second son of Queen Victoria born 6 August 1844 and first member of the British Royal family to visit Ceylon) to his eminent friend Dr. Joseph Fayrer C.S.S., 42 Chowringhe Road, Calcutta with QV 1/- reddish lilac tied COLOMBO AP 18 70 duplex paying the double short-lived (1868-1870) 6d rate to India, reverse Galle transit and Calcutta STEAMER LETTER AP 27 70 arrival. (Ceylon was ceded to the British Empire in 1815 and when the Prince arrived March 30 1870 thousands of chiefs, headsman and ordinary people flocked to Colombo. On the day after arrival a grand reception was hosted by Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, and thereafter the Prince made excursions to elephant kraals with gatherings of 10,000 people or more, went elk hunting, elephant shooting, and was lavishly dined throughout, even with gold plates and gold cutlery encrusted with rubies, emeralds and pearls. Prince Alfred, Honorary President 1890-1900 of what is now the Royal Philatelic Society, was the first serious stamp collector in the royal family and it is thought that he encouraged his nephew, later KGV, to collect stamps. Prince Alfred sold his collection to his brother King Edward VII, who shared his enthusiasm, who in turn gave it to his son King George V, and keenly expanded by the latter the two collections became the basis of what is now the Royal Philatelic collection. Sir Joseph Fayrer (1824-1907) was an English physician noted for his writings on medicine and particularly the treatment of venomous Indian snakebites. In 1847 he was appointed medical officer on H.M.S. Victory and in 1869 accompanied Prince Alfred, as his physician, on his grand tour of India. In 1901 he was appointed Physician Extraordinary to King Edward VII. Eastern India's tallest project, The "42", an iconic 62 storey tower with luxury apartments is planned for 42B Chowringhee Road. £18500 |
;) ;) ;) | Arrival of James Grant Forbes, Planter, JAMAICA postal history (and ST. LUCIA historical interest) 1786 entire headed "Jamaica 12th November 1786" from newly arrived James Grant Forbes to his father Lieut. General James Grant in London rated 1/- with "IAMAICA" and JANUARY/M/22 experimental Bishop mark on lower flap. Major General James Grant was born at Ballindoch, Banffshire in 1720. By 1757 he was a major fighting in the French & Indian Wars and captured at Fort Duquesne. Fought at the Siege of Havana, made Governor of East Florida. Served in the American War of Independence, was General William Howe's primary planning officer, led a division at the Battle of Long Island. In 1778 he led an expeditionary force to capture the French island of St. Lucia with its surrender at the Battle of La Vigie. Died 1806. £200 |
;) ;) | Rare watercolour "View at IDANRE from Camp", Lagos postal history (Ex John FORREST) 1898 outer wrapper with reverse showing an exceptional rare inclusion of watercoloured painting addressed to Miss Ambrose, Hampstead, London with QV 2½d tied oval of bars with rare POST OFFICE EPE (T.11) cds dated A/JU 7 1898 (ERD), lower left portion of this single sheet torn away. Ex JOHN FORREST. £825 |