Royal Reels: Gambling

Armed Forces

CAPTAIN RICHARD HANMER BUNBURY R.N. (1813-1857)

This cover was listed on Ebay as a NSW 1844 MILITARY FREE entire addressed “Sydney-September Twenty Six, Captain R.H. Bunbury R.N., William’s Town, Melbourne”. It has a faint circular red “FREE, SE 26/ 1844 postmark with no evidence of a Crown. In the lower left hand corner is a 2-line notation in the same hand: ( ? ), W: G: Australia (Figure 1). The reverse shows a black unframed oval

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CAPTAIN EDWARD CHARLES FROME, ROYAL ENGINEERS (1802-1890)

The cover is stampless with a manuscript ‘8′ crossed-out with a manuscript PM’s endorsement of ‘P.O/Clare’ and a manuscript ‘O.P. Service’ with a postmark of G.P.O ADELAIDE/[crown]/ MA 6/ 1849/ SOUTH AUST. and it is addressed to Captain Frome R.E., Victoria Square (Figure 1). Edward Charles Frome, soldier and surveyor, was born on 7 January 1802 at Gibraltar, the son of Rev. J. T. Frome of Woodlands, Dorset, England. He

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BOER WAR COVER to SCHOOLBOY, S.M. BRUCE, FUTURE PRIME MINISTER [S. AFRICA]

This cover was at an auction site and was particularly well documented as a Boer War cover with no letter included, from an Australian soldier, with manuscript “On active service” to an Australian schoolboy. It was sent by H. Gordon No. 239, B Squadron, Victorian Infantry Regiment and was properly countersigned by his Commanding Officer Captain Fredk G. Purcell of the V.I.R. The vendor states that there is another manuscript “no

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BOER WAR – PRIVATE DAVID WILLIAM PRIEST, 5TH QLD IMPERIAL BUSHMEN

The stampless cover’s sender is identified as Trooper D.W. Priest, (Regimental) NO 15, 5th Q.I.B. On Active Service Sth Africa..  It is addressed to his father J. Priest, “Radlett”, Sussex Street, South Brisbane, Queensland and it has an incomplete double circle FIELD POST OFFICE/ 23/ JU 2 ( )/ O1/ BRITISH ARMY (     ).  There is a large thick 1D tax mark and the manuscripts may denote that this letter

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GENERAL SIR JOHN MONASH, SOLDIER, ENGINEER & ADMINISTRATOR

The designer of this home-made first day cover has provided an unique cover, but what a pity he could not spell and that he did not realise that the yellow colour would fade badly. It has a single copy of the 5d John Monash in uniform stamp and is postmarked with the familiar Philatelic Bureau Melbourne First Day of Issue 23 June 1965, the centenary of his year of birth. It

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GENERAL JOHN FRENCH, HERO in the BOER WAR [SOUTH AFRICA]

This Boer War recruitment publicity postcard with ‘General French War South Africa’ has a portrait of the general on a medal, shows British flags, a crown and crossed swords, plus an inscription ‘We Conquer Step by Step”. It is postmarked with a partial squared circle ALDGATE/ 2/ JY 30/ 00/ S.(A). There is an additional faint circular cancel confirming the JY 30/00 date. The message dated 28th July 1900 reads

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FLIGHT LIEUT. ERNEST ANDREW MUSTARD, C/O BANK of ADELAIDE, LONDON

Three Melbourne-origin covers, were presumably sent by the same person over a period of 3 days to the same individual, and they all finally finished up at the same address in London, but the addressee’s rank was not identical on all 3 covers. The first cover was sent to Captain E.A. Mustard C/o an address in Linden, Berlin, Germany, and it was re-addressed to the Bank of Adelaide, Leadenhall Street,

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EVERETT A. COLSON, ADVISOR to EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE, ETHIOPIA

The cover had a blue registration label for SYDNEY—C/ N.S.W. and the stamps consisted of an orange ½d, a green 1d and a red-brown KGV Head stamps, as well as the green 3d airmail stamp. They were postmarked by a REGISTERED/ B 14 MR 33/ SYDNEY N.S.W. The cover was addressed to E.A. Colson Esq, Box 215, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Abyssinia) (Figure 1). The reverse had 4 postmarks, the second

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ELMER DAVIS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE of WAR INFORMATION, WASHINGTON D.C. [U.S.A.]

This World War 2 cover was mailed with a total of 3½d postage made up of the red 2½d KGVI and the maroon 1d Queen Elizabeth stamps postmarked PARL’MT HOUSE CANBERRA/ -8 SP 42/ A.C.T and there was a red boxed 2/ PASSED BY CENSOR/ 1106. It was addressed to Elmer Davis, Esq., Director, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. with a typed Personal in the lower left hand

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DETENTION BARRACKS BERRIMA N.S.W., 1917 P.O.W. ENVELOPE to JAVA

This SERVICE DES PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE stampless FREE cover [Emery Type 3] was addressed to Herrn Kapitan Christiansen “Silesia”, Tandjong Priok, Yava, and it had a red authorizing signature cachet of Lieutenant Colonel Holman at Liverpool N.S.W. [Emery CA 232] as well as a boxed violet PASSED BY/ CENSOR/ S.D. [C.M. 43] (Figure 1). The reverse showed the sender’s name and address:  G. Aldorf, Detention Barracks, Berrima, N.S.W., Australien.   There

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