There is no doubt in my mind as to whom this cover was addressed, but there are several ‘disconnects’ in this philatelically contrived cover. The slate blue 5½d ‘Emu’ definitive had a date of issue of 12.2.42 and the partially legible postmark reads AIR MAIL BRISBANE/ 8-12 ( )( )/ QLD AUST. There is an BY AIR MAIL vignette, the usual purple ‘Crown over Royal Geographical Society of Australasia/ Queensland’
If ever a cover speaks to you, then this one surely should. The highly experienced UK seller gave a simple description: Australia, 1913 Roo on Cover to UK. This turned out to be a considerable understatement. The mourning cover was addressed to Lord Tennyson, Farringford, Freshwater, Isle of Wight, England and the red 1d kangaroo on a map of Australia stamp was postmarked MT BARKER/ 4 30P 17 DE 13/STH
Well not quite, for there is some doubt about the Governor as well as the actual date, but there is no doubt about the important company of Sydney booksellers. The front of the stampless mourning cover is addressed to Angus & Robertson, 89 Castlereagh St, Sydney. There is a very fine blue GOVERNOR/ [CREST]/ FRANK STAMP/ NEW SOUTH WALES (Figure 1). The cause for the date confusion is on the
This cover with letter was poorly presented on Ebay, and was purchased for a paltry sum. The front of this long cover had little to recommend it other than it was addressed to His Worship, The Mayor of Cootamundra, (Alderman J. Lester), Cootamundra, NS Wales. The Ebay scan did not show that the strip of four 1d pink “Postage” Victorian stamps had OS perfins, and they were postmarked with the double
The cover is addressed to His Excellency Lord Beauchamp, Madresfield Court, Malvern Link, England with a manuscript ‘Please forward’ and the blue 2½d N.S.W. stamp is postmarked with the duplex OXFORD STREET/ AP 6/ 11.30 A.M/ 10 cancel which was an error for 1901, as shown by the cancels on the reverse (Figure 1). The reverse has a SYDNEY/ AP 6/ NOON/ 01/ 43 duplex and an arrival postmark MALVERN/
The 4 cents Straits Settlements stamp is probably the 4c violet on red paper King Edward VII issued in 1902 and it is postmarked SINGAPORE/ B/ DE 21/ 98. The letter is simply addressed to Malacca, part of the Malay peninsula British colony made up of Malacca, Penang and Singapore. Its administration had been transferred from India to the British Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1867, at which
The entire raises more questions than answers, for aspects of the letter are in doubt, particularly the name of the convict, but the story is worth reporting. The vendor describes it as follows: “1858 (16th Nov) entire from Port Arthur to Newtown, Hobart from the convict John Lester to the Governor of Tasmania appealing for a reduction of his sentence, franked with (the imperforate blue) 6d tied by barred numeral
The registered cover had a lilac ‘TWO PENCE’, an orange ‘THREE PENCE’ as well as a block of four green bantam stamps of Victoria cancelled with GEELONG/ 1 A/ AP 24/ 02/ VICTORIA, and there was an orange crayon cross hatching plus a large R in a circle. The cover was addressed to Colonel Gudgeon, British Resident, Raratonga, Cook Islands Federation (Figure 1). On the reverse there was an incomplete double circle
The cover is addressed “To the Right Honourable The Countess of Belmore, Throsby Park, Moss Vale, Bong Bong (New South Wales). The blue ‘TWO PENCE’ stamp of New South Wales is cancelled with the Rays numeral ‘48′ and there is a confirming unframed TARCUTTA/ JA 11/ 1870/ N.S.W. alongside (Figure 1). The reverse has four postmarks, all unframed, and three of them are entirely or partly legible. The first transit was ADELONG
The cover was sent per Northam to Miss Denison, (one of the daughters of Sir William Denison), Government House, Madras, and the ‘SIX PENCE’ imperforate stamp of New South Wales was cut into a hexagon shape. It was canceled with a D/ SYDNEY/JY 20/ 61 postmark and there was a reception postmark of MADRAS/ 1861/ AU 22. The reverse was not seen but was redirected to Ootacamund the next day (Figure1). Sir