An unusual cover from Melbourne to Adelaide. This cover produced a minor flurry of bidders at Ebay Auctions obviously on account of the multiple postmarks and other markings, which were not philatelically inspired. As interesting as the postmark exuberance is, there are other less obvious points of interest. The front bears a 2d lilac ‘POSTAGE’ Victoria, perf. 12 x 12½ stamp (ASC # 86), a very common stamp that was
Aboriginal place names intrigue me and Cooplacurripa (‘plenty of mosquitoes’) is no exception. But there is more to my interest for why was the post office and town name changed from the original to Number One, and a second post office and town with the original name moved further north-west? A web search not only gave no answer to these questions, but also to-date has been remarkably unhelpful in giving
This postmark was sufficiently short-lived and is relatively uncommon, and this area on the New South Wales and Victoria border is of considerable interest, that I felt it reasonable to research it and to write a short paper. The postmark cancels the red 2½d KGVI definitive which was issued on 7 January 1942 and it reads MULWALA CONSTRUCTION CAMP/ -9 JE 43/ NSW. The postmark is described in N.C. Hopson &
This unclaimed cover was franked with the 6d blue ‘Laureate’ of Victoria and was postmarked by the duplex MELBOURNE/ 3A/ AU 27/ 66. It was finally sent to England after reception at two cities in India, but the addressee’s name and the original address in India is no longer legible, for most of the front is a mass of readdresses which have been hatched out. There are however on the
The purple ‘TWO PENCE’ stamp of Victoria was cancelled with a shield enclosing the details of the postmark which was 1/ MILITARY/ FE 11/ (with no year)/ ENCAMPMENT. Note the ‘scalloped’ out perforation at the right hand side of the stamp. The vendor stated that it was used at Langwarrin Camp, Victoria (Figure 1). Another example of the same postmark was seen on a cover addressed to Messrs. Reuters Telegram
My interest in Molonglo Settlement was piqued 5 years ago, when I won an auction lot of 300 NSW postmarks on KGV head stamps, which contained 3 copies of this postmark, all dated 1924, and all on the red 1½d (ASC 66).I considered this a rather unusual frequency for a relatively uncommon postmark, but the lack of significant information on the internet re the Settlement, made me put the stamps away.
This cover continues to grab me, even after at least 3 previous attempts over a period of a year of unsuccessful research on William Shawcross. The reasons for my obsession include my failure to ‘crack the code of silence’, the boldness of the addressees penmanship, the multiple use of two different stamps of Victoria and the multiple postmarking on the front. It was addressed to Wm Shawcross Esq., Fern Acre, Brooklands
The town of Wild Horse Plains, South Australia was unknown to me, but I had previously known of Wild Horse Plains, Montana and then I found several examples of the township in South Australia on the same day. There were 2 examples found on the red KGV head stamp, one on the red 1½ penny, and another on the KGV 1 penny, which was a superb ‘socked on the nose’ example
This somewhat battered and stained ‘cover’ adds to the information on the multifaceted Alfred Howitt. It was sent by him to Cyrus E. Doyle Esq, Werrinia, Kunopia, Moree, N.S.W. and it has the green 1d Bell designed Victorian stamp postmarked with BAIRNSDALE/ AU 31/ 77/ VICTORIA duplex with barred numeral ‘174′ (the first duplex, which is not rated by Freeman & White, 1997). Along the top of the cover there