Royal Reels: Gambling

Postmarks

MULWALA CONSTRUCTION CAMP N.S.W. POSTMARK

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 &

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MULTIPLE POSTMARKS on 1866 COVER SENT from MELBOURNE to LONDON

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

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MILITARY ENCAMPMENTS in VICTORIA: LANGWARRIN CAMP & BOER WAR

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

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THE EXPERIMENTAL CHARLES RIDEOUT SYDNEY DUPLEX (1861-62)

Two N.S.W. covers, both sent per the same ship, appeared on eBay addressed to Messrs Newell, Melbourne, Victoria dated 1860 and 1861 respectively, but only the latter one caught my fancy, for I did not recall seeing the duplex cancel previously. I was not surprised that the specific cancel was not found in my modest collection of early Sydney cancels, but I was at a loss to find it was

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TASMANIAN POSTAGE STAMPS USED INSTEAD of POSTAGE DUES & JESSIE ROOKE, SUFFRAGETTE

This cover is an example of the use of a pair of green 2d ‘Side Face’ Tasmanian postage stamps used on inwards mail from Victoria to Tasmania in 1897 in lieu of Postage Dues. The orange pair of ONE PENNY ‘Reading’ stamps of Victoria are cancelled with an incomplete UP TRAIN/ M.G. ( )/ OC 12/ 97/ VICTORIA postmark and DEFICIENT POSTAGE 2d/ FINE 2d/4d handstamp was applied. The Tasmanian

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WILLIAM SHAWCROSS, FERN ACRE, BROOKLANDS ROAD, SALE, CHESHIRE from VICTORIA

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

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WILD HORSE PLAINS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, NEAR ADELAIDE, POST MARK

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

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THE MANY POSTMARKS of the MOLONGO DISTRICT and SETTLEMENT (1918-45)

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.

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ALFRED WILLIAM HOWITT, ETHNOLOGIST, (1830-1908) PART TWO

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

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