'AUSTRALIA ILLUSTRATED' Early Non-Illustrated Lettersheets & Periodicals
Sale No: 247
Lot No: 1088
Symbol: C
NEW SOUTH WALES: 1846 4pp lettersheet with printed Resolution of 6.3.1846 re soliciting funds for 'The School House and Teacher's Residence, Kent-street, South, in connection with St Andrew's Scots Church...' over the name of 'J M'Garvie DD', with lengthy letter headed "Sydney 15 October 1846" & signed by the same "John McGarvie", to Scotland with underinked 'PAID SHIP LETTER/[crown]/OC*19/1846/SYDNEY' d/s, rated "3" in red, boxed 'GLASGOW/3APR1847/11-AM' d/s & rated "1/-". Carried per Toulmin Packet 'Berkshire' ex Sydney 7.11.1846 via Cape Horn, arrived Cherbourg (!) 2.4.1847. This was the only Toulmin sailing that deviated from the required landing at an English port: see Colin Tabeart at page 106-7 where he notes the average passage in 1846 was 129 days. This voyage took 146 days. [The writer blames "church disputes here" for his failure to write sooner. He refers to "the bigotted fury of our friends of the Free Church who have no mercy for those who oppose them...our Body have resolved to remain in connexion with the Established Church of Scotland...I have got a very handsome School house erected attached to my Church...I am also now getting a Manse erected...Our new Governor [FitzRoy] has arrived..."]
NEW SOUTH WALES: 1850 printed part-entire headed 'Conditions under which Sales of Lease of Crown Lands are held by Public Auction...', endorsed "OHMS" to Gosford with exceptional & rare franking of Sydney Views Plate II (Horizontally Lined Background) 2d bright blue pair [Pos R1/3-4] with Circle Intersecting Fan on both units & the R/H unit also with No Whip SG 24c & d (margins close to large with outer framelines except at left; Cat £1300 as single stamps) just tied by barred cancels of Sydney (b/s of JY*16/1850), a superb First Issue cover & one of the finest Sydney View covers we have handled. Ex Ludwig Baetgen (9.3.1994). Ben Palmer's Census #167 & illustrated by him. [4d was double-rate. It appears that a second page - probably an application form - was detached & there may also have been an enclosure]
SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 1841 (Dec 1) 'The South Australian News Letter' Issue Number 1 tabloid-size, 4pp (one blank) with three pages of dense information & statistics about the Colony & imprint of A Macdougall Adelaide at the end, edited by James Allen, folded & addressed to London "pr Emma to Sydney" with no South Australian markings, light but obvious oval 'PAID SHIP LETTER/JA*19/1842/SYDNEY' d/s in red, British 'SHIP LETTER' h/s & London capsule '8NT8/MY23/1842' b/s both in red, mercantile letter headed "Adelaide/22nd Dec 1841" refers to "nine bales [of wool] weighing together 2408 lbs". A very early South Australian entire that incluydes a list of the seven current post offices & the mail schedule with Port Lincoln stated to be "Occasionally". [We could find no library catalogue entries nor any other online references to this publication]
SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 1856 (Apr 21) entire 'ADELAIDE PRICES CURRENT' for Edward Stirling with a page of shipping movements & a full-page market summary, folded for sending through the mail to Oxfordshire "per Oliver Lang/via Melbourne" with a fine London Printing 6d dark blue SG 3 (almost full margins) not tied by the circle-in-bars cancel of the GPO but it clearly belongs, 'PAID/AP23/1856/ADELAIDE SA' cds alongside in red, Liverpool tombstone transit of JY27/56 across the fold & London cds obscuring the Adelaide cds, a couple of minor problems that don't detract from what is a very attractive Classic item. [Edward Stirling was a partner in the business that eventually became Elder Smith Goldsborough Mort & Younghusband. He was also a member of the Legislative Council. The town of Stirling, in the Adelaide Hills, was named after him. At this time, ships for England bypassed Adelaide so mail was first sent by coastal ship to Melbourne]
SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 1857 (Jan 19) entire 'ADELAIDE PRICES CURRENT' for Samuel Dixon & Co with shipping movements & a full-page market summary, printed for a sailing of the 'Oneida' to England but folded for sending through the mail to Sydney endorsed "forwarded by Saml.Dixon & Co" with Adelaide Printing 2d blood-red SG 8 (margins just touching to huge) tied by the circle-in-bars cancel of the GPO with 'PAID/JA19/1857/ADELAIDE SA' cds alongside in red, superlative 'SHIP LETTER/ C /JA*29/1857/SYDNEY' arrival b/s, minor blemishes. [The inter-colonial shipletter rate was 3d but there was a concessional rate of 2d for printed papers]
TASMANIA: 1858 government papers No 16-27 being mostly petitions on various subjects but including 8pp of Regulations for Tasmanians sitting Examinations for Cambridge & Oxford Universities, folded three times vertically for posting to the Launceston Examiner with scarce solo franking of an enormous & superb Imperf 1/- bright vermilion SG 41 tied by light BN '61 of Hobart, boxed 'PRE-PAID/24SP24/1858' b/s in red, a couple of insignificant blemishes.
TASMANIA: 1866 entire being a largely-printed Tasmanian Fire Insurance Company request for annual premium with Experimental Separations Perf 10 1d brick-red SG 57 tied by light bars cancel of Hobart with a light but fine strike of the scarce boxed 'PRE-PAID/4 O-CLOCK/16JA16/1866' d/s in red below, light overall discolouration on the address panel which is not obvious when the item is folded. A very attractive town letter.
Sale No: 247
Lot No: 1095
Symbol: C
Cat No: 69 (faded
TASMANIA: 1869 large-part entire being a largely-printed Cornwall Fire & Marine Insurance Company request for annual premium with Experimental Separations Perf 12 1d dull vermilion SG 69 (faded) tied by lindistinct cancel of Launceston, superb diamond 'PRE-PAID/15DE15/1869' d/s in red below, minor blemishes.
VICTORIA: 1841 printed 'A Plan for the Wesleyan Methodist Preachers and Prayer Leaders/of the Melbourne Circuit/1841' with imprint 'Shanly, Printer...Melbourne', showing eight places of worship with some manuscript enhancements at the sides that identify "New Town" as 1 mile from the city, "Brickfields" (1 mile) & "Forest" (5 miles), all references that are lost on us who think we know our Melbourne history rather well, the lengthy letter headed "Port Philip/Australia Felix/1841 May 12" & signed "J Ankers Marsden" states "The accompanying sheet is a copy of the first Wesleyan Plan ever printed in Australia Felix & the only one of the size it was struck off at my earnest request [for you]...", to Nottinghamshire with a fine strike of the 'MELBOURNE/PAID'-in-octagon h/s in red & largely very fine 'MELBOURNE/[crown]/AU*5/184-/ NEW.S.WALES' b/s (no year as usual for 1841 strikes), London transit b/s of 26DE26/1841 & fair 'MANSFIELD' arrival cds of DE28/1841 on the face, the address panel very soiled, some small pieces missing & some internal splitting reinforced with archival tape. An important & unique church document.
Joseph Ankers Marsden was a preacher & social activist who arrived from Hobart on 13.3.1841. He implores the addressee & the extended family to all leave England for 'Australia Felix', to come under the government's scheme of free passage &, in a PS, states "...I know I could induce the Wesleyans to support you". James Shanly (or Shanley) was an important if little-known printer who produced the 'Weekly Press & Port Philip Advertiser' (1841) & the 'Melbourne Commercial Directory' (1853).
VICTORIA: 1850 (Nov; Vol 1 No 11) 'The Melbourne/CHURCH OF ENGLAND/MESSENGER' 8vo 36pp, folded lengthwise for posting with the addressing band removed but with rare franking of Half-Length Ham Printing Third State with Outer Framelines Added 1d dull red SG 8a [Pos 8] (margins shaved to large with a fragment of the adjoining unit at left; Cat £225) just tied by a part-strike of the Butterfly '1' cancel of Melbourne, minor foxing & soiling on the face but otherwise remarkably fine. A rare & exceptional town-letter.
VICTORIA: 1858 (Nov 13) entire 'GEELONG SHIPPING REPORT/Gold Circular...and Prices Current' with three dense pages of trade data & 'Printed...Daniel Harrison & Co...and published by Henry C Wigg' at the end, printed for a sailing of the 'Emeu' to England but sent to New Zealand with scarce solo franking of Emblems Imperf 1d dull yellow-green (faults but presentable) tied by very fine BN '2' of Geelong (poor b/s), 'WELLINGTON/NO25/1858/=NEW ZEALAND=' arrival b/s & '2' h/s for inwards shipletter fee, filing fold across the address panel & minor soiling.
The inter-colonial shipletter rate was 3d but there was a concessional rate of 1d for printed papers. The State Library of Victoria has only one issue, of 15.1.1858.
VICTORIA: 1861 (Mar 1) 'Power Rutherford & Co's Weekly Circular' on blue paper, 4 tabloid pages of dense market information with address panel headed 'Newspaper Only', to Sydney with scarce solo franking of Emblems Perf 12 1d pale yellow-green tied by very late usage of the standard BN '1' of Melbourne, minor internal faults but of very fine facial appearance. A rare & attractive usage of the concessional 1d newspaper rate.
We could find no examples of this publication in our online library searches, and no record of the company.
VICTORIA: 1869 (Mar 9) 'The Argus' entire newspaper eight broadsheet pages largely of classified advertisements, hand-addressed to California with scarce solo franking of Laureates 1d green (perfs trimmed at right) tied by bars 'killer' cancel of Melbourne, magnificent strike of 'DUE 2' h/s applied at San Francisco, usual folds & sme soiling. Includes a notice for the sailing of the American clipper 'Lottie Maria' ex Melbourne 15.3.1869 direct to San Franciso. A terrific item for the collector of rates, routes, destinations or taxed mail. Absent from Ben Palmer's Census, and he does not record the h/s on mail from Victoria: Dale Forster notes that "The Mahoney book lists one example only".
Before the New Zealand-United States Postal Convention of late-1870, there were no contract mails to any port on the US Pacific Coast. Mail could be carried by private ship but, as Colin Tabeart notes, such sailings were 'sporadic'. Items that can be conclusively attributed to a particular non-contract sailing are rare, and this is the only such newspaper usage recorded by us.
