Great Britain and British Commonwealth Postal History
Sale No: 1
Lot No: 96
Symbol: C
1895Cowasjee Dinshaw & Bros quintuple-rate cover (2½a x5) to UK with India QV 2a blue, 2a6p green pair and 8a violet tied 'ADEN/MY29/95' squared-circle, 'NORTHWICK/JU10/95' arrival b/s, couple of minor edge marks.
1939 usage of KGVI 3a blue Registration Envelope size 203x125mm to Denmark with KGVI Pictorials ½a & 3a added tied 'ADEN/REG/12JUL39' cds and blue R label on face, 'KOBENHAVN/24.7.39' arrival b/s, a few minor blemishes. Nice usage to an unusual destination.
SOUTH ARABIAN FEDERATION: 1965 Globe Trading Agencies cover endorsed "Per Second Class Airmail - Registered Sample of No Commercial Value", to Austria with 75f Arms solo franking, 'CRATER/B/15SP/65/ADEN' d/s and blue/white R label, flap unsealed for inspection, green Customs Declaration form on face stating "1 plastic bag" and 'Zollfrei' [Duty Free] cachet applied on arrival, Vienna b/s of 21.9.65.
1932Clarke Steamship Co Ltd 'Canadian Trade Exhibition Cruise' envelope airmail to Canada with KGV 1/- pair tied 'ST. JOHNS/JA21/1932/ANTIGUA' cds, carried by PanAm FAM-5/6 'Lindbergh Circle' service to Miami (Florida) and onwards by domestic airmail, a couple of minor blemishes. This cruise was undertaken in the midst of the Great Depression in the hope that the West Indies would replace existing American imports with products from Canada under an appeal to their common associations with Britain. It attracted exhibits from sixty-five Canadian manufacturers plus banks, universities and trade associations, and took place on board the "New Northland" which visited fourteen Caribbean ports between Jan 11 and Feb 28, overnighting in Antigua on Jan 20.
1940 'On Salvation Army Service, Territorial Headquarters, Kingston, Jamaica' envelope airmail from Colonel Hodgson in Antigua to his wife in Jamaica, KGVI Pictorials 1d & 1/- tied 'ST JOHNS/MY30/40/ANTIGUA' cds, re-directed with 'KINGSTON' transit and 'MANDEVILLE/JU5/40/JAMAICA' arrival b/s, not censored, a couple of repaired edge faults at top. Unusual war-time inter-island airmail.
1920AE Morlan, Jeweler, Belize PPC ('Mahogany Logs On Truck' showing workers with logs tied to wagon on railway track), to USA with 'WAR' overprint 1c only tied by 'BELIZE/FE20/20/BRITISH HONDURAS' cds on view side, message & address on back, couple of minor blemishes.
1931Arturo Burgos General Merchant & Commission Agent envelope airmail to England with KGV 4c 5c & 10c tied by 'BELIZE/10SP/31/BRITISH HONDURAS' cds, carried by PanAm FAM-5/6 'Lindbergh Circle' service to Miami and onwards by domestic airmail to New York where violet double-bars jusqu'a marking applied on face and onwards by ship, couple of very minor blemishes.
1912 'Zeyat, Mandalay' postcard to England with India KEVII 1a tied 'SHWEBO-CANT/21AP12' cds, returned with British 'Insufficiently addressed' cachet, Indian 'UNCLAIMED/RETURNED/LETTER/From the Dead Letter Office at ...' label affixed with 'D.L.O./BOMBAY' & 'D.L.O./RANGOON' boxed d/s and 'SHWEBO CANTONMENT/DELY/11JE13' cds, couple of very minor blemishes.
1941 cover airmail to USA with ettiquette endorsed "via Hong Kong", return address "MP Spear, Methodist Mission, Pegu" and India KGV 12a 'BURMA' overprint tied 'R-33/9APR41/SET 1' TPO cds, taxed with 'T / ["14c"]' cachet, censored locally with violet 'X PASSED/CENSOR/7' triangular cachet and Hong Kong 'NOT OPENED/BY/CENSOR' alongside, 'VICTORIA/19AP/41/HONG KONG' transit b/s, US Postage Due pre-cancelled 3c affixed to face, couple of very minor blemishes.
1958 airmail envelope to England with QEII Ships 6d Discovery pair and 2/- Pourquoi-Pas x2 tied by two largely fine strikes of 'ARGENTINE ISLANDS/JA2/58/GRAHAMLAND' cds, very minor blemishes.
1955 airmail cover to Central Pacific Union Mission in Fiji with KGVI Pictorials 1d x2 & 1/- x2 tied 'TARAWA/13JN55/...' cds, carried via Samoa with 'APIA/-7JL55/WESTERN SAMOA' transit b/s, minor blemishes & small part of the flap missing. [Although ANA carried airmail between Canton Island and Fiji, this item appears to have been sent by seamail to Samoa as a more expeditious route than waiting for a ship to take it to Canton Island]
1957 internal cover to an islander at Abaokoro Hospital but with Nauru arrival cds & superb strike of the rare boxed 'MISSENT TO/NAURU' handstamp in violet, roughly opened at left. Ex Thomas Osdene.
1960 cover registered airmail to Australia with QEII Pictorials 2/- 'solo' tied light 'CHRISTMAS ISLAND/25JAN60' cds and boxed 'G.& E.I.C./CHRISTMAS IS./R. No ["11"]' cachet in violet alongside, American-type 'REGISTERED' h/s in purple on face, Sydney '-2FE60' arrivalb/s, minor blemishes.
1965 islander's cover from Tabiteuea to "PBC Nauru/Ocean Is" with Ocean Island arrival b/s but forwarded to Nauru where cds struck on the face & endorsed "MISSEND TO NAURU" and "Unclaimed/Return to Sender", a bit grubby.
FANNING ISLAND:A Mills (Suva) six different sepia/yellow PPCs of Fanning Island, superb unused; plus the original envelope with peripheral faults.
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FANNING ISLAND: 1945 cover from "Sun Cheng/Cable Station/Fanning Island" (return address on the flap) to the USA endorsed "By Air Mail/Via Honululu" with KGVI 6d Coconut Palms tied by fine 'POST OFFICE/ 9APR45/FANNING ISLAND' cds, slightly smudged strike of the boxed 'GILBERT AND ELLICE/ISLANDS COLONY/ PASSED BY CENSOR/No.1' cachet on face, couple of minor blemishes. [Proud states at p52 that the Pacific air route was re-opened for civilian airmail in 1943, with service from Hawaii to the continental USA presumably provided by American Army Transport flights on a 'space available' basis]
1840 MulreadyLettersheet 1d black SG ME1 Stereo 'A47', a bit grubby & minor rubbing; Envelopes 1d black SG ME2 Stereo 'A131', light ironed-out vertical fold; & 2d blue SG ME4 Stereo 'a196', very fine facial appearance but minor problems on the reverse; Cat £1150.
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1840 (Aug 31) OHMS entire from Inverness to Dingwall (Ireland) with Penny Black Plate 3 (three margins with a chunk of the stamp below) tied by Scottish Maltese Cross cancel in red, Inverness cds b/s, centrefold with toning on left side.
1855 (June & July) covers with sender's endorsement "Crimea/[date]/initials" at L/L & both with part-'POST-OFFICE/ =BRITISH-ARMY=' b/s, to Gosport or Southampton each with Stars 1d strip of 3 cancelled on arrival with '49' or '48' cancels of the London Foreign Branch, the first with peripheral faults & the flap missing, the second is very fine.
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1856 Irish cover to New South Wales with Embossed 6d violet (cut-square, margins clear to just touching, Cat £1900 on cover) tied 'LIMERICK - 303' Spoon duplex cancel, '1d' accountancy h/s in red on face, 'SHIP LETTER/SYDNEY' arrival b/s, a few blemishes; also two 1841 usages of Mulready lettersheets in variable condition; 1853 1d red cover; & 1917 censored cover from FPO 'W.11'.
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1863 mourning envelope to Canada with 6d lilac tied '3W/GLASGOW/AP8/63 - 59' duplex cancel, Hamilton and Chatham (Upper Canada) 'AP24/1863' transits and 'CHARING CROSS/["25 April/63"]/C.W.' (Canada West; manuscript date) arrival b/s, couple of minor blemishes.
1869 mourning cover to NSW with very fine 1867-80 10d red-brown SG 112 Plate '1' with wing-margin tied by very fine 'ST ANDREWS/JU15/69 - 300' Scottish duplex, London transit b/s of the next day, a couple of minor defects clear of the stamp, Cat £850. Terrific item for the Golf enthusiast.
1877 (July 18) cover to "Post Office/Brisbane" with Plate '15' 2d blue & 4d sage-green with wing-margin (Cat £600 on cover) tied by Sheffield duplex, boxed 'NOT CALLED FOR', 18mm DLO b/s of DE21/77 & 'ADVERTISED/DE 31 77/UNCLAIMED' d/s both in red. Then nothing for a year, eventually returned to GB under cover where very fine boxed 'Undelivered for reason stated/To be returned to Sender...' cachet applied in violet, very fine Sheffield & 'HEELEY/MR13/79' arrival b/s.
1879 cover to Egypt "Via Brindisi" to an army officer "On Board the Mail Steamer/Deccan/Suez/Egypt" with Italian- pattern 'POSTE EGIZIANE/AL[ESSAN]DRIA' (fair) & '___POSTE EGIZIANE/SUEZ' (something removed; fine) backstamps, repaired tear across the flap.
1891 mourning envelope to Japan with Jubilee 5d purple & Blue Die II tied 'TORQUAY/AP23/91 - 805' duplex cancel paying double 2½d foreign letter rate, 'YOKOHAMA' transit b/s (partly removed on opening) and Tokyo arrival on face, a few blemishes mostly on back.
1899 'The Great Wheel, Earl's Court, SW' court-sized picture postcard with vignette view and lengthy social message on back, addressed on view side to Western Australia with 1d lilac tied 'WESTBROMPTON SW/SP8/99 - 8/3' duplex cancel, taxed with hexagonal 'T ["15']/L' [centimes] London h/s and manuscript "3d to pay" presumably added on arrival but no evidence that postage due was collected, faint 'CLAREMONT/OC 6/99/W.A' arrival b/s, a couple of bends & minor edge faults.
The card was taxed as under-paying the 2½d foreign letter rate; without the 'Carte Postale' heading it did not conform to UPU regulations for sending overseas at postcard rates; a very attractive example of this rule, and one of the earliest private picture postcards sent to Australia known to us.
1899 usage of QV 3d red + 1½d yellow doubleton Stamped to Order Envelope registered to Germany with smudged 'WANDWORTH COMMON/BELLEVUE Rd No 5 SW' cds and 'REGISTERED/TOOTING SW' d/s alongside, carried into Germany by train from Netherlands with 'Vom Auslande uber/Bahnp.8.["15"]/Eingeschrieben' registration label on face and oval 'OBERHAUSEN-BOXTEL/BAHNPOST/ZUG26/12.11.99' oval TPO b/s, 'APOLDA' arrival of next day alongside, minor blemishes. Nice usage.
1900 (Apr & July) covers to "Captain Hodgins/Royal Artillery/Sierra Leone/West Africa" both with 1d lilac tied by very fine 'LOWER-WALMER/DEAL' squared-circle & segmented b/s in red, the first endorsed "Frontier Police Mess" with 'FREETOWN' arrival b/s, the other a mourning cover, minor blemishes. Scarce destination: because of the humid climate & attendant disease, Sierra Leone was one of the least popular colonial postings.
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1925real photo PPC ('An Imperial Airways Passenger Plane' showing the Handley-Page RMA 'Prince George' at Croydon Aerodrome), airmail to Germany with social message in German from visitor to Wembley Exhibition, blue 'P25' airmail etiquette and 1925 Exhibition 1d x3 tied by three strikes of 'EMPIRE EXHIBITION WEMBLEY PARK/[lion]/31JY/1925' commemorative cds, boxed 'Mit Luftpost/befordert/Hannover 1' h/s in violet and 'AUE/-2.8.25' arrival d/s alongside, a couple of very minor blemishes.
1941 registered airmail from Scotland to Polish internee in Switzerland addressed to "Mr A Popkowski, Winterthur, Technikumstr. 26" with KGVI 10d solo franking tied Edinburgh '22AU/41' cds with blue R label, censored with British & Swiss resealing labels and small '353' h/s in violet, on arrival tri-lingual 'Leitzettel .../Feldpost/P.camp./Winterthur' orange label tied on face by 'Zuzustellen/Fedpostdirektion' red h/s authorising delivery. Presumably to an interned soldier; over 13,000 Polish soldiers fled to Switzerland after the capitulation of France in 1940 and were interned there; many undertook studies in this time including at the Winterthur Technical College.
1944 'ARMED FORCES AIR LETTER' formular aerogramme to Australia from serviceman with Canadian Forces, KGVI 3d tied by 'FIELD POST OFFICE/DE3/44/ 622 ' cds, London violet oval 'OAT' cachet applied on face to indicate Onwards Air Tranmission presumably by BOAC to India and Qantas Lancastrian service via Ceylon, minor aging marks.
1944 usage of KGVI 3d violet 'PRISONER OF WAR POST' Airmail Postal Card to British POW "7618459 Sgt LC Burton, No.2 Camp, Thailand" with 'TARPORLEY/19JU/44/CHESHIRE' cds, censored with British '[crown]/ PASSED/P.W.4901' cachet and on arrival with boxed Japanese character chop of censor Nonoka both in red, couple of minor blemishes. There is no indicationn of the location of the camp at which he was held, but Nonoka is known to have censored mail forwarded to Ubon [Tett Volume 3 p150].
1912 usage of two KGV 10c K-size Registration Envelopes to Adelaide, each with KGV 4c 10c 30c & 50c, both opened a bit roughly at left & light overall damp-spotting still presentable. Rare usages.
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1934 airmail cover to England via ship to Netherlands Indies and then per KNLIM/KLM endorsed "Bandoeng-Amsterdam Airmail Service/Per S.S. Rajaputana" with KGV 5c pair, 20c & 50c tied by 'VICTORIA/ 13JY/34/HONG KONG' cds, minor edge faults at top.
1937Lacet & Cannan Ltd merchant cover with Ellerman logo on face airmail to England with violet 'VIA IMPERIAL ARIWAYS' cachet on face and KGV 50c & $1 tied 'VICTORIA/12NO/37/HONG KONG' cds paying triple rate, couple of minor blemishes.
1938WR Loxley & Co (Canton) merchant's cover airmail to China with Chinese airmail ettiquette and Hong Kong KGVI 10c & 25c tied by 'VICTORIA/2JU/38/HONG KONG' cds, '.../3.6.27/HANKOW' arrival b/s.
1939James McMullan & Co Ltd (Chefoo) merchant's flimsy cover registered airmail to USA endorsed "via Hong Kong & By US Air Service/Pan American Clipper", carried privately to Hong Kong where posted with KGVI 5c 30c 50c & $5 lilac & scarlet SG 159 (Cat £50 x2+ on cover) tied by 'REGISTERED/17AU/39/GPO HONG KONG' cds with blue & black 'R' label alongside, 'HONOLULU,HAWAII/SEP/1/1939' transit and New York arrival b/s, minor blemishes.
1940 cover endorsed "ON ACTIVE SERVICE" additionally with red 'On Active Service' h/s to Australia with 'VICTORIA/19MY/40/HONG KONG' cds, fine red boxed 'PASSED BY CENSOR/[initialled]/DATE: 11.5.40' h/s on back, a few blemishes. [A similar 1940 item from the same correspondence sold for HK$2990 in June 2018. See also Lot 602637]
Able Seaman Leslie John Golding was with the Royal Australian Navy. He served aboard the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMAS 'Kanimbla' which, in April 1940, commandeered onbe Danish & ten Norwegian ships at the mouth of the Yangtse River and escorted them to Hong Kong. In January 1942 he was transferred to HMAS 'Perth' which was sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait on 1.3.1942 and he was amongst the 307 survivors who were taken Prisoner of War.
1989 express airmail to Australia with 'SPEEDPOST/HONG KONG POST OFFICE' label and QEII $5 $10 & $50 tied by 'KINGS ROAD HONG KONG/26AP/89' cds, inspected with 'CUSTOMS/SCREENER' handstamp on the face and 'RECEIVED/28APR1989/SPECIAL SERVICES/PERTH WA' time-clock arrival b/s in red.
1856 cover to Ireland endorsed "via Southampton" with 4a blue & red (cut-to-shape) tied numeral '1' and 'BOMBAY/ * / PAID' cds on face, back flap missing & minor blemishes.
1870 entire to France "via Bombay & Suez" with 8p x2 & 4a green tied by private 'Stamped' h/s in blue, superb 'PD/10/SEP/70/CALCUTTA' b/s in red, French 'POS AN V SUEZ/P AN A MARS' marine sorter in red & boxed 'PD' h/s in black, minor edge faults & internally reinforced with archival tape.
1900 cover to Delhi endorsed "Stamped/VP Registered" with string tie at U/L where attached to goods parcel, QV ½a & 2a affixed on back tied 'SPENCER BUILDINGS/18OC00/MADRAS' cds with 'V.P. 864/Amount to be recovered/ (Exclusive of postage)/Rs ("5") As ("8")' Cash On Delivery label alongside, a little roughly opened at left.
1915-21 mostly WWI selection including 1915 to Chile with KGV 'I.E.F.' overprints ½a & 1a x2 tied 'F.P.O./No.44' used at Basra (Iraq), two covers to Bombay unfranked with 'Indian Hospital Ship' cachets, two to Australia one with IEF 'PASSED BY CENSOR/...84' h/s the other registered with KGV 2a6p pair endorsed "On Service/IEF 'D' ", plus a couple with civilian censor labels & cachets, also 1921 spotty postcard with boxed 'FIELD SERVICE/POSTAGE FREE' h/s and 'F.P.O./No.166' cds used at Ladha Camp Waziristan (North West Frontier), etc, condition variable.
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1934 airmail cover to "S/Cmdr H Deakes/Hong Kong Mule Corps/Kowloon/S.China" with KGV Airmail 2a x3 (one with surface rub) tied 'KASHMIR POINT MURREE' cds, Calcutta '19SEP34' transit & Hong Kong '29SEP/34' arrival b/s, a few blemishes. [The Hong Kong Mule Corps comprised four troops of 90 mules each some horses and riding ponies. The Corps was unarmed but some ass decided they should participate in the defence of Hong Kong against the Japanese invasion in 1941!]
1941 (June 3) Nederlandsch Indische Handelsbank airmail cover to USA endorsed "India-Hong Kong-USA/ Trans-Pacific Air Service/Clipper to New York " with KGV 3a6p & 5R tied Bombay '3JUN/1941' cancel, violet 'This cover contains Business Correspondence/in the English language' private cachet on the face, censored with triangular 'C/20' h/s, minor blemishes. [Carried Over the Hump from Calcutta to Chungking]
