Great Britain and British Commonwealth Victoria Postal History
Sale No: 4
Lot No: 575
Symbol: C
1854 stampless cover to Ireland endorsed "Registered" in red & "Paid", 'CASTLEMAINE' crowned-oval b/s & similar Melbourne transit b/s, British ' AZ /3AU3/1854' b/s in red & light 'ATHLONE/AU4/1854' also in red on the face, a little soiled. [On 1.1.1854, Forrest Creek was renamed Castlemaine]
1865 Police Department envelope with poor Chief Secretary Die 1 Frank h/s in blue, endorsed "Officially Registered/ supposed to contain coin" with "killer" '1' of Melbourne & 'REGISTERED/FE3/65/MELBOURNE' cds in red, superb '["6d"]/MORE TO PAY' handstamp (S&# #E1770). Ex Hans Karman & Max Watson. A remarkable & important item: registration fees were payable on franked mail only between 3.8.1864 & 31.7.1865. This item helped bring about the change. [Illustrated by Stieg & Watson at page 22]
1867 (May 4) triple-rate cover to Yorkshire "Via Marseilles" with rare franking of Laureates 10d brown/pink inter-panneau strip of 3 (the first unit damaged) & 6d blue tied by '1'-in-bars 'killer' cancels, Melbourne cds & superb 'REGISTERED'-in-oval h/s in red, London transit d/s of 20JY67 & 'BRADFORD-YORKS' arrival b/s, minor soiling & vertical fold at left. [The reason for the unusually long transit time was that it had to wait for the 'Bombay' ex Melbourne 28.5.1867; then per 'Golconda' Galle-Suez and 'Ceylon' Alexandria-Marseilles, arrived 18.7.1867]
1874-84 Justice of the Peace 'turned' lettersheets & a couple of other items each with one or more manuscript endorsements mostly simple "Not known" but including "This paper was torn coming from PO" with a fine strike of the rare 'DOWN TRAIN/ MG 14 /SE19/84/VICTORIA - TPO/14' duplex, "Neither name nor street known...", "Left the district", "Not known" & signatures of 6 letter carriers at Brighton, "Not known my portion of Acland St St Kilda", etc, some postmark interest, condition rather mixed.
(Qty 23 items) (Image1)
Estimate AU$300
Opening AU$ 230.00
Sold...AU$ 230.00
Closed..Feb-18-2021, 17:00:00 EST
Sold For 230
Sale No: 4
Lot No: 579
Symbol: CL
1874-84 Justice of the Peace 'turned' lettersheets sent to & returned from NSW x17 (one, part-only, forwarded first to Adelaide), Queensland x4 or South Australia, one endorsed "4d to pay/Unstamped" & a few with the Victorian Frank h/s crossed-through but otherwise without any penalty, condition rather mixed.
(Qty 22) (Image1)
Estimate AU$250
Opening AU$ 190.00
Sold...AU$ 190.00
Closed..Feb-18-2021, 17:00:00 EST
Sold For 190
Sale No: 4
Lot No: 580
Symbol: CL
1884 (Sept 18) OHMS folded circular with 'SOLICITOR GENERAL' Frank Stamps on address & return panels, 'DUNOLLY/VICTORIA' arrival b/s (LRD) where forwarded, returned with Naish 1d green affixed tied 'MARYBOROUGH/VICTORIA - 61' duplex cancel to pay the circular rate (unncessarily, as this had already been paid by the second impression of the Frank Stamp), couple of very minor blemishes.
1884 inwards from Germany endorsed "Via Southampton" with Eagle 10pf pair tied 'SONDERBURG/1 2/84' cds, taxed locally with 'T' boxed cachet & rated "25" in red pencil, endorsement crossed out & sent via Italy with 'BRINDISI/5/2-84' b/s, on arrival at Melbourne '1/1 TO PAY' oval cachet applied on face, a few minor blemishes. Melbourne tax markings known from this period are generally inscribed 'MORE TO PAY'; we surmise this h/s was manufactured to meet a particular short-lived rate & deficiency.
1886 inwards from Great Britain registered with 1d lilac pair & Jubilee 6d green (true colour; Cat £380+ on cover) tied 'SWINDON/SP2/86 - 766' duplex cancel, originally addressed to Sydney & forwarded to Melbourne where '["2d"]/MORE TO PAY' cachet applied on face, a few minor blemishes.
1891 cover to Germany endorsed "per SS Lusitania/via Naples" with 1d brown x3 tied Melbourne 'FE10/91' duplex cancels under-paying pre-UPU 6d foreign rate, taxed with Melbourne 'T ("3d")' oval cachet for single deficiency only, Bavarian 'K.B. BAHNPOST' TPO and Berlin '16.3.91' arrival b/s, rated "80" (pfennig) postage due in blue pencil, couple of minor blemishes.
In January 1891 the Victorian Postmaster-General announced a reduction in the ship-letter rate to Europe from 6d to 2½d per ½oz in anticipation of the Colony joining the UPU. However, Victoria's entry into the UPU and the concomitant rate reduction was delayed until October. In order to ameliorate the effects of the erroneous announcement, only single deficiency was charged on underpaid items, the 'fine' element of double deficiency being waived.
1891 (July 3) long cover from New South Wales with 2d Emu tied Broken Hill duplex cancel, overweight and taxed with Melbourne undenominated 'T' in oval h/s endorsed in manuscript "4d Def/2d Fine/6d to pay", Postage Due 6d blue & brown affixed alongside with indelible pencil cancel, slightly shortened at left with some aging marks.
1899 Department of Lands & Survey envelope endorsed "Labor Colony" at L/L, Melbourne cds & 'SOUTH YARRA' arrival b/s, flap removed. Important social history. [The "Labour Colonies" were a little-known social experiment during the major economic depression of the 1890s. Based on a German Lutheran model, most were run along charitable lines but the largest & most successful of them, at Leongatha, was "intended to fit men for a social order in which they hadn't had enough spunk to succeed and to which they were, in consequence, a menace" (from a book on the subject by REW Kennedy). The only other recorded Labour Colony item, from Leongatha & endorsed simply "L Colony", sold at our auction of 3.4.2017 for $456]
1900 (Mar 29) illustrated advertising cover for Ward Lock & Co (Publishers)' 'Windsor Magazine' with 'BIGGEST BRIGHTEST & BEST' advertising collar, Naish 2d tied by Melbourne cds, light overall soiling & small piece of the flap missing. Advertising collars are very scarce on Australian covers.
1902 (June 24) long cover to London with 2d violet x5 tied by poor strikes of Barred Numeral '383' with 'BRUTHEN' b/s paying 2½d foreign letter rate x4, damaged in transit with multiple British 'E[Crown]R/FOUND OPEN AND/OFFICIALLY REPAIRED' seals affixed at right tied by just-legible strike of the boxed 'Found open and/repaired in EC' h/s, some edge faults & blemishes as to be expected.
