Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1798 entire sent Jan. 10 by Thomas Haszard from Tothill St, Westminster addressed to “The most noble/Marquis of Townshend/Rainham Hall/Norfolk”, rated “7” deleted with red Free handstamp substituted due to peer’s entitlement to free franking. The letter reports that Hassard has received “some letters from the Island of St. John” reporting intentions of the Escheat Movement to revert to the Crown all unsettled lands to be charted for free settlement, this seen as a opportunity for “it is as good land as any in America and has the most natral advantages of any” despite recent abandonments due to treatment of “an arbetary and unjust manner since Governor Fanning has been their” (sic) and proposing that Townshend support an expedition to “carry out thousand of people their if I had a good vessel and they would loads her back with good timber for to pay their passage from hear” (sic). Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, PC (1724-1807) had strong connections to Canada having taken command of British forces at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham after the death of Wolfe at Quebec. In 1767 he had received a 20,000-acre grant on the Island but in 1784 had given up one-quarter of the land to “American Loyalists and disbanded troops”. Photo. (Image1)

Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1801 early incoming entire letter from the ‘Douglas’ correspondence, sent from Edinburgh July 30 and carried on the “Lady Hobart”, addressed to "Prince Edwards Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence" via Joshua Newton, agent in Halifax with London Paid tombstone and Bishopmark, fine two-line “HALIFAX/SEP21 1801” datestamp, rated “2/2” with “41/2” (d.) cy. collect from Halifax to Charlottetown. Photo. (Image1)

Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1802 incoming entire letter from the ‘Douglas’ correspondence, sent from Edinburgh July 3 addressed to "Prince Edwards Island/Gulf of St. Lawrence" via Joshua Newton, agent in Halifax with London Paid tombstone and Bishopmark, two-line “HALIFAX/AUG19 1802” datestamp, rated “2/2” with “41/2” (d.) cy. collect from Halifax to Charlottetown. Ex Griffiths. Photo. (Image1)

Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1803 ship letter to Sir James Montgomery in Edinburgh, headed “Charlotte Town 7th May 1803” and carried by private vessel with double circle “SHIP LETTER/(crown)/JUN 25/1803/LONDON” (crossed by filing fold) and June 25 Bishopmark in red, originally marked for 1s. ship letter fee amended to 3s.9d. for carriage from London to Scotland. Ex Steinhart. The letter written by James Douglas, agent for Sir James, the Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer of Scotland and a major landowner on the island. The earliest known overseas letter following the name change in 1798 from St John’s Island. Photo. (Image1)

Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1803 double rate incoming entire letter from the ‘Douglas’ correspondence, sent from Edinburgh July 3 and carried on the “Townsend”, addressed to "Prince Edwards Island/Gulf of St. Lawrence" via William Dickie, agent in Halifax with London Paid tombstone and Bishopmark, on reverse two-line “HALIFAX/7JUL 1803” (apparently missing “2” from “27”) datestamp, rated “4/4” and incorrectly charged “41/2” (d.) cy. single rate from Halifax to Charlottetown. Ex Griffiths. Photo. (Image1)

Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1827 envelope from Sir Charles Fitzroy at Charlottetown with superb strike of the scarce unframed “PRINCE EDWARDS ISLAND” (HS 3) showing ms. date “10 Mar/27”, addressed to Sir John Harvey at Fredericton, New Brunswick, routed via Halifax with faint transit handstamp, total charge of 3s.21/2d. cy. indicated in ms. – 1s.4d. cy. to Halifax and onward to Fredericton at 1s.101/2d. cy., both being double rate. Lehr records only eighteen examples of the handstamp variant with “S” after “EDWARD”. Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, KCB, KH (1796-1858), a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo where he was wounded and later Governor of New South Wales, served as the eleventh Governor of Prince Edward Island from 1837 to 1841. The remarkable figure of Lt. Gen. Sir John Harvey KCB, KCH (1778-1852) served as Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (1836-37), New Brunswick (1837-41) and Nova Scotia. (1846-52), as well as Civil Governor of Newfoundland (1841-46). In 1825 he had been appointed as a member of a five-man commission to evaluate the price at which crown land should be sold to the recently formed Canada Company. The resulting report was bitterly controversial and the Colonial Office had ordered a second investigation. Photo. (Image1)

Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1834 entire letter from the ‘Birnie’ correspondence to London showing lightly struck double ring “POST OFFICE/P.E.ISLAND” with ms. date “29 Janr/34” inserted, circular-framed "PAID" (Type P9) with red ms. "8" (deleted) alongside, rated “2/2” at Halifax with Mar. 6 transit, carried on the “Lord Melville” with Mar. 28 arrival on reverse, filing folds. Photo. (Image1)

Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1835 entire sent by Rev. William Wilson at Bedeque to the Secretaries of the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London on Dec. 14, with fine strike of circular “PRINCE EDWARDS ISLAND” (HS 3a) with type-set date “JA19/1836”, endorsed “post paid to Halifax” and “Paid 10d” (a charge of 8d. with 2d. added for origination in the interior of the island), with “PAID” in circle deleted and Halifax Mar. 4 transit, the letter delayed and eventually carried on the Falmouth packet “Pigeon” with London Mar. 26 receiving backstamp and final charge of “2/2”. In the letter (outer sheet only) Wilson (1798-1870) who was keenly interested in the Inuit people and would have much preferred mission work in Labrador, requests transfer, decrying the lack of educational opportunities for his children for “in the Wallace Circuit there is no school whatever”. In 1834 Wilson had moved to P.E.I. after fourteen years in Newfoundland and in 1866 published his influential account “Newfoundland and Its Missionaries” of the oldest Methodist overseas mission. Photo. (Image1)

Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1852 extraordinary entire addressed to Capt. Bentinck Cumberland in Bath endorsed “H.M.S.” and rated “8/-” at eight times the 1/2oz. rate with unframed “PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND/PAID” in red alongside and “DE 31/1852” despatch on reverse, also fine tombstone “PKT.LETTER/PAID/LIVERPOOL/JA30/53F” and Bath Jan. 31 1853 arrival, having been carried with some delays on the “America”, some tears and soiling but also showing handsome red wax seal of the “PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND/SECRETARY’S OFFICE”. In 1833 Bentinck Harry Cumberland (1802-1881) had married Margaret, youngest daughter of Edmund Fanning (Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1783 to 1786 and of St John’s Island from 1786 to 1805), his impressive family connections including the then Governor-General of India, Lord William Bentinck, and the writer Jane Austen. Cumberland had served as Commander of the Garrison and remained on the Island with his wife for many years before joining his mother and sister-in-law in Bath, where they had moved after the Fanning family home had burnt down in 1849. Unusually rapid late promotions in 1858, due it was said to the personal influence of the Duke of Cambridge, Commander in Chief of the Army, resulted in Cumberland being able to retire with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Photo. (Image1)

Canada: Prince Edward Island: 1861 perf. 9 2d. mint, 3d. unused and 6d. mint, and 1862-69 compound perf. 6d. unused, slightly varied condition. S.G. 1, 3, 4, 25, cat. £3,675. Photo. (Image1)