SOUTH AUSTRALIA

**Postal History - Pre-Stamp Period 1838-1854**
LotNo.	Symbol	Lot Description	Estimate in AU$'s
2001		1838 (Dec 6) lengthy entire headed "Adelaide South Australia/6 Decemr 1838" & signed "David McLaren" to the Congregational Library in London with a largely very fine strike (and one of the best recorded) of the undated double-circle 'POST OFFICE/[lion/crown]/ADELAIDE' handstamp', unframed 'SHIP LETTER/FALMOUTH' transit overstruck with London arrival backstamp of 9JU9/1839 both in red, rated "1/4" double-rate payable by the recipient. [A superior strike to that on Harry Lower's entire from a few days earlier, that sold for $5060. Both these were written in the month Thomas Gilbert was succeeded as postmaster by Henry Watts. NB: both predate the earliest recorded postmarked mail from the Port Phillip District (Victoria)] The handstamp is recorded from -.3.1838. However, Don Pearce discovered a note in the Archives dated "16 Sept 1837" & signed "Thomas Gilbert/Post Master", suggesting that it be "returned to Sydney" for the inscription to be amended to add 'SOUTH AUSTRALIA'. No action was taken. Don's transcript is included with the lot. This, plus the similar Port Adelaide and Glenelg devices (the latter known only from a single example in the Archives), were manufactured in Sydney by a Mr Manning. The central ornament wore quickly: very few strikes show as much detail as this example. David McLaren, after whom McLaren Vale was probably named, was one of the most prominent of the original settlers. As manager of the privately owned South Australian Company, he was instrumental in bringing huge tracts of land under the company's control. The bank he established largely financed the development of the nascent colony & under his stewardship both the company & the bank survived the depression of 1840. McLaren was also a highly regarded lay preacher. Despite returning to England in -.1.1841, he left a profound footprint on the colony. The letter is an effusive testimonial in favour of Reverend Thomas Quinton Stow, who was pastor of the first Congregational Church in the colony. Stow had apparently incurred the displeasure of his overseers in London for having, without authorisation, borrowed £50 from McLaren's bank to fund the erection of a house. The writer assures Rev Algernon Wells that he holds Stow in the highest esteem & that the latter "had acted judiciously and economically...I was witness to much manual labour bestowed by Mr Stow himself...Stow has studied economy rather than comfort..." Grade A- (Image1) (Image2) (Image3) (Image4)	Estimate AU$4,000 SOLD for AU$3,000.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2002		1839 (Nov 11) large-part entire endorsed within "Customs/Port Lincoln/Nov 11 1839" & signed "JB Harvey", addressed to "D MacLaren Esqre/Bank/Adelaide" with postmaster's endorsements "JBH" at lower-left & "Post Office/Port Lincoln" at upper-left - not recorded in the Handbook - plus the only recorded example of the two-line 'POST OFFICE,/PORT LINCOLN.' handstamp, partial but largely legible double-ring 'POST OFFICE/[lion/crown]/ADELAIDE' handstamp (very scarce on inwards mail) & rated "3". One of the most important pre-stamp items from South Australia. [Illustrated in 'Shilling Violet' (Mar 1990) where Martin Walker stated "...It shows the earliest example of the 3d rate known to me but which 3d rate is it? Is it the 3d inland rate applied to all letters...or the 3d rate applied to letters received by ship? I think it is [the former]"] Port Lincoln post office opened 20.6.1839, with the transfer of facilities from Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island. Apart from the Adelaide handstamp, this is the only pre-1840 postal marking recorded for the Colony. [Port Adelaide PO opened in 1838 but the undated handstamp is recorded only from 1841] James Benjamin Harvey was in the employ of the South Australia Co, and was transferred from Kangaroo Island to Port Lincoln in mid-1839. It is likely that his arrival coincided with the opening of the post office & that he was thus the first postmaster at this remote settlement. Harvey was a medical doctor but also filled the roles of postmaster, harbour master & collector of customs. In addition, he was an enthusiastic amateur naturalist & botanist. David McLaren arrived in 1837 as Manager of the South Australia Company, effectively the Colonial Chief Secretary and Treasurer rolled into one. A highly capable financial manager, he was almost universally unpopular in Adelaide for failure to consult the residents. He returned to Britain in 1841, and continued to run the company's business from there. The letter is headed "To the Treasurer of South Australia" & states "...[Pay] the cashier of the Bank of South Australia the sum of Thirty seven Pounds Ten Shillings, being a quarter's salary due to me as Collector of Customs & Post Master at Port Lincoln..." Interestingly, Martin Walker's earliest record of a postmaster is HC Hawson (1847-55). (Image1) (Image2) (Image3) (Image4)	Estimate AU$5,000 SOLD for AU$5,500.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2003		1841 (March) lengthy cross-written entire headed "Port Adelaide" and signed "JP Beyer" to his sister in London, endorsed "per first vessel" and carried per favor to England with light 'SHIP LETTER' & arrival cds of 3SP3/1841 in red on the reverse, minor defects & light overall soiling. The letter is quite legible and is sure to contain interesting snippets: see scans on our website. Grade B (Image1) (Image2) (Image3) (Image4) (Image5) (Image6)	Estimate AU$200 SOLD for AU$150.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2004		1841 (July 14) entire headed "Duplicate" with signatures of "William Giles", "David Sutherland", "IJ Barclay" & "A Moorhouse" to the Colonial Missionary Society in London with fine strike of the by-now badly worn 'POST OFFICE/ADELAIDE' handstamp with the inner ring & central ornament completely omitted, 'SHIP-LETTER' h/s & London arrival backstamp of 1AP1/1842, rated "8" for an inwards shipletter, docketed on the face "[from] Mr Stowe's Deacons...", minor blemishes. Grade A- (Image1) (Image2)	Estimate AU$500 SOLD for AU$420.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2005		1842 (Feb 23) part entire to "John Leake/Campbell Town/Van Diemens Land" with an unusually fine strike of the huge '[crown]/GENERAL POST OFFICE/ADELAIDE/SA' datestamp and indistinct boxed Ship Letter backstamp of Launceston, light toning mostly on the reverse. The Handbook records the datestamp from 10.2.1842 to 7.5.1846 only, so this is a very early example. Grade B (Image1) (Image2)	Estimate AU$200 SOLD for AU$460.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2006		1842 (March 4) outer to Ireland rated "6", the reverse with an largely very fine strike of the huge '[crown]/GENERAL POST OFFICE/ADELAIDE/SA', British 'SHIP LETTER' & indistinct London cds & rated "8" (on the face), very fine '2M/OC15/42' diamond datestamp of Dublin (?) in red and 'LIMERICK/OC16/1842' arrival cds, minor blemishes. Grade A- (Image1) (Image2)	Estimate AU$250 SOLD for AU$270.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2007		1845 (Sept 9) lengthy entire headed "Felixstow nr Adelaide" with a postscript of "Oct 3rd 1845" both signed "Thos L Stow", to the Congregational Library in London with a light but obvious strike of the huge '[crown]/GENERAL POST OFFICE/ADELAIDE/SA/14--14/1845' datestamp & rated "9" (?), London arrival backstamp of 31MR31/1846 in red & rated "1/4" double-rate payable by the recipient. [Thomas Quinton Stow was pastor of the first Congregational Church in Adelaide. His home 'Felixstow' was 7km NE of the city and remains the name of the adjacent suburb. It seems that a "Mr Roberts" had made a number of accusations against Stow, including that his sermons were "lifeless" & that the complainant had "obtained no good from my services", but the leadership in London had dismissed them and laid charges against Roberts. Stow offers thanks for the support. The letter is reproduced on our website in the hope that someone can decipher all of it] Grade A- (Image1) (Image2) (Image3) (Image4) (Image5) (Image6)	Estimate AU$500 SOLD for AU$380.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2008		1845 (Dec 8) lengthy & overweight entire signed "John Roberts/Maesbury house Kensington/near Adelaide", to "Congregational rooms/...London" endorsed "pr Taglioni" and with light but clear strike of the huge '[crown]/GENERAL POST OFFICE/ADELAIDE/SA' on the reverse rated "8", British 'SHIP- LETTER' handstamp in black & London arrival backstamp of 27AP27/1846 in red where rated "1/4" double-rate payable by the recipient, minor blemishes. Maesbury House has been described as "the oldest house in Adelaide's oldest suburb" and is still standing. It was built in 1843 for property developer, John Roberts, who was a regular press complainant against Rev Stow. The letter tells the church leaders of "...Mr Stow's indescretion and incapacity and vindictiveness...it would be a happy deliverance for the church if Mr Stow would retreat he has been...the sole cause of all the Unhappy differences...[and] is so intoxicated with pride...", and on and on. Based on the previous lot, from three months earlier, this was at least Roberts' second 'report' against Stow. Grade A- (Image1) (Image2)	Estimate AU$750 SOLD for AU$575.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2009		1846 (Aug 1) stampless entire from London to "BM Da Costa/Adelaide" with light straight-line 'Moorgate' on the reverse, rated "1/-" in red with 'PAID' cds at right, no arrival datestamp but rated "8" payable by the recipient, light folds & a little soiled. The writer enquires about the state of his land at Currency Creek being administered by Da Costa. [Benjamin Mendes da Costa, of Portuguese & Jewish descent, arrived at Adelaide on 7.7.1840 and set himself up as a merchant and, as the letter suggests, a land agent. He returned to England in 1848. Da Costa had befriended Augustus Short, the Anglican Bishop of Adelaide and bequeathed his significant land holdings in South Australia to St Peter's School, of which Don Pearce is an alumnus. One of the original four school 'houses' (there are now ten) is named Da Costa.] Grade B (Image1) (Image2) (Image3) (Image4) (Image5)	Estimate AU$250 SOLD for AU$190.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2010		1847 (June 16) outer to "The Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" in London, carried per favor to Singapore where chamfered-boxed 'FORWARDED BY/KER RAWSON & Co/SINGAPORE' cachet in red & light but clear boxed 'SINGAPORE/1847 November/Bearing...' handstamp both applied to the reverse & boxed 'Overland via Southampton' also in red (probably a private marking of Rawson's) on the face, docketed within "E Younghusband Jr 47/16 June...", light filing crease clear of the markings & unusually fresh. [William Younghusband was a woolbroker & pastoralist. The address & fine hand suggest the sender was probably his daughter Eliza, an early artist in the colonies. However, Martin Walker is of the view that the writer was Younghusband Père. William Wemyss Ker & his partner Rawson were import/export traders in Singapore, from about 1828] Grade A- (Image1) (Image2) (Image3)	Estimate AU$1,000 SOLD for AU$750.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2011		1847 (Dec 21) entire headed "21 Decr 1847/Adelaide" and signed "John Morphett", to London "p Regent [?]" crossed-through & "British Sovereign" added in red, with very fine GPO cds of 18xJA/1848 and London arrival backstamp of MY27/1848, rated "6" in red & "8" on arrival, light vertical fold at left otherwise unusually fine. The writer states "... I found that your cousins were gone with sheep to Port Lincoln ... Erasmus is at present laid up with Rheumatism ... no other course open to him than to declare himself insolvent ... I am prepared to assist him ... I am encouraging surging courage and perseverance ..." [Why almost a month between writing & posting? See also the next lot] John Morphett was an early promoter of the free colony of South Australia. He arrived in -.9.1836 & discovered the River Torrens. He opposed Governor Hindmarsh but became one of the most prominent of the early citizens, living at 'Cummins House', one of Adelaide's earliest fine homes, and still standing at Morphettville. Grade A- (Image1) (Image2) (Image3) (Image4) (Image5) (Image6)	Estimate AU$400 SOLD for AU$300.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2012		1848 (Jan 11) social entire between cousins headed "Adelaide" signed "Erasmus Gower", to London endorsed "p Gilbert & overland" with very fine GPO cds & London arrival backstamp of 28MY28/1848, rated "6" in red & "1/-" on arrival apparently amended to "1/2", light vertical fold at left otherwise unusually fine. The writer may have recently become a widower. He speaks of being in debt and of certain affairs needing to be settled, of his son staying with friends at Port Lincoln, and his sisters with Mr John Morphett, and his desire for employment in Adelaide. He complains at length of "Rheumatic Gout in the Knee ... and am now taking a solution of arsenic ..." Grade A- (Image1) (Image2) (Image3) (Image4) (Image5) (Image6)	Estimate AU$250 SOLD for AU$210.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2013		1848 (Jan 25) entire between cousins headed "Adelaide 24th January 1849" signed "Boord Brothers" and "SE Boord" to England "pr Wm Morris" with very fine GPO cds & rated "6' in red, London transit & Bath arrival backstamps both of MY31/1848 & rated "1/4". Interesting content: "We perceive a mail is to made up for England via Calcutta ..." & apologises for not having time to write a longer missive, mentions two enclosed mercantile notes. Boord Brothers were general grocers. In 1852, the business was sold to William Morgan who had made money on the Victorian goldfields. Grade A (Image1) (Image2) (Image3) (Image4)	Estimate AU$500 SOLD for AU$380.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2014		1848 (Feb) large-part outer to the Surveyor-General at Adelaide with a partly very fine strike of 'POST OFFICE/[crown]/PORT ADELAIDE' undated handstamp (rated RR), rated "2" in black (treated as unpaid, because it was not endorsed "OHMS"), very fine GPO arrival cds of 9xFE/1848, two light horizontal filing folds. [Endorsed within with cost of labour for "Superintendent @ 6/8[d] per day/Carpenter 8/- per day/4 Laborers each 5/- per day"] Grade B (Image1) (Image2)	Estimate AU$400 SOLD for AU$300.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2015		1848 (Feb 11) front endorsed "On the Publick Service" & with postmaster's manuscript "PO/Gawler" at upper-left, to "EC Frome/Surveyor General" with very fine GPO arrival cds & 'crown/FREE' handstamp in red (as usual struck partly off the face), horizontal & vertical folds. PO 18.5.1841. Grade B (Image1)	Estimate AU$200 SOLD for AU$250.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2016		1848 (April 12) stampless entire headed "London/Jerusalem Coffee House" signed "James Hibbard" (?) to "Captain Bagot MLC/North Adelaide" with very fine strike of the unframed-oval 'JB WILCOCKS/ AGENT FOR GOVERNMENT/EMIGRATION/PLYMOUTH' handstamp, carried per favor and placed into the mails on arrival at Adelaide where rated "6" and superb GPO cds of DE5/1846 applied. The writer states "...We leave tomorrow for China..." and tells of terrifying weather off Mauritius on his trip "home"; comments about the Irish Potato Famine and "the disturbed state of Ireland..." Ex Ric Slade-Slade. [James B Wilcocks was one of the more successful agents attracting paying immigrants to South Australia, for which he was paid by the SA Government: see also Lot 2040. Captain Charles Henry Bagot arrived at Adelaide on 17.12.1840 and took up land at Koonunga where he ran sheep and was the first to use 'Ridley's Reaper', developed by the local farmer & inventor John Ridley. Bagot's Well, near Kapunda was named after Bagot] Grade A- (Image1)* (Image2)	Estimate AU$300 SOLD for AU$230.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2017		1848 (May) outer endorsed "Money letter" at upper-left partly overwritten with postmaster's endorsement "PO/Robe town" & "Registered No 8" and rated "4", addressed to "Mr George Brunskill/of the White Horse Inn/Currie Street/Adelaide", GPO arrival cds of MYx18/1848 in black & fine '[crown]/PAID' handstamp in red characteristically struck partly off the face, minor soiling and a few arithmetical jottings on the reverse. A very early & rare registered cover: as was customary at this time, the additional 6d registration fee is not indicated. Renamed from Guichen Bay -.6.1847. Between them, the John Griffiths, Harry Lower & Michael Blake collections did not contain a single pre-stamp registered item. Only seven registered items in the pre-stamp period have been recorded, of which four are offered here: see also Lots 2030, 2054 and 2056. Farmer, brickmaker and businessman, George Brunskill arrived in 1839 and was the first settler at Marryatville. The White Horse Inn opened in 1841. Between 1844 & 1868, the licensee was Joseph Smith, who was fined in 1868 for running a brothel on the premises. The hotel was rebuilt in 1875 but ceased to be a pub in 1921 and was demolished in 1935. Grade B (Image1) (Image2) (Image3) Get Market Data for [Australia (South Australia) Collection] Visual Pricing Guide Sample Census	Estimate AU$1,000 SOLD for AU$750.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2018		1849 (June 14) large-part outer endorsed "FREE" in red with a superb strike of the oval 'POST OFFICE/("14 June 49")/MT BARKER' handstamp (rated RRR) with manuscript date inserted, to the Colonial Secretary with fine GPO arrival cds of JUx15/49 in black on the face. PO 1842. See also Lot 2032 for an example with date slugs. [John Griffiths' example on 1848 outer sold in 1992 for £418] Grade A (Image1)	Estimate AU$750 SOLD for AU$575.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2019		1850 (early) part-entire to "Burra Burra Mines/Adelaide" (actually 156km N of Adelaide) endorsed "p Overland Mail - via Marseilles" with faint London cds rated "2/7" in red, largely fine 'GPO/[crown]/JYx8/1850/...' transit cds in blue where rated "6" for local delivery. Burra Burra PO 1847; renamed Kooringa 1849. [Copper was discovered at Burra in 1845. Until 1860, the Monster Mine at Burra was the largest metals mine in Australia. The addressee, GS Walters, was the government surveyor responsible for the transport route from the mines to Port Wakefield] Grade A (Image1) (Image2) (Image3)	Estimate AU$200 SOLD for AU$230.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM
2020		1850 (Jan) OHMS front with postmaster's endorsement "PO/Mount Torrens" & rated "4" in black, to the Central Road Board with fine GPO arrival cds of FEx1/1850 in black, two vertical filing folds. Mount Torrens (1) PO 25.5.1849; closed 29.2.1852. This is the only recorded postal marking from the first opening. It is illustrated in the Handbook, but is incorrectly dated "1.2.1851" [Mount Torrens is 40km W of the Adelaide GPO, and the item must have been posted at least a day or two earlier]. Grade B (Image1)	Estimate AU$250 SOLD for AU$380.00 Closing..Dec-05, 06:00 PM