Alfred Smith & Co., Foreign Stamp Importers

The next few posts contain a series of items associated with Alfred Smith of Bath.  A number of them are quite colourful.  I'm not sure whether to categorise them as Commercial mail or Philatelic mail as they are both !

This first item is a plain One Penny UPU postcard, with a framed "Alfred Smith & Co." handstamp on the reverse, dated 13th January 1891.

Alfred Smith initially traded with his brother Henry Stafford Smith, going his own way from 1866 when his brother moved from Bath to Brighton.

From 1892 Alfred Smith & Co. traded as Foreign Stamp Importers, using embossed envelopes.  These two examples are from April 1892.

UDCs - Chew Stoke, Widcombe, Wookey

A trio of UDCs, starting with a partial late-type "CHEW.STOKE" single ring undated handstamp from February 1859.  This handstamp was previously unknown - there are two possible handstamps it could be, either "CHEW.MAGNA" or "CHEW.STOKE".  Under close examination there is some evidence for the "S" and the final "E".

Widcombe under Bath was issued with three UDCs.  Below is currently the earliest known example in black of the first one issued, from December 1850.

Wookey was issued with two UDCs.  Below is currently the only known example of the first UDC, from November 1849.  No example of the second UDC is currently known.

Keynsham Sub-Offices - Chandag, East Keynsham, Park Estate

Finally on this journey through Keynsham post marks, here are some marks from the three sub-offices of Keynsham, starting with a Chandag single ring handstamp from 1973 and 1994.  The Chandag post office opened in 1970.

 

The East Keynsham post office opened in 1928 and was closed sometime between 1941 and 1946.

The Park Estate post office opened in 1959 and was closed in 2008.

Keynsham Pre-Paid Handstamp and Meter Marks

Business mail was often pre-paid without using postage stamps - this first example from 1956 has a red single ring "PAID" handstamp, and because the addressee was no longer there it was charged postage due for the return to sender.

Meter machines were also in use, with two examples from 1968 and 1986 below.

Keynsham Parcel Cancels and Luggage Labels

Parcel Post had its own set of cancels...

... and luggage labels used on the Railways.

Keynsham - Post Office number 423

Keynsham was issued with Post Office number 423 which was used in the "TO PAY / LIABLE TO / LETTER / RATE" cachet in 1952 shown below.

The office number was also used in triangular cancels for Printed Matter - the envelope below being cancelled sometime between October 1961 and May 1965.

Keynsham Delivery Office

Keynsham Delivery Office had a single ring handstamp for use on 'Priority Services'. The sheet below shows some examples from 2000 and 2003.

The top handstamp is on the back of a Royal Mail form, shown below.

Keynsham Oval Registered Handstamps

A number of different "REGISTERED / KEYNSHAM, BRISTOL" oval handstamps have been seen in the 1980s and 1990s of differing sizes and formats - the earlier handstamps had the bottom line in a serif font while later ones used a sans-serif font.