Long Sutton UDC, 1847

The One Penny postal stationery envelope below has a red "LONG SUTTON" double-arc undated handstamp (UDC) used on 6th May 1854, currently the earliest known example.  The UDC was issued on 19th April 1847.

Long Sutton was issued the UDC handstamp in 1847 when it was under Somerton.  From the cover above Long Sutton appears to have moved to be under Langport by 1854, though it had transferred to Taunton by 1855.

Langport postage due handstamp, 1910

The unfranked postcard below from Langport to Banwell in 1910 has a distinctive "1D" postage due handstamp.

Clarks of Street 1871

Below is a commercial postcard from Clarks of Street, Somerset, manufacturers of shoes.  The postcard depicts Glastonbury Tor.

Bruton 1790

The entire below went from Bruton to Wells and is dated February 1790 inside.  It has an example of a straight line "BRUTON" handstamp that was previously only known used in 1775.

Bath 1769 and 1833

This first, somewhat damaged, cover has a "BATH" straight-line handstamp, SO 54, that is known in use 1768-1769.  Bath used a series of similar straight line handstamps, distinguishable by their size and serifs (easier using enlarged scanned images).

The entire below is from Woollard, about a mile from Pensford where the receiving house used a "No.14" handstamp.  It went to Bath so was a "short" letter, one that did not go in the General Post.

Weston-super-Mare and Yeovil

This first item is a postcard, labelled as a "BOOK POST Card", sent from Weston-super-Mare to Cudworth, Yorkshire.  It has a "Liable to Letter Rate / 871" cachet because it has a message written rather than just the sender's name and address.

Strictly speaking it is not a postcard because it is the wrong size.  From 1st November 1899 until 31st October 1906 the minimum size to qualify for the for a postcard was 3¼" x 2¼".  However the card is franked with a 1d stamp, the rate for a letter, rather than with a ½d stamp which was the rate for a postcard, so despite the cachet the postcard was correctly franked.

The envelope below was sent from Yeovil to Calcutta on 4th September 1939, the day after Great Britain and France declared war on Germany following the German invasion of Poland.

Bath 1761 and 1918

This first item is an entire sent from Bath to London in July 1761, with a "BATH" straight-line handstamp known in use from 1760 to c.1765.

The contents are a request for 200 hymnals and 25 church tracts.

This second item is an envelope advertising Bath Oliver biscuits and with a "BUY NATIONAL / WAR BONDS" Krag cancel from March 1918.

Early Ilminster Mileage Mark

Ilminster had a "141 ILMIN / STER" first type mileage mark, previously known used from 1787 to 1798.  The example below is from April 1801, the same year that the replacement "ILMINSTER / 143" boxed mileage mark is known used from.

The entire was from Ilminster to Daventry, going via London, and was charged at the 1801 postal rates introduced on 5th April 1801 (8d to London, replaced with 9d for the whole journey to Daventry).