Some Skeletons, ready for Halloween ?

 Here are a few skeletons - temporary postmarks used when the main cancel has got lost, broken or is being updated/replaced.   Early skeletons were called Travellers and here is a Traveller from South Petherton in June 1847.

 

 

Next comes a skeleton from Stoke under Ham in June 1906 (only known on 5th June).

 

 

 

Then comes one from Queen Camel in February 1909.

... followed by one from Wincanton - this example is from January 1913 but the skeleton is known from 29th November 1912 to 19th January 1913.

 

 

Finally a modern skeleton from Hinton Charterhouse in June 1977.

Not Called For at Weston-super-Mare

Two examples here of the framed "Not called for / 871" cachet used at Weston-super-Mare, the first from 1902 with a nice "M.O.O." (Money Order Office) cancel.  Weston-super-Mare became a Money Order Office in 1842 and a Savings Bank branch in 1862 - so in 1902 the cancel should be "M.O & S.B" rather than "M.O.O", probably a case of taking any old cancel out of the drawer when the postcard was handed in at the post office.

The envelope below from 1961 was also not called for and received the same framed "Not called for / 871" cachet.  In this case the envelope had been posted from Warminster.

Look carefully !

One needs to have a good look at covers, witness the example below from Weston-super-Mare to Stroud in July 1881.

The postage stamp is a fiscal, very similar to the 1d lilac but "INLAND REVENUE" without any "POSTAGE".

Ilminster - Oval Registered cancels, Self-Inking Datestamps

Ilminster used a number of similar oval cancels for registered mail.  The cancel at the top below from 1951 has a code '2' under the "REGISTERED", while the one at the bottom from 1964does not have a code.

Below are examples of Ilminster Self-Inking Datestamps from 1997 and 1998.  Each physical handstamp has a unique code letter - in the examples below the handstamps code 'C' are the same handstamp while the code 'A' is a different physical handstamp.

Ilminster 'Royal Peculiar'

The OHMS letter below, in December 1848, is from the Secretary of State's Office is counter signed Walpole.  This is probably Spencer Horatio Walpole who later became Home Secretary  in 1852, 1858 and 1866.  The letter is addressed to "The Registrar or Deputy Registrar of The Peculiar Court of The Manor of Ilminster".

A 'Peculiar' is not subject to the jurisdiction of the diocese; a 'Royal Peculiar' is subject to the jurisdiction of the monarch (Westminster Abbey is a Royal Peculiar as is St George's Chapel at Windsor).

South Chard 1857 to 1967

The Autumn meeting of the Somerset & Dorset Postal History Group is coming up on Sunday 15th October, at Hornsbury Mill near Chard, with a varied programme including 'Satirical Postcards of WW I', 'WW I censorship', 'Unusual Postal Stationery Part 2' and 'Railway Company Perfins'.  See the website for details.

Staying in the area, South Chard was issued a UDC in 1852;  the example below is currently the only recorded copy from July 1857.

Below is a postmark from South Chard on 19th September 1967, when the British Discovery and Invention set was issued.  The Radar stamp is the low value in the set of four.

Mail via Somerton in 1804 and 1810

 Here are a couple of pieces of mail that went via Somerton, the first from Ilchester to Ford near Wiveliscombe in August 1804, with two boxed mileage marks from Ilchester and from Somerton.

The second is from South Petherton to Westminster in 1810, with a "SOUTH / PETHERTON" handstamp and another Somerton mileage mark.

 

Taunton Single Ring postmarks with a code number

Here are some items with Taunton single ring cancels with code numbers, the first being a registered envelope from 1950 with a "TAUNTON / 7" single ring cancels along with a Return To Sender cachet.

... and another registered envelope from 1960 with "TAUNTON.SOMERSET / 7" cancels.

Next, here is an item of mail sent to Taunton Poste Restante in April 1963 and not called for, with a "TAUNTON SOMERSET / 3" receiving mark on the reverse.

And finally, here is another registered letter sent to the USA in 1968 with "TAUNTON SOMERSET / 3" single ring cancels.

Wells 1976-1978 and 2022

A large Post Office like Wells had a number of different handstamps in use at its counters, as shown by this sheet that has six different ones in use in 1976 and 1978.

However by August 2022, the Post Office at Wells was in a portacabin and didn't use a Wells handstamp at all !

The main post office building in Wells was sold in 2021, so the post office moved to the tourist information portacabin at the bus station, then, soon after, it moved to the back of a pet shop.  In July 2022 the owner of the pet shop died so it went back to the cramped portacabin at the bus station (extremely hot in the summer of 2022), using a "CONTINGENCY BRANCH 34" self-inking datestamp rather than a Wells cancel.