This is the first of 4 posts with examples of Foreign mail to/from Bristol. The first cover below is from Swansea to Adelaide, Australia in 1847. It went via forwarding agents W.E. Acraman of Bristol as indicated by the framed cachets. The entire says it contains some small sheets of copper, which explains the green stain on the paper.
Here are three examples of Town Sub-Office (TSO) marks from Bristol, starting with Newfoundland Street from 1909. TSO marks are often quite difficult to find.
The Queen Square post office opened in 1891 and closed in 1960.
The Woodwell Crescent Post Office opened in 1880 as a Money Order and Savings Bank branch, and closed in 1973. It was situated around where St George's Road meets Jacob's Wells Road.
The Mulready letter sheet below, stereo A226, was sent from Bristol to Tetbury in July 1842.
The letter sheet was pre-printed and says that a parcel is to be forwarded by Railway from the Bush Inn.
Here are a selection of perfins used at Bristol, starting with a GWR one used in 1909. The Great Western Railway was a prolific user of perfins. Perfins were used to stop stamps being misused or sold back to a post office for gain.
Baker, Baker & Co. were wholesale and retail drapers. The example below is from 1912.
Robbins were the Imperial Saw Mills in Cumberland Road. The example below is from 1916.
The envelope below is from the Alliance Assurance Co. in 1922.
The commercial envelope below was sent in 1934 by John Lysaght ltd.
The envelopes below were from Elders & Fyffes, in 1949 and 1951.
The envelope below has a "WILLS" perfin from W.D. & H.O. Wills in 1979.
The somewhat overwritten cover below was sent from Etchilhampton in Wiltshire to Batheaston, and then redirected to Ryde on the Isle of Wight in August 1833.
The Post Office Savings Bank came in to being in 1861 when the General Post Office was authorised to undertake savings bank business by the Post Office Savings Bank Act.
The Bank started its history on Monday 16 September 1861 in two small rooms in the Post Office headquarters, St Martins-le-Grand, London EC and in 1863 took over more spacious accommodation in a warehouse at 27 St Paul's Churchyard, EC. With the growth of the Bank these premises too became too small and a new headquarters was built at 144 Queen Victoria Street, EC in 1880. This sufficed until 1903 when a move was made to a new building in Blythe Road, West Kensington. This building continued as the main address of the Bank until the late 1960s, although additional accommodation in West London, Harrogate and Manchester was necessary at various dates.
In the ensuing years the Government Stock Register, the Post Office Register, and annuity and insurance business were added to the Bank's services and its administration became the responsibility of the Savings Bank Department of the Post Office with, from 1935, a Director of Savings in charge.
By the Post Office Act 1969 the Savings Department was hived off from the Post Office and re-constituted as the Department for National Savings, reporting to Treasury ministers.
Here is a damaged example of a Deposit Form for the Post Office Savings Bank for a pupil at Skilgate Parochial School near Taunton. It is damaged at the side and the stamps were probably added later.
