Bristol Postage Dues - part 2

Some more postage dues from Bristol, starting with a postcard from Canada that was only franked at the 1c domestic postcard rate (=½d) so incurred 1d postage due.  Note that the stamp was on the picture side.  The UK probably had a bilateral agreement with Canada (or the British Empire countries) that permitted stamps on the picture side.

The postcard below from the USA was franked at the correct international postcard rate but was treated as a letter because it was a divided postcard and the USA did not authorise these for use until the 1906 Rome UPU convention came into force on 1st October 1907.

Two postcards that had glitter on the picture side so were liable to the letter rate.

Until the implementation of the 1906 Rome UPU convention on 1st October 1907, stamps had to be on the address side of postcards (UNLESS the two countries concerned had a separate bilateral agreement - see the earlier Canada example).  This postcard from France had the stamp on the wrong side so was treated as a letter and charged 3d postage due ... BUT the stamp has been removed - if this was done at the time the postcard should probably have been treated as an unfranked postcard and only been liable for 2d postage due !

This postcard was franked at the correct international rate but had glitter on the picture side so was treated as a letter and thus liable to 3d postage due.

Bristol Postage Dues - part 1

The next few posts are going to focus on Bristol Postage Dues.  There are some common causes for covers owing postage due, one of the most common is being posted without a stamp, as shown in the postcard below from Penarth to Bristol in May 1904 which received a large "1d" charge mark.

Another very common cause of postage due is postcards with glitter on the front, which was not allowed and made the postcard liable to the letter rate.

Postcard from abroad that were underfranked, typically with the domestic rather than the international rate, were also common, as in the example below from Canada that was franked on the picture side (more of this later !).

The unfranked domestic postcard below also had glitter on the front so was liable to 2d postage due in 1905.

The international postcard below was unfranked and has a 3d postage due charge.  This is a bit of a mystery.  As an unfranked international postcard it should have been charged 2d postage due, being deficient of the 1d international postcard rate.  There are no obvious reasons why it should be charged at the letter rate (no glitter), and as an unfranked postcard it whould have been charged 5d at the letter rate.  The only way one can get a 3d charge that I can see is if it was correctly franked at the international postcard rate (1d) but was liable to pay the letter rate (2½d), giving rise to a 1½d deficiency and thus 3d postage due.

Here is an example of a postcard from the USA that was only franked at the domestic 1c rate and was thus liable to 1d postage due.

Mail from Australia to Bristol on the Lusitania, 1889

The envelope below went on the RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Lusitania posted on 26th September 1889 and arriving in Bristol on 7th November 1889 (6 weeks).

This was an earlier Lusitania than the one sunk by a German U-boat in May 1915 - this Lusitania was launched in 1871 and wrecked off Nova Scotia on 26th June 1901, as per the newspaper cutting below.

Some Taunton Penny Post items

Taunton also had a Penny Post but not as large as Bristol's.  It was originally a Fifth Clause Post but converted to a Penny Post quite soon.  The item below has the boxed "No.2" receiving house handstamp used a Monksilver and dates from July 1817.

The boxed "No.3" receiving house handstamp was in use at Torre.  The Norwich Union Insurance form below was sent in August 1825.

The free front below has an unboxed "No.5" receiving house handstamp which is thought to be from Bicknoller.  The date looks like 1830 but unfortunately the address is indecipherable.

The entire below from April 1833 has unboxed handstamps from Trull ("No.8") and Blagdon Hill ("No.9").

The Penny Post handstamp continued to be used after the introduction of the uniform penny post.  The entire below is from Creech St Michael and has an unboxed "No.11" receiving house handstamp.

Bristol Penny Post - a few items

Bristol had a large Penny Post system, with receiving house handstamps going up to No.70.  Here are a few items from its Penny Post.  Hotwells originally had the "No.1" receiving house handstamp, while Clifton had the "No.2" handstamp - until April 1832 when they swapped, perhaps because Clifton was then much the higher class area.  The entire below is from August 1823 with the third "No.1" handstamp used at Hotwells.

The entire below from Clifton to Edinburgh in May 1827 has the fifth boxed "No.2" handstamp used at Clifton, and a framed "1/2d" Scottish wheel tax handstamp.

Kingsdown had the "No.5" receiving house and in November 1837 was using an unboxed handstamp.

Here is an example of the unboxed "No.70" receiving house handstamp that was in use at Cross Hands near Pilning in May 1837.

The unboxed "No.66" receiving house handstamp is known in use at Rudgeway between 1836 and 1839 - the front below is a very late example.

The entire below is from Downend to Cardiff in October 1846 and has a degraded "No.38" receiving house handstamp.  The walk to Downend went via Stapleton which might explain the "STAPLETON-ROAD" udc handstamp.

Below is the contents of the entire from Downend.