Wrong Postcard Rate in 1922

The postcard below dated 3rd May 1922 was only franked at 1d, rather than the 1½d rate that had been in force from 13th June 1921.  The rate reverted to 1d from 29th May 1922.

The postcard has a framed "Inadmissable at .... Rate / 864" cachet with a manuscript "1d" inserted.

This contrasts with the items below which received "Liable to Letter Rate / 864" cachets because the postcards were invalid (material stuck on the front, concertina picture postcard).  The concertina postcard could have been sent at the printed matter rate if there was little or no message written. 

Christmas Post in 1837: Wrington to Norfolk

The entire below was sent postage paid on Christmas Eve 1837 and transitted London on Christmas Day.  The contents are about letting part of a house.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my readers !  Lets hope that Royal Mail have managed to deliver the post by Christmas.
 

Paulton "999." 3VOS cancel, 1890

Here is a very rare example of the second Paulton "999." 3VOS cancel used in 1890.

My physical copy of Parmenter says the cancel is known in use from January 1880 to November 1885 but the updated online copy on the GBPS website now says "Used on 24 Feb 1884, all other examples are philatelic pieces."

The postal stationery card above was genuinely used so I think Parmenter needs to be updated.

I think the example on the postage stamp might be of the first issued cancel, while the postal stationery card has the second one. 

New earlier date for "FROOME" SO 482, August 1792

 The part-entire below was sent from Frome to "Knightsbridge near High Park Corner" in August 1792.

This is a new earlier date for the handstamp, and judging by its clarity was near the start of its life.

The address the entire was sent to is interesting, "High Park Corner" - was this the earlier name for Hyde Park Corner, or is it just a mistake on the sender's part ?
 

Shepton Mallet post office staff, 1905

Here's a bit of material that I've just acquired - in October I attended the Somerset & Dorset Postal History Group Autumn meeting in Chard and acquired this large photograph.

The photograph is about 28x20 cm and is not annotated apart from the printer, who was J. Bell & Sons, Shepton Mallet.  The inference is that these were the Royal Mail staff in Shepton Mallet.

By a significant coincidence a few days later I acquired the postcard below.

 The postcard has the same picture and is helpfully labelled on the back "P O officals Shepton Mallet 1905".  It was posted in Pilton on 17th November 1905 (the cancel is known used from 1895 to 1913).

Running out of material

Sadly I'm afraid I will not be posting as regularly in the future.  This blog started in January 2012 so has been running for a while now.  There are over 1400 posts, two a week, mostly on philatelic matters - though I have been diverted recently by matters associated with stagecoaches and turnpike roads.  I'm not sure if these officially count as 'philatelic' even though stagecoaches carried parcels as well as people before the Post Office parcel service started in August 1883, and turnpike roads were the enabler to John Palmer's post office mail coach innovations in 1784.

Future posts will be more sporadic, occurring as I find material.  There may be bursts of activity as I (re-)discover material in my attic that I have not yet posted about !

 

 

Waterrow climax rubber cancel, 1933.

The postcard below has an example of the "WATERROW / TAUNTON / SOMERSET" climax rubber cancel dated September 1933.  The cancel was previously recorded used in 1931 so this is currently the latest known example.

 

Wambrook climax rubber cancels, 1911 & 1922

Wambrook had three different climax rubber cancels; below are examples of the first (from 1911) and the third (from 1922).  A second cancel is known used in 1915, similar to the first but with smaller lettering for "CHARD".

 

Previously unrecorded "PITMINSTER / TAUNTON" Climax Rubber cancel, 1910

The "PITMINSTER / TAUNTON" climax rubber cancel was issued in February 1902.  It was previously unrecorded in use - and I'm not sure if the postcard below  from September 1910 counts as postal use as there is no postage stamp or address.

 

New Burtle climax rubber cancel, 1911

The next few posts will cover some Climax Rubber cancels from Somerset that I've recently acquired. 

The postcard below has a previously unrecorded "BURTLE / BRIDGWATER" climax rubber cancel dated 11th October 1911.  Another "BURTLE / BRIDGWATER" cancel is known used in 1915 but the "B U R T L E" is widely spaced.

 

Parcel Post Label for Bourton (Dorset) under Bath

Bourton in Dorset was under Bath until 1908.   The Parcel Post Label below is from 1902, paying 3d for a parcel up to 1 lb plus 2d for registration up to £5.

 

New York ship letter to London, reposted from Frome to London, 1842

The Ship Letter below was sent from New York to London in 1842, with a London "SHIP -LETTER" mark.  It was then reposted from Frome to London about a week later.

The author was not a very good sailor:

"the day was beautifully fine, but at night a storm commenced, and again I was very sick, the vessel rolled terribly and I was obliged to lie in my berth or outside hold myself in the noise of the wind and the halloing of the sailors made it appear more terrific than it really was for I believe there was a very great danger but I determined  I would not lie in my berth again as I did at Plymouth"

Bristol Packet Cancels part 7 (the last !)

And finally, coming to the last sets of variants of the Bristol Packet Cancels, "BRISTOL / BATH AND TAUNTON" with codes at the bottom preceded with a "W".

The next one is "BATH AND  TAUNTON / BRISTOL" with the code at the bottom, followed by some for the "BRISTOL MAIL CENTRE" without a code.

 

There are also packet cancels for "FOREIGN SECTION / BRISTOL BATH TAUNTON" and "KEYNSHAM DELIVERY / OFFICE / PRIORITY SERVICES". 

 And I think we'll all be glad that that's the lot !  Why were there so many ??

½d Postage Due for Return to Sender, 1924

The front below was sent from West Bromwich to 'Stone & Tinson, Crews Hole, Bristol' on 3rd September 1924 but Stone & Tinson had moved (or ceased trading), so the mail was marked as undelivered, return to sender, receiving a red ½d postage due cachet for the return postage back to the sender.

 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 6

Getting close to the end (!), we now move to "Bristol / Bath Taunton", code at the top, with upper and lower case letters.

 

Next we go back to uppercase lettering with "BRISTOL / BATH AND TAUNTON" with codes at the top.

 

And finally "BRISTOL / BATH AND TAUNTON" with the code at the bottom.

 

 

Sixpenny Handley in the Woodyates Penny Post in Dorset

Further to my earlier post on Woodyates Penny Post (in Dorset), here is another example of the unboxed "No.2" receiving house handstamp in use at Sixpenny Handley.  This example dates from February 1840.

An interesting aspect is the spelling of the letter to a solicitor in Blandford:

Stamp Duty, 1820

Today 'Stamp Duty' is something one pays on a house purchase but originally it was a general tax on legal documents introduced in 1671.  Embossed stamps were applied to legal documents like the receipt below from 1820.

 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 5

Back to the Packet Cancels, here are some "BRISTOL / BATH/TAUNTON" cancels with a slash rather then an ampersand.

Then we get more "BRISTOL / BATH & TAUNTON" with code at the bottom but with the date line raised.

 

 

 

Crewkerne "230" Barred Numeral Duplex Cancels

Up to now I have generally held my postal history collection sorted by the town in the postmark, but recently I have started putting my material into order based on the type of postmark, for example Barred Numerals.  In doing this I have been identifying where I have gaps, some of which are fairly common postmarks.

One such gap was the "CREWKERNE / 230" 3-bar vertical oval duplex (3VOD) cancel with the time in code (as opposed to time in clear) as in the example below from 1896 which I have just acquired.

The cancel above was preceded by a 4-bar vertical oval duplex (4VOD) and followed by a 3-bar vertical oval duplex (3VOD) with the time in clear, as shown by the examples from 1873 and 1905 on the sheet below.

Squared Circle cancels from Martock (1895) and Williton (1884)

The Squared Circle cancel below from Martock in March 1895 was in use from July 1881 to February 1914 ....

.... while the Williton squared circle cancel was in use from July 1881 to May 1901.

 

Parcel Post Labels from East Twerton, Bath (1896) and North Town, Taunton (1895)

A couple of early-ish Parcel Post Labels (parcel service started August 1883), beginning with one for East Twerton under Bath in September 1896.  The franking of 4½d was the rate for a 1-2lb parcel.

This second one is for North Town, Taunton in July 1895.  The 6d franking was the rate for a 2-3lb parcel.

 

Cranborne, Dorset in 1911

The postcard below shows Water Street, Cranborne, being sent in August 1911 to Salisbury.  Before around 1840 Cranborne was a Post Town before losing out to Woodyates Inn a few miles to the west when a turnpike road was not built from Cranborne to Salisbury.  Water Street depicted below is where the turnpike would have had to go to go direct to Salisbury.

 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 4

More Packets, here are some cancels in the form of "BRISTOL / BATH & TAUNTON" with code at the top, "BRISTOL / BATH, TAUNTON" with a comma rather than an ampersand, and "BRISTOL / BATH & TAUNTON" with the code at the bottom.