Col. W.L. Maberly Post office Secretary printed form, 1847

Col. W.L. Maberly was Secretary to the General Post Office from 1836 to 1854, succeeding Sir Francis Freeling.  While Sir Francis Freeling had kept extensive records of changes and decisions relating to the post office, Maberly did not.  Here is a printed form in his name sent in 1847, informing the postmaster of Canterbury that his account has been credited with £79 (approx £7,100 today). 

See https://somersetph.blogspot.com/2024/04/complaint-to-wl-maberley-postmaster.html for another item relating to Col. W.L. Maberly.

Exchequer Subpoena for an arrear of Assessed Taxes, 1839, authorised by a W.L. Maberly handstamp

The printed entire below was sent free to Chard in March 1839, to T.E. Clarke, Solicitor, to serve on William Chick.  It was authorised by a black "W.L. Maberly" handstamp, who was the Secretary to the General Post Office from 1836 to 1854.

Enclosed with the pre-printed letter below was an Exchequer Subpoena for £13-18s-9d, to recover an arrear of Assessed Taxes.

 

A couple of Telegrams - Bristol, Bath?

Here are a couple of Telegrams starting with one to Stokes Croft, Bristol in December 1931. It has a 24m "BRISTOL / T" handstamp.  "CANNOT MANAGE TODAY WHAT ABOUT QUEENS HOTEL BIRMINGHAM TOMORROW - BILLY"

The second telegram is to Pulteney Street, Bath in August 1963 - "HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL LOVE - JANET".  The slightly strange thing is that there is a 24mm "BRISTOL / T" handstamp on the reverse, so was this telegram to Bath actually handled by the Bristol post office ?  Bath is about 13 miles from Bristol.  Was it processed in Bristol and then put in the post bag for Bath ?

Woodyates in Dorset

A post office was established at the Woodyates Inn on the Blandford - Salisbury turnpike in 1835, taking the post for Cranborne.  It had a Penny Post serving Thickthorne and Sixpenny Handley.  The item below is from Thickthorne which had the "No.1" receiving house handstamp and has an example of the earlier Woodyates Penny Post handstamp.

Woodyates also had an undated circular handstamp (UDC) as shown in the entire below sent in April 1838.

The envelope below from December 1839 bears the second Woodyates Penny Post handstamp. It was endorsed by Charles Ponsonby who was the MP for Poole and went free in the General Post but had to pay the local penny post.

The prepaid entire below was from "Upwood", a house just north of Sixpenny Handley where it received the No.2" receiving house handstamp.

The unfranked entire below was charged 2d as being sent unpaid and received a Woodyates dated double-arc handstamp in 1842.  The Woodyates Post Office was closed before April 1845.

 

Cranborne / Cranbourn in Dorset

Continuing the diversion to Dorset, here are a few items relating to Cranborne in the east of Dorset.  Originally a Post Town, Cranborne declined after the road north to Salisbury was not turnpiked, and by 1835 the post office became a sub-office of a post office established at the Woodyates Inn which was on the Blandford - Salisbury turnpike road.

This first item is a free front to Portsmouth endorsed by the Earl of Shaftesbury in 1821, bearing a late use of the "CRANBOURNE / 100" mileage mark. 

The milage mark was superceded by a circular mark in 1825 as shown on the entire below to Bath ...

... and by 1830 the mileage had been erased as shown below.

 

More Ship Letters - Pool(e) in Dorset and Lymington in Hampshire

The Poole Ship Letter below was sent from Boston, USA to Edinburgh on 7th March 1808 and arrived on 28th April 1808, taking seven and a half weeks.

The entire below from Charleston, South Carolina was addressed to London or Bristol and received a Lymington Ship Letter handstamp in June 1800.  On arrival it went to Bristol, then Exeter, then was returned to Bristol accounting for a total 1/8d charge. 

The Lymington India letter below from Calcutta to London arrived in London in July 1822.  The "INDIA LETTER / LYMINGTON" handstamp indicated that it was from "India" and was subject to a different (lower) ship letter charge.

 

Some Dorset material for a change - Weymouth

Some Dorset material starting with a Weymouth Ship Letter sent from Antigua to Wells on 28th April 1794.  The letter was a copy of one sent on 14th April, a common practice in case letters were lost.  Because the addressee, Clement Tudway, was an MP, the letter was only charged the 1d Ship Letter fee.

The entire below from Weymouth to Newcastly under Lyme in June 1797 has a curved "WEYMOUTH" handstamp.  Because the 1796 Act was in place from 5th January 1797, postage through London was charged at a single rate rather than separately to and from London (so 8d rather than 1/2d).

Here is another Weymouth Ship Letter, this time from Vermont, USA to London in June 1801. The letter is from a mother to her daughter who is in London, with two pages quoting the scriptures and psalms and warning of the evil of sin, before giving family news of a daughter who is teething.

 

Finally another maritime item, an India Letter from Gambia to London in June 1840.  India Letter handstamps were mostly phased out in 1840 when incoming ship letters were charged a uniform 8d following the uniform penny post reforms.

Miscellany 3 - Wedmore, FPO 716, Stocklinch, Patchway, Rooksbridge

 Here is a colourful Greetings Telegram sent to Wedmore in May 1942, with a single ring "WEDMORE" handstamp.

This next item is from FPO 716 to REET Paymaster, Taunton - Somerset, Barrack Office RASC, Wuppertal in March 1950.  I haven't quite got the hang of deciphering all the Army acronyms.

Moving on to c.1956, here is an envelope from Stocklinch near Ilminster to the USA.  The date is unclear but must have been prior to October 1957 when the USA ceased to qualify for the reduced pstal rate.

 The envelope below was from Cleveland to Easton-in-Gordano in January 1985 - on its way it received this "PATCHWAY / BRISTOL" backstamp.

And finally here is an example of a Post Office form signed by the Post Master of Rooksbridge in June 2014 and cancelled with a "ROOKSBRIDGE AXBRIDGE SOMERSET" SID (Self-Inking Datestamp).

 

Miscellany part 2 - Martock, Sandford, Wellington, Street, Saltford

This Martock Parcel Post Label was used in August 1901 and has a handstruck "4" for the price.  This was the Parcel Rate for 1-2 lb between June 1897 and July 1906.

Here is a nice clear example of a Climax Rubber cancel from Sandford, Bristol used in May 1905.  This is an example of the third of such cancels issued, the first was issued in April 1893, the second is known used in 1903 and this third one is currently known used at the end of May 1905.

The Wellington "WEF" telegraphic cancel below is undated but cancels a KEVII stamp.

Skeleton cancels were used (a) when the normal cancel was mislaid, (b) when the normal cancel had been sent away for repair or updating, or (c) at busy times.  One suspects that the example below from Street in August 1921 was because the normal cancel had been sent away for repair or updating.

Street is one of the more difficult places to search for on the Internet - here is another example from later in 1959, being the windowed envelope for a Telephone Account.  The cancel, a double cicle with doule line-arcs, is known as a 'Birmingham' cancel as that is where the first cancel of this type was used.

Finally, here is a postcard from Saltford to Westminster in April 1923, with small single-ring Saltford cancels.

 

Miscellany again, part 1 - Watchet, Temple Cloud, Littleton-upon-Severn (G), Eastover

I'm using up the remaining few covers that I have to show at the moment (hopefully I'll find some more material at MIDPEX on 5th July), these are roughly in date order, starting with an entire from Watchet to Stogumber in September 1868.  The entire refers to sending paperwork by Book Post which started in 1848 at the suggestion of Rowland Hill.  It became 'halfpenny packets' in January 1904 and 'Printed Papers' (or 'Printed Matter') from January 1916

The entire below was sent from London to Messrs Rees-Mogg & Davy in Temple Cloud in May 1884.  The stamp bears a "GR&C" perfin from Gregory, Rowcliffe & Co., Solicitors at 1 Bedford Row, London WC.

The piece below is a quick dive off into my Bristol interests with an example of the "LITTLETON- / UPON-SEVERN / BRISTOL" Climax rubber cancel from April 1897.  Bristol has some useful map websites from which one can sometimes find where Post Offices used to be. 

Finally, here is a bit of ephemera associated with Eastover Post Office, Bridgwater dated November 1900.