Taunton Miscellany part 2

Taunton continued ... with a Taunton circular duplex cancel from 1869 on a life insurance application fo a Mr Rowle for £300.  This is equivalent to about £30,000 today.

The item below has a Taunton 4-bar vertical oval duplex used in 1871 to send a blank petition about the Endowed Schools Act

The OHMS envelope below related to Income Tax sent in 1896 has a 1d lilac with an IR OFFICIAL overprint.

... as does the first item below sent in 1899.  One can see some of the variation in the Taunton squared circle cancel as it was recut a number of times.

... more Taunton squared circle cancellations, from 1906, 1907.

... and finally in 1907, currently the latest known usage of a Taunton squared circle cancel.

Taunton Miscellany part 1

The next few posts will be another miscellany of Taunton related items, starting with an early letter from London to "Chipley nigh Taunton Present Somersett".  It has a Bishop Mark for 11th April but no year but can be approximately dated from the "5/Off" London receiving house mark to c.1670-1674.

Next is a nice clear "TAUNTON / 161" boxed mileage mark from 1802, the start of the mark's recorded usage.  It is solicitor's letter, as is usual with a lot of letters that have survived.

The letter below went free from Sir Thomas Buckler Lethbridge in 1823, who was the MP for Somerset county from 1806-1812 and 1820-1830.  He requested that letters be written "to be left at the Post Office, Taunton" as the previous letter had to be paid for in spite of this directive (MP's letters were free in the General Post but not in the Penny Post so if they were delivered in the penny post he had to pay).

The wrapper below has "Missent*to*Taunton" in 1829, currently the earliest known example.

The letter below has a blue horizontal oval rather than the normal black, sent in December 1850.

The envelope below, sent in 1862 has internal advertising for John Hare's House and Estate Agency Office in North Street, Taunton.

 

Some More Bristol Items

Here are some fairly recently acquired items relating to Bristol, starting with a Mulready envelope sent in May 1841.  It was adressed to Cholwell House, the residence of the Rees-Mogg family from 1726 to 1941.  It was marked as "Gon away not know weare" and received a rare "W"in a circle Inspector's mark.

The next item is from December 1847 and was sent from Chew Magna to Wells, with a "CHEW-MAGNA" udc and a Bristol Penny Post dated handstamp - the year in the date has an inverted "4", which is known between October 1847 and March 1848.

Moving on to August 1874 the envelope below was sent from Bristol to Bordeaux and was franked with 3d.  This was the rate for prepaid mail up to ⅓oz, but it would seem that the cover was more than ⅓oz so was liable to the next higher rate for up to ⅔oz and for not being fully prepaid.

The rate for un-prepaid letter was double, as was the rate for letters between ⅓ and ⅔oz.  An un-prepaid letter in this weight rate was liable to 12d postage (6d if prepaid rather than 3d, and 12d because it was not prepaid), and was marked with "9" to pay (as 3d had already been paid).  The addressee in Bordeaux would have been liable for 90 centimes.

The "INSUFFICIENTLY / PREPAID" cachet would have been applied in London; a framed "INSUFFICIENLY / PREPAID" cachet was issued to Bristol in February 1879, but there is no record of it being used.

This next sheet shows examples of the "BRISTOL / LATE.FEE" duplex cancel, known used between January 1889 and May 1894.  Examples of this cancellation are rare, especially on cover.

Finally here is an item sent from Filton to Stockholm in 1960.  It was under franked at 3d and received a hexagonal "T / 21C / F.S." cachet indicating postage due, a green Swedish tax label, and on the reverse an "INSUFFICIENT / POSTAGE PREPAID / PLEASE ADVISE SENDER" cachet.  The Tax hexagon and the Insufficient postage prepaid cachets were probably applied in London.

Skeletons - Bourton (Dorset), Bruton, Dulverton, Fivehead, and Lydeard St Laurence (Lawrence)

A skeleton postmark is a circular datestamp made up from loose metal type. Skeletons are brought into use when an office's handstamp is damaged, mislaid or being updated, usually for a short period, then returned to the Post Office stores for reuse.  

Here are a few skeletons, starting with a "BOURTON / WINCANTON SO" skeleton used in February 1909.  Bourton is in Dorset but came under Wincanton.  The skeleton is known in use from 9th February to 20th March 1909.

The "BRUTON / SOMERSET" skeleton below is known used between 31st August and 25th September 1926.
 

The "DULVERTON SOMERSET" skeleton below is only known used on 26th May 1911.

Skeletons were normally metal (with removable type) but there are also skeleton climax rubber cancels, as shown in the example below from Fivehead.  This skeleton cancel is only known used on 1st and 2nd November 1907.

Here is another rubber skeleton cancel, from Lydeard St Lawrence - the cancel is mispelt as Laurence.  The cancel is only known used on 11th December 1913.

Registered Mail - from Enmore, Evercreech, Glastonbury, Holcombe, and Ilminster

More registered mail from my pile, starting with Enmore in 1918, addressed to Bermuda "via New York".  The KGV registered envelope has a very distorted "ENMORE / BRIDGWATER" climax rubber cancel.

Back to the Rating Officer, Shepton Mallet with the next registered envelope from Evercreech in 1940.

Progressing alphabetically we get to Glastonbury in 1944 ...

... and then back to the Rating Officer, Shepton Mallet for Holcombe, Bath in 1940.

Finally here are a few registered items from Ilminster, starting with a registered envelope from 1966 addressed to the Chard Rural District Council.

For a fee the sender could get Advice Receipt, advice of delivery of a registered or recorded delivery as shown below from 1969 for an item addressed to Inwood Farm, Ashill, Ilminster and handled by the Ilminster post office.

The envelope below was sent registered air mail from Ilminster to Kenya in 1972.

Registered Mail - from Barrington, Batcombe, Berrow Corner, Ditcheat and Emborough

Here are a number of Registered items, arranged alphabetically starting with Barrington under Ilminster in 1947. 

Next, alphabetically in my pile of registered items, is Batcombe under Bath in 1939.

Berrow Corner came under Highbridge.  The envelope below is dated 1958.  Berrow Corner post office was replaced by Brent Corner in 1965.

Another registered item for The Rating Officer, Shepton Mallet, this time from Ditcheat in 1940.

Again, a registered letter to the Rating Officer, Shepton Mallet, this time an uprated registered envelope from Emborough under Bath in 1940, rather than a printed envelope.

More Coaching items

Here are a few more 'Coaching' items, associated with the transport of Parcels before the advent of a service from the Post Office in 1883.  This first item is a receipt dated 1st January 1887 on the reverse from the Three Cups Inn in Aldersgate Street.  The receipt advertises both Coaches and Fly & Slow Waggons.

The receipt below, dated 24th August 1822 on the reverse, is from the Cross Keys Inn, Wood Street, Cheapside and advertises "passengers and parcels being conveyed by mail, telegraph and other coaches to the principal sea ports, cities, commercial towns, and most fashionable watering places in the kingdom".

The receipt below dated 22nd April 1837 is also from the Cross Keys Inn, this time at Gracechurch Street, and advertises Well-Regulated 4-inside Coaches as well as superior Vans on Springs.  A major drawback to Coach travel was getting crammed into a too-small space as Coaches tried to maximise their revenue.

The receipt below dated 24th November 1838 was for the Administrators of the late Marianne Lady Musgrave who died in 1835 aged 31.

This next receipt is for Drewett's Original Waggon & Van Offices for the carriage of two packages dated 19th April 1843.

Parcels Post (2)

The Post Office had a monopoly on the transport of Letters and it was an offence for anyone "sending or delivering letters other than by the post", except for letters sent with goods by common carrier, or by private hands.

The legal letter below from 1798 was sent by parcel post on a coach, which would perhaps be of dubious legality.

The letter below in 1811 was definitely illegal, being sent part-way by parcel post (saving half the postage cost).  It also refers to another illegality, the writer being "disappointed of a Frank".

Parcels sometimes did not get sent as directed as shown in the letter below from 1816, when a parcel was omitted from the direct coach to Dereham and was sent to Norfolk instead with directions to be taken from there to Dereham.

Items also got omitted from parcels, as shown in the letter below from 1821 when the addressee is requested to send the Copies of Admission by the 'Expedition' if the writer does not pick them up directly (the 'Expedition' was the name of the coach).

Parcels Post (1)

The Post Office did not provice a parcels service until 1883.  Before then parcels went by Coach or, once they were established, by the Railway.

A normal practice was to send a letter by the post to warn the recipient of the parcel, and to make sure that someone collected it, as in the letter below from January 1792.

Parcels  sometimes got lost, as shown in the letter below which is in the same correspondence as the one above..

The letter below from 1799 gives thanks for the "flitch of fine country bacon".

 

... whilst this next letter says that a Basket of Game woule be very acceptable, giving directions of where to send it and asking for a letter to be sent whenever a Basket is sent.

Below is an example of a letter from 1821 warning the recipient of a small Basket containing a Cock Pheasant & Brace of Partridges.