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.

Foreign mail from Portishead, and one to Bath

The envelope below went from Portishead to Geneva in July 1852 and has nice clear "PORTISHEAD" udc in blue.  I do not know why it was charged 1/4d rather than 1/5d.

The next cover is from Portishead to Ceylon sent in August 1865, with a "PORTISHEAD" single ring dated mark on the reverse.

The Portishead single ring is known used from 1862 to 1937;  here is another example from 1871 going to Bath.

Some Somerton Stuff

Some items from Somerton, starting with an example of the early "136 SOMER / TON" mileage mark dated 1788 - notifying Mr Hancock that Mr Stringer only accepts post paid letters.

The entire below has a fairly blurred example of the "SOMERTON" straight line handstamp from 1800, at the end of its period of usage.

The entire below came from Langport to Norwich via Somerton in November 1809, and received the boxed "SOMERTON / 135" handstamp on the reverse.

The wrapper below only has the top line of the mileage mark registering in July 1811 - Somerton used a new mileage mark in 1812.

The letter below was written at Kingweston, 3 miles east of Somerton in May 1836.  It has a framed "Somerton / Penny Post" handstamp on its way to Shaftesbury.  I can't work out what route it would have taken to be charged 9d.

A few South Petherton items

Some items from South Petherton starting with a letter with enclosures from 1811 charged, I think, at the 1oz rate.

The next item was sent from South Petherton to Ilminster, about 6 miles, in June 1839.  It was charged 2d following the introduction of a 2d postal rate for up to 8 miles.

The next postcard is advertising a FAT STOCK sale due to be held on 27th May 1872.  Fat Stock is livestock that is fat and ready for market.  The postcard is addressed but has no postal markings so may well have been hand-delivered.

And finally a postcard from 1923, asking for the Land Agent at Ilminster to come and measure up the work that the thatcher has nearly completed, presumably so that he could get paid.

Some Wiveliscombe items

Here are a few items from Wiveliscombe, starting with an example of the UDC in red and in black from 1840.

Here is the same udc used in black, used a bit earlier in 1835 as a misdirected mail handstamp.

The envelope below contained advertising for Parkins & Gotto, used in February 1858.

And finally a piece of advertising sent to the Booking Clerk, Wiveliscombe station in August 1906.

Puckington

Puckington is three miles north of Ilminster which was its Post Town until the Puckington Post Office closed in 1980.  Here are a few postmarks, starting with a rubber skeleton that is likely from 1914.

Puckington appears to have used the same postmark from at least 1928 to 1980.

The postcard below depicts the Puckington Fete in 1910.

Parcels Post, 1883

One of my interests is in Parcels, which before 1883 went by Coach or Waggon and then later by Railway.  Here is a receipt from "Drewett's Original Waggon & Van Offices", Spur Inn Yard, Borough, London dated 19th April 1843.  At this time the Railways were starting to take the trade from the traditional horse-drawn coaches/waggons (I don't know when 'waggons' became 'wagons').

In 1883 the General Post Office introduced its own Parcel Post service, in response to the UPU agreement in 1880.  Below is a Notice from the GPO in June 1883 warning people who were likely to send parcels.  Note that in the beginning it was referred to as 'Parcels Post' not 'Parcel Post'.