Woodyates (Dorset) Penny Post on an envelope December 1839

Woodyates was a Post Town in Dorset halfway betwen Salisbury and Blandford Forum, which closed before April 1845.  The envelope below was from Thickthorne which was the "No.1" receiving house in the Woodyates Penny Post, and was sent as Free in December 1839, after the introduction of the Uniform Fourpenny Post.  Because it was sent free there was only the 1d Penny Post to pay, the letter being free in the General Post.  

This was an early use of the envelope as prior to the introduction of Uniform Fourpenny Post the postage was was based on the number of sheets of paper (and an envelope counted as a sheet, effectively doubling the cost of sending a letter).

 

 

Entire from London to Taunton Castle, 1699

The entire below was sent from London to "William Harvey at the Castle in Taunton Somersetshire" in November 1699.  William Harvey was the Clerk of Taunton Castle and looked after the Taunton Deane estate.

The entire has a large "S" in a circle handstamp from a Letter Receiver in London, but who this was has not been identified.
 

Wellington Parcel Post Labels, including for Egerton Burnett's Special Private Post Office

A Parcel Post service was introduced in Great Britain on 1st August 1883 following UPU agreement in 1880.  The following sheets show some Parcel Post Labels for Wellington ("SOM." to distinguish it from Wellington in Shropshire), starting with one from November 1883 when the service was called the Parcels Post.

The next two Parcel Post Labels are from around 1895, ...

... and a final example from the same period.

These next two Parcel Post Labels are for Egerton Burnett's Special Private Post Office, the first used in May 1895.

 

and the second in March 1896.

 

 

Somerset "L"s - Langford, Langport, Long Ashton

Continuing with the alphabetical scheme, the Airgraph below was sent from Langford to the Pioneer Corps, C.M.F. [Central Mediterranean Force] in November 1943.

Moving a bit earlier, the entire below is from Langport to Ilminster and is dated February 1777 - this extends the known usage of the "LANGPORT" handstamp by a year.

Below is a postcard from Chicago to Long Ashton, with a receiving handstamp dated 27th July 1928.  I'm not sure why it would have a receiving mark ?

 

Some Somerset "I"s and "K"s - Ilchester, Ilton, Kingsbury, Kingston St Mary

A couple of Somerset I"s starting with an "ILCHESTER" single ring cancel from August 1929, ....

... and a couple of registered envelopes from Ilton under Ilminster in 1947 and 1956.

Moving on to a couple of "K"s, here's a registered envelope from Kingsbury Episcopi in February 1940.  The "Episcopi" part of the village's name means "of the Bishop" in Latin.  It refers to the fact that the village belonged to the Bishop of Bath and Wells and not the nearby abbey at Muchelney.

The registered envelope below is from Kingston St Mary, near Taunton, sent in June 1922.  The first part of the village name comes from the kings settlement having belonged to the kings of the West Saxons before being ceded to the Bishop of Winchester as part of the manor of Taunton Deane, with the church's dedication being added in the 20th century.

Messengers, Highways, Mileage

The Somerset & Dorset Postal History Group are meeting today at Hornsbury Mill, Chard.  The agenda includes a display on "Coaching" - below is the earliest item on display, a Royal Messenger's Warrant dated June 1588.

The Warrant is for £5 expenses for a journey from London to Guildford, Lewes, Winchester, Southampton, Dorchester, Ilchester, Bristol, Exeter and Lostwithiel.  £5 is equivalent to about £1,700 today.  For those of us that cannot read the script, below is a transcript !

One of the key aspects of delivering the mail was the state of the roads.  The highways had to be maintained by the parish and were paid for by a Highways Rate.  Below are examples of two receipts for the Parish Highway Rate in July 1843.

Up until the introduction of Uniform Penny Postage in April 1840, postage was charged based on mileage, as shown on the item below.  However, based on the Population column which shows the population in 1841, this mileage table was produced after postage rates ceased to be based on them.

Some Somerset "Sh"s - Shepton Beauchamp, Shepton Mallet, Shipham, Shuttern

The Post Office had some difficulty delivering this envelope from Shepton Mallet to Pilton in May 1895 before it was returned to Budd & Spire, Glastonbury with a violet "Undelivered for reason stated" cachet.

The Post Office was also unable to deliver the under franked envelope below in August 1959, this time because it was refused - it was also charged 3d for return.

 

The items below come from the similar sounding Shepton Beauchamp, some 25 miles south-west of Shepton Mallet near Ilminster.  They are commercial printed postcards for Manor Farm.

Shipham is 8 miles east of Weston-super-Mare and comes under Bristol based on the "SHIPHAM / (Under Bristol)"Parcel Post Label below .  However the "SHIPHAM / WESTON-SUPER-MARE" climax rubber handstamp dated 30th April 1898 in manuscript suggests that it came under Weston-super-Mare.

Below is a cover from Shipham in December 1974 where the handstamp is "SHIPHAM / WINSCOMBE SOMERSET", showing it under Winscombe with psot going via Weston-super-Mare.

The registered covers below are from Shuttern, Taunton which had sub-office number 4.  The bottom cover has the 75th Anniversary of the UPU set but was sent a day late so was not a FDC.  The registered envelope is marked "senders excess" which suggests that the extra postage did not pay for extra insurance.

A few Somerset "H"s - Hinton St George, Hinton St Mary, Huntspill

The entire below was sent from Hinton St George in June 1829 in the Ilminster Fifth Clause Post, with the boxed "No.3" handstamp of Hinton St George.

In more modern times, here are a couple of items from Hinton St George, the top in 1958 and the lower one from 1975, both with HINTON ST.GEORGE / SOMERSET" double circle double line-arc cancels.

Hinton St Mary is about 25 miles east of Hinton St George and is in Dorset.  The Parcel Post Label below was used in 1896.

Another "H", the envelope below has a "HUNTSPILL" double arc undated handstamp and was used below in July 1855.

Frome

Some items from Frome (can be quite difficult to search for items from Frome as sites often give you those with "from" as well), starting with an item to Florence in January 1895.  The item has a hexagon Tax mark with a "L" below - which may be for a Late Fee.

The two postcards below, from 1907 and 1909, have Frome 1d charge marks, the top one because it was unfranked and the bottom card because there was material on the front and the Post Office treated it as a Letter.

Finally an Air Mail postcard sent from Bombay to Frome in June 1941 bearing a triangular censor mark.

Some Bristol Postcards

Black Boy Hill, the upper part of Whiteladies Road, was named after the Black Boy Inn which stood on the hill until 1874.  The Inn was named after Charles II.  Whiteladies Road was also named after an Inn.

Here are a set of Royal Mail postcards featuring Mail Carriers built in Bristol.

The final two postcards feature the Bristol Trams and also the Clifton Rocks Railway.

Bristol - 1990s, 2000s

More Bristol, starting with two uses of "REPORTING OFFICE / BRISTOL" oval cancels from 1998 and 1999, with different sizes of "BRISTOL".

The envelope below was sent at Christmas 2002 according to a pencil annotation on the reverse, but should have been culled so as not to receive a machine cancel.

The postcard below received a commemorative cancel for the Clifton Suspension Bridge in February 2006.

Both envelopes below, from Bristol to the USA in March 2018, have "THE GALLERIES BO BRISTOL" self-inking datestamps with reduced form IMP machine cancels.

And finally the envelope below received the slogan cancel for the Coronation of King Charles III in May 2023.  Unfortunately you can't see the cancel because of the stamps and the poor printing.

Bristol - 1970s, 1980s

Carrying on with the Bristol theme, here is a part envelope sent from Gloucestershire to "Chesterfield House, Henley Hill, Bristol" bearing a green "INCORRECTLY ADDRESSED" cachet in January 1968.  I think the envelope would have been sorted to Bristol in Gloucestershire and only when it was in Bristol would the address have been determined to be wrong and the green cachet applied.

The envelope below from Thailand in 1981 was addressed to Basildon and then redirected to Bristol.

The post office envelope below bears a "PHILATELIC COUNTER / BRISTOL" handstamp dated October 1981 but no stamps.

The (Christmas Card ?) below sent in December 1984 was addressed to "Compton Dando / Keynsham" and was corrected with Keynsham crossed out and a green "NOT KEYNSHAM" cachet applied.

Bristol - 1960s

 Some items from Bristol in the 1960s starting with an OHMS envelope in April 1966 with a violet "HEAD POSTMASTERS OFFICE / BRISTOL" cachet.

The envelope below from Glasgow to Bristol was damaged in February 1967 and received a label saying that "The Postmaster is very sorry that tthis packet has been accidentally damaged in the post." and bearing a "BRISTOL" single ring handstamp.

The postal stationery envelope below has been uprated from 4d to 5d when the postal rate went up in 16th September 1968.   This rate remained in force until Decimalisation on 15th February 1971.

Another First Day of Use, this time for Machins on 27th August 1969, with the envelope below being cancelled with "BRISTOL / 24" double circle double line-arc cancels.

Bristol - 1940s

The cover below was from Newton Abbot in Devon to Poona, India in September 1940 and was sent airmail, but was apparently diverted to a Convoy leaving from Bristol with the Air Mail etiquette crossed out and a straight line "BRISTOL" cancel applied.

The envelope below, sent in October 1945, from Bristol to APO 595, was deemed undeliverable and returned to Bristol having gone via Boston, Massachusetts in the USA.

This is another triangle "134" cancel, this time going to the USA.  It is likely to have been sent sometime between May 1949 to October 1950 though could have been as late as October 1957.

And for a little diversion, here are a couple of security overprints on receipts from J.S. Fry & Sons Ltd, the bottom one dated to May 1940 (the date on the top receipt is unclear).