Continuing with .... Bath, Bedminster, Bitton, Brean Camp, Bridgwater & Brompton Ralph ....

Carrying on the letter below was from Cheltenham to Bath in 1836 with a boxed "No.6" receiving house in the Cheltenham Penny Post.  This was thought to be Tewkesbury Road.

The registered letter below is from Bedminster to London in 1922.  The "R / BRISTOL 47" registered etiquette has been known used with HPO Parcels.

The envelope below was from Bitton to Basingstoke in 1860 and bears a very faint "BITTON" double arc undated cancel on the reverse, at the end of its recorded usage.

The uprated airmail below was sent registered to the USA in 1957, most probably a philatelic usage.

A definitely philatelic usage is this FDC for the CEPT stamps on 18th September 1961 sent within Bridgwater.

The postal stationery envelope below was sent from Brompton Ralph in August 1854, with a blue "BROMPTON-RALPH" udc on the reverse.  The udc is known from December 1853 to August 1854 in blue.

UDCs part 1 - Aller, Bedminster, Blackford, Blagdon(Bristol), Burnham

Here are a number of examples of UDCs (UnDated Circular handstamps) which were typically issued to village post offices, starting with one from "ALLER" in April 1859, currently the only recorded example.

The "BEDMINSTER" udc below is from January 1850.  A second udc was issued to Bedminster in 1857.

The "BLACKFORD" udc was issued in 1858 - the example below is currently the earliest known usage.

Below is an example of the "BLAGDON" udc issued under Bristol.  Another Blagdon, near Taunton, was also issued with a "BLAGDON" udc.

The entire below has a faint "BURNHAM-SOMST" udc, used in March 1848.

Bedminster

Bedminster is two miles south of Bristol, just the south side of the River Avon, so is in Somerset under my definition.  The Bristol Postal History Group's four volume book on the "Postal History of Bristol" currently identifies six single ring handstamps.  The sheet below has a further two different handstamps, a "BEDMINSTER BRISTOL" 23mm single ring used in February 1932, and a "BEDMINSTER . BRISTOL 3" 23mm single ring (without a dot before the "3") used in 1964.

More UDCs #1 - Abbots Leigh, Banwell, Bedminster, Belvidere (Bath)

The next few posts all illustrate UDC handstamps that I have fairly recently acquired, starting with one from Abbots Leigh from October 1857.  This is currently the latest recorded example.

This UDC from Banwell from September 1848 is also the current latest recorded example.

This example of the Bedminster UDC from April 1840 is currently the earliest recorded example.

This is an example of the Belvidere UDC - Belvidere (aka Belvedere) is a region of Bath.

Bristol Penny Post - Bedminster, West Town

A couple more Bristol Penny Post items, firstly a boxed "No.11" from Bedminster in November 1836.

And an indistinct boxed "No.45" from West Town - the shape of the "5" matches other examples and it was addressed from Backwell which is half a mile from West Town.

Main period sans-serif 25mm UDCs under Bristol

Bristol had 31 UDCs to its sub-offices, plus those in Gloucestershire.  Here are some examples (a few more somewhat later).

Bedminster had two non-seriffed UDC's.  The example below is from the second which was issued on 13th December 1849 and is known used from July 1850 to April 1857.

Chew-Magna's UDC was issued on 13th September 1847 and is known used in black from November 1847 to July 1856.  It is also known used in brown, red, and orange May 1848 to July 1856, though this variation may be the affect of colour ageing.  The first example below is in red from May 1848, followed by examples from January 1853 and June 1852.

Hallatrow's second UDC was issued on 8th August 1849 (a previous UDC was issued on 18th July 1849).

Close examination of the width of the "H" enables one to distinguish between the handstamps.  The S&DPHG catalogue identifies usage of the first handstamp from June 1850 to October 1852 in black, with a single example in brown from May 1856 - it needs to be investigated whether these are the first or second handstamps issued.  No usage is recorded of the second UDC.

The example below of the second UDC is from 25th June 1850, which is the earliest date recorded above for the first UDC.

The contents of the above entire are Life Assurance rates from the Sun Life Assurance Society.

St. George's, Somerset, also known as Easton-in-Gordano and not to be confused with St. George's in South Gloucestershire, had its UDC issued on 10th July 1849.  It is known used between July 1851 and August 1857.  The example below is from February 1852.

More early serif UDCs - Bedminster, Brislington, Nailsea ....

Bedminster's UDC is not in the Steel Impression Book - it is known used from April 1840.  The example below may be the latest known usage from September 1848.

Brislington's UDC was registered in the SIB on 4th February 1841 and is known used from April 1841 to May 1854 in black, with a single example known used in blue in July 1846.  The examples below are from September 1843 and July 1844.

Nailsea's UDC was registered on 9th May 1843 and is known used from May 1843 to October 1850.  The example below is realatively late usage, being from July 1850.