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.

Bridgwater Miscellany

It's the turn of Bridgwater (or Bridgewater according to the postmarks from approximately 1750 to about 1870), starting a couple of letters with London Receiver marks from 1782.

The first one below has a "PARTINGTON" receiver's mark ...

... while this one has a "WALTER" handstamp.  George Walter succeeded Richard Partington as the Receiver at Holborn Hill in 1782.

Below are printed orders for the assembly of the West Somerset Regiment of Yeomanry at Bridgwater, for eight days of duty in May 1835.  It was sent free from London.

Here is a copy of the orders.

Next is an entire sent from Rome to Cannington in December 1843., then redirected to Chudleigh, with redirection marks at Bridgewater.

Here is the contents, written in Italian, asking for a Commission.

From August 1844 the entire below was from Bridgwater to  London but had 2d more to pay.

And finally here are two postcards with "BRIDGWATER SOM." Krag machine cancels, the first from 1929 ...

... and the second from November 1933 with 1d postage due.  The postcard rate had been 1d from May 1922.

A selection of Postcards with Postage Due for different reasons, from Bridgwater, Porlock and Taunton

All the postcards below incurred postage due for different reasons (two which had the same reason are displayed together).

The postcard below from Bridgwater to Ilminster in June 1921 has a large 1d postage due mark and postage due stamps.  The 1d postage due mark is currently known used from 1903.  The Postcard Rate increased 10 days before the postcard was posted so the postcard was insufficiently franked.

The next postcard is from Porlock in 1930 and was posted without a stamp.  It has 2d charge marks from both Dunster and Taunton and a postage due stamp.

The next two postcards, sent in March 1905 to the same addressee from Taunton, both had glitter on the picture side (not allowed at Postcard rate, only at Letter rate).

The final postcard, sent from Taunton in 1930, incurred postage due because the postcard was a novelty one with an opening with pictures and had more than 5 words of message.  This meant that it needed to be paid for as a Letter rather than Printed Matter (which was the same rate as Postcards).

Some Town Sub-Offices of Bridgwater - Bath Road, Dunkery Road, Willoughby Road

Here are a few postmarks from some of the town sub-offices in Bridgwater - there are a lot of TSOs that I haven't seen.  Below you will find postmarks from Bath Road Bridgwater (1982), Dunkery Road Bridgwater (1996) and Willoughby Road Bridgwater (1985).

 

 

Bridgwater miscellany: Undated 3VOS, large No.1 Penny Post, Redirected Perfin, Compulsory Registration

Some items from Bridg(e)water  (the "E" in the middle appeared and then disappeared from cancels) starting with an undated Bridgwater "123" 3-bar vertical oval single cancel (3VOS).    No dated examples of the Bridgwater "123" 3VOS are known, while undated examples are normally on newspaper wrappers.  The "123" 3VOS was issued in March 1877.

Next, going back to 1820, here is an example of the large "No.1" receiving house handstamp in the Bridgwater Penny Post.  The entire below originally came from Bridport to Bridgwater for 9d and was then redirected to Bath for a total of 1/5d.  It looks like the postal route was not very direct, firstly going Bridport - Dorchester - Shaftesbury - Sherborne - Taunton - Bridgewater (about 90 miles), and then Bridgewater - Wells - Bristol - Bath (about 60 miles).

Next is another redirected item, from 1880, going from Bridgwater to Haselbury Plucknett, and then reposted to Weston-super-Mare.  The stamp has a "W.B." perfin from W.Brice, a solicitor.

Finally an item that was compulsorily registered in 1893 because it contained coin.  As such it was charged a special registration fee of 8d, as described by the label fixed to the reverse of the envelope.

Couple of FDCs, Brean and Bridgwater

Here are a couple of First Day Covers with postmarks from Brean and Bridgwater.  The first one from Brean celebrates Human Achievements with a cover showing the Severn Barrage project, something which has yet to be properly undertaken.

Bridgwater Postcard, Insufficiently Prepaid, 1922.

The commercial postcard below, titled as "Printed Paper Rate" was franked with 1d stamp in February 1922.  To qualify as Printed Matter, the postcard had to contain a maximum of five words.  Unfortunately it did not do so, so was liable to the Postcard rate which was 1½d from the 13th June 1921 to 28th May 1922.  As a result it was under franked by ½d and was charged 1d postage due.

 

Entire from North Petherton to Somerton, missent to Glastonbury

The entire below was from North Petherton, which was in the Bridg(e)water Penny Post from 1834 but did not appear to have a Receiving House handstamp.  A partial and very faint North Petherton UDC may just be seen on the front.

The entire was missent to Glastonbury as can be seen from the manuscript on the front.

Bridgwater "123" 1844-type horizontal oval, used in May 1844

Here is an early example of the 1844-type horizontal oval cancel from Bridgwater, used on 7th May 1844.  The cancel is known used from 1st May 1844.

Letter from Bridgewater to Chard regarding Hair Powder and Game Certificate accounts, 1796

The letter below relates to the paying of Hair Powder and Game taxes, written in 1796.  Duty on Hair Powder was introduced in 1795 and was repealed in 1869.

Furnival's Inn, Holborn to the Salmon Inn, Bridgewater 1786

The item below is from Furnival's Inn, Holborn to be left at the Salmon Inn, Bridgewater in November 1786.  Furnival's Inn was one of the Inns of Chancery up until 1817 when it was rebuilt after the lease was not paid.

The contents are a legal letter.

OHMS envelope from Royal Ordnance Factory Bridgwater, 1975

The Royal Ordnance Factory Bridgwater was constructed early in WWII.  The windowed OHMS envelope below was posted in July 1975.

Bridgwater 1706

Below is an example of the first handstamp in use at Bridgwater, from 1706.  The handstamp is known used in 1705-1706.

The letter was to London with a date inside of 8th May 1706 and a London bishop mark receiving mark dated 13th May.  It was charged 3d which was the rate for over 80 miles from 1657 to 1711.

The Eastern Telegram Company: Week End Telegram to Bridgwater, 1918

Here is a curiosity - the envelope for a Week End Telegram to Bridgwater in November 1918.

Bridg(e)water Penny Post: Unboxed "No.3" in 1843

The unboxed "No.3" receiving house handstamp in the Bridg(e)water Penny Post is thought to have been at Highbridge, and the handstamp is known in use from 1842 to 1845.  The example below is to Bristol in February 1843.

"BRIDGE / WATER" from 1773

By 1773 Bridgwater was spelt with an "E" in the middle (cf. the previous post).  The entire below has a "BRIDGE / WATER" handstamp with 7mm high lettering, in use 1772-1781. 

A new "BRIDG / WATER" handstamp from 1744

The entire below, acquired at Stampex in the Autumn, has a new two-line "BRIDG / WATER" handstamp used on 19th June 1744.  The handstamp measures 22 x 9 mm with 3½ mm lettering, compared to the one previously in use (known in use 1721-1739) which measures 23 x 10 mm with 4mm lettering.

Boxed Mileage Marks - "BATH / 109" & "BRIDGEWATER / 150"

In 1784 the Post Office introduced handstamps with the mileage to London on them, to aid post office clerks in determining the postal charges. These handstamps had a limited life as the mileage to London changed as the postal routes altered and after about five years the Post Office stopped issuing them.
By the end of the 18^th century the Postmaster General had instructed John Cary, a map-maker, to prepare a survey of all the principal roads in the country under the supervision of the Superintendent of Mail Coaches. This was used in the issue of the second series of boxed mileage stamps from 1801.

Cat No	Type	Handstamp	Comments	Size (mm)	Colour	Dates	Rarity
SO 17	29	AXBRIDGE / 141		36x10	Black	1804	C
80	29	BATH / 109		19x10	Black	1801-04	E
224	29	BRIDGEWATER / 150		52x12	Black	1802-11	D
299	29	BRUTON / 142		25x10	Black	1802-09	D
320	29	CASTLE-CAREY / 145		52x11	Black	1804-22	E
444	29	DULVERTON / 187		36x10	Black	1801-16	C
488	29	FROOM / 115		22x10	Black	1802-07	D
490	29	FROOME / 115		25x11	Black	1803-04	D
537	29	ILCHESTER / 130		35x11	Black	1804-07	D
553	29	ILMINSTER / 143		35x11	Black	1801-21	D
591	29	LANGPORT / 140		34x11	Black	1805-46	C
603	29	MILVERTON / 169		35x11	Black	1801	H
604	29	MILVERTON / 172		39x11	Black	1805-33	C
624	29	MINEHEAD / 185		35x11	Black	1801-07	D
674	29	SHEPTON-MALLET / 135		55x11	Black	1801-10	D
703	29	SOMERTON / 135		35x11	Black	1804-11	D
783	29	TAUNTON / 161		35x11	Black	1802-14	D
860	29	WELLINGTON / 168		43x11	Black	1804-29	C-D
917	29	WELLS-S / 129		28x11	Black	1802-08	D
1019	29	WIVELSCOMBE / 175		56x12	Black	1805-29	C-D
1060	29	YEOVIL / 125		27x11	Black	1801-11	C

Unfortunately I do not (yet) have an example of the “AXBRIDGE / 141” mark.

“BATH / 109” 1801-1804

“BRIDGEWATER / 150” 1802-1811