James Rudman perfin, 1896

The receipt below from James Rudman of Bristol has a 1d lilac with a "J R" perfin with a manuscript cancel dated 6th October 1896.

One of the products that James Rudman produced was Stainoleum.  Below is a picture of a glass bottle that used to contain it.  Stainoleum was a brand of oil varnish stain used to colour and protect floors and furniture.

50th Anniversary of the Postal Mechanisation Study Circle

It is 50 years since the Postal Mechanisation study Circle (PMSC) was established in 1976.  This was celebrated with a special event cancellation produced at Bristol.

 

Another Miscellany - Cannington, East Anstey Camp, East Chinnock & a Penang Paquebot to Bristol

Here is another miscellany, starting with a skeleton from Cannington in May 1903.  Unfortunately the postcard has a filing hole through the year in the Cannington pstmark but the year can readily be een from the Bridgwater cancel.

This next item is another skeleton, from East Anstey Camp in 1908.  Earlier East Anstey Camp skeleton cancels are from Tiverton but it is likely that by 1908 East Anstey Camp came under Dulverton.  The reverse of the postcard shows a Parade which the message identifies as a Church Parade.  The writer starts by saying "Have had a ripping time here the past week" - I hope he survived WWI but there is no way of establishing his name.  The addressee, Miss F. Cruttenden, is still at the same address in the 1911 census and was unmarried.

This next postmark is a Climax rubber cancel from East Chinnock in 1911 - this is the first recorded example.  There was also an earlier rubber cancel issued in 1889 but no usage of that has been recorded.

Finally here is a "PAQUEBOT / PENANG" cancel on a P&O envelope to Bristol in 1934.

No Service, Return to Sender, 1941 addressed to Finland

The envelope below was posted from Bristol to Finland in April 1941 but received a purple "NO SERVICE / RETURN TO SENDER" cachet.  As there were no other cancels I assume that the cachet was applied in the Bristol Foreign Section (rather than in London)

The addressee was Lady Constance Malleson who subsequently wrote a book about her experiences administering relief efforts for the Russo-Finnish war.
 

Christmas Post in 1837: Wrington to Norfolk

The entire below was sent postage paid on Christmas Eve 1837 and transitted London on Christmas Day.  The contents are about letting part of a house.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my readers !  Lets hope that Royal Mail have managed to deliver the post by Christmas.
 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 7 (the last !)

And finally, coming to the last sets of variants of the Bristol Packet Cancels, "BRISTOL / BATH AND TAUNTON" with codes at the bottom preceded with a "W".

The next one is "BATH AND  TAUNTON / BRISTOL" with the code at the bottom, followed by some for the "BRISTOL MAIL CENTRE" without a code.

 

There are also packet cancels for "FOREIGN SECTION / BRISTOL BATH TAUNTON" and "KEYNSHAM DELIVERY / OFFICE / PRIORITY SERVICES". 

 And I think we'll all be glad that that's the lot !  Why were there so many ??

½d Postage Due for Return to Sender, 1924

The front below was sent from West Bromwich to 'Stone & Tinson, Crews Hole, Bristol' on 3rd September 1924 but Stone & Tinson had moved (or ceased trading), so the mail was marked as undelivered, return to sender, receiving a red ½d postage due cachet for the return postage back to the sender.

 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 6

Getting close to the end (!), we now move to "Bristol / Bath Taunton", code at the top, with upper and lower case letters.

 

Next we go back to uppercase lettering with "BRISTOL / BATH AND TAUNTON" with codes at the top.

 

And finally "BRISTOL / BATH AND TAUNTON" with the code at the bottom.

 

 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 5

Back to the Packet Cancels, here are some "BRISTOL / BATH/TAUNTON" cancels with a slash rather then an ampersand.

Then we get more "BRISTOL / BATH & TAUNTON" with code at the bottom but with the date line raised.

 

 

 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 4

More Packets, here are some cancels in the form of "BRISTOL / BATH & TAUNTON" with code at the top, "BRISTOL / BATH, TAUNTON" with a comma rather than an ampersand, and "BRISTOL / BATH & TAUNTON" with the code at the bottom.

 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 3

Back to the Packet Cancels, this next set are "BRISTOL / BATH TAUNTON" with code numbers (1-80) at the bottom.  This post illustrates a large number of examples with different code numbers in this range.

 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 2

Next on the list are Packet Cancels with an "*" and no code ....

.... and a plain cancel with "BRISTOL", no code and no "*".

Next are a series of cancels with "BRISTOL" and a code but nothing else.  The code goes up to 75.

Were handstamps assigned to individuals ?  Is that why the code numbers range up to 75, because there were a lot of people working to cancel the packets (multiple teams, multiple shifts) ? 

 

Bristol Packet Cancels part 1

As this blog has been running since July 2011, I'm beginning to run out of items to post up, so interspersed in the next few posts will be ones about Bristol Packet cancels.  These are plain circular cancels with a variety of lettering ("BRISTOL", "BRISTOL, TAUNTON", "BRISTOL / BATH & TAUNTON" plus others) and often with a range of code numbers.  A catalogue of these cancels can be seen here.  I'm going to be posting up relatively modern examples (1970s onwards).

This first set I'm showing here have "- * -" at the bottom with a variety of sizes of "BRISTOL" at the top.  As "Packet Cancels" the cancels have been collected on piece.   

The next set also have "-*-" at the bottom but also have a code number in the range of 1 to 48 or 50, so there are a lot of examples to collect, or maybe accumulate is a better word.