A bit of Bristol ... Clifton, College Green, Filton, Fishponds

In the spirit of the previous posts, here is an envelope from Clifton to Bombay in 1859, taking about a month to get there.  Postage was 6d (the rate for anywhere except France & Belgium from 1858).

The Postal Stationery envelope below from Clifton to Kent in 1892 had 1d to pay as it was over 1oz, with the charge being indicated by a large "1d" in a circle, used at Clifton from 1883 to 1909.

Here is an envelope from College Green, Bristol to Bath in 1854, with a "COLLEGE-GREEN" double arc udc on the reverse.  This is currently the latest known example of the udc.

The udc on the wrapper below from Filton in 1847 is "FELTON".  The udc was issued in 1842, Felton being an old/alternative spelling for Filton.

Here is another unfranked postcard, written in Guernsey in 1923 and getting a 2d charge mark in Weymouth on its way to Bristol.

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.

Clifton Postage Due, 1909

 The unfranked postcard below, sent from Clifton to Barrow Gurney in 1909, incurred 1d postage due, being double the ½d postcard rate.  The "1d" in a circle postage due mark was previously known used from 1883 to 1907;  this postcard extends the known usage.

 

Clifton in the Bristol Penny Post, 1823, to Highworth via "Oxford Mail"

 Here is a wrapper sent from Clifton to Highworth (7 miles north-east of Swindon) in 1823.  The wrapper is marked "Oxford Mail" to direct the postal route.

"More to Pay" or "Not Known"

Happy Christmas !

This cover from Bath to Reading in April 1861 has a nice "MORE TO PAY / OVER   OZ" cachet and a manuscript "2" with initials.

This next item was addressed to Clifton from Bridgwater in May 1883 but has a manuscript "Not Known" with initials.  The contents are a notice regarding the Somersetshire Drainage Act of 1877.

 This next item from Weston-super-Mare to Cork in June 1942 was insufficiently paid and was censored.  The Examiner has taken the trouble to write "The" on the censorship seal where it overlaid the original address.

And finally a windowed envelope from Taunton in March 1992 without a stamp.  By then postage due of double the deficiency had been replaced with the postage deficiency plus a handling fee.  In this case it was cheaper than double the deficiency would have been.

Bristol Penny Post - Clifton, Keynsham

Clifton was originally the boxed "No.2" receiving house in the Bristol Penny Post and seven different boxed "No.2" handstamps are known.  Here is a poor example of the fifth one from June 1827, probably just before it was replaced.

The entire does have a nice "TOO LATE" handstamp, of the third type that was in use at Bristol.

Keynsham was the boxed "No.10" receiving house, with four different boxed handstamps known and one unboxed one.  This is an example of the unboxed handstamp from December 1837.

Round and about Bristol - Clifton, Fishponds, Kingswood, Staple Hill and the Gorge

More postmarks with a Bristol theme, this time from round and about Bristol - starting with Clifton and a "CLIFTON / BRISTOL" circular date stamp from September 1906.

Then from February 1907 a "FISHPONDS" circular date stamp.

From January 1909 a "KINGSWOOD / BRISTOL" large skeleton.

And from February 1915 a "STAPLE-HILL / BRISTOL" circular date stamp.

Finally to finish off, some photographic postcards depicting views of the Gorge.

Bristol Penny Post - Hotwells & Clifton

Hotwells and Clifton in Bristol had the No.1 and No.2 Receiving House handstamps respectively until they swapped over in 1832.

Starting with Hotwells, the first two entires are for "No.1" and have two different Bristol Penny Post handstamps, while the last two are for "No.2" with the dated Bristol Penny Post handstamp.

 

 

 

Moving on to Clifton, the first four entires are for "No.2", the first two having red Bristol Penny Post handstamps (in use 1814-1821).

 

 

 

See the next sheet for details on John Tod.

The next two entires are from the "No.1" period where Clifton had a unique oval handstamp.  The first entire is also to John Tod like the previous one and is followed by details about a "Writer to the Signet".