A few South Petherton items

Some items from South Petherton starting with a letter with enclosures from 1811 charged, I think, at the 1oz rate.

The next item was sent from South Petherton to Ilminster, about 6 miles, in June 1839.  It was charged 2d following the introduction of a 2d postal rate for up to 8 miles.

The next postcard is advertising a FAT STOCK sale due to be held on 27th May 1872.  Fat Stock is livestock that is fat and ready for market.  The postcard is addressed but has no postal markings so may well have been hand-delivered.

And finally a postcard from 1923, asking for the Land Agent at Ilminster to come and measure up the work that the thatcher has nearly completed, presumably so that he could get paid.

South Petherton (1925)

This printed form sent from South Petherton in January 1925 is a request for Vicarial Tithes.  Interestingly the two halfpenny stamps have different South Petherton cancels, one a single ring and the other a double ring.

Some Skeletons, ready for Halloween ?

 Here are a few skeletons - temporary postmarks used when the main cancel has got lost, broken or is being updated/replaced.   Early skeletons were called Travellers and here is a Traveller from South Petherton in June 1847.

 

 

Next comes a skeleton from Stoke under Ham in June 1906 (only known on 5th June).

 

 

 

Then comes one from Queen Camel in February 1909.

... followed by one from Wincanton - this example is from January 1913 but the skeleton is known from 29th November 1912 to 19th January 1913.

 

 

Finally a modern skeleton from Hinton Charterhouse in June 1977.

Mail via Somerton in 1804 and 1810

 Here are a couple of pieces of mail that went via Somerton, the first from Ilchester to Ford near Wiveliscombe in August 1804, with two boxed mileage marks from Ilchester and from Somerton.

The second is from South Petherton to Westminster in 1810, with a "SOUTH / PETHERTON" handstamp and another Somerton mileage mark.

 

"311", "725", "777" and "862"

Post Office numbers were assigned to the larger post offices in 1844 when the horizontal oval barred numeral cancels were issued.  The numbers continued to be used, for example on instructional cachets well into the 20th century.

"311" was the post office number for Glastonbury.  The cover below has an example of the first horizontal oval barred cancel from 1845.

"725" was the post office number for South Petherton; the sheet below has examples from 1847 and 1848.

"777" was the post office number for Williton.  The first sheet below has examples of the horizontal oval cancel, while the second sheet has an example of the 3-bar vertical oval cancel.

"862" was the post office number for Milverton.  The sheet below has an example of the horizontal oval cancel.

North and South Petherton (again)

I've referred a couple of previous times about North and South Petherton not being physically adjacent - here is an envelope which went to both North and South Petherton in 1849 and did not find its addressee, a Major Kingdon.

Unfortunately the stamp has been removed (or fallen off).  The envelope appears to be from Exeter but the address on the envelope could be either North or South Petherton.

The post office decided to try North Petherton first and sent it via Bridgwater, North Petherton's post town, on 22nd July 1849.  Major Kingdon was not known at North Petherton (manuscript "Not Known at North Petherton" in red), going back via Bridgwater where it received a faint blue-grey "BRIDGEWATER / 8" skeleton cancel dated 23rd July 1849.

The post office then tried South Petherton, going via Ilminster, South Petherton's post town.  Major Kingdon was not known there (manuscript "Unknown at" with South Petherton double arc handstamp dated 25th July) and the envelope then appears to have gone back to Bridgwater where it received a "BRIDGWATER / 5" skeleton cancel on 6th August 1849.

The Bridgwater handstamps on the reverse of the envelope are very hard to distinguish; here is an image of the reverse of the envelope, the first Bridgwater handstamp being below the Exeter handstamp, the second, skeleton handstamp having the "8" by the final "E" of "EXETER", and the third, skeleton handstamp being overlaid by the Exeter mark.

Here is a larger image of the "BRIDGWATER / 8" skeleton, with a date of 23rd July 1849.  The "8" is by the final "E" of the Exeter handstamp.

Here is a larger image of the "BRIDGWATER / 5" skeleton, showing a date of 6th August 1849.

On 8th August 1849 a "recut" "BRIDGEWATER" double-arc dated handstamp was registered in the Steel Impressions Book, marking the likely end of use of the skeleton.

Ilminster and Minehead Free franks, South Petherton, Somerton

A couple of Free franks, starting with one from Ilminster to Chard franked by "Poulett" in November 1828 ...

 ... and an earlier one from Minehead to Exeter franked by "T.D. Acland" in December 1817.

Staying with Minehead, here is a very poor Maltese Cross from July 1841.

This next item is from South Petherton (which must have come under Somerton at the time) in December 1806.

And finally a poor Somerton mileage mark from June 1827.

North and South Petherton

North and South Petherton in Somerset are not adjacent - South Petherton is some 18 miles south-west of North Petherton.

Here are two examples of the "NORTH-PETHERTON" circular undated handstamp, from 1798 and from 1846, being from the first and last years of the handstamp's known use.

Here is an example of the "SOUTH-PETHERTON" circular dated handstamp from 1839.

South Petherton Maltese Cross

A nice clean wrapper from March 1842 with a crisp South Petherton Maltese Cross.

Climax Rubber Handstamps, Shepton Mallet, Somerton & South Petherton sub-offices

North Wootton had five "NORTH WOOTTON / SHEPTON MALLET" Type Ib handstamps.  The first was issued in June 1892, and the others are known used from November 1904, May 1906, March 1911 and January 1915.  In addition a "NTH WOOTTON / SHEPTON MALLET" Type 3 skeleton is known used in January 1906 and a "NORTH WOOT / TON SHEPTON MALLET" Type 3 skeleton in November 1910.  In the sheets below the top example is of the 2nd Type Ib (Nov 1904) handstamp, the next two are of the 3rd handstamp (May 1906) while the bottom example is of the last handstamp (Jan 1915).

Babcary was originally under Taunton and had a "BABCARY / TAUNTON" Type Ib handstamp issued in March 1893.  It then moved to Somerton where a "BABCARY / SOMERTON S.O. / SOMERSET" Type 2 handstamp was issued (known used from April 1905).  It then moved back to Taunton where another "BABCARY / TAUNTON" Type Ib handstamp was issued (known used from January 1915) with a "BABCARY / TAUNTON" Type 3 skeleton briefly in use in November 1914.  The example below from June 1907 is of the handstamp while it was under Somerton.

Compton Dundon had a "COMPTON DUNDON / SOMERTON, SOMERSET" Type Ic handstamp issued in March 1904 and then a "COMPTON DUNDON /  SOMERTON / SOMERSET" Type 2 handstamp is known used from October 1909.  The example below is of this later handstamp from c. 1911.

East Lambrook was originally under Ilminster where an "EAST LAMBROOK / ILMINSTER" Type Ib handstamp was issued in July 1899.  It then moved to South Petherton and received an "EAST LAMBROOK / SOUTH PETHERTON / SOMERSET" Type 2 handstamp which was known used from August 1918.  The example below brings this date forward, being from November 1917.

Smaller early serif UDCs - South Petherton, Frome and Wiveliscomb(e)

There are six towns with smaller (24 mm or less) UDCs in a serif font - South Petherton, Frome, Wiveliscombe, Dulverton, Chard and Ilchester.  Here are my examples of the first three.

South Petherton's UDC was registered in the Steel Impression Book (SIB) on 5th May 1828 and is known used  until February 1839.  The first example below from November 1828 may be the earliest known use, while the second example is from August 1837 (with a nice "Missent to Bristol" cachet).

Frome's UDC is not in the SIB but is known used between July 1828 and 1838.  The entire below is from May 1834.

Wiveliscombe's UDC was registered on 4th May 1829 and is known used between May 1829 and 1841.  The handstamp (and the Post Town in the SIB entry) are spelt "WIVELISCOMB" with no final "E".  The example below is from October 1835.

South Petherton Squared Circle

The entire shown below has a QV 3d jubilee cancelled with a "SOUTH PETHERTON" squared circle dated  was sent by the South Petherton Undersheriff to Winscombe R.S.O. via Taunton and Weston-super-Mare.

As it indicates on the front it is a Jury Summons for William Yatman Esq, for him to serve on the General Quarterly Session Grand Jury in April 1897 at the Wells Town Hall.

The entire has the handstamp of the "SHERIFF OF SOMERSET" on the reverse to authenticate it.

A Grand Jury was used to determine whether a criminal indictment would be issued.  They were first used in England in 1166, set up by Henry II and were employed in England until 1933.  A grand jury is so named because it had a greater number of jurors than a trial jury (also known as a petit jury).

South Petherton

Up until 1795 South Petherton only had a private messenger service to Crewkerne; at that point it came on a route from Ilchester as shown on the plan proposed by the Surveyor, S. Lott, to Francis Freeling.

The entire shown below was sent from South Petherton to Chard in 1826 - the postal charge was 6d (for 20-30 miles) which matches a route of South Petherton - Ilchester - Yeovil - Crewkerne - Chard.

Something changed in 1828 - perhaps South Petherton became a Post Town (the Proof Books show a "So. Petherton" undated circle cancel sent direct to South Petherton in May 1828) ?  The postal route also appears to have changed as shown by the entire below, also from South Petherton to Chard which is charged 5d (for 15-20 miles).  This is compatible with a route of South Petherton - Crewkerne - Chard.