Bath 1807 - 1810

The final (!) straight-line Bath handstamp was introduced late in 1807, measuring 29 x 5 mm.  This first example is from 31st December 1807.

Two examples from March 1808 ...

... and from April 1808 ...

... from September 1809 ...

... and from May 1810.  The letter is a request for the addressee to pay the sender's Powder Tax.

Bath 1805 - 1807

Sometime between March and September 1805 the handstamp changed again, with a new 28½ x 5½ mm handstamp introduced.  This handstamp does have quite pronounced serifs (eg. at the base of the "B" and the "H") - the measurements have been taken without the serifs, from the downstroke of the "B" to the downstroke of the "H".

Here are a number of examples, from March 1805 and March 1806 ...

... from June and July 1807 ...

... and from October 1807.

Bath 1804 - 1805

Sometime between the end of February and the end of May 1804 a new 23½ x 4½ mm handstamp was introduced.

This next entire, from June 1804, was initially sent from Bristol to Bath and was then turned and sent Free from Bath to London.

Another example from June 1804 bore the manuscript "Double Only" but was charged at five times the single sheet rate as it must have weighed over an ounce.

And finally an entire from Bath to Warwickshire in March 1805.

Bath 1802 - 1804

The second of the handstamps in the 1798-1807 period runs from 1802-1804 and is 29½ x 5½ mm.  The contents of this first example, from December 1802, are a request to identify an annuity.

This entire, from March 1803, is addressed to the New England Coffee House in London.

This example, from March 1803, was originally from London to Bath and was then redirected to Liverpool.  It was a double letter so ended up with a charge of 2/8.

The final two examples are from January and February 1804, the second being to Edinburgh via London.

Bath 1798 - 1802

The British County Catalogue [1990] has one 30 x 5 mm handstamp in use from 1798 to 1807.  Close examination of a number of examples shows that this is a number of different handstamps.

The first one in this period, 30 x 6 mm when measured using a computer scanner and image software, was in use from 1798 to 1802.  Here is an example from March 1798, addressed to a Coffee House in London. 

This next example, from July 1798, was sent free.

Another example, from February 1799.

... and from February 1800, suggesting the use of Bath waters to the Duke of Hamilton.

An entire from February 1801 saying that "Bath is full of Company and the Dress Balls at the Upper Rooms disagreeably crowded - the Duke and Duchess of York arrived here."

And finally a further example from February 1801 from Bath to Edinburgh that I reckon has been charged the wrong amount because at that time the Scottish rates were different to the English ones.

Bath 1795 - 1796

A new 29½ x 5 mm handstamp was introduced at Bath, sometime between April and July 1795 as evidenced by these two entires.

Some further examples, from February 1796 ...

... and a day later in February 1796.  This entire has a London solid red star Inspector's mark.

... another from March 1796 ...

... and from July 1796.

Bath 1788 - 1795

Back to the earlier handstamps from Bath.

Bath had a 24 x 5 mm handstamp from 1788 to 1795.  I have about a dozen examples, too many to show in one post, so here are a selection starting with one from November 1788.

This next example from January 1789 has some interesting contents relating to the tithe.

This example from June 1789 was charged 2/6 as it weighted 3¾ ozs.

This letter from January 1791 is a Bishop giving thanks for the fine food he has been given.

Here is a letter from Bath to Goettingen in August 1791.  It has a number of crayon markings relating to the postage abroad which I don't understand fully (any explanations gratefully received).

 And finally an entire from Bath to Dumfries in September 1794.

Bath Straight-Line Handstamps 1706 to 1808

According to the British County Catalogue [1992], Bath used 15 different straight-line handstamps between 1706 to 1808, plus one re-use in 1832 (this does not include the four single-line and two-line mileage marks). Within this list there are a number of date ranges where no handstamp is recorded in the BCC (1717-1720, 1727-1729, 1735-1741, 1743-1749 and 1762-1771). The handstamps recorded are of different sizes, but one is never entirely clear on how squarely the handstamp was struck or how the sizes in the BCC were measured (eg. does one include the serifs ?), so matching a handstamp to the BCC, or identifying a potential new handstamp, is not easy.

It is also a little strange to see handstamps overlapping, for example SO 77 (1798-1807) overlaps with SO 83 (1804-1805), with the "BATH / 109" mileage mark SO 80 (1801-1804) in the middle as well.  This leads me to suspect that maybe the marks labelled as SO 77 are not all from the same handstamp.

Click here to see a pdf document that illustrates the Bath straight-line handstamps in my collection, along with their assignment to a BCC catalogue number where the approximate sizes and dates match.

Can you help work out which handstamps match the BCC and which are potentially new ones ? Where do your examples fit (and can you fill the gaps) ?

Potential changes to the BCC are identified below in red.

	Cat No	Type	Handstamp	Comments	Size (mm)	Colour	Dates	Rarity
	29	4	BATH		16x5	Black	1706-08	G
	31	4	BATH		18x6	Black	1708	G
	32	4	BATH-X	for Cross Post letters only	27x5?	Black	Jun 1710	H+
	33	4	BATH		25x6	Black	1712-16	G
	36	2	BATH	in one line	15x4	Black	1721-26	F
	39	4	BATH		31x8	Black	1730-34	F
	P 41	4	BATH		26x8	Black	1738-39
	43	4	BATH		26x12	Black	1742	F
	48	4	BATH		27x8	Black	1750-57	F
	50	4	BATH		31x9	Black	1760-61	F
	P 51	4	BATH	Medium width “A” Usage sometime May 1764 to May 1766, & ?61 or ?68	30x8	Black	1765 ?
	P 53	4	BATH	Wide “A”, pronounced serifs	30x8	Black	1768-72
	55	4	BATH	Small serifs, 1777 & 1782	30x7	Black	1772-82	E
	58	4	BATH	T has large serifs	32x8	Black	1766-67 & 1781	E
	P 59	4	BATH	Tapered	23x5-8	Black	1781
	61	4	BATH		25x6	Black	1776 & 1783	D
	64	27	113 BATH	single line	33x5	Black	1784	F
	66	26	BATH / 110	figures 6½ mm high	26x16	Black	1784-86	F
	68	26	BATH / 110	figures 5mm high	25x14	Black	1786-87	F
	71	4	BATH	was 1788-95	23x5	Black	1788-91	D
	P 73	4	BATH		24x5	Black	1791-95
	74	4	BATH		30x4	Black	1795-96	D
	P 76	4	BATH	split from SO 77	30x6	Black	1798-02
	77	4	BATH	altered dates	30x5	Black	1802-04	C
	80	29	BATH / 109		19x10	Black	1801-04	E
	83	12	BATH		24x4	Black	1804-05	D
	86	4	BATH		28x5	Black	1805-08	C
	P 87	4	BATH		29x4	Black	1810