Squared Circle cancels from Martock (1895) and Williton (1884)

The Squared Circle cancel below from Martock in March 1895 was in use from July 1881 to February 1914 ....

.... while the Williton squared circle cancel was in use from July 1881 to May 1901.

 

Williton "777." 3-bar vertical oval 3VOS cancels, 1878

Here is an envelope from Williton to London in October 1878, cancelled with Williton "777." 3-bar vertical oval 3VOS cancels.  Because it was franked with two ½d bantam stamps (plate 5) it received two 3VOS cancels, one for each stamp.

 

Some Skeletons - Holford, Midford, Marston Magna, Stoke under Ham, Templecombe SO, West Harptree and Williton

A random accumulation of Skeletons, starting with a Climax rubber skeleton for Holford used on 29th May 1914.

The skeleton below from Midford used on 14th March 1906 was also a Climax rubber cancel.

The skeleton below from Marston Magna is only known used on 2nd October 1942.

... and the Stoke under Ham skeleton was also only known used on 16th February 1904.

This Templecombe S.O. skeleton was in use for about a month, from 2nd April to 3rd May 1912.

West Harptree's skeleton was in use for a month and a half from 19th July to 3rd September 1974.  As in the example below the "P" often does not print.

And finally a Williton skeleton that was in use for about a month, from 12th December 1909 to 10th January 1910.

"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.

Wellington, Weston-super-Mare, Williton and Wiveliscombe

Some more "W"s that have appeared on my desk, starting with a Wellington skeleton from March 1915 - the cancel is "WEL INGTON / SOM" with missing letters.

Next are a couple of postage due items from Weston-super-Mare, firstly an unfranked envelope from 1940 with two different "TO PAY" handstamps, the first (incorrect) one being crossed out in pencil.

... and secondly an underfranked postcard with a nice framed TO PAY cachet from 1958.

Moving on, the next item is a newspaper wrapper, also from Weston-super-Mare, with a red PAID handstamp from 1979 ...

... and then another newspaper wrapper from Williton with a red postage paid meter frank from 1981.

And finally two Wiveliscombe items, firstly "WIVELISCOMBE R.S.O. / SOMERSET" cancels from 1905 and 1908 (the RSO terminology was dropped in 1905) ...

... and a "WIVELISCOMBE - S.O / SOMERSET" cancel from 1918.

Taunton Penny Post - post-1828 but too early for receiving house handstamps

Here are a couple of examples of entires in the Taunton Penny Post that were too early for the post-1828 receiving house handstamps.  The first is from Crowcombe from March 1828, which a little later had the unboxed "No.3" receiving house handstamp.

The next is from Williton from February 1828, that a little later had the unboxed "No.6" handstamp.

UDCs: Queen Camel, Road (Rode), Whiddon Cross (Wheddon Cross), Williton

The entire below is from Queen Camel to Castle Cary in January 1845, redirected back to Queen Camel, and among other things has a "QUEEN CAMEL" undated circular handstamp.  Queen Camel is in the Post Office lists of 1844-1857 as Post Office number "703".  According to Parmenter 1844-type Numeric Obliterator cancels are known from June 1844 to March 1847.

Next we have an example of the UDC from ROAD (aka Rode) from May 1859.

And then an undated circular handstamp for "WHIDDON CROSS", later known as Wheddon Cross, also showing a UDC for Dunster on the reverse.

And finally an undated circular handstamp for "WILLITON" in red.

Undated Circular Handstamps - Washford, Williton

In this final batch of UDC handstamps here are two examples from Washford, one in black and one in a very bright red.

 

And lastly here are two UDC handstamps from Williton, one in red and one in black. Williton was issued with a numeric obliterator "777" in the 1844 list so perhaps would not have been expected to have a UDC handstamp.

Taunton Penny Post - unboxed "No.6"

Williton was the Receiving House with the unboxed "No.6" handstamp.  The Receiver from Torre moved there when the Taunton Penny Posts were reorganised in 1828 and the Torre Receiving House was closed down (the new road from Taunton to Minehead did not go via Torre).

There are at least two different unboxed "No.6" handstamps, with a different one in use from 1843.  There may also have been a different one in use after around 1831 - or it may just be wear on the handstamp.

These last two examples definitely have a different "No.6" handstamp.

Main period sans-serif 25mm UDCs under Taunton - part 2

There were 48 offices under Taunton that had main period UDCs issued to them (one, Fitzhead, had two issued).

Bicknoller had its UDC issued on 22nd September 1845. Usage is known from the example below on 24th July 1851 to December 1854.

North-Curry also had its UDC issued on 22nd September 1845.  Usage is known in black from June 1846 to November 1850 and in blue from October 1852 to September 1855.  The examples below in black are from June 1846 and September 1847.

Stogumber also had its UDC issued on 22nd September 1845.  Usage is known in red (October 1845 to November 1851), Yellow (February 1848 to July 1849), Black (May 1849 to March 1858) and blue (December 1858).  The example below is dated May 1849 and is either in orange or faded red.

Washford again had its UDC issued on 22nd September 1845.  Usage is known in red from January 1846 to August 1851 and in black from December 1854 to August 1859.  The first example below in red is from December 1851, which extends the known usage.

 The following two examples in black are from November 1852 (earlier than previously known usage) and January 1853.

 

Williton's UDC was issued on 22nd September 1845, and is known used in red (between November 1845 and April 1848), blue (May 1849) and black (January 1851).  The example below is in red from December 1846.

Williton

I've already posted up the first item for Williton - the "No.6" receiving house handstamp from the Taunton Penny Post.  Williton was in the Taunton Penny Post after the 1828 reorganisation of the Taunton Penny Post.

In 1844 number "777" was allocated to Williton.

Williton became a Railway Sub-Office (R.S.O.) in 1870, then came under Taunton again in 1895.  Here is a squared circle cancel from 1904.

Williton was briefly a Post Town between 1909 and 1911.  This skeleton cancel was in use from 12th to 24th December 1909.

And finally a selection of double circle couble-arc cancels from 1933 to 1974.