THOMAS GEORGE LOVETT, SECRETARY of ATHENAEUM CLUB, HOBART

This indistinctly cancelled cover had a pair of the red ‘ONE PENNY’ New South Wales stamps addressed to T.G. Lovett Esq, 69 Collins Street, Hobart, Tasmania, and the reverse was not seen (Figure 1).

David McNamee in his ‘Catalogue and Handbook of Tattersall’s Covers 2006′ on p. 113 has another cover addressed to T. G. Lovett, and there are very few entries for the Lovett name compared to other addressees. McNamee shows an example of a cover addressed to T.G. Lovett Esq, 69 Collins Street, Hobart, Tasmania, and the pair of the orange ‘Four Corners ONE PENNY’ Queensland stamps were cancelled TOWNSVILLE/ 10 OC O4/ QUEENSLAND. The reverse was not seen (Figure 2).

McNamee states that ‘Apparently T. Gordon Lovett was a Tattersall’s employee at the head office, 69 Collins Street. His father Thomas George Lovett, was Secretary of the Athenaeum Club, an important accommodation address in the Tattersall’s network. The simple address “Mr. Lovett, Hobart” was likely Thomas George (the father) because, he was prominent enough to be recognized by that simple address in 1903 (see below). Later the son may have been enlisted to protect his father and/or the Athenaeum from approbation. It was also apparently common for Tattersall to employ the sons and daughters of employees, friends and prominent men in the community. The sweepstakes took in tens of thousands of pieces of mail each month, so a large number of clerks were needed to process the mail’ (Figure 3).

The Lovett family lived at 153 Macquarie Street, not far from the 5 Davey Street address of the Athenaeum Club.

Other variations of this alias:

Mr. Lovett 1903 Tas

T. Gordon Lovett 1907 Qld (Figure 3).

To date (January 2012) no additional information  has been found on either the prominent father, Thomas George Lovett nor the son, T. Gordon Lovett.

Categories: Tattersall’s
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