Political

WILLIAM KERR, JOURNALIST, NEWSPAPER EDITOR/OWNER, TOWN CLERK

This stampless cover from London has a ms. ‘2/3′ and ‘pr. Overland Via Marseilles’, a red ‘clover leaf’ PAID/ L.S,/ 8 SP 8/ 1854 handstamp, as well as an illegible red circular handstamp. It is addressed to W. Kerr, Town Clerk, Melbourne, Australia (Figure 1). The reverse has a distinct red unframed SHIP LETTER/ ( )/ NO * 9/ 1854/ G.P.O. VICTORIA (Figure 2). William Kerr (1812-59), journalist, was born

Read More »

WILLIAM JOHN MACLEAY, POLITICIAN/ZOOLOGIST & the MACLEAY FAMILY

The cover is addressed to W.J. MacLeay (sic)  Esq MLA, Australian Club and the 1d red-orange New South Wales ‘Laureate’ stamp was cancelled with a barred grid obliterator with 10 vertical lines characteristic of the Sydney G.P.O. ( Figure 1). The reverse postmark confirms that Sydney was the point of origin with a small unframed SYDNEY/ MY 6/ 185 ( )/ C/ N.S.W.  The vendor states that the year date

Read More »

WILLIAM CLARK HAINES, GRAZIER & POLITICIAN, PREMIER of VICTORIA

The entire has a 1d brown and a 3d steel-blue ‘Half Length’ stamps of Victoria cancelled by the barred numeral ‘75′ of Shelford prepaying the 4d inland letter rate to Melbourne and showing but not seen on the reverse, despatch and arrival datestamps of 10 April 1856. It is addressed to William C. Haines, Chief Secretary Office, Melbourne (Figure 1). William Haines (1810-1866), was born at Hampstead, England, son of

Read More »

WILLIAM ANDRADE, ANARCHIST, BOOKSELLER , & ANTI-CONSCRIPTIONIST

The incompletely seen cartoon advertising cover shows a caricature of an eastern gentleman apparently standing on a log fishing; the text reads ‘No Ketchem Ten Days return to The House of Mystery and Magic, Will Andrade, 173 Pitt St., Sydney’. It is addressed to Messrs S.S. Adams & Co., Ashbury Park, New Jersey, U.S.A. It has a blue AIR MAIL sticker and the one shilling six pence Airmail and the

Read More »

WESTERN AUSTRALIA ATTEMPTS SECESSION IN THE 1930’s

I have no recollections of the persistent concerns that the W.A. residents had about staying in the Australian Federation, right up to the end of WW II in 1945. Moreover, even in the 1970’s a Westralian Secessionist Movement was formed with the financial backing of mining magnate, Lang Hancock. The movement represented a conservative reaction to the centralist views of the Whitlam Labour Government. During the 1999 Federal referendum campaign,

Read More »

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN SENATOR ALEXANDER MATHESON (1861-1929)

These two covers were mailed from Perth W.A. eight days apart, almost certainly from the same sender, addressed simply to Senator Matheson. Both were underpaid with the grey ½d swan stamp, and they were postmarked with different Perth G.P.O duplexes. The first had a complete duplex with L.C. (Letter Carrier) ROOM/ 2/ AU 4/ 02/ PERTH and was addressed to St. Georges Terrace, Perth W.A. and it had a tax

Read More »

W.C. WENTWORTH’S LETTERS to BROTHER-IN-LAW, ROBERT TOWNS

The first entire is addressed at Maitland July nine 1844/ Robert Towns Esqe/ Castlereagh St/ Sydney and has the signature of W.Wentworth MLC at the lower left hand. There is a red boxed FREE (Karman N50.57) on the front. The reverse (not shown) has an oval MAITLAND/ [Crown]/ JY 9 1844/ NEW S. WALES and GENERAL POST OFFICE/ [Crown]/ JY 11 1844/ SYDNEY postmarks in black (Figure 1). A second

Read More »

UNION of AUSTRALIAN WOMEN, PEACE COMMITTEE vs.SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC

The Airmail postcard has the $1.20 pink cockatoo stamp of 1994, and the date and place from which it was sent, was illegible. It states: Dear Sir, The people of Australia urge you to: Please negotiate; Please stop this terrible war. Signature D. Dudman 5/4/94. Card produced by Union of Australian Women, Australian Peace Committee. It is addressed to M. Le President, Slobodan Milosivic (sic), 1100 Belgrade Serbia, Yugoslavia (Figure 1). The

Read More »

THOMAS B. STEPHENS, NEWSPAPER PROPRIETOR, QUEENSLAND POLITICIAN

This May 1869 entire with a vertical pair of the blue Queensland TWO PENCE ‘Chalons’ was sent from Bowen (as identified on the reverse of the cover) to The Colonial Treasurer, Treasury, Brisbane (Figure 1). The reverse has an unframed reception postmark of BRISBANE/ 17/ MY 14/ 69/ QUEENSLAND, as well as a partial unframed (BO)WE(N) postmark and red sealing wax (Figure 2). Thomas Blacket Stephens, newspaper proprietor and politician,

Read More »

THE RT. HON. PRIME MINISTER, JOSEPH ALOYSIUS LYONS (1879-1939)

This long cover has a blue BY AIR MAIL vignette, and the three red 2d KGV heads are postmarked SHIP MAIL ROOM/ 12 AP 32/ MELBOURNE. The letter was addressed to The Honourable the Prime Minister, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. For all ‘the world-to-see’ the sender has prominently written “Dear Joe since you are so hard up you cant reduce the postage. I have put 4d extra on this.” The

Read More »