MINING

A series of 22 covers were sent to Francis William Howard Aaron at several addresses in California dated from 1852 to 1877, and the first I consider to be a local Californian cover. This opinion is at variance with that of the vendor who states that the first cover "almost certainly originated in New South Wales." Most of the other covers were posted by members of his Braidwood N.S.W. family, for the addressee documented on the covers that they came from his father and sisters. Unfortunately, none of the covers contained letters.

Francis (Frank)William Howard Aaron was born in Wales on June 5, 1829 and he died in Marysville California on April 27, 1897. He arrived in California on December 29 1849 and as attested to by the covers he received from Australia, he spent much of the 1850s on or around the California gold fields. He became a prominent businessman who founded and owned the Marysville Water Company. He was also the bookkeeper for the Marysville Gas and Electric and a trustee for the Marysville Library Association. He married Mary Musgrove Bobo (1850-1930s), the daughter of a Marysville physician, Charles Duncan Bobo on September 2, 1874 and they had one son, Charles Francis Aaron (December 1, 1875- September 6, 1953). A picture of Frank is seen in Figure 1.

COOLGARDIE CYCLE EXPRESS: LOCAL POSTS EASTERN GOLDFIELDS 1894-7

Western Australia gold field memorabilia are not infrequent finds at auction sites, and the Coolgardie Cycle Express Service, Coolgardie, W.A., 1894 postcard reproduction is a reminder of the past. It was produced in 1964 to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the service in 1964. The front shows reproductions of the blue 1/- and 2/6 "cinderellas" postmarked with a special cancellation (Figure 1).

H. KOCH CRUSHING WORKS, LONG GULLY, LETTER from LANGLANDS CO.

The cover is addressed to Mr. Henry Koch, Pioneer Crushing Works, Long Gully, Sandhurst and the vertically placed manuscript identifies the sender as Langlands Foundry Co., and the date of the letter as 28th March 1871. The lilac TWO PENCE Victoria stamp is cancelled with a MELBOURNE/ 8A/ MR 29/ 71 duplex (Figure 1).

ISAAC DYASON, GOLD MINER, ACCOUNTANT, MINING COMPANY DIRECTOR

Over the past 5 years I have seen many covers addressed to the above and still I have not been able to access a coherent account of this man. Several dealers dismissed these covers as "part of the Dyason correspondence" without any attempt at elaboration. To make matters worse there is an abundance of information on him at the State Library of Victoria (SLV), but they were not forthcoming even with a paragraph on him. They have his extensive diaries (linear length of 91 cms) which were donated by a family member, and the collection has been characterised by the following description:

"Isaac Dyason (1832-1915), an accountant and mining company director, kept extensive diaries for most of his life. The first of these concerns his experiences as a gold miner in 1851. The following 41 volumes contain entries almost daily for the years 1859-1915, giving a valuable account of both Dyason’s business career and his private and social life in Bendigo". All that the SLV could offer were photostats at a considerable cost or a paid private researcher. Fair enough, but the volume of the data would almost be overwhelming to copy, sight unseen.

JOHN BOYD WATSON (1828-1889), VICTORIAN GOLDMINING MAGNATE

This goldfield cover has four Victorian 1d ‘Half-Length’ stamps, two orange-brown and two pink, postmarked with 3 Barred Numerals ‘9' of Beechworth, and the cover is addressed to John Watson, Smyths Creek, Ballarat. A black manuscript is written vertically upwards at the left side, and reads in part ‘Detained for/ 1d postage (Figure 1).

JOHN EDWARD NEWELL BULL, MILITARY OFFICER & PUBLIC SERVANT

This O.H.M.S. cover is addressed to J.E.N. Bull Esqre JP, Res. Warden’s Office, Castlemaine and has a dull rose ‘Emblems’ 4d stamp (SG 68). It was sent in June 1858 from Maldon Victoria. The reverse was not seen (Figure 1).

KALGOORLIE W.A. to POQUETANUCK, CONNECTICUT

This cover with the blue 2½d Swan stamp (A.S.C. # 28) travelled 6½ weeks across Western Australia to the east coast of America, its journey being well documented by its multiple postmarks and manuscript routings. The front is postmarked by an unframed KALGOORLIE/ 6/ AU 26/ 01/ W.A duplex (top rarity rating of '1'). It is addressed to Miss Juliet Gier, Poquetanuck, Connecticut, N(ew) London Co(unty), U.S.A. In manuscript its intended routing is given as: via Sydney and San Francisco (Figure 1).

LEVI NEWSOME & SONS, SAPPHIRE via ANAKIE, to BIENNE, SWITZERLAND

This insured parcel label was addressed to The Manager, The Banque Cantonale de Berne, Bienne, Switzerland and was sent from Levi Newsome & Sons, Sapphire, Via Anakie, Central Queensland, No 10 S.  There were nine stamps made up of five ‘Roos on Map of Australia’ and four KGV Heads, a total postage of 7 shillings and half pence.  The stamps were cancelled with PARCEL POST/ 27 AUG 30/ ROCKHAMPTON, and there was a purple double oval BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES/ ROCKAMPTON handstamp, as well as three labels: a green printed Commonwealth of Australia/ INSURED PARCEL which has a manuscript ‘£ 50', a printed red and black on yellow paper ‘via Geneva 3/ 684' and a black on purple paper ‘value declared’ in 3 languages, German, French and Italian.  An additional vertically placed manuscript had two different weights ‘150.0 oz’ and ‘11 lbs’.  The reverse was not seen (Figure 1).

MOUNT COOLON GOLD MINES N.L. & WILLIAM MATHESON MORGAN, QLD

This commemorative registered opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge cover has a blue regitration R. 6 label of Sydney Harbour Bridge/ N.E. PYLON (North East Pylon) and a single red 2d and 3d Harbour Bridge stamps, postmarked SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE N.E. PYLON/ 23 MR 32.  The cover was addressed to W.M. Morgan Esq, c/o Mt. Coolon Gold Mines N.L., Private Mail Bag, Collinsville, Queensland.  The reverse was not seen (Figure 1).

O.K. COPPER MINE, CHILLAGOE, NORTHERN QUEENSLAND

This cover is one of the many Tattersall Lottery applications sent to a ‘blind’ to thwart the Tasmanian postal authorities, as shown by the puncture in the cover. Mr. H. Athol of ‘ Highfield Hall’ Murray St. Hobart, Tasmania has not been identified. The blue ‘TWO PENCE FOUR CORNERS’ stamp of Queensland has a rare postmark of O.K. MINE/ 6 JUL 06/ QUEENSLAND. This post office opened in 1905 and closed in 1911. The postmark is a Type 1 of Cowan & Dell, 25 mm diameter with a large ‘dot’ on both sides and a one-line date, which is rated 3R (of 4R). It is the earliest recorded date [25 JUN 08 to (–) FEB 09] (Figures 1 & 2).

POSTCARD to DR. BENHAM from MOUNT LYELL MINING & RAILWAY Co. Ltd.

This 1d pink Victoria postcard has a roller postmark MELBOURNE/ OC 29–2-30P/ VICT/ 1908 and it was sent to Dr. Benham, Camden House, Exeter, S.A. (Figure 1).

STANLEY WYMAN & VICTORIAN GOLD

Occasionally, the finding of one interesting cover leads to the discovery of related covers. This paper involves a Stanley Wyman and the Victorian Goldfields between the years of 1854 and 1856. The first cover seen at an auction site was addressed to Stanley Wyman Esq, Gold Office Camp, Creswick's Creek and in the same manuscript, "Stamped" was written in the top left corner. The description accompanying the cover was as follows:  Dec 1 1856 Cover from Ballarat Half Length 1d & 3d, both 4 margins tied by BN '5' & with appropriate back-stamp (Figure 1).

YALOGINDA GOLD to SMITH & WESSON, SPRINGFIELD, MASS. [USA]

This 1d imprinted Western Australian postcard has a halfpenny green W.A. stamp (ASC #18) attached, for the 2-line postcard's directions clearly state that the 1 penny rate applies for the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. The card is printed on buff stock and when used for any other place an additional halfpenny stamp is required. The postcard is addressed to Messrs. Smith & Wesson, 33 Stockbridge St. Springfield, Mass.USA and it is indistinctly postmarked Yaloginda/ 26 FE 1908/ WESTERN AUSTRALIA (Figure 1).