Royal Reels: Gambling

Miscellaneous

TELEGRAMS to GEORGE MACKANESS on HIS ORDER of BRITISH EMPIRE

Several telegrams were sent to George Mackaness in 1938 on the occasion of King George VI bestowing the Order of the British Empire on him for his services to Australia in so many aspects of his teachings of the English language, his many literary and historical publications and his zeal in promoting Australiana. I have chosen 2 examples, the first from the Prime Minister of Australia at that time, Joseph

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TASMANIA to the COSMOPOLITAN CORRESPONDENCE CLUB, MILWAUKEE

The cover had a purple 2½d ‘Sideface’ stamp of Tasmania cancelled with a roller HOBART postmark of the early 1900s and it was addressed to W. Schulz Jnr, General Manager, The Cosmopolitan Correspondence Club, Milwaukee, Wis., U.S.A. and there was a ‘medallion’ at the top left corner. The reverse was not seen (Figure 1). The ‘medallion’ was a ‘sticker’ denoting THE COSMOPOLITAN CORRESPONDENCE CLUB, MILWAUKEE, WIS. U.S.A. The sticker was

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SEPPELT’S FAMOUS WINES: BENNO SEPPELT & DAME NELLIE MELBA

The postcard advertises Seppelt’s Famous Wines, and the green 1d KGV Head stamp is postmarked GREENOCK/ ( ) 1938/ S.A. The printed message is addressed Seppeltsfield, South Australia. Dear Sir, We desire to advise you that our Representative, H.A. YEOMAN will have pleasure in waiting upon you on or about the 6th June when any order you may favor us with will receive our careful attention. B. SEPPELT & SONS LTD.

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ROYAL DANISH CONSULATE, HOBART & THE AUSTRALIAN PRINCESS

The cover has a circular HOBART/ 830PM/ 16 JUL/ 1937 postmark with a slogan cancel USE THE/ POSTAL EXPRESS/ MESSENGER SERVICE with a green 1d and a red 2d KGV Head stamps. It is addressed to The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Copenhagen, Denmark, Europe and it was sent from the Royal Danish Consulate, G.P.O. BOX 486A, Hobart. The reverse was not seen (Figure 1). Denmark’s connection with Tasmania dates back

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RECTIGRAPH COMPANY, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, COVER from SYDNEY

I had never heard of a rectigraph prior to this cover, but the city of Rochester, New York gave me a clue as to what it might be. This cover had a fine copy of the first issue of the blue 2½d ‘Kangaroo on a Map of Australia’ stamp which was issued on 27 January 1913, and ruling out the same stamp with the second watermark issued in July 1915.

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MESSRS. SAINTOIN FRÊRES, NÉGOTIANTE, ORLÉANS, LOIRET, FRANCE

The cover has a strip of four green 6d ‘Chalon’ Queensland stamps cancelled with four duplexes of BRISBANE/ JA 20/ 1867/ QUEENSLAND and it is addressed to the Saintoin Brothers Company, Merchants, Orleans, Loiret, France and there are two illegible transit &/orarrival French cancels, one in blue and the other in red. There is a manuscript at the bottom of the cover ‘Pour remettre a —— Gaujaro, tiné’, and the

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LETTER to the MAYOR of St. KILDA, VICTORIA 1904

This cover as a single folded sheet has a Victorian 1d red ‘Postage’ stamp postmarked with St KILDA/ B/ JA 11/ 04/ VIC and a reception roller postmark of MELBOURNE / 11 JAN/ 3 15 PM/ 1904/ VICTORIA. It was addressed ‘To His Worship, The Mayor of St Kilda, Town Hall, St Kilda (Figure 1). The full letter reads: MarinaBeaconsfield ParadeSt Kilda To the, Mayor of St. Kilda, Dear SirI

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LAWRENCE ADAMSON, HEADMASTER of WESLEY COLLEGE, MELBOURNE

The orange brown One Penny ‘Reading’ postcard on yellow stock was cancelled with a duplex MELBOURNE/ 16 S/ JE 10/ 91 with a VICTORIA obliterator, and it was addressed to L.A. Adamson Esq, Wesley College, Prahran (Figure 1). The reverse had a printed heading of EDLINGTON FOOTBALL CLUB and the following manuscript message:Auburn, June 10, 1891 L.A. Adamson Esq      Dear Sir    We will be on your ground nextSaturday a

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JOSEPH ROWE’s AMERICAN CIRCUS in MELBOURNE in the 1850’s

This 1855 letter was addressed to a circus but unclaimed by the addressee and it was accompanied by a Post Office List which was advertised in the Melbourne Morning Herald of March 10, 1855. The letter had an orange-yellow 6d ‘woodblock’ stamp of Victoria postmarked with a barred oval ‘2 over V’ of Geelong and alongside there was a red butterfly cancel ‘14 over V’ . It was addressed to Mr. Jones,

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JOHN & ANN FRASER BON, WAPPAN STATION, DELATITE RIVER

This inward bound letter had three stamps from England postmarked with a duplex of LONDON-N/ X/ NO 25/ 60 with a barred obliterator N/ 16 addressed to John Bon Esq, Wappan, Delatite River, Melbourne Australia (Figure 1). Interestingly the Australian Dictionary of Biography was for his wife Ann Fraser Bonn with limited information about her husband. Ann was born 9 April 1838 at Dunning, Scotland the daughter of David Dougall,

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