Every now and then a postcard speaks to our family personally. It was late1950’s and we bought our first home. One of our 3 sons was born whilst we lived there. It was a bungalow built on rock with 8 inches of sandy topsoil. Its address was 8 Marne Street, Vaucluse, but the locals called it Diamond Bay. It was perched high on a massive rock formation with glorious views
This 1891 1½d overprint on the 2d Victorian postcard with the red ‘UNIVERSAL P0STAL UNION’ overprint, deletion of the ‘FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM’ and ‘by the long sea route’ came about when Victoria joined the U.P.U. As a result cards could be sent for 1½d to any member country of the Union, which by then comprised most of the rest of the world. It is addressed to the Manager, Comptoir
I was surprised to learn of the past and present Swedish connection with Australia when I came across a very ordinary cover on Ebay listed as an advertising cover. It hardly lived up to expectations for the very plain commercial cover with the 3½d KGVI stamp was sent from Sydney in 1952 to a firm in New Zealand. An address for return was given as ‘SWEDISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, SYDNEY
This cover was bought on E-bay for sentimental reasons only, and when I received it I was surprised to find a letter in it. The contents were not historically exciting, but it did provide information that was of interest. The reason for buying it was for the Menzies Hotel Melbourne insignia on the reverse of the cover, as it provided memories of the second night of our honeymoon, when we
An unclaimed cover in 1882 turned out to be a revelation of Australia’s past history, of which most Australians are not proud. A long cover with a green 1d Victoria stamp was postmarked with an incomplete RICHMOND/ VICTORIA, barred numeral ‘71′ duplex. The cover was addressed to Mr. Ah Toy, Chinese Garden, Appleton St., N. Richmond. There were 2 other markings, an indecipherable manuscript (denoting a form?) and a purple
The first cover I suspect may have been philatelically contrived by the unidentified sender. It is addressed to Mr. Walter George Rendall, Artist, Goulburn and Goulburn is crossed out probably by the sender and G. P.O., Sydney has been added. A vertically joined pair of two partial blue Two Pence 100 Years of N.S.W. stamps have been cancelled with a SYDNEY/ JU 15/ 6 30 P.M/ 91/ 27, N.S.W duplex,
The letter was sent “Per 1st Steamer” with the indigo blue 2½d ‘POSTAGE’ stamp postmarked Melbourne 10 / PM/ 3 30/ 30.6.03, and was addressed to Miss Mullin, “Home for Incurables”, Wentworth Street, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada (Figure 1). The reverse had 3 postmarks, of which two were totally legible. A transit mark of WINDSOR/ 16/ AU 1/ 03/ ONT and a roller reception mark of ST JOHN, N.B.
When I first considered this paper I could not find any information on the addressee of this letter, so I decided to discuss this ship which had a short but interesting sailing history, with journeys to and from Australia, and finally its demise on the coast of New South Wales. Its association with Australia is shown on this cover which is addressed to W.D.P. Swain Esq, Barque Eleanor Lancaster, Port
The first cover has a black G.P.O. Registration Label of Melbourne and the blue 2½d and orange 3d stamps of Victoria are cancelled REGISTERED/ 1 30P 15 AU 11/ MELBOURNE. It is addressed to Prof. A. Victor Segno, Inspiration Point, Echo Park, Los Angeles, Calif. U.S.A. Station E. The reverse was not seen (Figure 1). The second cover has a red Flemington Registration Label and the green bantam ½d and the
The entire raises more questions than answers, for aspects of the letter are in doubt, particularly the name of the convict, but the story is worth reporting. The vendor describes it as follows: “1858 (16th Nov) entire from Port Arthur to Newtown, Hobart from the convict John Lester to the Governor of Tasmania appealing for a reduction of his sentence, franked with (the imperforate blue) 6d tied by barred numeral