This 1886 1d Victoria “Astley” stamp design was issued as a postcard on 1 June 1886, eight weeks prior to the design’s issue as a stamp. The initial card was for use in Victoria only at the one penny rate, and use to other intercolonial destinations required a further 1d stamp. The 3-line instruction to this effect was altered on a reissue on 4 July 1887 following an agreement between
The cover was addressed to James T. Walker, care of Bank of New South Wales, Toowoomba and the blue TWO PENCE stamp of Queensland was postmarked BRISBANE/ 2/ JU 7/ 73 QUEENSLAND. The reverse was backstamped TOOWOOMBA/ A/ JU 7/ 1873/ QUEENSLAND (Figure 1). The pink 1d Victoria stamp was postmarked with MELBOURNE/ PM/ 6 45/ 27 5 01/ 6, and the cover had a large T 2D in an oval tax
This On Her Majesty’s Service stampless cover has 2 markings, one being a Victorian Frank for the Minister of Railways and the other a postmark for MELBOURNE/ 17 S/ JE 22/ 96. The cover is addressed to Messrs Jas Service & Co, Collins St, Melbourne, and it bears a ‘generic’ printed VICTORIAN RAILWAYS/________Station, without the Station filled in (Figure 1). James Service was born in Ayreshire Scotland on 27 November
Australian prime ministers were not taught when I was a school boy in Sydney, and because he succeeded Stanley Melbourne Bruce on 22 October 1929, two months before my birth, I had no knowledge of his 2 years 2 months 16 days tenure until I researched this cover. He was unlucky in his timing for the ‘Wall Street Crash’ and the ensuing ‘Great Depression’ took place in the first week
This cover has a single blue-grey ‘HALF PENNY’ QV and two red ‘Shield’ stamps of New South Wales cancelled with a duplex NORTH SYDNEY/ MR 11/ 12.15 AM / 10/ N.S.W with the barred numeral ‘186′, and it is addressed to Mrs Kenneth Mackay, CO the Hon Kenneth Mackay, The Castle, Cape Town, South Africa. As seen on the reverse the year date of 1910 is definitely incorrect (Figure 1).
The Commonwealth of Australia postcard with the printed purple 1d KGV Head stamp was cancelled by a roller cancel of MELBOURNE/ 14 OC- 11PM/ 1923 as well as a slogan advertising the BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION. It was addressed to Mr. G.J. Manton, 430 Lit(tle) Collins St., Melbourne (Figure 1). The typewritten reverse had the underlined heading: VICTORIAN INSTITUTE OF ADVERTISING MEN which was followed by the message: Our guest of
This long blue cover was a part of 43 postal history covers of Victoria sent in the 1860s to the 1880s, all with various Laureate stamps, but only the front was shown, yet not described by the auction house. It chose it mainly because of the addressee, its registration with multiple oval ‘REGISTERED’ postmarks, a manuscript ‘2089′ registration number, and the use of a pair of 2d lilac and a
This fine postcard represents a local man’s goal to win a municipal election in Perth. One has to be impressed by the sincerity of his quest, which was far superior to other Australian colonial election postcards I have seen in the past 7 years. John Charles Chipper was surprisingly difficult to research partly due the fact that Chipper is not an uncommon surname in Western Australia. The West Australian postcard
This unremarkable cover was a surprise to me, in that the prefix ‘Hon.’ before Shiels’ name suggested that he may have been a member of the South Australian Parliament, in view of the postmark, Naracoorte and the address of Struan House, in South Australia.. Attempts to confirm his membership of the S.A. Parliament were unrewarding, but I found that he had been a significant member of the Victorian Parliament, for
This 1852 cover was franked with the 1d imperforate N.S.W. ‘Laureate” (S.G. 46) and postmarked with the Sydney barred cancel, was addressed to Henry Dangar Esq, Cumberland Place (Sydney). It shows the boxed 2 OCLOCK time stamp which replaced the 1 OCLOCK time stamp in April 1850 and was in use until April 1855. The reverse, not shown had the Sydney obliterator postmark (Figure 1). Cumberland Place is in ‘The