Wednesday, 12th December 2018.
B & B P S 2018 President's Evening.
The President, Grahame Boutle gave his display Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Black Borders.
This comprised of nine frames of mourning covers, cards documents and other ephemera all with black edges. On the first board Grahame set the scene, mentioning that he had obtained all but one year, (1938) of dated material between 1850 and 1940. He showed items in various categories including notification of funeral arrangements, In Sympathy cards, burial confirmations, undertaker’s and coffin-maker’s invoices, Tickets of Admission, Orders of Service etc.
He pointed out that much of the available material was for “commoners”. The earliest item was 1736 from Luxembourg, but most of his display was of British material for royal persons from Queen Victoria through to King George VI. He was very pleased to show a spectacular range of filigree items with cut-out silhouettes, and other fine artwork.
On one frame he showed mourning covers and cards from places at which he had lived ranging from Northwest London to Troon, Kilmarnock and Ayr in Scotland, back to London including Bromley, Beckenham and Croydon, but was still looking for a West Wickham item.
This comprised of nine frames of mourning covers, cards documents and other ephemera all with black edges. On the first board Grahame set the scene, mentioning that he had obtained all but one year, (1938) of dated material between 1850 and 1940. He showed items in various categories including notification of funeral arrangements, In Sympathy cards, burial confirmations, undertaker’s and coffin-maker’s invoices, Tickets of Admission, Orders of Service etc.
He pointed out that much of the available material was for “commoners”. The earliest item was 1736 from Luxembourg, but most of his display was of British material for royal persons from Queen Victoria through to King George VI. He was very pleased to show a spectacular range of filigree items with cut-out silhouettes, and other fine artwork.
On one frame he showed mourning covers and cards from places at which he had lived ranging from Northwest London to Troon, Kilmarnock and Ayr in Scotland, back to London including Bromley, Beckenham and Croydon, but was still looking for a West Wickham item.
The following frames dealt in turn with Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra, King George V and King George VI. Also on show were items relating to the Duke of Wellington, Lord Kitchener. Many examples of acknowledgement letters from the Royal households were on show, as were tickets to ceremonies, rail timetables, Orders of Service, including local parish churches and civic ceremonies, Lying in State arrangements, all supplemented by postcards and other material. A wonderful display of unusual and scarce material delivered with Grahame’s usual panache.
Right: Grahame Boutle with his display. |
Wednesday, 5th December 2018.
ANNUAL INTER-SOCIETY DISPLAY EVENING IN BECKENHAM
Once again BBPS was delighted to host this event when members from Bexley, Croydon, Lewisham and Sidcup Societies joined us to put up fifteen displays which could be on any subject the displayer chose.
The displays were limited to just twelve sheets, and the displayers had three to four minutes each to talk about them.
The displays were limited to just twelve sheets, and the displayers had three to four minutes each to talk about them.
The displays were :-
1. Brian Asquith (C) Ethiopian Airmails. 2. John Corderoy (Bex) Early East Germany. 3. John Shaw (L) South Africa 1935 Silver Jubilee issue including varieties. 4. Frank Parsons (Bex) Charles Dickens. 5. Cliff Gregory (S) GB QV/EVII registered mail to India including Sea Post Office postmarks. 6. Judith French (S) Tobacco. 7. Chris Sands (BBPS in absentia) Laos with King Sisavang Vong and King Savang Vatthana issues. 8. Geoff Hannay (S) Forces Mail in Ulster during WWII. 9. Ron Burn (BBPS) Duke of Edinburgh’s 1956/7 Cruise including Antarctic and South Atlantic islands. 10. Graham Harker (C) Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s SS Great Eastern. 11. Colin Tobitt (L) Austrian “Turnfest” (gymnastics). 12. Don Brookfield (Bex) Portugal Miniature sheets 1940-1949 complete. 13. Christopher Board (C) 1911 Design competition for Definitives inc. Karl Greger and Donald Mackay. 14. Grahame Boutle (BBPC) Queen Astrid of Belgium mourning issues and postcards etc. 15. Tony Hickey (L) Memel issues. After all the displays were on show, the audience members were asked in a secret ballot to nominate the display which they personally liked the most. |
The winner - Tony Hickey.
Left to Right: Cliff Gregory, Tony Hickey, Carole McCarthy, Grahame Boutle and Frank Parsons.
The winner was Tony Hickey by just one point from joint runners up, Frank Parsons and Cliff Gregory, and was presented with a bottle of bubbly and the Society Mug, the runners up with Society Letter Openers.
Suitable refreshements including hot Sausage rolls and Mince pies were served, and 9 raffle prizes were won. |
Wednesday, 28th November 2018.
“A Miscellany of Collectables” by Brian Asquith.
This very interesting display consisted of :-
Modern Postal History: a wide range of instructional markings including “Missent to” Misdirected, Dumb cancels, undated, unstamped (from Robson Lowe), strike clearing measures Croydon-Glasgow-Croydon, huge multi-franking item from Australia, 200 x £2 GB cancelled for internal accounting purposes etc. Civil War and Wakefield: early to modern including 1648 Civil War, 1720, 1737, 1771, items, various marks, Mulready, 1d Black, 1799 Cheque, hand-struck wooden “4”, 10th January 1840 1d Post etc. Concorde; wide variety of collateral material including Post Office Notices, Sun Competition entries, Post Office Imprimaturs in blocks of four, other stamps, postmarks etc. Banknotes; including stamps as money, Latvia stamps printed on leftover paper, Treasury Notes, East Germany, Finland,, Nazi notes etc. Bonds and Share Certificates; a wide selection including Wells Fargo, Croydon Tramway 1898, Panama Canal 1896, Corinth Canal 1882, Bleriot, Rolls Royce, Zeppelin, Gordon Bennett, Stanley Gibbons 1890 £25. 1940 Helsinki aborted Olympics. |
Brian Asquith with the huge franking item from Australia.
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Chinese Airmails; including 1901 Boxer Rebellion, 1911 Hendon to China via the Windsor-London flight, De Pinedo flights to China and Japan, 1922/23 east coast service for Peking, also a book and large gold medal celebrating Brian’s Court of Honour invited entry at 2009 China International Exhibition Luoyang City, Henan.
Wednesday, 14th November 2018.
“Something Different From Peter.” by Peter Lister.
In the first part Peter showed GB pre-stamp postal history dating from 1591 with many 18th Century items including Dockwras, Bishop Marks, Charge marks, Queen Annes Bounty items, rare “Enfield Bag“ items, Cross Posts, 2d Posts, a turned letter, Edinburgh Bag, 1839 Universal 4d Post and 1840 1d UPP etc. This section was superbly presented on leaves with stylish writing-up.
In the second part Peter showed his friend’s wonderful mouth-watering and unique display of GB line engraved stamps all with “N-J” letters in the bottom corners with many 1d Blacks from the different plates, including many matched pairs with 1d reds, (including no less than five blacks thus from plate 11). There were unused and used examples including scarce Numbers in Maltese Cross cancellations, red, blue and brown cancellations, early-date covers including a “doctored” 6th May 1840 item.
He continued the “N-J” theme with the Die 1 early plates, then later LE perforated issues including a full set of 1d Plates to 225 (less 77 of course), followed by ½d bantams, and 2d blues in similar fashion. Copies of engine turning and illustrations of the Rainbow colour trials were also present to add to the story.
Changing the subject, Peter’s final display related to the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race to Australia. There were some sixty applications but in the event only nineteen planes took part, leaving London on the 20th October with varying fortunes en route. Most carried unofficial private mail and Peter showed “signed” covers from twelve of those competitors, with numerous photos, press-cuttings etc. and effectively presented on double size boards to allow for large items.
In the second part Peter showed his friend’s wonderful mouth-watering and unique display of GB line engraved stamps all with “N-J” letters in the bottom corners with many 1d Blacks from the different plates, including many matched pairs with 1d reds, (including no less than five blacks thus from plate 11). There were unused and used examples including scarce Numbers in Maltese Cross cancellations, red, blue and brown cancellations, early-date covers including a “doctored” 6th May 1840 item.
He continued the “N-J” theme with the Die 1 early plates, then later LE perforated issues including a full set of 1d Plates to 225 (less 77 of course), followed by ½d bantams, and 2d blues in similar fashion. Copies of engine turning and illustrations of the Rainbow colour trials were also present to add to the story.
Changing the subject, Peter’s final display related to the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race to Australia. There were some sixty applications but in the event only nineteen planes took part, leaving London on the 20th October with varying fortunes en route. Most carried unofficial private mail and Peter showed “signed” covers from twelve of those competitors, with numerous photos, press-cuttings etc. and effectively presented on double size boards to allow for large items.
Grahame Boutle with Peter Lister.
Wednesday, 10th October 2018.
“Titanic, From Cradle to Grave.” by Philip Cant.
Titanic was laid down at the Harland and Wolf docks on 31st March 1909, the first of three ships ordered by the White Star Line specifically for the Atlantic run. The hull was launched in May 2011 and fitting out commenced. Whilst still incomplete as far as internal decorations were concerned the ship embarked on its sea trial on the 2nd April 1912, which lasted just one day.
Recruitment immediately followed, and the ship sailed for Southampton on the 6th, where more recruitment as well as coaling and provisioning took place. On the 8th, some 5600 tons of coal, 75000lbs of fresh meat, 12,000lbs of fish etc were loaded. Normal watches commenced and Captain Smith took command. Boat trains started arriving with passengers. Sailing later that day and narrowly avoiding a collision in the confined waters of the Solent, she eventually arrived in Cherbourg at 5.30pm on the 10th, then proceeded to Queenstown, Ireland, where most of the contract builders, decorators and other trades left the ship, and the final passengers embarked.
Sailing at 21 knots she made 386 miles on the first day, then 519 and 546 on the following days. Messages of congratulations were interspersed with iceberg warnings, in particular from the Californian about 95 miles off the Newfoundland Grand Bank. Despite this a more northerly course and speed was maintained.
The collision happened at 11.40pm on the 14th when a 250 foot gash below the waterline was made in her side by the iceberg, nearly one third of the length of the ship. There is speculation that had she not tried to veer away, but hit the iceberg head on, she would had stayed afloat for much longer, and more passengers would have been saved. Although the Californian was only a few miles away, her radio cabin was not manned, and the first vessel to respond was the Carpathia, some three hours sailing time away.
The life boats were launched but only with capacity for 1178 at most, when there were about 2200 people aboard. Allowing for those in the lifeboats and those rescued from the waves, some 800-900 people are unaccounted for.
Philip showed much material to tell this story including extracts from the newspapers of the day, photographs of the construction and launch etc, as well as copies of various pieces of ephemera subsequently discovered. Much of the “philatelic” material was of`stamps issued in 2012 for the centenary, many of which were from countries all around the world, some even landlocked, and many with dubious illustrations. Also shown were reproductions of posters, film stills, and reference to the various books and reports, both of the sinking and the rediscovery of the wreck.
Recruitment immediately followed, and the ship sailed for Southampton on the 6th, where more recruitment as well as coaling and provisioning took place. On the 8th, some 5600 tons of coal, 75000lbs of fresh meat, 12,000lbs of fish etc were loaded. Normal watches commenced and Captain Smith took command. Boat trains started arriving with passengers. Sailing later that day and narrowly avoiding a collision in the confined waters of the Solent, she eventually arrived in Cherbourg at 5.30pm on the 10th, then proceeded to Queenstown, Ireland, where most of the contract builders, decorators and other trades left the ship, and the final passengers embarked.
Sailing at 21 knots she made 386 miles on the first day, then 519 and 546 on the following days. Messages of congratulations were interspersed with iceberg warnings, in particular from the Californian about 95 miles off the Newfoundland Grand Bank. Despite this a more northerly course and speed was maintained.
The collision happened at 11.40pm on the 14th when a 250 foot gash below the waterline was made in her side by the iceberg, nearly one third of the length of the ship. There is speculation that had she not tried to veer away, but hit the iceberg head on, she would had stayed afloat for much longer, and more passengers would have been saved. Although the Californian was only a few miles away, her radio cabin was not manned, and the first vessel to respond was the Carpathia, some three hours sailing time away.
The life boats were launched but only with capacity for 1178 at most, when there were about 2200 people aboard. Allowing for those in the lifeboats and those rescued from the waves, some 800-900 people are unaccounted for.
Philip showed much material to tell this story including extracts from the newspapers of the day, photographs of the construction and launch etc, as well as copies of various pieces of ephemera subsequently discovered. Much of the “philatelic” material was of`stamps issued in 2012 for the centenary, many of which were from countries all around the world, some even landlocked, and many with dubious illustrations. Also shown were reproductions of posters, film stills, and reference to the various books and reports, both of the sinking and the rediscovery of the wreck.
Wednesday, 26th September 2018.
The Five Antarctic Voyages of Admiral Byrd by Graham Booth.
The self-perpetuating fame of Byrd should be tempered by the fact that he never saw active service in a battle zone, spending his time in California, and was invalided out of the service aged 23 when he broke his leg, but remaining on the Reserve list.
In 1909, two American explorers, Peary and Cook attempted separately to sledge to the North Pole, but there is doubt as to whether either actually succeeded despite their claims. In 1925, Byrd and Floyd Bennett attempted to fly to the North Pole, but again the claim that they actually got there is in doubt, and the mechanic involved considered it was impossible in the aircraft used. However in the flurry of publicity, Byrd was promoted to Commander. He did actually make it to France the following year, although Lindbergh had beaten him to it, though he did receive the Distinguished Flying Cross.
In 1928, Byrd organized an expedition to reach the South Pole, but again was beset by difficulties due to flying conditions, but probably managed to fly over the pole. Following this another D.F.C. was awarded and Byrd embarked upon an extensive lecture tour to pay his debts. He was now promoted to Rear Admiral. His second Antarctic expedition in 1934 was much larger, and more scientifically orientated, and the base Little America more firmly established. A special stamp was produced in 1933, followed by a miniature sheet for the 1934 New York Exhibition. The Post Office employee engaged to service the many thousands of covers was overwhelmed, and many sacks were later discovered buried in the snow.
At the end of this expedition they set up a Meteorological Station away from the main base, with Byrd himself electing to man this single handed through the winter, until a faulty boiler flue affected his health and he was brought back.
In 1939, his 3rd “private” expedition turned into a Government sponsored operation, with several ships and aeroplanes, and the specially designed but ultimately a failure the “Land Cruiser.” Following an undistinguished war, he became joint leader of Operation High Jump flying 6 Dakotas from an aircraft carrier to Little America, and then flying two of them to the South Pole.
Throughout his talk, Graham displayed many covers, photos and other memorabilia. Much of it was created philatelically to promote Byrd and the expeditions, (but some crew and personal letters were also present,) and his reputation and popularity with the American public remained immense. Graham kept the members enthralled by the exploits of this remarkable man.
In 1909, two American explorers, Peary and Cook attempted separately to sledge to the North Pole, but there is doubt as to whether either actually succeeded despite their claims. In 1925, Byrd and Floyd Bennett attempted to fly to the North Pole, but again the claim that they actually got there is in doubt, and the mechanic involved considered it was impossible in the aircraft used. However in the flurry of publicity, Byrd was promoted to Commander. He did actually make it to France the following year, although Lindbergh had beaten him to it, though he did receive the Distinguished Flying Cross.
In 1928, Byrd organized an expedition to reach the South Pole, but again was beset by difficulties due to flying conditions, but probably managed to fly over the pole. Following this another D.F.C. was awarded and Byrd embarked upon an extensive lecture tour to pay his debts. He was now promoted to Rear Admiral. His second Antarctic expedition in 1934 was much larger, and more scientifically orientated, and the base Little America more firmly established. A special stamp was produced in 1933, followed by a miniature sheet for the 1934 New York Exhibition. The Post Office employee engaged to service the many thousands of covers was overwhelmed, and many sacks were later discovered buried in the snow.
At the end of this expedition they set up a Meteorological Station away from the main base, with Byrd himself electing to man this single handed through the winter, until a faulty boiler flue affected his health and he was brought back.
In 1939, his 3rd “private” expedition turned into a Government sponsored operation, with several ships and aeroplanes, and the specially designed but ultimately a failure the “Land Cruiser.” Following an undistinguished war, he became joint leader of Operation High Jump flying 6 Dakotas from an aircraft carrier to Little America, and then flying two of them to the South Pole.
Throughout his talk, Graham displayed many covers, photos and other memorabilia. Much of it was created philatelically to promote Byrd and the expeditions, (but some crew and personal letters were also present,) and his reputation and popularity with the American public remained immense. Graham kept the members enthralled by the exploits of this remarkable man.
Wednesday, 12th September 2018.
German East Africa 1914-1917 by Michael Farrant
Michael began by explaining the postal arrangements existing for GEA (now Tanzania) when war was declared in 3rd August 1914. Most mail came out via Daressalam, or in the north via Tanga and Zanzibar, or Mombasa. These routes were effectively nullified by the British naval blockade, both for post and supplies and alternative routes were implemented, via Portuguese East Africa, (Mozambique) for example and thence to Lisbon via the Cape and on to Holland.
Internment camps were established; undeliverable mail in either direction was suitably cachetted and held in store; stamps supplies became critically short, and later paper as well. In 1915 even post-markers became a problem as new supplies could not be obtained from Berlin resulting in local modification to the existing ones. Cash franking was established even to the extent of suitably hand-stamping private paper and stationery. “Paid” marks had to be counter-signed by two post-office officials. Provisional stamps/labels were locally produced in January 1916, but were hurriedly buried to prevent seizure by advancing allied forces.
The German Navy ship SMS Königsburg, a light cruiser had arrived off the colony in June 1914 and in September sunk HMS Pegasus at Zanzibar. Virtually out of coal the ship was hidden in the Rufiji Delta but was discovered and destroyed by the Royal Navy. The Germans were however able to salvage the cruiser's armament of 10 4.1 inch guns and also the supplies of stamps on board. Early in 1916 a blockade runner reached the colony bringing not only war supplies but fresh stamps and new 16 year date slugs for the cancellations. These were distributed to the remaining post offices in German hands and some of the "16" small year slugs are quite scarce as their usage was restricted to a few weeks or even days in some places. The picture shows Michael with one of the latter on a cover.
Throughout the display Michael showed rare covers and other documents to explain the necessary changes to routes and services, the use of stamps, “cash payments” and printed to order stationery, with many directional and advisory cachets, etiquettes etc. Many of these were from remote post offices, and some to unusual overseas destinations. German Field Post Offices were also included, as were Parcel cards with higher value frankings, even a Postage Due item in April 1916.
Michael was able to present a vivid picture of the events as they unfolded backed up by suitable, and in many cases rare or even unique items which the members thoroughly enjoyed.
Internment camps were established; undeliverable mail in either direction was suitably cachetted and held in store; stamps supplies became critically short, and later paper as well. In 1915 even post-markers became a problem as new supplies could not be obtained from Berlin resulting in local modification to the existing ones. Cash franking was established even to the extent of suitably hand-stamping private paper and stationery. “Paid” marks had to be counter-signed by two post-office officials. Provisional stamps/labels were locally produced in January 1916, but were hurriedly buried to prevent seizure by advancing allied forces.
The German Navy ship SMS Königsburg, a light cruiser had arrived off the colony in June 1914 and in September sunk HMS Pegasus at Zanzibar. Virtually out of coal the ship was hidden in the Rufiji Delta but was discovered and destroyed by the Royal Navy. The Germans were however able to salvage the cruiser's armament of 10 4.1 inch guns and also the supplies of stamps on board. Early in 1916 a blockade runner reached the colony bringing not only war supplies but fresh stamps and new 16 year date slugs for the cancellations. These were distributed to the remaining post offices in German hands and some of the "16" small year slugs are quite scarce as their usage was restricted to a few weeks or even days in some places. The picture shows Michael with one of the latter on a cover.
Throughout the display Michael showed rare covers and other documents to explain the necessary changes to routes and services, the use of stamps, “cash payments” and printed to order stationery, with many directional and advisory cachets, etiquettes etc. Many of these were from remote post offices, and some to unusual overseas destinations. German Field Post Offices were also included, as were Parcel cards with higher value frankings, even a Postage Due item in April 1916.
Michael was able to present a vivid picture of the events as they unfolded backed up by suitable, and in many cases rare or even unique items which the members thoroughly enjoyed.
Wednesday, 11th July 2018. - King George VI.
The following put up displays; not as exciting as watching England getting beaten by Croatia,
but interesting and entertaining nevertheless.
The following put up displays; not as exciting as watching England getting beaten by Croatia,
but interesting and entertaining nevertheless.
David Rennie; all issues with the 1949/50 “Old Heads” from 13 colonies, produced by four different printers, based upon the photographs by Dorothy Wilding, with additional covers and Postal Stationery items with the new portrait. Also a 1937 3-reign postcard posted on “Empress of Great Britain” to Canada, MEF items including POW mail, St Kitts Nevis original letter reporting on the 1951 earthquakes, especially the damage on Nevis, and Zanzibar 1937 first flight to Nyasaland.
Mike Dobbs; a wide variety of military mail WWII and later with BPO, FPO postmarks etc including France 1940, Norway 1945, Burma, Germany, Sierra Leone, Korean War, Australia, New Zealand, Japan Belgium etc.
Peter Newman: Kenya Uganda Tanganyika values to £1, Zanzibar including the RSW, Nigeria Coronation to UPU.
Ian Reed: Canada all issues including Coils and Booklet Panes, St Lucia definitives with shades and perfs, June 1937 Registered item with hand-stamped numeral in the etiquette, St Helena definitive sets with shades.
Grahame Boutle: black-border/mourning envelopes, notifications, sympathy, thank-you cards etc, one rather inappropriately with Wedding Bells postmark, then Oil related items for Gibraltar, Canada etc. with postal stationery.
Mike Dobbs; a wide variety of military mail WWII and later with BPO, FPO postmarks etc including France 1940, Norway 1945, Burma, Germany, Sierra Leone, Korean War, Australia, New Zealand, Japan Belgium etc.
Peter Newman: Kenya Uganda Tanganyika values to £1, Zanzibar including the RSW, Nigeria Coronation to UPU.
Ian Reed: Canada all issues including Coils and Booklet Panes, St Lucia definitives with shades and perfs, June 1937 Registered item with hand-stamped numeral in the etiquette, St Helena definitive sets with shades.
Grahame Boutle: black-border/mourning envelopes, notifications, sympathy, thank-you cards etc, one rather inappropriately with Wedding Bells postmark, then Oil related items for Gibraltar, Canada etc. with postal stationery.
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Wednesday, 13th June 2018.
At our last meeting - our annual Postcards evening - we welcomed Helena Butcher, President of Croydon Postcard Club who showed us a varied selection of Leamington Spa views and explained the history of the spa and it's modern developments. Six other members brought displays including Tristan da Cunha, Lincolnshire, Epsom and Ewell, Bromley, the Mumbles and Gower Penunsular, also Mosques and Tombs from India, Pakistan and Jerusalem. Also shown were early Comics, W.W.I. Silks, French "dishabille" ladies, Popes Pious X and XII, Romance and Love. G.B. was also represented by a selection of King Edward VII items with 1 January 1902 First Day postmarks, mainly on the ½d value. |
Our new President, Grahame Boutle talking about his collection of Mosques etc., started when he was seconded to Turkey by his company, many years ago.
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"On Wednesday 6th June 2018, 23 members and wives/partners
sat down to an excellent hot buffet lunch in very congenial
surroundings at the Langley Park Golf Club"
Table 1.
Table 2.
Table 3.
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James commenced by showing some recently acquired items which fitted in his Part 1 display (shown to the Society in February 2016), including a very early map printed in 1612 by Barat Langanec of Amsterdam, colour essays of the Queen Victoria stamp, first displayed by an early collector in 1910, and seven pages showing colour photographs of De La Rue colour trials, with several matched real items.
James also showed more postal history including scarce incoming mail. He then concentrated on fiscal usage from 1906, mainly ½d and 1d values for Receipts, but also the 1908 1d surcharge on 4d which was not authorised for postage and the 5s value used for Notary Public documents etc. Continuing with revenues James showed the high values to £50 issued in 1961 and later Decimal currency values to $100, including 3 corner or plate blocks of 6 of this value in different colours. He also included a Specimen sheet of the $4 from the Walsall Printers printing.
Other items of note included picture postcards, and the ¼d stamps and postal stationery used for the internal unsealed letter rate. A number of original sheets with Specimen stamps attached (many in strips of 3), were shown, and obtained when the Madagascar, Mauritania and Bechuanaland post offices disposed of their archive material.
A good range of King George V material was shown from the 1921-36 MCA and Multiple Script CA watermark portrait issue including registered covers etc. The Centenary of Assembly and the 1935 Pictorial issues were shown in Part 1, but led to the introduction of pictorial issues for the new king.
Of interest to our guest, Rod Vousden was the display of this King George VI material showing different shades and printings, imprint items, etc., mostly matching the detail in the Potter and Shelton printing tables.
To conclude James showed some running proofs for the 1974 Local Industries set. Throughout both halves, James gave an excellent commentary, backed up by much scarce material, including proofs, colour essays and Specimens, many of which showed their provenance from the early collectors to the present day.
James also showed more postal history including scarce incoming mail. He then concentrated on fiscal usage from 1906, mainly ½d and 1d values for Receipts, but also the 1908 1d surcharge on 4d which was not authorised for postage and the 5s value used for Notary Public documents etc. Continuing with revenues James showed the high values to £50 issued in 1961 and later Decimal currency values to $100, including 3 corner or plate blocks of 6 of this value in different colours. He also included a Specimen sheet of the $4 from the Walsall Printers printing.
Other items of note included picture postcards, and the ¼d stamps and postal stationery used for the internal unsealed letter rate. A number of original sheets with Specimen stamps attached (many in strips of 3), were shown, and obtained when the Madagascar, Mauritania and Bechuanaland post offices disposed of their archive material.
A good range of King George V material was shown from the 1921-36 MCA and Multiple Script CA watermark portrait issue including registered covers etc. The Centenary of Assembly and the 1935 Pictorial issues were shown in Part 1, but led to the introduction of pictorial issues for the new king.
Of interest to our guest, Rod Vousden was the display of this King George VI material showing different shades and printings, imprint items, etc., mostly matching the detail in the Potter and Shelton printing tables.
To conclude James showed some running proofs for the 1974 Local Industries set. Throughout both halves, James gave an excellent commentary, backed up by much scarce material, including proofs, colour essays and Specimens, many of which showed their provenance from the early collectors to the present day.
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The first half dealt with the Indian Post Office period when Indian stamps were in use, identifiable from the postmarks, and later when Indian stamps were suitably overprinted for the main agencies.
Early postal material is scarce, Tony showing items from Muscat which opened in 1864, from Guadur (1869), from Bahrain (1894), from Dubai (1910) and from Kuwait (1918) etc. Bahrain used Indian stamps from 1864, but country overprinted stamps were only issued in 1933, ten years after Kuwait had issued its own overprinted stamps, having sought British protection in 1899 and used Indian un-overprinted stamps.
The second half dealt with the period of political turmoil in the area following the partition of India in 1947 into Pakistan and India which brought about changes. The British Government took over responsibility for the Agencies on 1st April 1948 after which British stamps overprinted with or without the agency name but still denominated in Indian currency were issued and used until each agency, now including Qatar with post offices at Doha and Umm Said, Abu Dhabi and Das Island.
As an adjunct to the main display, Tony showed the development of the expanding airmail services to/from Cairo and Baghdad, the RAF route across the desert, Imperial Airways continuing to Basra, initial use of the overland route from Kuwait to Basra, then by air via Kuwait to Karachi and Delhi. He also explained the various routes to the U.K. & U.S.A. utilised when war broke out; the Pacific route when the Italians joined the war and after Pearl Harbour the “Horseshoe” route via Egypt, Sudan, Lagos, Bathurst and across the Atlantic.
Tony gave an enlightened presentation backed up by much scarce material, many flown covers, other documents, maps and of course the stamps with examples of varieties, cylinder blocks etc., also revenues, and a series of pictures of the post offices themselves taken from old photos etc.
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Early postal material is scarce, Tony showing items from Muscat which opened in 1864, from Guadur (1869), from Bahrain (1894), from Dubai (1910) and from Kuwait (1918) etc. Bahrain used Indian stamps from 1864, but country overprinted stamps were only issued in 1933, ten years after Kuwait had issued its own overprinted stamps, having sought British protection in 1899 and used Indian un-overprinted stamps.
The second half dealt with the period of political turmoil in the area following the partition of India in 1947 into Pakistan and India which brought about changes. The British Government took over responsibility for the Agencies on 1st April 1948 after which British stamps overprinted with or without the agency name but still denominated in Indian currency were issued and used until each agency, now including Qatar with post offices at Doha and Umm Said, Abu Dhabi and Das Island.
As an adjunct to the main display, Tony showed the development of the expanding airmail services to/from Cairo and Baghdad, the RAF route across the desert, Imperial Airways continuing to Basra, initial use of the overland route from Kuwait to Basra, then by air via Kuwait to Karachi and Delhi. He also explained the various routes to the U.K. & U.S.A. utilised when war broke out; the Pacific route when the Italians joined the war and after Pearl Harbour the “Horseshoe” route via Egypt, Sudan, Lagos, Bathurst and across the Atlantic.
Tony gave an enlightened presentation backed up by much scarce material, many flown covers, other documents, maps and of course the stamps with examples of varieties, cylinder blocks etc., also revenues, and a series of pictures of the post offices themselves taken from old photos etc.
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