(Page 49) Spring 2019 Newsetter
MORE PILLAR BOXES
SANDRA POOLE
Liverpool Pillar Boxes.
In the Summer 2018 Newsletter I showed a ‘Liverpool Special’ pillar box that was on view at the Debden Postal Store, stating that you were unlikely to see one except in a museum. I was wrong, as I discovered one still in use on the Albert Dock, Liverpool. This type of box was unique to the city and only seven were produced. It is the last remaining fully working example, but a couple can be seen in museums. The plaque states that it was one of the original boxes cast in 1863 by Messrs Cochrane & Company of Dudley. The unique design was authorised and introduced to meet heavy and special requirements found in some parts of the city. This box was moved in 1987.
I have always wanted to find an Edward VIII pillar box in situ and this I also found in Liverpool.
Illustration shows: an Edward VIII Box, the front of the same box and a box in Poulton Le Fylde (Photo: Trevor Parr)
There were two manufacturers of Edward VIII boxes- Carron Company (name on back) and McDowall Steven & Co. (name on front). The two crowns and royal ciphers show small differences. Check out, for instance, the top of the crowns, the design across the base and the sloping sides near the top, probably explained by the different manufacturing companies. Almost as interesting as stamps!
More Decorated Pillar Boxes.
We have grown used to literary slogans on our letters, but now Royal Mail is having a field day with their letter boxes. Valentine’s day was celebrated with four letterboxes at different locations across the UK being decorated with hearts and ‘love birds’ and romantic quotes from four poets. Fig 1. Shows a letter box situated in Hampstead and is devoted to Keats. Others were in Bockhampton where Thomas Hardy was born; Lichfield, home town of Anna Seward and at Galloway, Ayr, where Robert Burns was born. World Book Day, 7 March, saw a yellow box (fig. 2) appear opposite the Natural History Museum, dedicated to the famous children’s writer, David Walliams, who featured the museum in one of his books. Fig.3 shows a section of the front of the box. Other children’s writers who had boxes decorated in their honour were Judith Kerr (Barnes, London- her current home); Frances Hodgson Burnett (Manchester- birthplace) and C.S. Lewis, (Belfast- birthplace). The boxes were decorated with quotes and pictures and were to be in place for one month.
Source for text and photos: press release, Instagram and various web sites.
WHEN DOES A LABEL BECOME A POSTAGE STAMP, PART 1
IAN JAKES
The question has vexed stamp catalogue editors for more than a century. Frequently, the answer is obvious. Fig.1 shows a Jamaican cover addressed to Philadelphia with the two-pence halfpenny blue-black and deep-blue postage stamp (SG82a) and an anti-tuberculosis Christmas seal bearing the words ‘HEALTH GREETINGS 1929’ both cancelled by a HECTORS RIVER date-stamp of 28 January 1930. The postage stamp clearly pays for the postage and the Christmas seal is nothing more than a charity label.
Fig 1
Now let us look at the Trinidad Red Cross label (Fig 2). On 17 September 1914, an advertisement appeared in the Trinidad Daily Mirror announcing that these labels, produced and printed by a private company, were on sale at the Port of Spain department store of Richardson and Selway Limited for 24c (one shilling) per hundred labels to raise funds for the war charity Trinidad Red Cross Society.
On 18 September1914, about 900 letters, each bearing a Trinidad Red Cross label (but no postage stamp), were posted at Port of Spain Post Office and each was cancelled with a postmark. The Trinidad Governor had authorised free postage subject to the postmaster’s approval, which was given ‘almost unintentionally’.
Scott recognised the Trinidad Red Cross as a postage stamp in 1915; Stanley Gibbons was only persuaded to in 1974.
Patriotic Labels in World War 1 : The Trinidad Charity Appeal Mail
These covers are two of approximately nine hundred envelopes which contained circular letters, 50 being typewritten in purple ink and the remainder being addressed in the handwriting of Mrs E M Phillips, the treasurer of Trinidad Red Cross Society, where the Trinidad Red Cross Label was cancelled by 18th September postmark and date stamps. The label was later declared to be a halfpenny red postage stamp for this day only.
Most surviving covers were undelivered and returned to Trinidad red Cross Society.
Fig 2
I refer all readers to the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary, published by Clarendon Press, Oxford, (a copy is in Nottingham Central Library) and in particular to the following definitions:
LABEL 2. A small slip of paper or parchment attached to a document by way of supplement to the matter contained therein. 7b. an adhesive postage stamp, bill stamp or the like…
I conclude that every adhesive postage stamp is a label.
STAMP. 14. An embossed or impressed mark placed by a government office on paper or parchment to certify that the duty chargeable in respect of what is therein written or printed has been paid, thence also, in recent times, an adhesive label (printed with a distinctive devise) which is issued by the government for a fixed amount and when fixed to a document or other dutiable object serves the same purpose as an impressed stamp.
I conclude that every stamp is not a postage stamp. Every stamp is not a label.
The definition of a stamp includes an adhesive label which is ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT for a fixed amount.
I further conclude that the Trinidad Red Cross label is not a postage stamp or even a stamp, because it was issued by the Trinidad Red Cross Society and not the Government. Why is it in Stanley Gibbons catalogue as a postage stamp (SG157)?
The Trinidad Lady McLeod label (SG1) also appears in Stanley Gibbons catalogue as a stamp, even though this label was also not issued by the Trinidad Government? I have obtained an explanation from Hugh Jeffries, Stanley Gibbons catalogue editor, as to why these two labels have appeared as postage stamps in the Stanley Gibbons catalogue- more information in the next Newsletter.
THE LEICESTER - NOTTINGHAM PHILATELIC EXHIBITION, 1919-20
SANDRA POOLE
In the Summer 2007 Newsletter, I mentioned the first post-war philatelic exhibition held in 1919-20 and organised jointly by Leicester and Nottinghamshire Philatelic Societies. It took place in Leicester at the City Art Gallery from 29 December 1919 to 3 January 1920. The Exhibition, with exhibits all in glass frames, was then moved to the City of Nottingham Museum and Art Gallery, Nottingham and ran from 5-to 10 January 1920. The subject was ‘The best collection of any one country of the British Empire’ (excepting GB). The pictures below came from a small book of cuttings relating to our Society, which I kept for our mini-library after the main library was sold a few years ago.
Invitation sent to A E Woolett, President of Notts Philatelic Society at that time
Stands at Leicester Art Gallery:
Frank Godden, London dealer and the first philatelic literature stall at any exhibition.
SCHOOL TRIP
ALAN SQUIRES
Did you go on a school trip as a child? I did. I went to a steel foundry in Sheffield and spent a week in France to improve my French. You may have had a more exciting overseas trip, for instance skiing or even a camping trip somewhere in warmer climes.
I recently bid, unsuccessfully, on two covers from the Denstone Expedition of 1982/3. Hopeful of acquiring two good looking covers I did some digging on the Denstone Expedition. It was to Inaccessible Island, (Figure 1) about 27 miles from Tristan da Cunha.
Fig. 1. Map of Inaccessible Island showing distribution of flora.
Its purpose was to complete the first land survey and collect information of the flora and fauna of the Island. There had been six or seven attempts to survey the Island before, but these were conducted from the sea as landing on the Island and getting inland is very difficult, hence the name.
The expedition was organised by Denstone College in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. It was to include pupils, staff and old boys of the college. It was for five months over the Christmas period. It was estimated to cost £20,000, but this later rose to £40,000+.
The staff and old boys were selected for their experience in geology, botany and biology among other things. There were a small number of pupils who would act as assistants to the ‘experts’. These had to have already taken their ‘O’ or ‘A’ level examinations prior to being accepted for the expedition. They also needed some knowledge that would be beneficial to the success of the venture.
The original expedition had to be put back by two years due to rising costs and lack of available funding. This meant changes to some members of the team, but on 11 October 1982 the S.A. Agulhas arrived in Tristan da Cunha with the party of sixteen on board. They transferred to Inaccessible Island and set up their camp and home for the next five months and started work.
There was to be a welcome break during the Christmas period when they were the guests of families on Tristan da Cunha, but it was soon back to work on the Island. On 10 February 1983, HMS. Endurance arrived with the Governor of St Helena and made a detour to collect the Denstone party and their huge collection of samples from the Island. On 17 February 1983, the MV.Aragonite collected the Governor and the Denstone party for the return to England.
They managed to achieve all the goals they had set themselves, being the first to survey the Island from the interior and producing the first detailed maps. Their collection of geological, flora and fauna samples were sent to the British Museum for expert analysis, though many of the party had already written up a lot of their experiments in their personal journals. They also produced a small 60-page book, ‘Denstone Expedition to Inaccessible Island’, detailing every aspect of their work and time on the Island.
They also produced 6,500 covers, (Figures 2 & 3) that are not easy to come by, which have an Inaccessible Island cancel and often feature their penguin logo.
Fig. 2. An example of a cover from Denstone Expedition with one of their ‘official’ cachets and signed by the Expedition Leader Mike Swales. This cachet may have been a private cachet from one of the members.
Figure 3-First official Mail (2 days after Figure 2?!)
Figure 4 shows the official Denstone Expedition cachet of a penguin with the red and white cross on its chest.
My school trips were never like this !
SOCIETY AND OTHER NEWS
MARRIAGE
CONGRATULATIONS to CHRIS and MARIA, married on 23 March.
We wish them a long, healthy and happy life together
OBITUARY
It is with great sadness that we report further deaths:
Manuel Fernandes passed away in his sleep early on 25 March. Manuel joined our Society in 2014 and attended meetings on a regular basis until prevented by illness. He had a career in publishing and then, combining his love of good food with business, he opened up a restaurant in Trinity Square and also cafes with books available for customers to read. He also had a love of long-distance swimming and one story told of him swimming out to sea with a child on his back! Six members of the NPS attended his funeral in Mansfield.
Veronica Woodward died suddenly on 1 April following a stroke, aged 75. She had been a member of the Notts Philatelic Society from 1979 to 2018 and had supported the exchange packet scheme. The funeral service was held on 23 April at Bulwell United Reformed Church, where Veronica has had a long association. In the tribute, Reverend Colin Bone made reference to Veronica’s love for the British countryside and flowers, her patience as a primary school teacher and her care for her friends and neighbours in Bulwell. In addition to philately, Veronica had interests in history and the National Trust and she had been the treasurer of the Nottingham Mechanics Club. We send our sympathy to John and the family. (D.H.)
OTHER NEWS
On a much brighter note, we congratulate F. Alan Pickett for 50 years unbroken membership of Notts Philatelic Society. The occasion will be marked with a framed certificate presented to him by our President.
Welcome to Richard Capon, who has now joined our Society. He was previously a member of Peterborough Philatelic Society and is still a member of the Midland Postal History Society.
Members’ Displays to other societies- On 14 March, Sandra Poole and David Shipstone were at Derby PS presenting displays entitled ‘A Danish Miscellany’ and ‘A Postal History of Hamburg’ respectively. Sandra also gave a short display on ‘Magasin du Nord, Part 3’, to the Scandinavia Philatelic Society at Harrogate on 7 April. Mick Inger gave a display on ‘Postcards around the Coast’ at Underwood Miners Welfare on 18 March and another, on the Third Reich, at Wakefield two days later. Bryan and Minou Button displayed ‘Anglo-Belgian Families at War’ at Loughborough on 28 March. Brian Clayton had a standing display on ‘The Byrd Antarctic Expedition 1928-1947’ at a regional meeting of the RPSL at Waltham-on-the-Wolds on 9 March and on 23 March, he presented a display on Falkland Island Wildlife to the Falkland Islands Specialist Group. Alan Squires displayed ‘Falkland Islands’ on 10 April at the Greater Nottingham Co-operative PS.
Annual Dinner- this was again held at the Rancliffe Arms, Bunny and was attended by 18 members. The food was excellent and the venue was less crowded than usual, which led to a more relaxed and enjoyable evening.
Midweek Fairs at the Nuthall Temple Centre, Nuthall Road, NG16 1DP.
12 June, 14 Aug, 9 Oct, 11 Dec. 9.30am-3.30pm.
Midpex- 6 July, Warwicks Exhibition Centre, Fosse Way CV31 1XN, 10am-4pm
DISPLAY REPORTS BY DOUGLAS HARVEY
Germany: First Reich to Third Reich- David Shipstone, 1 Feb 2019
The first part of the display centred on Hamburg during the First Reich. This was the era of the Holy Roman Empire, which was dissolved in the Napoleonic Wars in 1806. Several pre-stamp letters from Hamburg to Bordeaux concerning French wine were shown, the earliest of which was dated 1740. The Second Reich lasted from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the 1918 defeat in the First World War. This was a period of technological advance, as illustrated by a splendid postcard showing Hamburg by day and night. Hamburg local postage stamps were introduced in 1859 and the demand by collectors has been largely satisfied by forgers. During the First World War, forged 10pf and 15pf Germania stamps were produced in England for use by British Intelligence Agents in Germany. Forged postmarks were also seen on the hyper-inflation issues from 1923, when stamp face values in the thousand-million marks (milliards) appeared. The third Reich was established by the Nazis in 1933 and this ended the period referred to as the Weimar Republic.
Hong Kong- Mick Britton, 15 February 2019.
The presentation was in two parts. The stamp issues from Queen Victoria until the end of the reign of King George VI occupied the first part. The collection was remarkable for completeness and included some rare fiscal stamps used for postage, together with the many surcharge overprints which illustrated the complexity of the postal system. In particular, the higher face-value stamps were important for shipping requirements. An interesting discovery of the plate errors was reported. Japanese stamps were used during the World War II occupation and there was a shortage of stamps immediately after the liberation.
In Part 2, the display moved to postal history, with a wealth of correspondence centred around the military administration of the colony. During the First World War, some prisoners of War were held in the colony, whilst most were sent to Japan. They were able to communicate using letters. When the Canadian army entered the colony in 1941, the Japanese invasion was imminent and they surrendered. In 1945, there was a strong military presence of army, navy and air force, with their associated military post offices. The display concluded with some delightful inter-war Christmas cards and a few censored letters
British North Borneo: Planes, Trains & Stamps- Jon Higgins, 1.3 19
The presentation commenced with a thematic display showing the development of airmail services for North Borneo and Sarawak. Initially, there was no airstrip for landing in Borneo so air mail was carried by sea to Singapore before being transferred to aircraft. RAF flying boats later carried mail to Singapore for transfer to Europe by Dutch KLM airways. In 1931, Imperial Airways extended their flights beyond India and provided airmail services. Covers were shown which specified the requested air route.
Part 2 concerned the Borneo railways, which operated from 1881. Initially built using metre gauge, the hostile terrain and tropical climate made railway operation difficult, but it became important as rubber plantations were sited near to railways. The condition of the system was poor at the time of the Japanese invasion during World War II and worse at the time of the 1945 liberation. Recently, the system has been rebuilt and commemorative stamps have been issued to record the achievement. Some additional stamps completed the display. These included the 1895 Sarawak issue seen as complete sheets, which were reprinted by Perkins Bacon when De La Rue-printed stamps were nearly exhausted, but the reprints were not issued.
Penny Universal/Dominion of NZ- Brian Clayton, 15 March 2019
The iconic 1d red New Zealand stamp was introduced on 1 January 1901, marking the introduction of ‘universal penny postage’. The last issue as the definitive stamp was in June 1926. Initially superbly printed by Waterlow of London, it has an intricate design and was produced by recess printing from engraved plates. The London printings may be identified as having a dot above the left corner of the value tablet. Later plates were soon supplied by Waterlow and others for printing in NZ, resulting in many variations of shades of carmine, paper, watermarks and perforations. Some additional errors were reported, but only those which were reproduced in multiple printings are catalogued. Plate wear became apparent with time and the printing quality of the same issues declined.
In 1909, the design was altered to include ‘Dominion of’ in the country title, giving rise to a new series of papers and flaws using Plates 12 and 13. These plates had consistent differences and were used to produce the stamps from 1909 to 1918; thereafter, only Plate 12 was used for the remaining issues to 1926. Stamps were printed for use from sheets, booklets
and vending (slot) machines. The 1913 Auckland Exhibition required an overprint, as did official stamps. Overprinted stamps were also in use for the Pacific islands and adopted by two Antarctic expeditions. The display was notable for the detail and completeness of the contents, much of which included substantial blocks of the issued stamps and a range of rarities. Many examples of these penny stamps on covers and picture postcards, and in the Scott and Shackleton expeditions, gave a delightful insight into the postal history of the time.
Falkland Island Dependencies: Stamps and Whaling Mail- Robert McMillan, 5 April 2019.
The first part of the display consisted of the Falkland Island Dependencies stamp issues. Initially, Falkland Island stamps were overprinted for use in the Dependencies and some mail pieces from Operation Tabarin in 1945 were included. In 1965, the title ‘British Antarctic Territory’ replaced ‘Falkland Island Dependencies’ and many attractive pictorial stamps were issued. A sheet of 1d stamps which included a caption error was particularly interesting, as were the mailbag labels used for dispatch to Stanley.
Whaling mail was the subject of Part 2. This was primarily a Norwegian activity and the display followed the development from 1911 through to 1964, when whale conservation was introduced. Many of the commercial covers had passed through the established whaling stations in the territory for delivery to Norway via South Africa. Photographs of the industry were also on display, together with invoices and legal documents.
Forthcoming Displays at our Society:
3 May Phoenix Trophy Displays at Shirland Golf Club, Alfreton
17 May Visit from Alfreton PS
7 June Maritime Mail & Ocean Penny Post David Duncan Turner FRPSL
5 July Modern Canada Douglas Harvey
2 Aug Canary Islands and Greenland- David Brown
Forthcoming Displays at the Greater Nottingham Co-operative PS
8 May AGM and Bring and Buy
12 Jun TBA
10 Jul Commonwealth Antarctica Brian Clayton
7 Aug Latest Acquisitions Members
Forthcoming Displays at Derby PS
9 May Recent Acquisitions
13 Jun Competition Evening Members
11 Jul Visit from Loughborough PS
Forthcoming Displays at Radcliffe-on-Trent PS
9 May Visit from Lincoln PS
23 May, 20 Jun- No subject Members
25 Jul Postcards Members
Stockholmia 29 May-2 June, including Cinderella World Congress
Details on www.stockholmia2019.se Details of the congress may be found on: www.sff.nu/baltespannarna/. Sesquicentennial on RPSL site.
Autumn Stampex:11-14 Sep. Wed 11- 7pm, Thurs 10-6pm, Sat 10-5pm.
Business Design Centre, Islington, London.
Other News
Douglas Harvey has informed me that the Colnect Catalogue has been revised and can be found on https://colnect.com/en/stamps/catalog.
This can also be accessed from the links page of the Notts Philatelic web site. There are now 800,396 stamps in the index which goes up to early 2019 issues. You are not required to subscribe or log in to use the catalogue.
Nottingham Post Office
The decision to move Nottingham’s main post office situated on Queen St, first mooted in October 2018, has now been made. It will be closed (supposedly) at 5.30pm on 8 May this year and will reopen for business at 9.30 am on 9 May in the WH Smith Store in the Victoria Centre. The number of opening hours will increase and include Sundays, and all current services apart from the ATM will continue.
WH Smith already run 135 Post Offices nationally, with another 40 planned for this year. We shouldn’t be surprised, I suppose, as both at home and abroad, there has been a trend to move post offices into stores. I remember thinking it strange to find one in Macey’s, San Francisco, some years ago. (Spring 2008 N.L.)
Disclaimer
While every care is taken during the production of this newsletter, neither the editor nor the Society Officers can accept any liability for views, opinions or unintentional errors which may occur.
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