

| AN EXCEPTIONAL 1860 GREAT BRITAIN QV 2d BLUE COVER to ANTIGUA 1860 cover marked "Very important inheritance" with GB QV 2d blue Plate 8 (DG, DH, DI) pmk'd London JY 5 60 to Antigua with lengthy addressing "Matthew Christian by Son of Mr. Robert Christian Esq who died at Antigua in 1777 or to the Relatives of the said Robert and Matthew Christian, Antigua (West Indies) .... Expressly Recommended to the post to be Enquired for those Relatives and to be delivered to one of them". Marked in manuscript "Not Known", b/stamped C/ANTIGUA/AU 1 60 (arrival) and C/ANTIGUA/DE 29 60 (date returned to London). Fine heraldic embossed flap. Mathew Christian, owner of various estates in Antigua, Biffins (200 acres), Red Hill (400 acres), Elme’s (158 acres), and Windward (180 acres). Died in London in 1778. Son of Robert Christian died in Antigua in 1776. He is supposed to have left Antigua about the year 1777 and come to London, and it is believed that in 1778, he was living in Southampton-street, Strand, in the city of Westminster, where he died. He had a brother, John, who died in Antigua shortly before 1777, and a sister, Margaret, who was married to William Gunthorpe of Antigua. £950 | |