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;) | BERMUDA postal history 1898 cover to Mrs. Alexander Smith, "Durnford", St. Georges with pair QV ½d deep grey-green pmk'd BAILEY'S BAY B/JU 6 1898 with St. Georges C/JU 6 1898 backstamp. Durnford House (36 Wellington Street, St. George) was built in 1795 by Mayor Andrew Durnford as his residence; he was the first mayor of St. George and came to Bermuda to look after the construction work of the forts in St. George's. It is said that a part of the fund allocated for forts were diverted to build this house, and it was called 'The Fifth Fort' by some of his enemies. Durnford did not live long enough to enjoy the grounds and views of the town and harbour as he died September 11th 1798 and was buried in the grounds. £60 |
;) | 1954 PRESTWICK DISASTER COVER and GREAT BRITAIN AMBULANCE COVER to JAMAICA 1954 charred edge back and front of cover pmk'd London 23 XII 54 together with contents to R.H. Ridler, Barclays Bank Ltd, Kingston, Jamaica, B.W.I. requiring completion of its journey, due such distressed condition, by Great Britain Post Office O.H.M.S. ambulance cover, both covers struck with purple boxed "SALVAGED MAIL/AIRCRAFT CRASH/PRESTWICK 25-12-54"., flap of latter poorly opened. BOAC Boeing 377 Stratocruiser crashed on landing at Prestwick Airport in the early hours of Christmas Day 1954, 28 of the 36 onboard were killed. £325 |
;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) | BRITISH KAFFRARIA WRAPPER from a SURVIVOR OF THE H.M.S. BIRKENHEAD TROOPSHIP DISASTER In response for requests for testimonies from survivors the only surviving letter from the Cape: 1858 wrapper docketted "Andrews 20 Nov 1858" (the content removed but published) to David Seton, Portabello, near Edinburgh marked "Registered at King W Town 25.11.58" and "K.W.T. C.G. Hope" at lower left with two damaged copies 4d blue tied triangular handstamp with CAPE PACKET DEVONPORT JA 26 1859, red Crown/REGISTERED and red oval REGISTERED/LONDON 27 JA 59 alongside address panel, reverse red CAPETOWN DE 2 1858 transit, black Edinburgh and blue PORTABELLO JA 28 1859 arrivals. Younger brother (Major) David Seton was quite determined from an early stage to gather as many facts as possible. He met many of the survivors personally and continued with his determination that the heroism displayed by his elder brother Alex should always be associated with the ‘Birkenhead’. Personal interviews, and correspondence with testimonies from survivors, continue as late as 1858-59 and he printed a little book on the Wreck of the ‘Birkenhead’ in Edinburgh in 1861, and again in 1873 and 1890 which was initially intended for private use and not for publication or sale. The Andrews testimony is published on pages 134/5 in "A Deathless Story" by A.C. Addison being a 318 page account of the Birkenhead. £7250 |
;) | EXHIBITION COVER SHORT-LIVED 14 CORNER DOTS GREAT BRITAIN QV 1d LILAC to BARBADOS 1881 cover with five copies GB QV 1d Venetian red and seven copies GB QV 1d lilac (SG.166,170) pmk'd London S.W/32 duplex dated AU 2 81 to Mrs. Belfield, Chelston, Barbados being the penultimate 1/- rate prior switching to the 4d U.P.U. rate on SP 1 1881, backstamped BARBADOES AU 18 1881 dbl-arc arrival clear of largely missing flap. A spectacular exhibition cover for the short band of use 14 dots in each corner GB QV 1d lilac. The 1d Venetian red stamps do not have the Orbs watermark error Cat.£27,000 apiece. £600 |
;) | 407, Cape of Good Hope postmark on 1d (SG.59). £4 |
;) | 328, Cape of Good Hope postmark on 1d (SG.59a). £3 |
;) | 402, Cape of Good Hope postmark on pair 1d Crown CA wmk (SG.41). £8 |
;) | 416, Cape of Good Hope postmark on 1d (SG.49a). £6 |
;) | 447, Cape of Good Hope postmark on 1d (SG.69). £5 |
;) | A10 used KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent postmark (PML.4) in red ink on 1873 QV 1/- lilac-rose (SG.20, Cat.£350) with tear at base from the mysterious band of use somewhere within the life of the later QV 1/- claret (SG.21) pmk'd red ink PML.4 period NO 28 1875 to DE 28 1876. The 1875 QV 1/- claret (SG.21, in use for approx. 17 months) is pmk’d at Kingstown firstly by black horiz. “A10” (PML.4), secondly by red ST. VINCENT cds, and thirdly by red horiz. “A10” (PML.4). The black PML.4 band stretches from JU 27 1872 (cover) to JU 24 1875 (red village “CH” overstruck black “A10”), the red ST. VINCENT band being JY 10 1875 to NO 9 1875 (covers), and the red PML.4 band being NO 28 1875 to DE 28 1876 (covers) giving way to the first 1/- vermilion (SG.24) cover of FE 28 1877 with continued cancelling by red PML.4. The last two bands might have been extended by loose village pmk’d stamps but when Kingstown switched to the red ink pad the overstriking was abandoned as the GPO did not want red overstruck red. (During the red PML.4 band covers to other BWI islands and the USA are found cancelled by red ST. VINCENT cds). £60 |
;) | A10 used KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent postmark (Ex FORSYTH) (PML.4) in black on 1873 QV 1/- lilac-rose (SG.20, Cat.£350) piece. Ex FORSYTH. The black PML.4 band stretches from JU 27 1872 (cover) to JU 24 1875 (red village “CH” overstruck black horiz. “A10”). £95 |
;) | 409, Cape of Good Hope postmark on 1d (SG.49a). £3 |
;) | 393, Cape of Good Hope postmark on 1d (SG.49a). £5 |
;) | 1127, Cape of Good Hope postmark on ½d (SG.58). £6 |
;) | ST. JAMES code 7, Barbados postmark (M3) dated 7/DE 14 87 on QV 1d (SG.91). £5 |
;) | 7 code used ST. JAMES, Barbados postmark (M2-R) dated 7/AP 5 86 on QV 4d (SG.99). £15 |
;) ;) | HARRINGTON SOUND to DENMARK, Bermuda postal history 1935 reg. cover from Castle Harbour Hotel, Tucker's Town (printed flap which opens to display) to Denmark with 4-colour combination Caravel issues ¼d x two pairs, ½d, 1½d, 2½d indistinctly pmk'd HARRINGTON SOUND 14 FEB 35 with Plymouth, Devon reg. oval transit and LEMVIG arrival backstamps. £60 |
;) | HANGHA, Sierra Leone postmark (050.03) 3 JY 58 on QE2 3d (SG.214) piece. £7 |
;) | ABU FATMAH, Sudan postmark (D1) in blue dated 17 VII 97 on ovp'd 3m orange-yellow (SG.4). Stagg - 2 complete strikes known and some part strikes all on 1st issue. P.O. opened and closed in 1897. Stagg does not refer to cancel in blue. £150 |
;) | V.R. KOMI KEBIR, Cyprus postmark (T.21) on QV ½pi (SG.40), a little aged in appearance. £60 |