Winston,
Less sherry more whisky!
Keep well this Christmas,
Howard

Hi Ikfman Banff had a MX and that is where these MXs would have been applied. They are not distinctive, though. As you say, any office designated a a main office, or indeed a sub-office (but not a Receiving House) would have been issued with a MX in 1840. The list of such towns would have been very ...

Please see the two messages below which include details of this new book together with an offer for early order. 1. Message from RPSL New RPSL Publication: Perkins Bacon Great Britain Line-Engraved Postage Stamp Printing 1840–1846 by Alan Druce FRPSL After five years of meticulous research in archiv...

Thanks Winston,
Yes I did get it. I was lucky that the seller described it as being from Southampton so got a bit of a bargain.
Will certainly display it but will need to reflect on the 'condition versus rarity' tussle before deciding if it is acceptable to exhibit.
Best wishes,
Howard

The no.3 in Cross is something of an enigma. It doesn't have a small cross on top and wasn't entered in the Proof Books Alcock stated many years ago (and has been quoted in many publications since) that it is known used on 16th and 17th March 1843, several days before the other numbered Crosses were...

Hi. These datestamps were only used at the branch offices (which sorted and datestamped mail but didn't cancel it (after stamps has been introduced) prior to it being forwarded to the inland office). Consequently, they were not used before the branch offices were in existence. These branch office Ma...

Possibly,
Do you have a higher resolution scan of the front and reverse?
Best wishes,
Howard

Gary Watson has a query about the attached scan as follows:- The 'OFFICIALLY REGISTERED/AT G.P.O.' (rubber) marking is unknown out here. On the face of it, it should be a Melbourne handstamp. However, "Mr Melbourne" (me!) has never seen it before and "Mr Instructional Markings", ...

Tony Walker has sent me the paper below. I will be publishing a brief synopsis in the next newsletter but thought some might like a preview. Best wishes, Howard Howard Hughes Newsletter Editor ANCIENT AND MODERN An analysis of the FIP Criteria for the Evaluation and Judging of exhibits with particul...

I have seen it in the flesh and it looks like a genuine vertical oval cancel to me.
Best wishes,
Howard

Alexios, Thanks for this. I cannot read the transit mark, is it definitely French? I agree that a piece is never satisfactory in understanding postal history. As I understand it, the author is quite confident that the adhesive has not been altered/forged after printing. He is opining that alteration...

David Beech has sent me the following link for those unable to access the Collectors club details.
http://www.1dplate77.com
What do members think?
Kind regards,
Howard Hughes

Volker Parr, the editor of the Forschungsgemeinschaft Großbritannien (FgGB) magazine has cordially invited GBPS members to the following weekend. Perhaps you could respond to this notice (by pressing 'add message' if you are logged on) if you intend to go and we could then communicate with each othe...

Don Davies would like to know if anyone can cast light on this cancel.
He knows a blank horizontal oval was in use.
Is this a sister cancel from the District Post Office?
Does anyone know more?

The following will be too late for action when it appears in the next Newsletter. Looks interesting! Howard AMBLESIDE POST OFFICE BICENTENARY 1809 – 2009 Display at the Armitt Museum, Ambleside, Cumbria Opening 4 April 2009 for 1 month. It is 200 years since the earliest record of an official Post O...

John,
Parmenter records the first type as as issued 30th May 1854 with an earliest known use of 30th June 1854.
I cannot lay my hands on my Arundel books but will find reply when I find them, if no-one else has responded.
Howard

Howard Hughes

Looks to be a combination of two cancels.
A British Numeral cancel, possibly Scottish type and a circular datestamp, possibly a continental transit mark.
Kind regards,
Howard

If the rules for our National competitiions are evolving, I can live with it. If they are simply going to change each year, without learning lessons from the past, then I feel we have a problem. Also serious consideration needs to be given to display conditions. Light, heat, security and age of fram...