Under the Magnifying Glass: No.27 H.M.C.S. Afterglow and the cancels by Malcolm Barton and Kim Stuckey

H.M.C.S Afterglow

On 23rd March 1921 the Government issued a Proclamation suspending the issuing of licences to kill or capture fur seals around the Islands. This suspended the regulations in the Seal Fishery Ordinance of 1899 and followed a decision by the UK Secretary of State to protect the species from May 1920. The Falkland Islands Harbour Master had reported after visiting Bird Island and the that measures were needed to protect the fur seals from illegal catching; suggestions were the stationing of a guard on Elephant Jason and “provision of a motor boat”.

Afterglow was a wooden Admiralty drifter, naval number 3863, 94 gross register tonnage, completed on 7th October 1918 and built by Chambers of Oulton Broad, Lowestoft. She was one of a large number of drifters built with meteorological names, such as Anticyclone, Atmosphere, Fireball, Full Moon, Hailstorm and Mackerel Sky. Afterglow was purchased by the Crown Agents on behalf of the Falkland Islands Government for £1,000. She was bought with the intention of being the armed patrol vessel to protect the fur seal rookeries and arrived in Stanley 1st December 1921. It is believed (from a request in the Executive Council minutes of 15th August 1921) that Afterglow arrived in convoy with the Hektor Whaling Company fleet.

In the Upland Goose there has been much speculation over the years of what the “C” in H.M.C.S Afterglow stood for. Upland Goose Vol III No.5 included an interview with Joe Lanning who skippered the Afterglow in WWII, who referred to the “C” standing for “Coaster”. However we would believe His Majesty’s Colonial Ship would be the name for a Royal Navy Ship purchased by the Colonial Government of the Falkland Islands. This certainly was a designation used elsewhere in the Empire. This theory is supported by the Shipping Register which has a remark on Afterglow’s arrival “Converted into Colonial armed steamer” and by John Smith in his book “An Historical Scrapbook of Stanley”.

The Afterglow Carrying Mail

Afterglow commenced her seal fisheries protection duties, but also visited the remote settlements on East and . By early 1923 there was a need for a cancel, as mail was being handed to the Captain as the Afterglow visited these settlements. From a memo of 4th January 1923 it was proposed that the Gunner was officially appointed as the Mail Officer (it was suggested that the Captain had too many other duties to perform on reaching a settlement). A locked post box on board was also provided.

So who were the gunners on H.M.C.S. Afterglow that were responsible for the mail? Bob Barnes noted that on 31st January 1923 Emmanuel Swain was appointed Mail Officer. While Swain was on leave for four and a half months from 5th February 1925, his place was taken as Mail Officer by William Catten. Later, on 11th December 1925, Ernest Dixon was appointed on probation and subsequently confirmed in post.

Early Cancels - Manuscript and Straight Line Afterglow

A Manuscript Afterglow Cancel

It cannot be certain that the stamp illustrated above is a genuine in period manuscript cancel, however it is on the 1919 printing of the 1d, SH25e. This could have been produced in 1922 or early 1923, before the straight line cancel was introduced, to frank West Falkland or inter island mail that was not going via Stanley or Post Offices. It does match in concept a cancel of Fair Rosamund in Victorian times where stamps were written on in ink (see Mike Roberts monograph No. 19 The Postal History of the Falkland Islands 1800- 1945, p54).

In the period March 1923 – July 1923 the “John Bull” like straight line cancel was used. A memo dated 3rd March details Craigie Halkett (Colonial Postmaster) supplying the straight line canceller as a temporary measure. He states “I have ordered a dating stamp from England but meanwhile I can let him (Note the Gunner of the Afterglow) have a stamp with words “Posted on H.M.C.S. AFTERGLOW”

This is known on only one cover (illustrated in Bob Barnes Postal Cancellations book p 52 and in Mike Roberts monograph No. 19 The Postal History of the Falkland Islands 1800-1945, p55). However part cancels are also known on stamps, the 6d illustrated below being an unusual value.

The Only Known “Posted on H.M.C.S. AFTERGLOW” cover to . Also a KGV 6d cancelled with the same canceller

The Oval H.M.C.S. Afterglow Canceller

Wilf Vevers produced an article in Upland Goose in 2010 that showed the correspondence between the Colony and Great Britain about production of an Afterglow cancel. This provides a useful time line for production of the oval cancel.

Craigie Halkett proposed a design for a cancel on 1st February 1923 (see the memo left with mock up of cancel) and sent an order to the GPO in London for the cancel on the same day. On 3rd March he reported that he had sent the order to London and was supplying the straight line cancel as a temporary measure.

The memo reproduced below shows the cancel arriving and being struck first in the Colony on 7th July 1923 (see first strike shown also below left).

The order for the Afterglow oval cancel

The memo announcing the arrival of the oval cancel, the first strike and the “March 1923” cancel

However, the 2013 6th Edition of Heijtz reports the earliest known date of use of the oval cancel as March 1923. This is probably based on the information from a March 1923 canceller that was described and illustrated in the Cecil Neild sale at Harmers in March 1984. Lot 256 was described as a “fine strike” of the cancel on a local stampless envelope to Mr S Bennit (sic) and termed as “the earliest recorded date”. The auction illustration (not perfect as you might expect in the 1980’s) is shown above right, you can see there is something strange about the “3” in the year cancel. Perhaps it is a distorted “5”.

From reading the memos above, the March date must be incorrect, either a misread distorted year slug, a per favour later cancel, or something contrived. However if any Study Group member has the cover, it would be excellent to have a better scan of the cancel.

The Charles Davies Connection

A coincidence of timing may well have been fortuitous to make Afterglow cancels more available to collectors.

For thirteen months, starting in March 1923, an advert was placed at the bottom right hand corner of the front page of the The Falkland Islands Magazine and Church Paper stating “FALKLAND ISLANDS STAMPS WANTED TO PURCHASE, used and unused Falkland Islands postage stamps of all kinds in any quantities. CHARLES DAVIES, FRODSHAM, ENGLAND”.

Davies was a wholesaler of stamps to the trade with many covers to him known from the Falkland Islands. It is likely that Davies established contacts (or maybe even an agent) in the Falkland Islands and it is also likely that he discovered Afterglow cancellations in the batches of stamps sent to him in 1923 and 1924.

It is certainly true that we start to see in 1923 (earliest known cover date 18th October 1923 – Lot 1841 Robson Lowe auction 12th October 1978) covers from the Falklands to Davies, with Afterglow cancellations. One such is illustrated below, dated 26th June 1924 with a Port Stanley transit cancel of 30th June on the reverse.

Davies was skilled in supplying covers to the Islands with his own stamps from his extensive stock, and widely spaced so as to obtain complete oval cancels that could be kept on cover or be sold as used on piece. His activities with the Afterglow cancels in turn led to covers to well- known collectors such as Lawson, Marshall at Prestbury and Roberts of Yeovil. We even see covers to Hutchings in the Cayman Islands with underpaid Afterglow cancels and bearing Cayman Islands postage dues.

If we look at a series of cancellation dates that correspond from a voyage around the Islands by Afterglow (as a Government ship it does not show in the shipping records), it appears that many of the philatelic covers were produced on the last date, probably as the Afterglow arrived back in Stanley. It was unlikely that these philatelic covers would have been taken on the voyage.

Afterglow cover to Charles Davies, sent June 1924

We mentioned above the possibility of Charles Davies establishing a contact in the Islands to obtain philatelic material for him, including Afterglow cancels. He certainly corresponded with Clovis Wright McGill (son of John McGill and Sarah McGill, née Binnie), but he was born in 1909, so was only 14 when Davies advertised in the Falkland Islands Magazine. It was unfortunate that the cover below from Davies to McGill was sent on 13th August 1931, some 10 days after Clovis McGill died from tuberculosis at the age of 22, so although marked “answered” it would have been by a relative. Do Study Group members have any other examples of corresponding with Charles Davies in this period?

A cover from Charles Davies to Clovis McGill, sent August 1931

Perhaps without the coincidence of the Davies advertisements during 1923, there could be far fewer Afterglow cancels, especially straight line cancels and the early dates seen of usage of the oval canceller.

Usage of the Oval H.M.C.S. Afterglow Canceller

For the usage of the Afterglow oval canceller yet again we use as our base information for our research, details from Bob Barnes' book “The Postal Cancellations of the Falkland Islands” published thirty five years ago. It is a tribute to Bob’s meticulous efforts that he completed detailed cancellation date listings in the days before email and internet searches of archived auction catalogues and images. Mac Barber gave additional dates recorded in Upland Goose in 1990 and we are grateful to Hugh Osborne for giving us access to Mac’s detailed notes from later in the 1990’s that gave some further information.

We have only listed dates where all parts of the cancel are visible, there will be other dates where the day or year are not known or achieved by guesswork, these are not included. In the following listing, additional dates to those detailed in Bob Barnes book are shown in bold.

Oval H.M.C.S. Afterglow Canceller used in 1923

Known cancellation dates for 1923 are:

29 JUL 1923 NOV 7 1923 1 OCT 1923 NOV 9 1923 9 OCT 1923 NOV 12 1923 10 OCT 1923 NOV 19 1923 11 OCT 1923 NOV 28 1923 18 OCT 1923

To the left, examples of 1923 cancels at 120% size. In November the month preceded the day (see right hand example).

Oval H.M.C.S. Afterglow Canceller used in 1924

Known cancellation dates for 1924 are:

23 JAN 1924 MAY 19 1924 9 JUL 1924 1 FEB 1924 21 MAY 1924 14 JUL 1924 11 FEB 1924 10 JUN 1924 12 SEP 1924 14 FEB 1924 19 JUN 1924 3 OCT 1924 18 FEB 1924 25 JUN 1924 8 OCT 1924 3 MAY 1924 26 JUN 1924 15 OCT 1924 17 MAY 1924 1 JUL 1924 16 DEC 1924

To the left, examples of 1924 cancels, at 120% size. The May 19th date, shown here, is the only date in 1924 where the month precedes the day.

Oval H.M.C.S. Afterglow Canceller used in 1925

Known cancellation dates for 1925 are:

17 FEB 1925 24 AUG 1925 23 MAR 1925 2 OCT 1925 1 APR 1925 3 OCT 1925 4 APR 1925 6 OCT 1925 20 MAY 1925 9 OCT 1925 29 MAY 1925 27 NOV 1925 21 AUG 1925

To the left, examples of 1925 cancels, at 120% size. In all cases this year the day preceded the month.

Oval H.M.C.S. Afterglow Canceller used in 1926

Known cancellation dates for 1926 are:

19 JAN 1926 25 MAR 1926 28 JAN 1926 7 APR 1926 13 MAR 1926 6 JUL 1926 (see section below) 23 MAR 1926 9 AUG 1926 24 MAR 1926

To the left, examples of 1926 cancels, at 120% size.

The right hand cancel shows the last known cancellation date of 9th August 1926 (ex Stefan Heijtz).

The Last Oval Afterglow Date – 9th August 1926

There is a known cancellation date of 9th August 1926 (without a spaced “2 6”) that is the last known date of Afterglow cancellation, and considered a genuine date.

The Cecil Neild sale of March 20th 1984 Lot 260 was a ‘Strike dated 9 AUG 1926 tying George V 1d to Marshall in Cheshire, backstamped Port Stanley November 1st 1926.’ The time taken between the Afterglow and Port Stanley cancellations can be explained by no mail ship calling at Stanley between July 1926 and the Oropesa arriving on November 3rd 1926.

Illustrated above is a 9th August 1926 cancel on a KGV 6d, ex the Stefan Heijtz collection. Cancelled blocks are also known.

The Afterglow oval cancellation of July 6 192 6

There is enough evidence to show that there was some posthumous use and it was spurious to satisfy collector demand...

For very many years Falkland Islands specialists have expressed doubts about this cancellation. Mac Barber summarised in Upland Goose Vol X No.4 June 1990 p122 -124 an article by Cecil Neild, our first Study Group President, in Gibbons Stamp Monthly April 1968. In this article, “The Falkland Islands Inter-Islands Posts”, based on notes from C. Stewart-Douglas, improper use of the canceller was made in 1927-28, after Afterglow had been taken out of service. Cecil Neild wrote:

‘”It would be as well to mention, for the benefit of those collectors who are unacquainted with the details of the obliterator, that an improper use was made after the sale of the ship, the type was set back to a period about the middle of 1926 when the ship was in commission. It is believed that the clandestine use of it was made in 1927 -28 because stamps have been seen which had not even be printed.”

Although a stamp with the inaccurately spaced date cannot be strictly considered as being a forged cancellation, it certainly was unauthorised and should be regarded as spurious.”

In the Dr Nabarro sale of 25th February 1959, the Robson Lowe description of Lot 263 is:

“Miss Carey” cover with spaced “2 6” from the Spafford sale

‘Posthumous strikes of the oval date stamps of 6 JUL 1926 with wide spacing between “2” and “6” tying ½d and 1d covers addressed to Miss Carey.’ The 1d cover could be the example in the Spafford sale at Spink in March 2015, Lot 764.

These covers are not in Miss Carey’s handwriting and it would not have been a practice that she would have approved.

The January 7th-9th 1974 sale at Harmers included an OHMS cover to Ross-shire with a claimed indigo 2½d value, it is probably the deep blue printing.

The envelope was folded and likely sent under separate cover.

Ross-shire OHMS cover

Victoria Stamp auctions. No 1, March 1995 Lot 326 contained a 1d on an unaddressed cover; the description includes ‘posthumous use’.

The proof that covers were deliberately backdated to a period before Afterglow was withdrawn are in some of the stamps that were used. A pair of 2ds on one cover (Robson Lowe 9th March 1976 Lot 192) are clearly from a 1928 printing. The plates were from chromium plated plates rather than from unsurfaced ones. (see Bunt page 72) The 2d 1928 printings have a deeper value tablet and a paler colour around the head.

There is also a similar cover (“South African” sale Western Auctions March 28th 1980 Lot 1145) bearing a pair of 1ds in a shade which used to be listed by Gibbons as SG 102 Deep Vermilion stamps which was also not printed until 1927. (see Bunt page 71).

It would be simple to believe that all July 6th 1926 dates were contrived. But a fascinating cover to Scotland gives us pause for thought. Its validity seems to be correct, proved due to it being a registered cover.

Total postage is 4d, at the Empire Rate of 1d plus 3d registration with a Type 7 label..

A block of four 1d just ties the oval canceller dated 6 JUL 1926 with the wide space to the envelope.

However, it is the reverse of the envelope that shows this was a real July 1926 cover.

The cover has a Bridge of Weir receiver of 18th August 1926.

The Bridge of Weir cover with cancel on reverse shown

The registered cover ties in with the departure of the PSNC cargo ship Losada on July 13th, bound for London and a typical voyage time in the 1920’s. The fact of it being registered meant a receiver was needed to show the arrival date.

So assuming this cover is correct, it builds additional confusion of some valid use of the canceller in July 1926 with a spaced “26”, the items discussed above in August 1926 with a normal “26”, followed by the reappearance of the spaced July 1926 canceller again in 1927-28. The final word on this 6th July date is yet to be written!

There has been historical mention of examples claimed to be 8th July 1926. These are likely to be poor strikes of the 6th July cancel being misread. We would welcome any clear example of an 8th July cancellation.

We would suggest the current catalogue pricing which gives a premium to the spaced July 1926 dates is reconsidered for future editions. A comparison would be the variation in price between actual and posthumous 1891 bisect surcharges.

The Later History of Afterglow

While the focus of the article is the deployment of Afterglow to collect and carry cancelled mail in the period 1923-1926, it is worth recounting what happened to her in her later years.

As mentioned, in 1926 Afterglow was withdrawn from Government service and sent to Punta Arenas for a refit. The Falkland Islands Government started trying to sell her in 1927. By the end of 1927 she was being maintained enough so as to be available for emergency service around the coasts of the Islands. Indeed a telegram from The Government Radio Station at Port Stanley to “Westers”, the radio station at Fox Bay, dated December 13th 1927 stated that the Christmas mail for West Falkland would be sent on Afterglow on December 21st 1927.

In August 1928 the Falkland Islands & Dependencies Sealing Co Ltd applied to hire the Afterglow to engage in sealing operations (which had recommenced) and this was approved. Afterglow was repaired, cleaned and returned by them on 5th January 1928.

Falkland Islands and Dependencies Sealing Company Limited Share Certificate

On March 11th 1929 an offer of £1,200 by the Falkland Islands & Dependencies Sealing Co Ltd for Afterglow was accepted with £1,000 to be paid immediately and the remaining £200 within 12 months. The Falkland Islands & Dependencies Sealing Co Ltd took possession March 25th 1929. A final payment of £221-3-10 (£200 plus interest £5-3-10 plus four rifles at £4 each) was made September 30th 1930. The bill of sale was issued April 2nd 1931. Afterglow was renamed and registered as Port Richard by the Falkland Islands & Dependencies Sealing Co Ltd at 3.20pm on August 20th 1931. The transferee was the Ltd who were the mortgagees. As she was Government property she had not previously been registered.

You may remember that recent Study Group auctions have included, from the archive, several £50 share certificates issued by the Falkland Islands & Dependencies Sealing Co Ltd in December 1928 (pictured below). If you own one, you could well have a certificate that contributed to raising the funds for the Afterglow purchase.

The Port Richard once again became Afterglow (this time HMS) during World War II and finally was wrecked in the harbour at Port Stanley in a strong gale in 1945.

Collecting Afterglow

Local cover to Howard Clement at Roy Cove

H.M.C.S. Afterglow at Roy Cove – photograph courtesy Mike Roberts

We will publish the date listing and any updates on the “Online Resources” section of the Study Group website, so would welcome any additional dates to add to the listing or unusual usages of the cancellations.. Straight line cancel items are scarce and ideally should have a certificate from Stefan Heijtz to verify their authenticity, given their high catalogue value.

In terms of hunting down oval cancellations for your collection, the best examples show complete clear dates on pairs, blocks or pieces. ½d values are less easy to find than the 1d value. Afterglow blocks of four are likely to be per favour cancelled in period and this is where you can find values higher than 1d, but they are collectable, especially having various values.

As always with the more unusual Falkland cancels, commercial covers bearing the oval cancel are scarce. Above is shown one of a number of local covers sent to Clement at Roy Cove, cancelled 7th April 1926, a late date. These covers are considered valid local commercial mail, one of the covers is known with Falkland Islands Company embossed on the envelope flap.

Commercial covers at Empire rate are rare; we have only noted the two below from our research and would welcome scans of any more. Below is shown an Empire rate commercial cover cancelled 19th January 1926 sent to Barratts Bootmakers in Northampton.

Also shown is a cover to Groves and Lindley, Textile Manufacturers in Huddersfield, cancelled 14th February 1924 with a pair of ½d, ex the Ken Clough sale at Harmers May 14th 1997 Lot 279.

Empire Cover to Barratt Bootmakers in England and Empire Cover to Groves & Lindley in England

In addition to the commercial covers there are also collectable intriguing philatelic examples to Hutchings in the Cayman Islands as well as those to well-known philatelists such as Marshall, Roberts and Lawson. These are worth collecting as the cancels are clear and often on well-spaced multiple stamps. As we mentioned above, the cancel dates of most of the philatelic covers could be traced to the end of a series of dates ie the end of a trip when the ship returned to Port Stanley. This would seem to make sense.

Thanks to: Mike Roberts Wilf Vevers Hugh Osborne Stefan Heijtz Grosvenor Auctions Spink Auctions Tansy Bishop Bill Featherstone

References: Websites: Falkland Islands Government Archives - 1920 and 1921 Executive Council Minutes and issues of the Falkland Islands Magazine and Church Times - the Online Collections section at www.fig.gov.uk/archives/directorate. Spink Auctions Archive Search www.spink.com Grosvenor Auctions Archive Search www.grosvenorauctions.com

Written References: Falkland Islands Government Archives – File [SHI/VES/2#11] The Postal Cancellations of the Falkland Islands by Bob Barnes (p52 - 56). The Postal Service of the Falkland Islands by Bob Barnes (p 34 – 35) An Historical Scrapbook of Stanley by John Smith (p123 - 124). Specialised Stamp Catalogue of the Falkland Islands and Dependencies 6th Edition by Stefan Falkland Heijtz. The De La Rue Stamps of the Falkland Islands by John Bunt Upland Goose Vol X No.4 June 1990 (p122 -124) – Maritime Cancellations by Mac Barber. Upland Goose Vol XXI No.1 September 2010 (p 23-26) HMCS Afterglow Cancellers by Wilf Vevers. The Postal History of the Falkland Islands 1800-1945, Study Group Monograph No. 19 (p 54 - 55). Gibbons Stamp Monthly April 1968 – The Falkland Islands Inter-Islands Posts - Cecil Neild. Also – various auction catalogues, including Nabarro, Neild and Spafford sales