''ii.." mmimm^im^\ii ,1 m^wm¥f?j;^;l IMMiMMM^iMmmm THE GIFT OF ^.«t..C.«JU^>A «rj -tA^ A<-4i_... 4>-^^ gg To g-l!^.} .' 7583 The date shows when this volume was taken. To renew this booklOk copy the callcal No. and give to the HbnHoraria;!. - " HOME USE RULES. , All Pooks silbj6et, to Rflcall. '' . y ^. All books must be ' returned at end of col- - OEC R 1950ii^iV u jggg year. for inspec- tion and repairs. Students must re- turn all boots before leaving towriT Officers ' should ' arrange for the return of books - wanted during their . - absence from town. Books needed by ' , more than one person • ^reheldon the reserve list. \ \ ' "" Volumes of periodi- cals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as possible. ' For special purposes , they are given out for a limited tifiie. Borrowers should . not use thefa: library * privilegesforthe bene- fit of other persons. Books of 'special-' value and gift books, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to I circulate. Readers are asked to report all cases of books marked or muti- lated. ~ Do not deface books by marks and writing. Library Cornell University HE6185.G78 E94 "Hwav jettey^^^^ A history o< 486 3 1924 030 133 olin Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030133486 A HISTORY OF Railway Letter Stamps DESCRIBING ALL VARIETIES ISSUED BY THE KAILJVAV COMPANIES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL. COMPILED BY H. L'ESTRANGE EWEN (Editor of "Ewen's "Weekly Stamp News.") 2y^zT"^^?^s?p;g7yc?^ 0^ Illustrated by permission of the Board of Inland Revenue and the Railway Companies. ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. PUBLISHED BY EWEN'S colonial STAMP MARKET. 32, PALACE SQUARE, NORWOOD, LONDON, S.E. OCTOBER, 1901. 2225 r "^ C: 'J^ A , BOUKNEMOUTH : Pardv & Son, Philatelic Printers, 8, Tlie Triangle. — PREFACE, ALTHOUGH the Railway Letter Post was established as long ago as February, 1891, it is only within the last three or four years that the stamps issued in connection with it have attained any considerable degree of prominence in the world of Philately. Their long neglect is undoubtedly attributable to ignorance, for the stamps are among the most interesting yet issued. The many minor variations in the issues of the more important Railway Companies appeal especially to the specialist collector, who cannot fail to find great pleasure in classifying and arranging the numerous printings, as distinguished by difference in design, colour, paper, perforation or other detail. It was not until 1897 that any serious attempt was made by collectors to ascertain how many varieties of Railway Letter Stamps existed. In November of that year, Mr. C. F. Dendy Marshall read a paper on the subject before the London Philatelic Society, giving, as far as was then known, a list of all Companies issuing these stamps, and this initial effort soon led to other enquiries being made. It was then found that not only did the issues of different Companies vary, but also that those of the same Company often presented variations in colour, perforation, or other detail. The author was one of the first to attempt a complete collection of these different printings, but consider- able difficulty was experienced in arranging them, and this difficulty shared by other collectors—has continued down to the present day. It is with the object of assisting collectors to correctly classify their specimens that the compilation of this work has been undertaken. Through the courtesy of the Railway Companies, the author has in almost every case been furnished with complete lists of the printings made, showing dates of delivery and issue and quantities printed, and these have greatly facilitated classification of the numerous varieties, although, where control numbers are absent, the identification and description of each printing has often proved a very difficult matter. In " iv. Preface. some instances the most careful search has failed to produce even a single representative of a printing, notable cases being those of the Barry Dock and Railway Company (2nd printing, 1894), North- Eastern (1891, 2nd printing, stated to bear control numbers 17,401 to 18,000), West Donegal Railway (1891), Ayrshire and Wigtownshire (1891), and Pembroke and Tenby (ist issue, 1891). In the endeavour to correctly describe the numerous varieties, upwards of 30,000 stamps have been carefully examined. I am greatly indebted to those collectors who have kindly' placed their collections at my disposal for the purpose of examination, and particularly to the Earl of Crawford, whose unique collection, exceeding ten thousand specimens in number, has alone rendered possible the solution of many problems. A special feature of the present work is the attempt, for the first time, to classify the different printings according to the transfers used in their preparation. Many interesting facts ha\e been brought to light in this connection. For instance, the old transfer used for preparing the stone when stamps were required for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was not destroyed when this Company changed its title in 1897, but the name was erased from each of the six types composing it, and "North Males and Liverpool Railway Coinmittee substituted on five, the si.\th being spoilt. This Coinpany was just commencing to issue stamps and the altered transfer has been used down to the present time. This little histor)' is plainl)- written on the face of every sheet of letter stamps issued- b)' the N.W. and Liverpool Railway, and can be read by anyone who will take a little trouble. The possession of an entire sheet is of course a sine i/ua non, but the collector of Raih\'ay Letter Stamps, who wishes to get the maximum of pleasure out of their study and collection, must not hesitate to acquire a sheet in preference to a single specimen. In many cases, of course, sheets are impossible to secure unbroken, but an endeavour has been made to descrilie the \-arious types, so that wherever sheets present special points of interest they may be reconstructed. H. L'ESTRANGE EWEN. INDEX TO RAILWAY COMPANIES. LIST OF RAILWAY COMPANIES WHICH HAVE ISSUED LETTER STAMPS Those marked with an asterisk no longer issue stamps. INDEX TO RAILWAY COMPANIES. LIST OF RAILWAY COMPANlES—corduiued. INDEX TO RAILWAY COMPANIES. LIST OF RAILWAY COMPANIES—conhnned. <ijk THE RAILWAY LETTER POST. is a curious fact that not only the stamps, but the Railway IT Letter Post itself is a mystery to most people, although its usefulness is fully explained in the Post Office Guide. It was established in 1S91 to legalize the carriage of letters by Railway Companies and to enable anyone to obtain quicker transmission of a letter by despatching it by the first train without waiting for the general mail. This is an advantage greatly appreciated in country districts where there are only one or two outgoing posts daily, but whence there is a frequent train service to neighbouring cities. Letters may be despatched by any passenger train, whatever the day of the year, so that the interchange of correspondence on a Bank-holiday or a Sunday is rendered possible. In order to further facilitate the quick delivery of a letter it may be marked " To be called for," so that the addressee may then obtain it on arrival of the train. Should it, however, be not so inscribed, it will be posted at the nearest post office or pillar box for delivery in the usual way by postman. Every such railway letter, (which may not exceed four ounces in weight—the limit having been originally i ounce) requires to be franked jointly with a penny postage stamp and a 2d. railway letter stamp, the former representing the postal tax on the letter and the latter the fee paid for its transmission. In accepting letters for transmission the Railway Companies are acting as agents for the Post Ofhce, as witness the following para- graph from the Post Office Guide. " Legal Conditions in regard to Railway Letters. Railway Letters, that is to say, Letters transmitted under the arrangements just described, will be deemed to be in all respects letters sent by post. The Railway Companies, in carrying such letters, will act and will be deemed to act solely as agents, and at the sole risk and responsibility of the Postmaster General, but the Companies will take all reasonable care for the security of the letters while under their charge." THE RAILWAY LETTER POST. The 2d. railwa)' letter stamps are therefore issued by the Railway Companies in their capacity as agents of the Post Office and must be considered purely postage stamps issued by postal agents for the purpose of prepaying postage. Early in 1890 the Stamp Department at Somerset House submitted to the Postmaster-General designs for a " 3d. Postage and Railway Letter Service " stamp, obtained from Messrs. De la Rue & Co., but they do not appear to ha^-e been approved, as later in the year a number of specimens of the ordinary 3d. postage " (T^ ~ --; stamp, overprmted " Railway Letter Postage were ""V IJ|) submitted. As no further essays were made, 1 presume the surcharged stamp was adopted by the Post Office, only howe\'er to be rejected as im- practicable when the matter came before the POSTAfJBi Railway Companies. It would have been very difficult, if indeed not impossible, to accurately apportion amongst the Companies the two-thirds share of the revenue derived from the issue of such a stamp.