This is a first
day of issue commemorative
postal card for the 1901
1d carmine Commerce stamp issued on January 1, 1901, (SG 277).
It is postmarked with a single triple rim CDS in Wellington.
Notice the addressee.*
I wonder if he was a stamp collector?
Unfortunately, we don't have the message side.
*Malcolm Hirst sent me this nice paragraph on 'the First Lord of the
Admiralty':
This
is the
title of one of the ruling body of the Royal Navy. The body
was
made up of the Lords of the Admiralty (politicians) and Sea Lords
(senior naval officers) who made and executed policy. Note
they
were not necessarily Peers of the Realm (Lords, Dukes etc.) although
historically they usually were. The "First Lord" is loosely
the
Managing Director. Official reports and correspondence to the
Admiralty would normally be addressed to the relative Lord (each of
whom had specific responsibility) or to the Lords in the plural if the
relevant person were not known. This letter was probably
written
by a civilian who wished to gain the ear of "The Top Dog". Of
course all this changed when we aquired a unified Ministry of Defence.
Index
Today in Postal
History
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Pastnotes
Index - The First 300 and the Next 208
provides more tidbits about stamps and collectors.
Comments? Send me an
e-mail
Please include a reference to this item.
