Queensland to United States
September 20, 1894
This registered cover was sent from Fortitude
Valley.
Fortitude Valley
is a suburb just to the north of central
Brisbane.
The cover was addressed to The Rev. James J. Dougherty
at St. Joseph's Mission in New York City.
The letter was marked by a straight line
REGISTERED
FORTITUDE VALLEY.
The cover was also marked with red, rather than blue, pencilled cross
for registry.
I believe the registry serial number 4310 was added in Fortitude Valley.
This cover was franked with three stamps from the 1890
series.
There are one each 1 p. vermilion red, 2 p. pale blue, and
2½ p. carmine Victorias (SG 187, 189 [old plate?], and 191).
The stamps appear to have been cancelled by
oval barred numerals but I can't make them out.
There is a Fortitude Valley, Queensland, CDS.
Unfortunately, we have no image of the back so we
cannot track the expected United States transit marks.
The number 4329 looks like those which would have been
added on entry to the United States in San Francisco.
Petrelet (Pete Kimball) has found the following while
researching the
addressee of this cover:
| The addressee of the Queensland cover is a
Rev. Dougherty at the St.
Joseph's Mission on Lafayette Place in NY. The proper name of this
mission was
the "Mission of the Immaculate Virgin" which was a very well-known home
for homeless children. Dougherty was the successor to the founder,
Father John Drumgoole. Some more about it, including a picture of the
building, is here
(music will play automatically). The mission was supported by the "St.
Joseph's Union", which collected funds worldwide. This makes it seem
likely that the cover contained contributions in some form. |
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