Postage stamps and postal history of New South Wales

This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of New South Wales, a former British colony now part of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

Pre-stamp era

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

was the first part of Australia to be settled by Europeans, and the first to operate a postal service

Mail

Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...

, which in 1803 was carrying letters between Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

and Parramatta

Parramatta, New South Wales

Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...

for a 2d charge. In 1809 a collecting office in Sydney was established to receive mail from passing ship

Ship

Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...

s, and in 1825 the postal service was expanded. Mail coach

Mail coach

In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. In Ireland, the first mail coach began service from Dublin in 1789. The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside. Further passengers were later allowed...

service began in 1830, and in 1835 a new Postage Act superseded the 1825 statute and set rates based on weight and distance travelled.

The postmaster of the time, James Raymond, was in communication with Rowland Hill

Rowland Hill (postal reformer)

Sir Rowland Hill KCB, FRS was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of penny postage and his solution of prepayment, facilitating the safe, speedy and cheap transfer of letters...

in England and worked to encourage the prepayment of letters in NSW. In 1838, Raymond introduced envelope

Envelope

An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card....

s embossed with the seal of the colony, and available for local mail for 1¼ pence each instead of the 2d charged letters paid for in cash. They are thus regarded as precursors of the Penny Black

Penny Black

The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was issued in Britain on 1 May 1840, for official use from 6 May of that year....

. However, the envelopes were not popular, and in 1841 Raymond was unable to develop official interest in postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

s for the colony.

First stamps

In 1842 regular mail service was carried by steamer

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

between Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

and Sydney

Sydney

, and the first mail packet from Britain arrived in 1844. An act of 1848 reformed the postal system and authorized the use of stamps; the first stamps appeared on 1 January 1850. They were locally produced, and depicted a scene of Sydney and its harbour, thus becoming known as the "Sydney Views". The 1d, 2d, and 3d stamps were separately engraved, and then re-engraved and retouched over the next year, yielding dozens of varieties.

In 1851 the colony switched to a more conventional design, a profile of Queen Victoria

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

wearing a laurel wreath

Laurel wreath

A laurel wreath is a circular wreath made of interlocking branches and leaves of the bay laurel , an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. In Greek mythology, Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head...

, first in a somewhat crude rendition, then a better one in 1853. The colony also took the unusual step of using paper

Postage stamp paper

Postage stamp paper is the foundation or substrate of the postage stamp to which the ink for the stamp's design is applied to one side and the adhesive is applied to the other...

watermark

Watermark

A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...

ed with the denomination, a practice that resulted in a number of mismatches between watermark and printed denomination that are rare and highly prized today.

In 1854 the colony issued 6d and 1/-

Shilling

The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...

stamps printed locally, from plates engraved by Perkins Bacon

Perkins Bacon

Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co was a printer of books, bank notes and postage stamps, most notable for printing the Penny Black, the world's first adhesive postage stamps, in 1840.- Origins :...

in England. These were large square stamps with the standard profile of Victoria wearing a diadem

Diadem (personal wear)

A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by Eastern monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. The word derives from the Greek "διάδημα" , "band" or "fillet", from "διαδέω" , "I bind round", or "I fasten"....

, framed with a hexagon and octagon respectively. The designs were reused for 5d and 8d in 1855.

In 1856 a Perkins Bacon design was also adopted for the lower values as well. The inking of all these was highly variable, and there are dozens of distinct color varieties. The use of perforation

Perforation

A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes are called a perforation...

began in 1860; unfortunately for collectors, the stamps were very closely spaced, the perforating process not well-controlled, and it is unusual to find stamps from before 1899 where the perforation does not touch or cut into the design on one or more sides.

The first 5-shilling stamp was issued in 1861, and it was notable for being a round design resembling a medallion. In 1861, new designs were created by De La Rue

De La Rue

De La Rue plc is a British security printing, papermaking and cash handling systems company headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire. It also has a factory on the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, and other facilities at Loughton, Essex and Bathford, Somerset...

and printed both in London and the colony.

In 1871 a watermark reading "NSW" surmounted by a crown began to replace the numerals, and in 1885 a need for high-values prompted the overprint

Overprint

An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage stamp or banknote after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative purposes such as accounting but they are also employed in public mail...

ing of 5/-, 10/-, and one-pound revenue stamp

Revenue stamp

A revenue stamp, tax stamp or fiscal stamp is a adhesive label used to collect taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, and many other things...

s with "POSTAGE".

New South Wales celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1888 with an issue of what is widely considered to be the first commemorative stamp

Commemorative stamp

A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event or person. The subject of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike definitive stamps which normally depict the subject along with the...

s. The set of eight, each with a different design, were all inscribed "ONE HUNDRED YEARS". Among the designs were a view of Sydney, an emu

Emu

The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...

, Captain Cook, a lyrebird

Lyrebird

A Lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, that form the genus, Menura, and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral coloured...

, and a kangaroo

Kangaroo

A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...

. The 20/- value included portraits of both Arthur Phillip

Arthur Phillip

Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...

the first governor, and the then-governor Lord Carrington

Robert Wynn Carrington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire

Charles Robert Wynn-Carrington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire KG, GCMG, PC, DL, JP , known as the Lord Carrington from 1868 to 1895 and as the Earl Carrington from 1895 to 1912, was a British Liberal politician and aristocrat.-Background and education:Born at Whitehall, London, Lincolnshire was the...

.

A 2½d stamp depicting an allegorical figure of Australia appeared in 1890, while ½d, 7½d, and 12½d values were produced in 1891 as surcharge

Overprint

s on existing stamps.

In 1897 two early semi-postal stamps were issued, paying 1d and 2½d rates, but sold for 1/- and 2/6 respectively, the additional proceeds going to a Consumptives' Home. In the same year a set of three stamps marked Victoria's Diamond Jubilee

Diamond Jubilee

A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...

.

The formation of the Commonwealth had no immediate effect on the NSW postal system. Although the new constitution granted the commonwealth power to run

Section 51(v) of the Australian Constitution

Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia is a subsection of Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia that gives the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia power to legislate on "postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services".-Postal Services:...

a national postal service, unification was not immediate. The systems gradually merged during the 1900s. In 1903 a 9d stamp in two colors (brown and blue) was inscribed "COMMONWEALTH" and mentioned the initials of each member along with its year of founding. In 1905 the stamps began to be printed on paper watermarked with a crown and the letter "A", with reprintings of existing designs occurring into 1910.

In 1913 the stamps of New South Wales were superseded by those of Australia; see stamps and postal history of Australia.

Most of the stamps of New South Wales are readily available today, but it is somewhat complex to collect; there are a dozen types of watermarks, multiple perforations, and numerous color shades. While the Scott catalog distinguishes about 200 major types, it calls out many more minor varieties, and the Stanley Gibbons catalog totals some 400 distinct varieties.

Numeral cancellations

Numeral cancellations on New South Wales postage stamps are also of interest to collectors. Ninety-six post offices had already been opened when the first postage stamps were issued on 1 January 1850. Numeral obliterators were allocated to these post offices to cancel stamps on outgoing mail. Sydney itself had no number and used dumb obliterators. The first allotment of numbers was based on the pattern of roads radiating outward from Sydney.

Numerals and obliterators continued to be allocated to opening post offices up to the beginning of 1904 with 2099 (Toolijooa) probably the last number assigned. The patterns of allocation provide a way of tracking the history of settlement of the state, although made complex by re-allocations as post offices closed or jurisdiction was transferred, as happened when Queensland became a separate colony.

Larger post offices also impressed a date-stamp on covers with the name of the originating office. This means that covers or stamps torn from covers or pairs of stamps can be used to tie numbers to mailing offices where official records are missing. Even so, as many as 300 New South Wales numbers are still untied.

There can be many variations of numeral cancellations depending on the type of obliterator used. The first obliterators allocated had horizontal bars. These were followed by "ray" types. The colour of the ink used might also vary. The Sydney obliterators also exist in many variations.

Most collectors of numerical cancellations ignore the stamp itself, which may appear upside-down or sideways in albums or stock cards.

Postal stationery

New South Wales issued its own Postal stationery

Postal stationery

A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related service has been prepaid...

until the Commonwealth of Australia stationery was made available in 1911. Envelopes were issued in 1838 for local use within Sydney, New South Wales and were used till 1857. Between 1870 and 1911 eleven different envelopes were produced and issued. Registration envelopes were first made available to the public in 1880 and a total of 14 different were produced. Newspaper wrappers were available from 1864, New South Wales being the second postal administration after the United States to issue newspaper wrappers. A total of 12 different wrappers are known. Letter cards were in use from 1894 and a total of 11 different letter cards were produced. Postcard

Postcard

A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....

s were available from 1875 and, by the time the Australian Commonwealth postcards were introduced, New South Wales had produced a total of 34 different items.

Pre-stamp era

First stamps

Numeral cancellations

Postal stationery

Further reading