1840: 1 d. black, plate 6, vertical pair, letter AJ-BJ, used with
1841 1 d. red-brown, black plate 1b, strip of six, lettered
1840: 1 d. black, plate 6, vertical pair, letter AJ-BJ, used with
1841 1 d. red-brown, black plate 1b, strip of six, lettered CB-CG,
margins all round, combined to make the 8 d. SHIP LETTER rate, tied
by neat strikes of a black Maltese Cross to cover front, presumed
to have originated from Hawick, Scotland (see note below) and sent
to Sydney, New South Wales, with red oval "PAID SHIP LETTER –
LONDON 29 NO 1841" alongside, and a manuscript "3" (d.) for the
local delivery in NSW. There is a vertical filing fold through the
margin between stamps CD and CE, otherwise in a very fresh state of
preservation and possibly the most important and attractive
franking of its kind, especially as a rare mixed combination
franking to Australia. Cert. BPA (1996). Note: The cover front
derives from the famous "W.E.Oliver, care of John Irvine,
Commissary General, Sydney, New South Wales" correspondence from
Hawick in Scotland. William Elliot Oliver grew up in Scotland. He
decided to emigrate, together with his cousin and business partner
James Borthwick, to New South Wales in 1841 to establish a sheep
farm. Since there was less competition for land in Moreton Bay
(later Queensland), this became his main focus. Later letters from
this correspondence were re-addressed to Moreton Bay, and from 1843
directly addressed to "Buaraba, Moreton Bay". After eight hard
years of business in Australia, W.E.Oliver returned to Scotland as
a rich man and never returned to Australia again. For more details
see: "The W.E.Oliver Correspondence 1841-1843, A tale of two
Scottish gentlemen in Australia", by Georg Stoermer, published in
Deutscher Altbrief Sammler Verein (DASV), June 2024, pg.100 – 111.
Reference: Listed in "Victorian Mixed Franking Covers" by Ray
Simpson & Karl Louis (2020), pg. 53, illustrated on pg. 36; it also
features in "The World's First Postage Stamp", by Alan Holyoake,
illustrated on pg. 118. Provenance: J.B. Seymour collection, Robson
Lowe 6 June 1951, lot 368; Maurice Burrus collection, Robson Lowe,
30 October 1963, lot 58; "DAISY" collection (Henry Grand),
Christies 8 October 1996, lot 277; M.A.Sayeed collection, Spink May
2002, lot 2232; Alan Holyoake collection 2012/2013