Harris perforations on Chalons & Dragons

[bill]

On page 56 of Basset Hull's book (Chapter VI, The Perforated Postage and Revenue Stamps, 1864-1870),
we read of an offer by a Mr Robert Harris of Patterson St, Launceston, to perforate postage stamps for
the Government. This offer was made in May 1864 but it did not get anywhere. Walch & Sons showed
samples of their own perforations but nothing further was done at that time.

A brief examination of a map of Launceston indicates that Patterson St was an important street in the
CBD of Launceston, even in those days. Apparently, Harris was well known to the locals in the 1860s.
When Basset Hull wrote his draft in the late 1880s, no trace was to be found of Harris as we learn on
page 57 of the Basset Hull book.

Do any readers of this BB have any idea what became of Mr Harris or his business after the 1860s? He
had a perforating machine gauging around 12.75 as described in the notes on perforations (page 9) of
the Craig & Ingles catalogue (1978). Could it have been used on other kinds of labels later on?

[Jerry Weirich]

Bill
I have attached an obituary for a Robert Harris which I BELIEVE is the same individual. His absence from Tasmania is probably explained in the obit where it mentions he left Tasmania for about 15 years which apparently is around the years in question. The obit doesn't shed much light on his businesses in the 1860's but there are advertisements in the Cornwall Chronicle for him as the owner/editor of that newspaper. Hopefully this gives you some insight and a starting point for more research.
Jerry

Obit Robert Harris (NW Advocate&Emu Bay Times,4Jan1904,p2).png (286.12 KiB) Viewed 6187 times

[bill]

Jerry

This is an amazing discovery. Thank you for finding this obituary.

It remains to be seen whether this is the Robert Harris mentioned in Basset Hull's book.

A look in Trove (set up by the National Library of Australia in Canberra) indicates that
The Cornwall Chronicle ran in Launceston from 1835 to 1880 so this looks promising.

A possible reference for searching would be Walch's Almanac, held in the State Libraries of
most if not all States in Australia. The Almanac has entries on the larger towns like Hobart
and Launceston so we might find something useful under Launceston. It takes a little while
to retrieve relevant volumes from storage so the answer will not be immediate.

As a printer, Harris had a perforating machine that could be used to perforate various labels
as well as sheets of Chalons and Dragons in the late 1860s. (We can expect that much.) We
might wonder if the very first Parcel Tickets for use on parcels sent by rail as from 1886 may
have been perforated by such a machine as the 1d Parcels Ticket is recorded by Elsmore with
perf 12.5 (approximately) in The Courier, No. 56.

[bill]

Update on Harris

Jerry's guess is right on the mark. After a little correspondence, here's
an update on Harris.

Now that we know that Robert Harris sold The Cornwall Chronicle in 1880,
we may be sure that he moved to Burnie very shortly afterwards to start
the North-Western Advocate at Burnie (west of Devonport). The Examiner took
over The Cornwall Chronicle when Harris sold it.

No wonder that Basset Hull couldn't trace Robert Harris when he was compiling
the material for his book on Tasmanian stamps.

Bill

[Jerry Weirich]

I also did some additional research to further confirm the obituary as the Robert Harris referred to in the Basset Hull book (as well as enjoying the research). As Bill stated, the Robert Harris is indeed the same.

Robert Harris was a printer in Launceston in the early 1860's. In 1867, he started the Launceston Times and, in 1869, acquired the Cornwall Chronicle. He combined the two newspapers under the Cornwall Chronicle name until 1871 when he and his partner Thomas Just dissolved their partnership. Robert Harris kept the printing business and Thomas Just kept the newspapers. However, in January 1875, Harris declared bankruptcy. I was unable to find out exactly what happened to the printing business, but it appears that his old partner Thomas Just reacquired it. In March 1875, Harris auctioned off the contents of his house in Launceston and by April the family is in Victoria where Robert Harris starts the newspaper Colac Times. In June/July 1878, he sells the Colac Times and on 14 August 1878 they depart Melbourne aboard the Arawata for Bluff Harbour, New Zealand. I have not found when they return from NZ, but his obituary states that he spent three years there. Robert Harris is next seen in living in Richmond (Melbourne), Victoria. This is probably when he spent time on the staff of the Melbourne Argus. There are notices for a son being married in Richmond in December 1887 and his wife died in Richmond in September 1889. Harris returns to Tasmania in late 1889 or 1890. Later in 1890 he starts the North West Advocate. So, Robert Harris was outside Tasmania from early 1875 to late 1889/1890. Basset Hull book was published in 1890. This helps explain why Mr Hull couldn't find Mr Harris.

Meanwhile, back in Launceston, business is apparently not good for the Cornwell Chronicle and publication stopped in 1880. The last edition was on 30 August 1880. Thomas Just, in his new career as an auctioneer, auctioned off the Cornwall Chronicle and the printing business (the original Robert Harris business on Patterson Street) on 11 and 12 November 1880. The business section of the Launceston Examiner stated that the attendance at the auction was not large but did include buyers from Hobart and Melbourne. The Launceston Examiner acquired the newspaper plant. I have not found out what happened to the printing business, but it may have been acquired by the Launceston Examiner as well. The disposition of any perforators is unknown. The perforator(s) could have been acquired by the Launceston Examiner or by any of the other buyers at the auction. During this era, auctioneers often advertised auction contents in the newspapers. For the sale of the Cornwall Chronicle and the printing business, a separate catalogue was produced. Would be interesting if a perforator was listed in the catalog (but I'm confident I won't find that online!).

[bill]

Many thanks to Jerry for this latest post on Robert Harris.

Now we know that Harris wasn't even in Tasmania when Basset Hull was writing his book on Tasmania.
The bit on the Examiner acquiring the newspaper plant is interesting but we don't really know what
became of the perforator that Harris used to own.

It may be doubtful whether the Harris perforator (gauging 12.5 to 13, according to the Craig & Ingles listing)
was ever used to perforate the early printings of the Parcel Tickets issued from 1886. The 1d Parcel Ticket
is described as perf 12.5 (extremely rare) so it's barely possible with an old worn Harris perforator. These
early railway stamps had a very poor survival rate; even Basset Hull of Hobart in those days may not have
heard of these items emanating from Launceston and Formby (soon to be renamed as Devonport).

[See under heading of Railway Parcel Stamps for more information on Parcel Tickets and other kinds of
railway stamps if you want to know more. Also see Elsmore's website plus Craig & Ingles' catalogue.]

Now we have a reasonable idea of how things fared for Robert Harris after he dropped out of Basset Hull's
account where he wrote on the earliest perforations on Chalons (and Dragons too).