Handstamps and their Manufacturers

[David McNamee]

What does anyone know about the manufacture and distribution of Tasmanian handstamps after the locally produced first barred numeral obliterators of 1853? I am keen to know about the straight-line REGISTERED handstamp (ERD 1856) used at Hobart and Launceston and later Zeehan. Identical REGISTERED handstamps for Canada and British Consular Postal Agencies in Central and South America were manufactured in the UK by D.G. Berri & Company and distributed to these Colonial and Agency offices 1855-1870. Berri made a range of handstamps including c.d.s., double-arc and duplex datestamps. They favored the Gothic (sans-serif) font, and it is assumed that the similar fonts of "TOO-LATE", "NOT FOUND", etc are also Berri handstamps. Basset Hull on page 126 quotes a December 1853 order for the 1855 year that presumably was placed with Berri or through the GPO, London and supplied by Berri (though he does not confirm the supplier), and states further that the various handstamps were available for use in early 1855, and that proof strikes were recorded in the Hobart GPO Letter Book. Any scrap of information would be useful.

[John Hardinge]

David, I can tell you all about the CDS ordering and issuing in Tasmania prior to 1878, but not the instructional markings. Feel free to email me or send a PM (personal message) via the BB if you want any of this info.