tps.org.au

Dear fellow members,

I have only recently started collecting Tasmanian stamps and I have a question about one of the stamps in my collection which was cancelled by the post office in Penguin.

On Wikipedia I read the following:

Sulphur Creek Post Office opened on 1 January 1867 and was replaced by the Penguin Creek office in 1868. The latter office was renamed Penguin in 1895.[3]

Does this mean that there were also "Sulphur Creek" cancellations in use in the period from 1867-1868? Then again, "Sulphur Creek" does not appear in the overview of known cancellations on your website. Could anyone shed some light on this? Or is Wikipedia mistaken?

Greetings from Up Above,

Emiel van Wezel, The Netherlands

Hi Emiel

thanks for your enquiry re the Penguin Creek and Sulphur Creek postmarks/offices.

The easiest way to answer your query is to provide the 'relevant bits' of John Hardinge's listings for both offices
CDS = circular datestamp
PME = postmaster's manuscript endorsement
U2, 1 and 1b = datestamp types

I hope this information is of assistance

regards - Ross Ewington (down under Downunder)

Dear Ross,

Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for! One question remains unanswered though. According to the information in this table, Sulphur Creek P.O. did not have its own date stamp for the period 1 Jan 1867 - 31 May 1868. So how did they postmark the stamps for the letters that were handled at this particular post office during this period?

Your help is much appreciated!

Kind regards,

Emiel

They would have pen-cancelled the mail (I don't know of any mail from this 'first period' of opening so I can't check)

regards ... Ross