PHSC Journal - Postal History Society of Canada (PHSC) · 4 • PHSC JOURNAL • Winter 2013 In This Issue … continued from page 3 Guide to Bar Precancels … 18 I have noted that

PHSC Journal

CANADA POST AGREEMENT NUMBER 40069611

Nº 152 ISSN 0714-8305 Winter 2013

Places PostmarksPeople

CELEBRATING OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR

$8.75 The only national journal totally dedicated to Canadian postal history

CANADA POST AGREEMENT NUMBER 40069611

Winter 2013 • PHSC JOURNAL • 3

In This IssueIn pulling together this page for this is-

sue, I was pleasantly surprised to note the number of people who contributed that are not regular participants. Was your name in that list? I know you must get tired of hear-ing me bring up this subject, but we really should all share our knowledge with each other.

Here’s a brief summary of the feature ar-ticles (other than favourite covers):

Civil Censorship “persons of Interest in Halifax July 1916 … Page 13

Brendan Boelke offers an interesting view of a pair of censored covers; each ap-pears to have been sent by a “person of in-terest,” perhaps an internee in Halifax … an interesting piece of World War I postal his-tory.

continued on next page

CONTENTS (Those items marked FC are favourite covers)Departments 5 Message from the President … Stéphane Cloutier 6 The Editor’s Word … Larry Goldberg 8 Secretary’s Report … Scott Traquair62 Coming Events63 Letters to the Editor66 New Post Offices in Canada … Doug Murray67 Webmaster’s Report … Rob Leigh68 P.O.D. Rules & Regulations … Gus Knierim69 Study Groups Report … Martin Schofield71 PHSC Books74 OfficersAdvertisers12 back2paul Stamps and Covers 9 British North America Study Circle (BNAPS)58 Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain (CPSGB) 7 Canadian Stamp News72 Classified Ads76 Hugo Deshaye (Philatelists) Inc.2,38-9 Eastern Auctions12 Jim Forte10 Greenwood Stamp Company11 Saskatoon Stamp Centre75 John Sheffield Philatelist Ltd. 5 Société d’Histoire Postale du Québec (SHPQ)12 Toronto’s First Office

Features13 Civil Censorship “Persons of Interest” in Halifax July 1916 Brendan Boelke16 Northern British Columbia Steamboat Mail (FC) David Piercey18 Guide to Bar Precancels24 Letter to Mr. Isaac C. Fowler (FC) David Oldfield26 Miramichi Farm Implement Co. (FC) Martin Schofield27 Postal History of the Sheep River Foothills, Alberta Dale Speirs40 Another Unsung Canadian: R.W. Brock Donald J. Ecobichon42 Unreported Post Offices of Saskatchewan Revisited Dean Mario46 The Quebec Campaign of 1759 (FC) Graham Henry Neale48 Oakwood Postmaster Dies at 103 Ross Irwin 50 My Maplewood: Personal and Postal Histories Robert Stock59 In Memoriam: Richard Millard Lamb 1923-2013 Gray Scrimgeour61 In Memoriam: James Ernest (Ernie) Nix 1920-2013

4 • PHSC JOURNAL • Winter 2013

In This Issue … continued from page 3

Guide to Bar Precancels … 18I have noted that we talk about all

sorts of postal markings, but rarely do we include precancels. This article (or perhaps display) is a guide to the various types of bar precancels, perhaps the most difficult precancel type to identify.

Postal History of the Sheep River Foothills, Alberta … 27

Dale Speirs favours us with another excellent view of the postal history of an Alberta post office.

Another Unsung Canadian: R.W. Brock… 40

Here is a natural complement to Don-ald Ecobichon’s article on Robert Bell that appeared issue number 148 of this journal. This article discusses R.W. Brock, a contem-porary of Bell’s whose view of the function of the Geological Survey of Canada dif-fered from Bell’s.

Unreported Post Offices of Saskatche-wan Revisited … 42

Dean Mario, with the help of several members who contributed information, offers an update of the list that appeared in issue 151.

Oakwood Postmaster Dies At Age 103 … 48

Ross Irwin takes brief but very interest-ing look at John Flynn Cunnings who was probably the oldest postmaster in the Brit-ish Empire.

My Maplewood … 50If the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon,

Shakespeare and Proust had not used the phrase first, Robert Stock could have quite aptly named his article “A Remembrance of Things Past.” That’s what it is … a very skilled blending of his hometown, its post-al history and his own personal memories of Richard Lamb and his wife and the im-pact they had on a young Bob Stock and his interests in postal history and his life in general.

In Memoriam: Richard Millard Lamb 1923-2013 … 59

Gray Scrimgeour has favoured us with his personal remembrance of Dick Lamb in a combination obituary and tribute.

In Memoriam: James Ernest (Ernie) Nix(1920-2013)

An obituary for member Ernie Nix who was called home to the Lord in January 2013.

We all have probably lost someone who was near to them thus knowing the sorrow of personal loss. Knowing how it feels to have lost a family member or close friend, enables us to relate to how Dick’s and Ernie’s families must feel.

We also offer our condolences to the family of Robert Traquair who also passed away recently. Robert is the father of our secretary-treasurer Scott Traquair.

To the Lamb, Nix and Traquair families, please know that we share your sorrow. e


Message from the PresidentStéphane Cloutier

This winter season is slowly coming to an end, and I am looking forward to ORAPEX in May, where we will have our Annual Gen-eral Meeting on May 4th at 1pm. Our guest speaker this year will be Michael Powell who

will give a talk titled “World War II Prison-er of War Camps in Canada”. Immediately following will be a talk by David Hobden titled “Mails of the War of 1812”. A most interesting and informative Saturday af-ternoon!

You will notice in this issue’s Secre-tary’s Report that we have sadly lost 24 members due to non-payment of dues. These members were all contacted at least three times, both by regular mail and email, and never replied to our requests. Please have a look at this list of names, and if you know any of these people why

not ask them if they wouldn’t reconsider re-joining?

This upcoming year I would like to give a push on our online postmark data-bases. This is one of our greatest assets and we have many plans to make them grow. We will also be working on making the data easier to access, hopefully to reach new users, and are now looking at differ-ent scenarios. If you know anyone who has postmark databases or lists from any county or province, why not ask them to contact us? Sharing and publishing post-mark information through our databases is easy and we do all the work needed to convert files. Do you have a postmark that is not in our databases? Let us know - we need our members’ input and support! As I have said before, our aim or ultimate goal is to have all Canadian and BNA postmark information in one place on our website, and this can only be possible with your help. e

La Société d’Histoire Postale du Québec(Quebec Postal History Society)

invites applications for membership

The SHPQ publishes an award-winning quarterly journal in French.Christiane Faucher265 du Chalutier, #306, Québec, QC G1K 8R3phone (418) 524-2042e-mail: [email protected]


The Editor’s WordLarry Goldberg

About This Issue/New Procedures

This is our first is-sue of the new year, and I find that I am faced with the task of cleaning up last year. By “cleaning up,” I do not mean that there is dirt and garbage of

which we must dispose; I am referring to quality material written by our members that, for one reason or another, has been sitting in a file on my desk.

I must admit that in the past I relied heavily on an assistant who kept me or-ganized. Now, I am faced with teaching an old dog new tricks (the old dog being me). So, from now on, I will keep a log of materials. I will date their receipt and acknowledge same. When you send me articles and letters, please send me your email address so I can tell you that I have received what you sent. Of course, if you do not have email, we will resort to snail mail. If you have emailed material to me, please rattle my cage if you haven’t heard from me within 48 hours; if you have sent material via snail mail, follow up if you haven’t heard from me within ten days to two weeks.

Future Issues – Issue 153Kevin O’Reilly recently wrote me and

reminded me that 2013 is the centennial of the Canadian Polar Expedition. Ac-

cordingly, it would be a great topic for is-sue 153. After some consideration, it has been decided that there have been a lot of Canadian Arctic expeditions in the last hundred years that have been of signifi-cance from a postal history perspective. So, we will devote the next issue to the last hundred years of this subject. We will need material by May 15th 2013.

Future Issues–Issue 154Some time ago, Doug Lingard dropped

me a note and suggested that we make fa-vourite covers an annual event. Having thought it over and talked to members of the editorial committee and others, the consensus is that we should do that. So, our last issue of the year will be our first annual favourite covers issue. Issue 154 is scheduled to mail by 30 September so get material to me no later than 31 July 2013. Realistically, I can only use around 25 to 30 covers. If you send me a cover and it cannot be used in issue 154, do not despair. It will definitely appear in a fu-ture issue. e

Remember: no one person can make an issue of our Journal great.

None of us is as good as all of us.

e


Help Yourself.It’s your PHSC Journal and you hold the key to whether or not you find quality content in every issue.Help make our next issue (#153) celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Canadian Polar Expedition an exceptional one. Send your articles and your favourite covers to editor@

postalhistorycanada.net or via snail mail (see address on page 74). Deadline for issue #153 is May 15th, 2013.


Secretary’s ReportScott Traquair

Thank you to all those members who recently renewed their membership and es-pecially to those who actually renewed early! As you are reading this please consider doing the same. It’s a simple procedure via PayPal

and by renewing early you are set for an-other year or more at our current member-ship rates. Sadly you will see that we have lost 24 members who chose not to renew. While they will not see their names in this report, if you know them, I would ask that you encourage them to re-join the society.

New Applicants

The Membership Committee has ap-proved the following applications for membership in the Society, and unless the Secretary receives valid objections in writ-ing within sixty (60) days of the publica-tion date of this issue, membership will be granted to the persons listed below in accordance with the constitution, a copy of which is available from the Secretary. If correspondence with the applicant is de-sired, sealed correspondence may be sent under cover to the Secretary, who will for-ward it, provided the applicable Canadian postage is included. Members are encour-aged to send changes of address or chang-es in e-mail address, to the Secretary.

1526 John Wiens

1527 Mike Ellingson

1528 Randy Evans

1529 Robert Timberg

1530 Raymond Rolfe

1531 William Kunkel

1532 Jeff Curtis

Returning Members

1118 Gregoire Teyssier

New Members

The 8 applicants published in Journal #151 have been admitted to full member-ship status, having met all admission re-quirements.

Moved – Address Unknown

1084 Bruce Nesbitt (Ottawa, ON?)

Deceased:

57 Robert Traquair

127 Richard Lamb

957 James Nix



Dropped for Non-Payment of Dues:

263 Edmund A. Harris770 Donald A. Ure1024 P. Charles Livermore1033 Charles Verge1154 Thomas Watkins1157 Ian D. Freeman1182 Susan M. Sheffield1298 Harold B. Gordon1303 Robin W. Day1311 Robert Zsadanyi1347 Robert K. Lane1383 T. Douglas McKee

1413 Stephen Werner1423 Reginald Sinclair1444 Karl Siemens1463 Ivan Robichaud1467 Ron Sinclair1470 Gordon Eubanks1472 Mike Conroy1477 Steven Mulvey1488 Jamie Toeppner1490 Joseph Angelucci1502 Trevor Nieforth1505 Justin Bur


R. F. Narbonne, OTB, FRPSCTelephone: 1-613-257-5453

or toll-free 1-800-247-5619 (Canada only)

GREENWOOD STAMP COMPANY136 Morphy Street

Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada K7C 2B4n Our Golden Anniversary Year n

Celebrating 50 years of service to philately

WE CAN SELL YOURCANADIAN OR FOREIGN

COVER COLLECTIONS,STAMP COLLECTIONS

& ACCUMULATIONSON CONSIGNMENT

FOR THE NOMINAL FEE OF 10 %NO COLLECTION TOO SMALL CASH ADVANCE AVAILABLE

Please enquire before forwarding material.

nnn

WE SELL POSTAL HISTORY



back2paul Stamps and Covers

Interesting Canadian stamps and postal history at

http://stores.ebay.ca/back2paul-Stamps-and-Covers

Large and clear scans of all items front and back.Member of BNAPS (#R6543) and PHSC (#1438).

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS;THEY SUPPORT US!


Civil Censorship “Persons of Interest” in Halifax,

July 1916Brendan Boelke

Civil Censorship during World War I in Canada was limited compared to oth-er combatant nations. There are three generally recognized periods of “Neutral Censorship” during the war – April 8th through April 18th 1916, the second a year later, dating from April 1st through April 5th of 1917. The third period lasted from June 1917 into 19191. By the time of

the third period, the United States was no longer neutral, and items from this period are not seen as often.

A few years ago I purchased a cover (shown below), mailed July 25th on sta-tionery from The Queen Hotel addressed to a recipient in Worcester, Massachusetts. The cover was opened, censored, and re-sealed with a Type II label2.


Civil Censorship (continued)

The cover is sadly without contents. At the time I obtained this cover, I con-tacted a number of knowledgeable collec-tors (most, if not all, members of this or-ganization) and solicited their thoughts. The overall opinion of the cover was that it had been sent by a “Person of Interest”, possibly someone interned by authorities. Although unlikely, it was also pointed out that the recipient could have been the person of interest (the last name, Kleteart, could possibly be German in origin). The cover was also recognized as a good indi-cation that Civil Censorship was not lim-ited to the dates as defined in Steinhart’s work, as many had suspected.

A recent purchase has resulted in my finding another example of July 1916 censorship in Halifax. This new cover (see facing page) was mailed on July 24th, 1916 to the Iver Johnson Arms & Cycle Works, in Fitchburg Massachusetts. This is a common recipient of censored covers in both 1916 and 1917 (in addition to the cover shown here, my collection contains seven additional examples sent to this re-cipient). This envelope was also resealed with a Type II label.

I believe this cover supports the “Per-son of Interest” supposition of the sender being a resident or internee in Halifax. Given the apparent quantity of mail sent


to this firm, I strongly doubt the suspect-ed party would have been them.

This cover is also clearly from a dif-ferent correspondent than the original, as can easily be seen by comparing the hand-writing. Unfortunately, there is even less indication of the sender than on the first cover.

Although two covers cannot prove anything definitively, the uncovering of the second item certainly strengthens the “Persons of Interest” theory.

To quote an email from one of the cor-respondents pertaining to the first cover “Nevertheless,proof once again that WWI

provides endless intrigue and fascina-tion.”

Anyone interested in seeing more ex-amples of Canadian Civil Censorship dur-ing World War I (1916 – 1919) can visit http://www.bebstuff.com/stamps/Collec-tion.php.

References 1. Steinhart, A. L. (1986). Civil Censorship In Canada During World War I. Toronto: The Unitrade Press.2. Ibid e


Northern British Columbia Steamboat Mail

A Favourite Cover of David Piercey

Way mail from the Skeena River in Northern British Columbia is uncom-mon. The steamer Northwest, operated by the Northwest Transportation Com-pany, was one of the sternwheelers which operated on the Skeena in the early 1900s prior to and during con-struction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway between Prince Rupert and Ha-zelton, the furthest point of navigation upriver.

This card (see facing page) entered the postal system on August 23, 1907 at Port Essington, BC, near the mouth of the Skeena River. Mailed on August 14, 1907 at “Mainskenesht” (Minskin-ish), an Aboriginal settlement across the river from present day Cedarvale (P.O.

established 1910), it was carried by the Northwest as way mail downriver to the nearest post office, for onward transit by coastal steamship to Vancouver.

The card was mailed by a missionary at Minskinish. In the written message it states: “Now I am going up the coast to my new sphere to teach and work in an Indian village. Shall board with the Vicar. Shall be shut off for 8 months, no navigation until May.”

According to Topping (2010 – Cata-logue of Western Canadian Ship Way Letter Cancellations) this is the only recorded copy of this ship marking. The North-west apparently wrecked on the Skeena River in September 1907, and was not recommissioned. e


Why not show your favourite cover?

Our next favourite cover issue is #154.Absolute deadline is 31 July 2013.

Covers will be included on afirst-come-first-served basis.

Those not included in issue #154will be included in later issues

on a space-available basis.


Guide to Bar PrecancelsEditor’s Note: It is difficult to attribute authorship of the material in this article. It originally appeared in 2001 as the re-sult of a group efforts by the now-defunct Precancel Study Group of BNAPS. The content has been re-arranged from the

original 4-page brochure published in 2001 and titled A Guide to Bar Precancels and included here with the permission of the British North America Philatelic Society. LG

Most collectors of precancels will probably agree that the most difficult pre-cancel to categorize is the bar precancel.

Lacking town names of a given sort and numeric identification, the collector is reduced to staring at lines of various types and sizes.

While catalogs and handbooks on precancels show line drawings and small black-and-white photos, no source offers a large, easy-to-read and use image.

We have also found that from time to time there are differences in opinion as to which type is which.

Members of the study group sub-mitted scans of the various cancel types from their own collections and the results shown here represent a consensus.

As a consequence of our study, we have developed this guide. The images are all 150% of normal size. if you want to measure something, do so and multiply by 0.67.

Credit goes to the late Hans Reiche and the founding chair of the study group,

Andy Ellwood, for their help in compiling the group of examples we have used here. Editing, design and production was done by Larry Goldberg, then Editor of Precan-cels Canada, the study group’s newsletter.

It should be noted that there are two varieties of Type A. The bars of Type A (shown on page 17) are 3.25mm thick and 10.0mm apart, center to center, while those of the other variety of Type A are approximately 1.8-2.0mm thick and only 5mm apart.

Again, we would like to caution you that there are variations and a compre-hensive reference work should be used in conjunction with this chart.

RESOURCES

Kraemer, J.E., Reiche, H., Walburn, H.G. ed. The Standard Canada Precancel Catalogue 2000. 4th ed. Toronto: Unitrade, 1999.

Walburn, H.G. et al. ed. The Canada Precancel Handbook. Toronto: Unitrade, 1988.


TYPE A TYPE B TYPE C

TYPE D


TYPE E TYPE F

TYPE G TYPE H TYPE I


Guide to Bar Precancels (continued)

TYPE J TYPE K TYPE L

TYPE M TYPE N

TYPE R 10.5 TYPE R 12.5



TYPE T 7.0

TYPE T 7.0 TYPE T 10.5 TYPE T 15.0

TYPE U 5.0 TYPE U 8.0



TYPE U 5.0 TYPE U 8.0

TYPE W TYPE X1 TYPE X2

TYPE Y


A Distinctive Machine CancelA Favourite Cover of Rob Leigh

In early February of 1902, a new post-al marking machine was delivered to To-ronto. Manufactured by the Internation-al Postal Supply Company, it was trialed on February 4th, and put into service on February 5th.

The dater hub that was used at first was distinctive, having just “TORONTO” at the top and “1902” on the bottom. This dater hub was used with a wavy-line obliterator for only about a week. It was also used alone as a receiving mark

throughout the year, beginning on the evening of February 5th.

A second dated hub was soon intro-duced reading “TORONTO, CANADA” across the top, and is much more com-mon. The cover shown below is unusual and possibly unique: the first dater hub was used with a wavy-line obliterator but without the date or time, as appropriate to (unsealed) third class mail, presumably during the February 5-12 period. e


Letter to Mr. Isaac C. FowlerA Favourite Cover of David Oldfield

In 1852, the Eastern Tennessee com-munity of Bristol was established on the plantation of the Reverend James King, straddling the Virginia state line. The Bristol post office opened its doors on November 5 the following year. At just about the same time, the town of Good-son was established on the Virginia side of the line, and the two communities grew together as one.

After the Civil War many families moved to the area seeking new lives. Mr. Isaac Chapman Fowler was one of those good people. Fowler was born at Tazewell, Virginia on September 23, 1831. He was educated at Emory and Henry College. After his arrival in Bristol, he erected a house, finishing it in 1868. It still stands today – perhaps the oldest extant home in the community.

On August 7, 1868, I. C. purchased the Bristol News. He used that platform to encourage growth and investment in the area. I. C. Fowler eventually became

known as a “one-man Chamber of Com-merce.” Throughout the days of the Re-construction, his newspaper carried arti-cles proclaiming the town’s potential and marking the arrival of various businesses and families. Today, students can scan its pages as though it was an historical jour-nal of the area’s growth and development.

Using his public position, I. C. be-came mayor of Goodson in 1871. Follow-ing that, from 1875 to 1881, he was a member of the House of Delegates in the General Assembly of Virginia, and then he was elected Speaker of the House of Del-egates.

This mysterious cover (see facing page), sent from Montreal to Bristol just before Fowler purchased his newspaper, carries a Scott #17 (Prince Albert) which was the proper cross-border postage for 1868 – just three years after the Civil War. Another interesting feature is its early use of the Berri duplex cancel. e



I like the cover for its simplicity in design, for a farm implement dealer. The Miramichi Farm Implement Co. was in Tra-cadie New Brunswick, Canada, located on the north shore, near the mouth of the Mi-ramichi River. As can be seen in the letter-head the farm implement dealer also sold carriages, sewing machines and organs. The cover had to be sent by some means,

Miramichi Farm Implement Co.A Favourite Cover of Martin Schofield

to Chatham from Tracadie, a distance of approximately 85 km, to be forwarded by mail to Moncton NB. The distance from Chatham to Moncton is approximately 130 km. The envelope has a circular date stamp Chatham, N.B. AP 9, 06. The cover has a Moncton N.B receiving circular date-stamp dated AM AP 10 06. e


Postal History of the Sheep River Foothills,

Albertaby Dale Speirs


Introduction.The Sheep River rises in the eastern

Rockies and foothills southwest of Calgary, and flows east through Okotoks before eventually emptying into the Highwood River southeast of Calgary. The river’s name refers to the Rocky Mountain sheep native to the area, not the domestic spe-cies. The area between Okotoks and the mountains was colonized by homestead-ers in the last two decades of the 1800s. Figure 1 shows a 1914 topographical map of the area, with one modification by me, the addition of the hamlet of Hartell, which wasn’t founded until 1930. Postal service was relatively late coming to the area, and with the exception of Lineham, the homesteaders had to rely on mail cou-riers for service from Okotoks, a day’s ride to the east.

The aboriginal tribes and homestead-ers were aware of numerous oil and nat-ural gas seeps in the area, but it wasn’t until early 1914 that the first wells were drilled. That oil boom was cut off a few months later by World War One, but re-vived between the two wars. The fields declined quickly and by 1947 the indus-try in that area was moribund. Some oil and gas production still exists and pump-jacks are a common sight, but the Sheep

River district now depends on farming and tourism. The major settlements are the twin municipalities of Turner Valley and Black Diamond, both on the banks of the Sheep River only three kilometres

Figure 1: 1914 Topographical Map


apart but kept geographically distinct by a ridge that extends down from the north to the river and separates them (Figure 2). Both are within an hour’s commute of Calgary, and many residents live here and commute to the big city. Acreages have spread throughout the area, dissect-ing the original cattle ranches.

Lineham.Lineham was the first post office in

the area, just southwest of where the town of Turner Valley is now. It was named after prominent local citizen John Line-

Sheep River Foothills … continued

Figure 2. Detailed map of area showing location of ridge separating the municipaliiesof Turner Valley and Black Diamond

ham, who came from one of the found-ing families of the Okotoks area and who owned properties in the foothills. He was the first legislator from the area, sitting in the Northwest Territories legislature at Re-gina, and was one of those pioneers who went everywhere and did everything.1

Ironically, Lineham was never a postmas-ter in the village named after him, but he was the only postmaster of Oil City, Wa-terton National Park, which he founded in 1905 and which died a couple of years later when the oil wells ran dry.

The first postmaster of Lineham was Harold Grunner, who opened the post of-


fice on February 1, 1895 but only stayed a couple of months (Figure 3). His place was taken over by Harry Denning Sr on 1895-07-01, who was postmaster until his death on A[ril 3, 1924. Denning op-erated the post office out of his ranch house.2 Harry Bescoby was the mail cou-rier who operated a stage coach between Okotoks and various points in the Sheep River drainage area, and brought the mail to Lineham. He was occasionally relieved by a third Harry, Denning’s son, known as Young Harry, who operated pack horse trains. Bescoby didn’t have an easy time of it, especially in an era when bridges were rare. On one occasion as he was crossing the Sheep River in flood, the wagon box floated loose from its chassis and he and the mail parted company with the horse team. The horses, habituated to

Figure 3. Proof of Lineham cancel

the usual route, kept going, scrambled up on to riverbank, and trotted off on their way while Bescoby floated downstream. He eventually managed to catch some branches overhanging into the river and pulled himself ashore. It was a long walk back upriver to civilization.

The senior Denning’s widow Emily became postmaster after his death until she resigned a couple of years later on June 13, 1926. The post office was tempo-rarily closed and since nearby Turner Val-ley opened its post office the same year, the Canadian Post Office was not inclined to keep it going. The Lineham residents got up a petition and managed to get the Lineham post office re-opened on April 15, 1927, with Harry M. Taylor as postmaster. (Harry #4 if you’re keeping track.) He was a retired forest ranger who had been pick-ing up the mail from Black Diamond and bringing it to Lineham. The revived post office was in his house a few kilometres south of the old one. He would stop along the way at Young Harry’s house, sort the mail with him, and leave a batch for the residents there.

What eventually killed the Lineham post office was the construction of a bridge across the Sheep River nearby, es-sentially making Lineham a suburb of Turner Valley and removing any need for a separate post office. It closed for good on April 30, 1931, helped off by the Great Depression. Today the area is rural acre-ages and small farms. Figure 4 on the next page is a photo taken in September 2011, looking northeast across where Lineham used to be, to the town of Turner Valley, seen spread out at the mouth of the valley


from which it takes its name. The Sheep River is hidden from view at this angle.

Black Diamond.

The town of Black Diamond got its name from the abundance of coal in the area. It was settled by homesteaders in the late 1800s and in 1907 opened its post office in the Arnold Brothers general store. Black Diamond is on the east side


Figure 4. Photo taken in September 2011, looking northeast across where Lineham used to be

of a ridge, the west side of which is Turner Valley, and is slightly larger than its twin, with about 2,400 people circa 2011. In 1949, the town site was almost completely destroyed by fire. Because of the collapse of the oil boom earlier, there were numer-ous abandoned buildings in the surround-ing countryside, which were moved into town to speed up re-building. Figure 5 shows a 2011 view looking northwest to-


wards Black Diamond; Turner Valley is on the far side of the ridge.

Prior to the opening of the post of-fice, mail was brought out from Okotoks to the Lineham post office, but along the way some of it was dropped off at an unof-ficial ranch house post office at the home of Steve and Frank Kaiser. The Black Dia-mond post office officially opened in the general store of the Arnold brothers, with

Figure 5. 2011 view looking northwest towards Black Diamond

Herbert as postmaster, on July 1, 1907. He held the position until July 15, 1914. In 1912, the Arnold brothers bought the Kai-ser house and attached it to their store, us-ing it exclusively as the post office. A.J. (Jack) Twist bought the store and post of-fice in 1914, taking over where Herbert Ar-nold left off, but only stayed six months. He sold out to Frank Starley, who assumed the postmastership on July 31, 1915 and


stayed until February 19, 1920. The store then went through a series of

owners and postmasters after that, chang-ing hands every year or two. It wasn’t until Eva Marie Ross took over on July 25, 1929 that there was any semblance of continu-ity. She stayed until her retirement on Au-gust 27, 1942. After her, there again was a regular turnover of postmasters, during which time the post office was separated from the store and moved into its own building. Figures 6 and 7 (below) show two postmarks, which are still in use as of


2011. Figure 8 shows the late Betty Speirs (the author’s mother) standing in front of the old post office in 1989. There is also a white sign hanging from the eaves; Fig-ure 9 is a close-up. This appears to be the original post office sign from back when. The words “Post Office” have almost com-pletely worn away but the black diamond is still there. The town has prospered with Calgary commuters and tourism, and the post office later moved into a strip mall on the main drag, where it occupies a large space (Figure 10).

Figures 6 (top) & 7 (bottom) showing Black Diamond postmarks in use in 2011

Figure 8. The late Betty Speirs (the author’s mother) in front of old Black Diamond

Post Office (1989)


Left: Figure 9. The original old post office sign.

Below: The new post office in a strip mall on the main drag



Turner Valley.

The Scottish brothers James and Rob-ert Turner were not the first homestead-ers in a valley running south from the foothills to the Sheep River, but they had cattle grazing over so much of it that lo-cals began referring to it as Turner’s Valley. When the oil boom began, a town grew up at a convenient river ford, known to-day as Turner Valley, with a population of about 2,100 people circa 2011. It was un-usual in one respect in that its main street only had buildings on one side because the other side was taken up by active oil wells.

The post office was quite late in open-ing, not until June 1, 1926, when Thomas Fowler became the first postmaster. He and his wife Mabel had emigrated from England in 1911 and initially settled in Calgary, where he worked as a clerk in the post office. They eventually went into business for themselves with a gen-eral store in Turner Valley and would pick up the mail for others from nearby Black Diamond, which led to them adding the post office. Prior to the Fowlers, residents got their mail from a courier, Amos Cam-eron, at the Lineham post office.1 When the Turner Valley post office opened, the Canadian Post Office wanted Cameron to add the extra mileage onto his route with no increase in pay. Because there was no bridge between the two post offices at the time, this meant that Cameron would have to double back to Black Diamond and cross the river there. This he refused to do and he quit the job in a huff. The Figures 11-13 (top to bottom) in use in 2011


succession of postmasters, but some of them were Isabel Lariviere, Elizabeth Gor-don, and Brenda Gordon. Sometime dur-ing this succession the post office moved into its own building. It is still using the old CDS hammer as of 2011, but also has some other postmarks (Figures 11 to 13). It has been in the same building since at least the 1980s; a 2011 view is shown in Figure 14. Like Black Diamond, the town is prospering, and good paved roads ev-erywhere have attracted Calgary com-muters. Turner Valley has the only road entrance into Sheep River Provincial Park, and is crowded on summer weekends with tourists.

routes were then rearranged with a new courier, but it meant that Lineham’s time was coming soon.

Fowler was postmaster from 1926 un-til June 3, 1942 when he sold the store. Miss Dorothy Hill took over as acting post-master until William Whilton Lowery be-came permanent postmaster on March 18, 1943. He died on July 18, 1954, and was succeeded by Mrs. Elizabeth Irene Mason, who stayed until her retirement on March 31, 1968. William Roderick Cameron, no relation to Amos, took over April 1, 1968. He was followed by Allan Armstrong who took over on August 23, 1977.

I don’t have dates for the subsequent

Figure 14. 2011 view of the Turner Valley Post Office


Hartell.Hartell is exactly six sections south of

Black Diamond, that is, six miles. Prior to the post office opening, residents had to go to Black Diamond to pick up their mail. It is named after the original home-steader F.J. Hartell, who, during the 1920s oil boom, offered a free lot to anyone who would establish a general store and post office on it. Edward Alexander Thompson agreed to do so, opening the post office on January 14, 1930 and running it until July 12, 1933. Figure 15 shows the proof strike of the CDS postmark. The store was a one-room building at the time. Thomp-son was a bachelor who had his bed in one corner of the store. All the mail was general delivery, so he used to dump it in a pile and residents would sort through it for their letters. John Leslie Ancock took over until February 22, 1938, then Edward William Caspell until September 6, 1946.

At its peak, Hartell had about twenty houses, a refinery, and a half-dozen busi-nesses, plus a nearby oil field camp. With the oil and natural gas dwindling rapidly in the post-WW2 period, it began its ter-minal decline. In January 1944, during a winter without snow, a fire got started from the refinery and burned through half the hamlet. The general store/post office was spared but those who were burned out didn’t bother rebuilding and moved away. There were five store own-ers/postmasters in the next few years until Harold Bevis Moon bought the store and became postmaster on April 1, 1941, pre-siding until his death on May 28, 1966. On December 18, 1958, a gasoline tank-


er semi-trailer that had just picked up a load from the refinery spun out on the icy road and plowed into the store/post of-fice. The truck smashed through the wall hard enough that the truck driver was se-verely injured. The front wall was stove in and considerable fuel leaked into the building. Nearby construction workers were brought in and the building quickly repaired. In 1960, the refinery closed and thus removed the last major employer in the area. The post office then only served local farmers and it was amazing that it still managed to survive another decade as Hartell faded away.

Moon’s widow Mildred was the last postmaster and store operator, staying until the post office was closed on March 16, 1970, when it was replaced by cluster boxes as part of rural mail delivery.1 Har-tell today is but a five-minute drive on a paved highway from Black Diamond. The general store/post office is now a private residence with green cluster boxes in front of it, seen in Figure 16. There are no traf-fic signs out on the highway indicating Hartell’s existence but there is a small in-

Figure 15: Proof of Hartell cds


conspicuous sign on the building itself.

References.

1. Harris, J.M., ed. In the Light of the Flares: History of Turner Valley Oilfields. Turner Valley: Sheep River Historical Society, 1979. 4, 9, 78-79, 103,111-112, 114, 201-

Figure 16: Site of former post office in Hartell. Note cluster boxes at right.

202, 418-419.2. Library and Archives Canada, www.col-lectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/post-offic-es, Post offices and postmasters (down-loaded August 6, 2011). e


Another Unsung Canadian:R.W. Brock

Donald J. Ecobichon

What started out as an auction ac-quisition of a post card from the Geo-logical Survey of Canada (GSC) with a 1912 Ottawa Government Post Office “Free” keyhole date stamp (Figure 1) ex-panded into something else when I saw the signature, R.W. Brock.1

Reginald Walter Brock (Figure 2) be-gan his studies at the University of To-ronto (1891-1892) but went into the field until 1894, working through 1891-1895 with Willett G. Miller (of Cobalt fame)2 and Robert Bell3 along the northern shore of Lake Huron and in the Sudbury area. In 1894, he entered the new school of min-ing opened by Willett Miller at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, graduat-ing with an M.A. in 1895. From 1895 to 1896, he studied at Heidelberg, returning in 1896 to work on his own in the Abitibi– Mistassani Lakes region. He lectured in mineralogy at Queen’s University (1896-1897) and spent considerable time in the Kootenay region looking for coal depos-its and working with the mining region there. He joined the GSC but returned to Queen’s University (1902-1906) as profes-sor of geology and petrology, succeeding Willett G. Miller who had become the Pro-vincial Geologist for the Ontario Bureu of Mines. Under Brock’s guidance, Queen’s University became a leading centre for geological studies.

Brock and Dr. Bell (Acting Director) did not see eye to eye on the role of the GSC. Bell believed the role of the survey was to carry out the fieldwork, draw the maps, write the reports and make these available to the mining industry. Brock believed the GSC should interact directly with industry, assisting in any way pos-sible (see post card), a view held by the Laurier government of the day. Brock was appointed Director of the GSC in 1907. In 1908 and 1909 respectively, trips to the Kootenays and the Yukon accompa-nied by the Minister of Mines, W. Temple-man (a B.C. member of Parliament) and a 1910 trip to Hudson Bay with the Gov-ernor General, Earl Grey, reinforced the “new attitude” into a mantra for the GSC. Brock remained as Director when the GSC was amalgamated into the Department of Mines, becoming the Deputy Minister of Mines in 1914.

Ever the teacher, Brock had encour-aged a fledgling programme in applied science at the University of British Co-lumbia (UBC), resigning as the Federal Deputy Minister late in 1914 to become the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science (UBC). He was active in WWI, organizing the 196th (Western Universities) Battalion which served in Europe. He was killed in an airplane crash in 1935. e


References:1. Morris Zaslow. Reading the Rocks. The story of the Geological Suvey of Canada 1842-1972. Toronto: Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd. 1975,2. Donald J. Ecobichon. “Silver in Cobalt, Ontario and Early Postal History.” PHSC Journal 134, 3-9, 2008.3. Donald J. Ecobichon. “An Unsung Hero–Robert Bell” PHSC Journal 148, 10-13, 2012.

Figure 1. (above) A postcard from R.W. Brock of the GSC to Truro, N.S. in response to request for books. Postmark is a government “FREE” keyhole hammer dated JAN 23, 1912.Figure 2. (below) Reginald Walter Brock of the GSC, 1907-1914.1


Unreported Post Offices of Saskatchewan Revisited

Dean MarioEditor’s Note: We have received a number of additions and changes since this list appeared in the last issue. Those offices that have been reported have been marked with a bullet (•). Additions and corrections have been indicated by showing the name in bold type.

Thanks to Stephen Scriver, Joe Smith, H. Voss and someone who wished to remain anonymous for his or her input.

BukowinaBunkerBunyanBurnsideBurradon

CactusCaesarvilleCalvintonCamholtCarissCarrolltonCarvaleCastle CoombCedar LakeCeepeeChromarChurcaneClaptonClaysiteConflictConiferConnell CornersCoulee ViewCouncilCouteauCowper

CraigieCraylandCree HillCrocusCrocusvaleCroftdaleCrooked LakeCrowesfordCrowtherviewCroydeCrystal LakeCrystal SpringCubittCypress Hills

DalzellDeer Valley• DerrickDimmockDiovaDneisterDonjeanDorrellDreamwoldDrumagueDrumboyDrummond Creek

DuftonDunleath StationDupuis

Ear HillEasterleaEbenezer ValleyEdelaneEdenlandEden Valley (2)EdmundElmarthaElsasEquityEyebrow Station

FairdaleFairmuir• FartownFernviewFlacksFordForgrayFort ComfortFossemourFountainFriesen

AkraAlfordAlhambraAlstonAnnetteArchieArmorinAxford

Battle ValleyBauvalBear StreamBeaver HouseBeaver PlainsBeckettBell CampBeresinaBisonBoakviewBondBonneauvilleBonningtonBotanyBotwrigBradaBrandenburgBrocking


Frobyshire

• GallonGlen LoneyGlenwellGlenwherryGolburn ValleyGolden AcreGoldenvale (1)Gowland LakeGowrieGrand RapidsGravesboroughGravesendGraydahlGreenbushGreystonesGuestwickGully

HallidayHamonaHanson (2)Happy ValleyHare HillsHarrislandHaverhillHessledaleHilcrestHillthorpeHoathHolarHome• Hoosier ValleyHopehillHorse Butte

IdaleenIdylwild

InterlakeKelsoniaKelstern (1)KenaschukKensmithKessock (1)KievilleKitchimanitouKolinKramerKronau (1)Kvitka

Lac ChapleauLac la Plonge• Ladder ValleyLake CentreLamontLandestrewLandscapeLangevin• LawlerLawrieLehmanLobethalLone Spruce (1)Long CreekLongnor• LorimervilleLothianLowetonLundeenLyle

McCarterMcGuire• Macnabb ParkMcNaughtonMcOuan

ManresaMarkellMarthetonMarneMasonvilleMayview (1)Meadow BankMedonaMeeks SidingMiddleton HillMilburnMillerMimerMistatim StationMoirvaleMoraMountainsideMullranyMulvihill

Narrow LakeNatikaNaultNeasdenNegusville• NeuheimNewbankNew HoffnungNew Holstein• New HomeNew UffordNordenNorrishvilleNummolaOldburyOlsonOmegaOrpingtonOtterton

ParkfieldPasture Hills• Pearl ParkPechetPengamPengePepperPetit NordPine CouleePinwherryPioneerPoint View• PolsonPollockshawsPoplar ValleyPortage la LochePowerminePrairie BellPrestfoss

Quinnox

RadougaRangeviewRastadRaven LakeReell DanaReihnReynoldtonRich PrairieRidge HillRivers EndRiversideRobertRobertsRock HillRoeRoecliffRosemount


Sheho LakeSherrardSilver GlenSisleySketchleySnake LakeSnohomishSouthminsterSporranSteerfordStone FarmStoneyroydStony CroftStoweSturdeeSunnyside BeachSurprise Valley

Tennex

The SummitThree CreeksToppinghamTulsaTurtle Grove

UbankUbleyUlrie

VerdantVictory HillViewfairVigilantVilla LeaVille Bouvier

WalawaWaniska

• RosewellRotherwoodRouenRoydenRoxboroRushfordRushvilleRyerson (1)

St. AldwynSt. Charles ParishSt. SwithinSalt PlainsSalviaSaskatchewanSaskhartSchmidtSeven PersonsShay

Unreported Saskatchewan Post Offices … continued

• WapashoeWavy CreekWellnageWest DykeWest GravelbourgWhitewood Hills*Willow Moor*Willow RidgeWillow SpringsWindgapWirralWortley PlainsWrightville

YankeetownYpres

e

No longer unreported: A MY 19 1911 Fartown postmark. (Courtesy of Stephen Scriver)


Where’s the Meat?A Favourite Cover of Brian H. Peters

It is normal to see a letter mailed with more than one stamp to make up the re-quired postage. In 1945, it was certainly not unusual to see a 1¢ green stamp and a 2¢ brown stamp to cover the 3¢ rate, but very unusual to see meat ration stamp to be one of those two stamps. It appears that whoever sent this cover was able to do so, and on May 8, 1945 did exactly that.

A ration stamp was cancelled and tied to an envelope by the same machine can-cel used on the regular postage stamp that also appeared on the envelope. There is no evidence that anyone at the post office

saw any problem. Obviously, at the time this envelope was mailed, machine can-celling could not provide the same scru-tiny as a hand cancel.

As an avid collector of war-related ephemera, this gives historical meaning to the question: “where’s the meat?” Ration stamps in Canada were issued each year in six different ration books. This stamp, marked “Meat 51,” would have been tak-en from a Ration Book 4, which was is-sued for use during 1945. I guess we could say that at least the coupon was used in the correct year. e


The Quebec Campaign of 1759A Favourite Cover of Graham Henry Neale

This is an historically interesting cov-er relating to military events around Que-bec City subsequent to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on Sept. 13, 1759. This cover, albeit not of a conventional postal nature, is dated at Quebec on 22nd (Oc-tober), 1759. The back of the cover bears a complete red wax seal (broken into two parts) of General James Murray.

General Murray served under Gen-eral James Wolfe during the Quebec campaign and he became the military commander of Quebec City following the death of Wolfe on Sept. 13. Captain

Boughey Skey was a member of the 43rd Regiment of Foot (Kennedy’s Grenadiers) and he was almost certainly present with his regiment on the Plains of Abraham with General Wolfe.

The River St Charles is the principal river within Quebec City and it played a prominent strategic role during the Que-bec Campaign of 1759/1760.

This cover is one of a small number of related letters and documents relating to Boughey Skey that I serendipitously acquired from a book dealer in the UK in 1993. e


A Registered Cover from the Halifax & Annapolis R.P.O.

A Favourite Cover of Ross Gray

It is always a joy to find a registered cover which originated on an R.P.O. but this is one of the best I have seen. It is an I.C.Ry. company stationery envelope, which was mailed on the eastbound Hali-fax & Annapolis R.P.O., probably between Windsor Junction and Halifax. It arrived

in Halifax that day and was transferred to the westbound Halifax & Amherst R.P.O. the following day. At Amherst, it was transferred to the westbound St. John & Amherst R.P.O. and arrived in Moncton after noon on July 6. e

MT-83.04Proof - 1894/03/29ERD - 1894/04/23LRD - 1897/05/31

Indicia - E,W, blank

MT-79.02Proof - 1882/03/06ERD - 1882/??/13LRD - 1900/03/06

Indicia - EAST, WEST, W

MT-281.01Proof - unknown

ERD - 1885/04/15LRD - 1900/07/24

Indicia - EAST, WEST, W, WE


Oakwood Postmaster Dies At Age 103

Ross W. Irwin

Today, postmasters retire at age 65 or before. The Lindsay Daily Post, February 14, 1929, headlined “Postmaster Dies in 103rd Year” and goes on to point out, probably with no proof, he was the oldest postmaster in the British Empire.

John Flynn Cunnings was born at London, England, June 14, 1826. His grandfather had served as an Admiral at Trafal-

John Cunnings died Febru-ary 7, 1929, in his 103rd year, and still an active postmaster!

Oakwood post office was established October 6, 1848. A new general store opened in 1887 on the south-west corner of the village. The post office, with new patented letter box-es, was installed. The office was hidden between the shelved textiles and thread display. In

John Flynn Cunnings

1896 the salary of the Oakwood postmas-ter, A.O. Hogg, was $244. The store was sold and it needed more space. The post office was declared surplus and was asked to move out. John Cunnings became the new postmaster.

I was ecstatic when I saw a 1912 post card of the Oakwood Post Office. I was 8 years old when I first saw this house al-though I barely remember the post office. My father lived in a small house at Little Britain, Mariposa Township, Victoria County. He played bass horn in the vil-lage band. The bandmaster at Oakwood, about 4 miles north, needed a bass horn player and told dad of a larger house that had just came available. Dad paid $2,000 for it. Attached to the house was the Oak-wood Post Office and in our wood shed were several versions of cast away post office letter boxes from their days in the

gar. Cunnings married Sarah Smith and emigrated in 1858. He served as Clerk of Mariposa Township for 35 years and Clerk of the Division Court for 49 years. As a former tailor and now an insurance agent and conveyancer, he built a new house and an adjacent business office in the vil-lage of Oakwood, in 1891. The village li-brary was housed in his office.

Cunnings was appointed the Oak-wood postmaster, August 25, 1910. He removed the village library and fitted his office with the post office. In his later years his daughter Victoria Richardson did many of the post office duties.

The Victoria-Warder of Lindsay, June 17, 1926, printed a story headlined “100th Birthday of Mariposa’s Grand Old Man” when he celebrated his 100th birthday in 1926. That Sunday he preached a 20 min-ute sermon at his church.


general store. Dad had the new postmas-ter remove the office to a site on North Eldon Street as he wanted to use the space for a drive to a new garage he built. I lived in this house for 20 years up to 1960. Its appearance did not change. The post of-fice has a unique history.

The post card is dated 1912. Note in the photograph the wooden sidewalk with a dog and hitching post is noted. Cunnings stands in the door and his wife Sarah and daughter Victoria stand on the porch.

William Stonebridge, a WW I veteran, was appointed Postmaster in February 1929. The post office building was moved to North Eldon Street. It is shown in the right-hand column. e

Oakwood-Eldon Street Post Office

Left: 1912 Oakwood Post Office

Top: Oakwood cds


My Maplewood:

Personal and Postal HistoriesRobert Stock

Postal historians would certainly agree that not all covers are created equal. More-over, while rarity factors and monetary value are elements that often contribute to how much we treasure items in our col-lections, they are not the only criteria that matter. The recent series of articles on ‘fa-vourite covers’ included many examples of extraordinary stories linked to rather ordinary-looking items. All of us have favourite $5.00 covers that evoke warm memories and strong attachments. These sometimes relate to the happenstance of how we came to acquire a coveted and elusive cancellation after years of fruitless searching. Alternatively, they may reflect our personal relationship with the time or place or event that we associate with par-ticular items in our collections.

This week, my brother phoned me to let me know of the passing of Richard Lamb. My thoughts turned to the mul-tifaceted support and encouragement I have received from Richard and Kathryn Lamb as a stamp collector and postal his-torian over more than five decades. My thoughts simultaneously turned to Maple-wood, and covers in my collection from this hamlet in Oxford County. There are reasons why these thoughts are connect-ed, as I will explain below.

In the first part of the article, I will provide a fairly standard overview of Ma-

plewood and its postal history. Then I will turn from Maplewood to “My Maple-wood” by discussing the personal mem-ories that I associate with Maplewood, which in turn enhance my sense of at-tachment to covers in my collection from that place. I hope to encourage you to do the same by thinking about the covers and/or places that are most pleasurably memorable for you.

Maplewood There is nothing particularly special

about Maplewood today – nor was there a century ago. It looked much like other hamlets that dot the landscape of rural Oxford County and other parts of south-ern Ontario. A handful of houses at a crossroads, most built in the latter part of the 19th century, and two or three build-ings that once housed businesses. The church and rural schoolhouse that for-merly served the members of the commu-nity are both long gone. Motorists pass-ing through Maplewood on County Road 98 are not forced to reduce their speed. Addresses in the hamlet such as 964448 County Road 28, Embro ON N0J 1J0 (the site of the former post office) have a strangely placeless character – for a postal and other historians, it is a very poor sub-stitute for Maplewood.

Nor does Maplewood have a particu-


larly long and illustrious history. Almost all of the farmland in northern Oxford County had been settled by the early 1850s, but Maplewood did not emerge as a settlement until the early 1870s. Its post office dates from 1874, whereas those of its nearest neighbours were established in the 1830s (Embro) and 1850s (Fairview, Harrington, Brooksdale, and Tavistock) (see Figure 1).

One of the factors accounting for the late emergence of Maplewood was the mediocre quality of much of the farm-land in its vicinity. The soils tend to be heavy clays that require extensive drain-age before they can be productive. In-deed, a couple of lots near Maplewood were shown as still being Crown Lands in the Historical Atlas of Oxford County.2 Thus, prosperity seems to have come

Z

Figure 1: 1908 map showing the location of Maplewood (see arrow) relative to nearby communities1.


more slowly to the area close to Maple-wood than it did to better-drained, more productive areas farther afield.

As Figure 1 on the previous page shows, Maplewood emerged in a location that was relatively far from other service centres. Prior to the founding of Maple-wood, settlers there would have had to travel some 8 km to Brooksdale, Fairview, or Harrington for basic services such as a general store or blacksmith, or 12-15 km to obtain a greater range of services at Embro or Tavistock. Farmers in the vicin-ity of the new community that emerged in the early 1870s must have been very pleased to have new, closer options where they could meet most of their basic needs.

Maplewood was established in the ear-ly 1870s at the intersection of the eighth concession (now 45 Line) and the Har-

rington Sideroad (now County Road 28) in what was then West Zorra Township. Angus Kerr, a merchant based several ki-lometres to the west in Harrington, pur-chased a quarter acre of land at the above intersection from John Brown3. A general store was built on this site; this store also served as the post office, commencing in 1874. A blacksmith shop soon followed. A log school and a Methodist church (1876) were constructed across from the general store. The original school was re-placed by a larger one in the early 1880s4.

The Maplewood general store and post office was rebuilt in the early 1890s (Figure 2) after a fire destroyed the original building. During the decade of the 1910s, Maplewood’s post office closed, as did the Methodist church. The church build-ing was sold and moved to Harrington in

Figure 2: Early 20th century postcard image of the Maplewood general store and post office5.


1925, where it was used as a place of wor-ship by Presbyterians who chose not to become part of the newly-created United Church of Canada6.

While many similarly-sized hamlets quickly faded into oblivion after their post offices closed, Maplewood continued to do quite well for several decades. In the 1960s, Carl Wettlaufer’s general store continued to be well-stocked and seem-ingly well patronized. The store closed in the 1980s after Mr. Wettlaufer’s death, and now is a home. The blacksmith’s shop first established in the 1870s continued in business until 1962; Ross Cormack was the last owner. There was also a substantial sawmill, owned by the McIntosh family, who also have a long history in the com-munity. The school was closed in 1968, following rural school amalgamation in West Zorra; children who had attended the Maplewood school were now bussed to the newly constructed Zorra Highlands School near Embro.

It is not surprising that Maplewood’s commercial functions have not survived into the 21st century. In the age of Home Hardware and Home Depot, Sobeys and the Super Store, Kmart and then Walmart – not to mention internet shopping – there is really no place left for general stores located in deepest rural Ontario. As well, farm amalgamation means that there are fewer farmers, and families are smaller. Today’s Maplewood is a small residential community, home to a couple of dozen people who enjoy the sense of solitude and freedom of rural living or are attracted by the lower cost of housing.

Postal HistoryPrior to 1874, residents from north-

eastern West Zorra collected their mail from different post offices, depending on where they lived. Those to the east of Ma-plewood would have gone to Tavistock, those to the south-west to Brooksdale, and those to the north-west to either Fair-view or Harrington.

According to post office records, Ma-plewood post office was opened on Janu-ary 1, 1874. Christopher Bean served as the postmaster from the time of opening until his resignation, August 23, 1887. He was replaced by Samuel McKay, who served for the next 19 years. Donald Mc-Intosh became the third and final post-master on May 5, 1906.

A collection of letters sent to John McKay has provided us with multiple ex-amples of markings from the first years of postal services in Maplewood. One such letter (dated December 10, 1873) sug-gests that unofficial mail service may have commenced prior to the formal opening of the post office. The cover is addressed to “Maplewood, Brooksdale, Ont.” There are backstamps from Beachville, Embro, and Brooksdale which show the route that letters followed at the time to reach Maplewood. This cover has no markings for Maplewood, however – appropriately so, since its post office had not yet been opened.

It was at least five months after the post office became official before the first can-cellation device was sent to Maplewood. Several covers exist with manuscript Ma-plewood, Ont. markings – all identically


written within a triangular space in the lower left corner of the envelope (Figure 3). We do not have a proof date for the first hammer, but it must have arrived be-tween June 1st (latest known date for the manuscripts) and August 10, 1874 (earli-est known date for a strike using the first hammer).

The first hammer (see Figure 4 for an example) remained in use from 1874 un-til at least 1890 – the latest known date being April 23, 1890. The hammer that replaced it was proofed on May 14, 18917. The general store that had contained the post office was apparently destroyed by fire in the early 1890s, and was replaced by the building shown in Figure 2. The is-suing of the new hammer may have been

My Maplewood … continued

Figure 3: Manuscript cancellation, dated June 1st 1874. Identically-structured manuscript cancellations appeared on all mail leaving Ma-plewood during the first several months after the establishment of the post office. The cover has transit backstamps from Brooksdale, Embro, and Beachville, and a Komoka arrival cancellation.

Figure 4: An example show-ing a strike from the first official cancelling device, a single broken circle ham-mer that was in use between 1874 and 1891. This cover – part of the same correspon-dence as the previous cover – was sent on July 27, 1887.


necessitated by this fire. However, I have not been able to determine the fire’s pre-cise date, and so the suspected connection between the fire and the issuing of a new cancelling device is only hypothetical.

The second hammer (Figure 5) re-mained in use from 1891 until the post of-fice was closed in 1916. The majority of strikes I have seen from the 1890s are in a distinct reddish purple colour.

The stamps on most of the 19th cen-tury covers from Maplewood were struck with cork fancy cancellations. The of-ficially-issued circular barred ‘killer’ ap-pears to have arrived some time between 1905 and 1909. Figures 6A-6C (on page 56) show selected examples of fancy can-cels that appear on Maplewood mail. The majority of Maplewood’s fancy cancels are variations on the circular segmented pat-tern shown in Figure 6A. An 1879 card mailed by the postmaster, Mr. Bean, has a beautiful, delicately-rendered maple leaf cork cancel – an obvious commemoration

of the place name. An 1893 cover shows a hollow diamond-shaped cork cancella-tion.

Following the introduction of rural mail delivery, Maplewood escaped the first wave of post office closures between 1912 and 1914. This is perhaps because Maplewood’s postal revenues were larger than those of the majority of offices that were closed prior to 1920. The Post Of-fice Annual Report of 1911 shows that Maplewood post office generated $169.50 of business in 1910-11. This amount was higher than receipts in 34 other Oxford County offices closed between 1912 and 1920; in contrast, only eight Oxford offic-es that were closed prior to 1920 had high-er revenues than Maplewood. Indeed, six offices that survived into the 1920s or be-yond had revenues that were lower than those of Maplewood in 1910-11.

Maplewood’s initial reprieve didn’t amount to much. Its post office was closed on March 31, 1916. Thereafter, the

Figure 5: Cover from Tavistock (squared circle cancellation dated December 21, 1895) to Maplewood, readdressed to Em-bro. The Maplewood cancella-tion was made with the second Maplewood hammer that was in use from 1891 until the office closed in 1916. Note the errors in setting the date. Postmaster Samuel McKay does not seem to have been a perfectionist – a substantial proportion of strikes during his tenure have indicia errors of one sort or another.


majority of Maplewood’s clientele were served by rural mail delivery out of Em-bro, while those to the east of the hamlet were now provided with mail service via R.R. 2, Tavistock.

My Maplewood

In the introduction to this article, I argued that our personal attachments to particular covers, or places, constituted an important dimension of our enjoy-ment of postal history. For me, Maple-wood is such a place.

I grew up on a dairy farm in Oxford County, a few kilometres south-east of


Tavistock. My dad owned a second farm 2 km. east of Maplewood; the farm was used primarily to pasture younger cattle during the summer. The 11 km cattle-drives to and from the pasture farm that took place each spring and fall were super-exciting adventures for my brother and me. Periodic visits to the pasture farm to check on the well-being of the cattle almost inevitably included a visit to the Maplewood general store and often an ice cream cone or a bottle of Kist ginger ale as a treat. Sometimes, the windmill that provided water for the cattle needed repairs, necessitating a visit to Cormack’s blacksmith shop in Maplewood.

Figure 6: (from left to right) Examples of cork fancy cancellations appearing on 19th century mail from Maplewood.

A. A segmented circle design, similar to those appearing on the majority of out-bound mail from Maplewood during this period. This example is from an very early (April 20, 1874) cover.B. A small maple leaf design on a post card from Maplewood, dated October 6, 1879.C. A diamond-shaped cork cancellation on an outbound January 19, 1893 cover.


The route of the cattle drive took us past the Hansuld family farm. My parents knew Mr. and Mrs. Hansuld well through a variety of local agricultural and service-club connections. Weekly columns writ-ten by their journalist daughter, Kathryn, appeared in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record and were staple fare in our household.

When I was eleven years old, I stum-bled upon an envelope in a drawer where my mother had squirreled away some stamps from Argentina, Ukraine, Austria, Poland and other places I’d never heard of. These stamps had been trimmed from occasional letters received from abroad. When my mother saw that my fascination with these stamps persisted, she called Kathryn Hansuld for some advice. Kath-ryn was an avid collector herself, and she often wrote stamp-themed columns in the newspaper. She had also recently married a young English stamp enthusiast named Richard Lamb.

This is how I came to meet Richard and Kathryn Lamb at her parent’s farm home near Maplewood on a February, 1957 afternoon. That meeting provided me with a far-ranging introduction to philately – and to postal history! In ad-dition to introducing me to stamp hinges and albums and how to properly separate stamps from envelopes, they emphasized that stamps left on covers were often more significant and valuable than those that had been soaked off and mounted in an album. I went home with an envelope full of stamps from more countries than I could imagine, plus a couple of small-queen covers, and a slightly out-of-date Scott’s catalogue.

After a few years of collecting as many stamps as possible from as many coun-tries as possible, my interest in covers and postal history was piqued by an ex-hibit of early postmarks from Middlesex County covers prepared by Stan Shantz. If that was possible for Middlesex, why not for Oxford County, my home turf? A bit of research revealed to me that fa-miliar places such as Cassel, Maplewood, Walmer, and Strathallan all had formerly had post offices. A few of examples of Ox-ford cancellations were found in boxes of postcards being sold by Mr. Shantz, and others were discovered in an old post card album at home. I was hooked, and after that, random stamps from the Congo or Japan seemed much less interesting.

Richard and Kathryn Lamb continued to be a source of encouragement, advice, and more than a few beautiful covers over the years. Work and studies took me away from Oxford County to other coun-tries and to different provinces in Canada, so our communications and visits were sporadic, but always much valued. For quite a few years after I started collecting, Maplewood proved to be one of my more elusive cancellations. For several years, “Have you found a Maplewood cancella-tion yet?” was a standard question when we met. As if to underscore the challenge it posed, Richard would also remark that he had not yet come across a Maplewood cancel himself, but he promised to set it aside for me if he did.

So … you can understand why my Maplewood covers evoke such vivid mem-ories. Maplewood is where I discovered philately and postal history. My heartfelt



thanks to Richard and Kathryn Lamb, and to Maplewood, for the gift of a hobby that has given me immense pleasure for a half century – the challenges of the search for elusive cancellations, unexpected surprise discoveries, never-complete research to piece together the stories behind the cov-ers, valued friendships, and much more.

What/where/why is your equivalent of Maplewood?

References:

1 Dept. of Agriculture. “Map of Oxford County, Ont.” Toronto: Map Specialty Co., 1908.

2 Wadsworth, U., and P.L.S. Brown. Topographical and Historical Atlas of the County of Oxford, Ontario. Toronto: Walker & Miles, 1876.3 Robinson, D. Historically Bound: Embro and West Zorra 1820-2007. West Zorra History Book Committee, 2008.4 Oxford County Library. “MapleWood”. www.ocl.net/locations/embro/embarea.shtml5 Shantz, S. “Beachville had important role in early mail delivery service” The London Free Press, Nov. 18, 1961, p. 24.6 “Broadview United Church – Harrington”, Rootsweb. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dcoop/zorra.htm7 Graham, W.B. Ontario Broken Circles. Postal History Society of Canada, 1999.PHSC. Broken Circle Cancellations of Canada. www.postalhistorycanada.net/php/BrokenCircles

For more information or membership details visit our website at www.canadianpsgb.org.uk or write to the Secretary: John Hillson, Westerlea, 5 Annanhill, Annan, Dumfriesshire DG 12 6TN

A warm welcome to The Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain

Our 2013 convention will be held in the West CountrySeptember 25-29th, Plymouth, Devon www.canadianpsgb.org.uk

Founded 70 years ago to promote and study all aspects of philately in British North America (Canada and its Provinces), the Society offers its members:-• Aquarterlyaward-winningfullcolourmagazine,‘MapleLeaves’

• Uptotwoauctionsayearwithmanyhundredsoflots

• Anextensivelibraryofpublishedbooksandarticles

• Newonlineexchangepacketfacility

•Subscriptionspayableinlocalcurrency

Philatelic_80x120.indd 1 18/02/2013 18:00


In Memoriam

Richard Millard Lamb1923-2013

Richard Millard Lamb passed away on December 24, 2012. Dick was a know-ledgeable and respected dealer in B.N.A. and Commonwealth stamps, covers, and postal stationery, and a wonderful gen-tleman. For fun, Allan Steinhart usually called Dick “Tiger”, because he was any-thing but a snarling, menacing person. Dick always smiled quietly then. Dick was a member of the V.G. Greene Foundation Expert Committee.

I would see Dick and his wife Kathryn at selected Ontario stamp shows, such as Stampex or Philex in Toronto, the Oakville show, and Orapex. I also received the blue-covered private-treaty catalogues (with their black-and-white illustrations) that Dick mailed to us. In 1998, the catalogues

changed to coloured illustrations. Their mailing was timed so that all customers in Britain or in North America received them on approximately the same day. Most of my reference collection of Small Queen stamps was purchased from these cata-logues. I relied on the proper description and high quality of these stamps. The day a catalogue arrived by mail, I would quick-ly read it and phone the Lambs to try and

Above: (left to right) Richard M. Lamb’s 28-page Special Offers List No. 69 (ca. 1997).Richard Lamb at the home of Peter Moogk, March 2012Richard M. Lamb’s 28-page Special Offers List # 71 (autumn 1998).


purchase my choices. Sometimes I would be told that this lot or that lot had just been sold to someone in Scotland or else-where. Luckily, I’d often be told that yes, those lots were still available and would be mailed to me. One of my favourite pur-chases is a pair of 10¢ Small Queen stamps with a Victoria roller cancel. They came with Dick’s neatly penciled note that they were obtained from England, and that they probably paid postage on a parcel from Canada to Britain.

Once, Dick offered me a small ac-cumulation of Yukon covers, explaining that they were the property of a fellow church member and that he was selling them on her behalf. I cherish these cov-ers, not only for their postal history sig-nificance but also for their source.

I recall viewing the 1987 sale of the fancy cancels of Stanley Cohen’s col-lection at Jim Hennok’s store. Dick spent several days with a magnifying glass and a notepad, examining each stamp for au-thenticity of the cancel. He did not want to buy questionable material to supply to his clients. Another time when we both were examining lots, I mentioned to Dick that a 3¢ Small Queen in a huge lot had an 1890s LAC LA BICHE, ALTA. postmark, and that it probably came from an enve-lope that had started on the Mackenzie

River. A week after the sale, Dick mailed the stamp to me, with his compliments.

At three-day shows in Toronto, after I had finished my round of the dealers, usually on Sunday afternoons, I would stop for a longer second visit at the Lamb booth when it was quiet, and spend time chatting with Kathryn and Dick. Kathryn was a great conversationalist. Dick would have some time then for shopping, visit-ing the other dealers, and returning to the table with his purchases or if there was a serious customer.

Once, I mentioned to Dick that I had tried for years to find a full copy of the famous (missing) Fred Jarrett autobio-graphic manuscript. He said that Kathryn knew Merrick Jarrett, Fred’s son, and she would ask Merrick if hehad a copy. Thank goodness he did. Merrick and I edited it, and it became the book Stampin’ Around. Merrick also had a typescript about Fred’s work with Underwood Typewriters in Asia. Merrick passed away before we could work on it, and unfortunately that copy was lost.

Dick was the last of an older genera-tion of major Canadian stamp dealers. Our hobby will certainly miss him. I know I do.

Gray Scrimgeour


James Ernest (Ernie)Nix was born in Edmonton, Alberta, August 10, 1920, and passed away peacefully at Sunnyside Home in Kitchener, Ontario, January 21, 2013 at 92.

Lovingly remembered by wife of 67 years Margaret Latter, brother, Nelson, surviving children, Jim (Renate), Suzanne (Arthur), and Doug (Kimberly), son-in-law Chris Andersen (Kathy), many grandchil-dren and great grandchildren. Ernie was predeceased by his parents, four siblings, and eldest daughter, Margaret Louise An-dersen.

He achieved four degrees: Bachelor of Arts (University of Alberta, 1946), Bach-elor of Divinity (St. Stephen’s College, 1947), Master of Sacred Theology (Boston University, 1970), and Master of Arts (Mc-Gill University, 1978).

In Memoriam

James Ernest (Ernie) Nix1920-2013

His first church placement was in Barrhead, Alberta in 1947. He served congregations across the country, with his last full-time congregation in West-mount, Quebec. An avid reader, writer, and historian, active in many historical and church-related organizations, and past president of the Alberta Historical Society. His favourite activities included collecting books, stamps, antiques, and postcards, singing and enjoying music, and curling in U.C. ministerial leagues.

Donations in Ernie’s name may be made to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the Parkinson Society of Canada, the Ca-nadian Mental Health Association, or the Mission and Service Fund of the United Church of Canada. Condolences to http://goo.gl/IOk05.


Saturday April 6, 2013, 9:30AM-4PMLONPEX 121

Lonpex 121 sponsored by the London Philatelic Society will be held from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm in the Churchill Room at the Ramada Inn, 817 Exeter Road, just north of the 401 and Wellington Road interchange. Exhibits, 12 dealers plus club sales circuits, draws, free parking and admission. For more information contact Don Slaugh-ter at [email protected].

Saturday-Sunday, May 4-5, 2013ORAPEX 2013

ORAPEX stands for Ottawa Recreational Association Philatelic Exhibition. The RA Stamp Club in partnership with Canada’s oldest stamp club, the Ottawa Philatelic Society, and l’Amicale des Philatélistes de l’Outaouais hosts ORAPEX each year. ORAPEX is now one of the four national level philatelic exhibitions recognized by the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada.

Each year ORAPEX has a theme. In 2013 it will be “The 250th Anniversary of Formalized Postal Service in Canada (1763-2013).” In addition, each year ORAPEX honours a distinguished Canadian philatelist, who has made a significant contribution to the hobby. In 2013, ORAPEX will honour Doug Lingard, who has served on the ORAPEX committee for 35 years and has chaired it for the past fifteen years.

Collectors interested in exhibiting can obtain a copy of the entry form and rules at the ORAPEX website (orapex.ca) or by

contacting Brian Watson, the exhibits coordinator, at [email protected]. Free admission and parking. For more information, email: [email protected].

Sunday, May 5, 2013, 9:30AM-3:30PMMAYDAY STAMP SHOW

Mayday Stamp Show, the Stratford Stamp Club’s 31st annual show and bourse, will be held on Sunday, May 5, 2013, 9:30am - 3:30pm at the Kiwanis Community Center, 111 Lakeside Dr., Stratford. Featured are a Show cachet cover highlighting historical Stratford, a dealers’ bourse, stamp exhibits, the Club’s sales circuit (thousands of pages), free admission and parking, wheelchair ac-cessibility, and a lunch counter. Contact person: Richard Blackburn (ph: 1-519-273-0429; email: [email protected])

REMINDERPHSC Members

Our annual meetingwill be held on Saturday,

May 4th, 2013at ORAPEX

We hope to see you there!

Coming Events


Letters to the Editor

We’ve had a couple of holiday trips in September to Greenland and then Brazil. Still trying to adjust to time and tempera-ture changes...

While beginning to put my piles of stuff away, I ran across the Summer 2012 issue (No. 150) of the PHSC Journal. An-other fine collection of material. I re-read the article on pages 46-47 by Bruce Nes-bitt on “Wartime Special Delivery” and I think I have a more accurate interpreta-tion of his very interesting cover. It ap-

Another Look at “Wartime Special Delivery” Cover

pears to have been mailed on board the St. John and Montreal RPO on July 15 to a soldier with the 15th Anti-Aircraft Bat-tery in Dartmouth. It was processed at the Halifax MPO 608 on July 27, 1942 where it was likely redirected to this sol-dier who was with G Force in Labrador. Thus the straightline rubber stamp on top of the address. The cover would have been flown from Halifax to CAPO 10 at Goose Bay where it was received on July 30, 1942 as the backstamp apparently in-dicates. I think the redirection accounts for the rather lengthy transit time. CAPO 10 was reportedly opened on July 2, 1942


but the date stamps were not received un-til July 13. To support my interpretation, I’ve attached a scan of an outgoing cover from 1944 from the same unit that was still stationed at Goose Bay. Still a very in-teresting and desirable item for a Labrador collector such as me!

Please pass this e-mail on to Bruce, and if you and he believe it merits inser-tion into the Journal, feel free to do so.

Thanks. Kevin O’Reilly

Editor’s Note: I have made several attempts to contact Bruce only to find that his email account has been shut down. Snail mail did no good as it was returned with a notation that no forwarding address was available. If any of you know Bruce’s current whereabouts please advise either Scott Traquair or myself. Ed.

New Cancels for London, ON RPO

Editor’s Note: I must admit that I have been remiss in including a letter received from Charles Addington last September, which reads:

I enclose an example of the new post-mark used by the Carling Retail Postal Outlet in London, Ontario. This cancella-tion was first used on June 27th 2012. The Carling RPO is in the Shoppers Drug Mart at 431 Richmond Street, London, Ont. (at the intersection of Carling Street). This RPO’s postal code is N6A 5R0.

Yours truly, Charles Addington

About a month later, I receioved a second letter from Mr. Addington:

As an addendum to my letter of Sep-tember 5th, I enclose an example of the latest postmark used by the Carling Retail Postal Outlet in London, Ontario. This cancellation was first used on October 16, 2012 and it replaces the one first used on June 27, 2012 – which I have already sent you.

Yours truly,Charles Addington

Scans of both postmarks appear below. Keep this in mind the next time about a postal sys-tem’s inability to bring about changes. My apologies to Mr. Addington for my own slow reaction time.


Remembering Maggie Toms

On November 19, 2012, I received the following email from C.R. (Ron) McGuire in which he was good enough to share hs own memories of Maggie Toms.

Thank you for the piece on Maggie Toms on page 16 of the Summer 2012 edi-tion.

I first ‘met’ Maggie ‘on the phone’ in 1976 when she was parting with portions of her beloved postcard collection. I think I initially impressed her when I recog-nized her Brooklyn accent. [I lived in New York City for nearly six years]. After some discussion, she invited me to her home in Orillia to view her collection, created over many years. We made a deal and had a lovely dinner she had prepared.

Maggie continued to collect postcards and write about them. One of her main interests were the cards printed by the Stedman Brothers, of which she had a fine collection. Whenever I saw a Stedman card, I thought of Maggie.

My interest in Newfoundland also helped us ‘hit it off’ and we often talked about her time with the Grenfell Mis-sion and living in Newfoundland with Eric, her husband, who was a Newfound-lander. Before becoming a mining engi-neer, Eric served with the Newfoundland Constabulary. Maggie gave me a copy of her original of the photograph in the right-hand column. It depicts Eric ca late 1930’s, in uniform in front of the door to the Post Office at Flowers Cove, located in the Northern Peninsula electoral dis-

trict , one of the several outports in which he served. Note the other door is to HM Customs office. I treasure this photo and fondly recall this wonderful woman and her enthusiasm for life and her hobbies. I also met Eric in between his mining expe-ditions; he was quite an interesting char-acter, with many stories to tell.”.

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morris

Letters to the Editor (continued)


New Post Offices in CanadaDoug Murray

From November 2012 to February 2013

104298 Courtney BC V9N 2L0104300 Crooked Creek AB T0H 0Y0104310 Saskatoon SK S7L 4R6104315 Montreal QC H3H 1L0104316 Newtonville ON L0A 1J0104317 Sault Ste Marie ON P6B 1Y0104322 Rosemont ON L0N 1R0104327 Calgary AB T2R 1R0 104329 Brooklyn NS B0J 1M0104354 Fort Severn ON P0V 1W0104360 Campbell River BC V9W 5T0104372 St Bruno QC J3V 3T0104374 Red Deer AB T4P 0M0104375 Stoney Creek ON L8E 1V0104377 Zephyr ON L0E 1T0104380 Vancouver Yaletown V7Z 2X7 (no longer listed)104384 Hagar ON P0M 1X0104385 Anchor Point NL A0K 1A0104386 St-Severin de Beauce QC G0N 1V0

104387 Shearwater NS B0J 3E0104388 New Westminster BC V3M 3C0104389 Vancouver BC V5V 3E0104390 Vancouver V6B 6A1 (no longer listed)104391 Willowdale ON M2K 1A0104392 Scarborough ON M1E 1N0104393 Aurora ON L4G 1N0104394 Quebec QC G3K 2S0104395 Beloeil QC J3G 4G0104397 Granby QC J2G 3T0104398 St-Sauveur QC J0R 1R0104401 Gilmour ON K0L 1W0104402 Gatineau QC J8M 8A0104404 Toronto ON M5T 3B0104405 Montreal QC H1A 1R0104406 Toronto ON M3J 2C0104407 Athelstan QC J0S 1A0104409 Val-des-Lacs QC J0T 2P0104411 Tiverton ON N0G 2T0104412 L’Avenir QC J0C 1B0104413 High River AB T1B 1N5104417 Enchant AB T0K 0V0104419 Toronto ON M6R 3L0104424 Dartmouth NS B2Y 0A0104428 Cape St George NL A0L 1E0104429 Greenville BC V0J 1X0104431 Ottawa ON K1V 0C0104432 Windthorst SK S0G 5G0104435 Chilliwack BC V2R 1A0104436 Melville SK S0A 2P0

Here’s a listing of new offices start-ing with where we left off in our last update. e


Webmaster’s ReportRob Leigh

Since I haven’t made a report on the state of the website for several issues of the Journal, let me begin by noting that the PHSC website received a Ver-meil award in the 2012 APS Chapter and Affili-ates Web awards in Au-

gust. I received a nice certificate and a jpeg badge (below).

We have recently made a nice new ad-dition to our machine cancel section. During the period 1902-1919, many of the larger post offices in Canada uti-lized International ma-

chines were scrapped and new contracts with Universal and other companies were drawn. We are indebted to many members for providing scans of covers for this pro-ject, and we are always looking for addi-tional reports.

Two publications have recently been added to the website and are available for download. The 1999 PHSC publica-tion Canadian Manuscript Town Postmarks by David Handelman and Jacques Poitras is available on the Research/PHSC Books page. Ontario manuscript postmarks also appear in the Early Postmarks database, including many that have been reported since publication of the book. As well, the monograph/exhibit by David Handelman titled Returned from the Dead Letter Office is available on the Research/Articles page.

Also of note is our recent renaming of the ‘Broken Circles’ database to ‘Early Postmarks’. This more accurately reflects the contents of the database, as in addi-tion to the broken circle postmarks, re-cords of manuscripts, straight lines, and other early circular postmarks are includ-ed.

For up-to-the-minute info on changes to the website, visit the “What’s new!” page. Comments on the website are al-ways welcome as is your help with infor-mation for the databases. If you have any problems in any aspect of the website, don’t hesitate to contact me by email. I’m sure we can quickly straighten out any problem that you might encounter. e

chines to cancel (some of) their mail. It began to become apparent that these ma-chines were not competitive, in terms of speed and accuracy, with other manufac-turers’ machines. Consequently, in 1910 trials were begun with machines of the Universal Stamping Company (the com-pany that would later become Pitney-Bowes). Examples of the trial machine cancels are quite rare. The Universal web-page documents all known examples of these trials. Throughout the following de-cade, Universal machines began to appear in many offices, and we also record all of these usages as well, up to June 1919, at which time most of the International ma-


P.O.D. Rules & RegulationsGus Knierim

DAY-OLD CHICKS

With spring just around the corner, we might be advised of the following in-structions. Please postmark lightly as the goods are fragile.

The follow-ing is an excerpt from the March 1925 Supplement to the Canada Official Postal Guide. This was some 88 years ago but I am reminded that in the early 1980s the service was still available. It was usually announced with a phone call from your friendly postmaster with words like: “ will you get those stinking !@#$%%^&* birds out of my office?” If you wanted to re-main friends, you chose to pick them up in short order.

INFORMATION FOR POSTMASTERS

(1) Transmission of Day-Old Chicks by Parcel Post. — Postmasters are in-formed that the experimental service in-troduced last spring for the transmission of day-old chicks by Parcel Post in Canada will be renewed this year.

Live day-old chicks may be accepted from the 1st April to June 15th, except in British Columbia, where the mailing pe-riod will be from March 15th to May 31st, at the risk of the sender. for transmission at Parcel Post Rates to places within Can-

ada and the United States, provided the package in which they are contained is properly prepared and that delivery can be made to the addressee within 36 hours from the time of posting.

Day-old chicks must not be accepted for transmission if baggage car service, “catchpost” service, or service by water route is necessary — this does not include short water routes which are virtually ferry services. Shippers should consult the Dis-trict Superintendent of Postal Service for information as to places to which the day-old chicks may be sent.

Parcels containing day-old chicks may not be insured.

Shipments of day-old chicks are to be transported outside of mail bags. It is recommended that the shipper affix a legibly written or printed notice to each such package, giving the following in-structions, which postal employees are to carefully observe — “Day-old chicks. This side up. Handle with special care.

Do not give food or drink to the chicks while in transit.

Despatch as quickly as possible and deliver to the addressee promptly upon arrival at office of destination.

Do not place package in mail bag or cover with other mail matter.

Do not place near hot pipes, stoves or radiators or expose the cold winds or hot sun. As far as possible, protect from all extremes of heat or cold.” e


Study Groups ReportMartin Schofield

GREY, BRUCE, DUFFERIN & SIMCOE POSTAL HISTORY STUDY GROUP (phsc)

Issue #47 of the Georgian Courier in-cluded three articles on the postal history

of post offices around Georgian Bay. John Rossiter wrote a six page history of Pene-tangare Kincardine, from 1851 to 1900. Examples of stampless covers, money let-ters, registration covers and postcards were presented. Gus Knierim had an article on the Settlement of Key Harbour. The post office was only open during the summer tourist season and operated from 1937 to 1960. Dave Hanes wrote the postal histo-ry of Midhurst which operated from 1863 to the present day. The town evolved around a sawmill. The article included pictures of the general store and Post Of-fice and numerous POCON postmarks.

MONEY ORDER OFFICE STUDY ESTABLISHMENT (MOOSE) (phsc)

The Money Order Office Study Establishment (MOOSE) Issue # 83. Doug Murray has taken a look at the first 20 years of the Bull.MOOSE and ‘the focus remains on the Post Office Department (POD) and the operational changes that were implemented over the years. He

has described and shown the earliest money order markings from 1873 and reviewed the wide variety of money order markings. The article also describes the complicated numbering system and accounting offices, and difficulties encountered following the First World War and the additional Newfoundland and Labrador postal agencies and military offices. Dale Speirs noticed a new RePO number for the Calgary Stadium retail outlet. Kevin O’Reilly wrote an article on the Money Order office postal stationery. Gus Knierim noticed, on-line, a sudden closure of a Summerside postal outlet.

BRITISH COLUMBIA POSTAL HISTORY RESEARCH GROUP (bnaps)

Issue #82 of the British Columbia Postal History Research Group begins with the official opening of the Vancou-ver processing plant on March 14, 1958, and its future still in limbo. Also, a new discovery by Jim Miller shows a MOTO on cover, stamped in green, of Deltaero, B.C. It was located on the Royal Cana-dian Air Force base in Boundary Bay, what is now the Delta Airport. The post office was in operation from August 23, 1941 to April 30, 1942. The feature article was the North Arm post office, established in 1882 and its name change to Eburne in 1892. The article features a Letter Bill a list of the postmasters, a registered letter from


Eburne and a photo of the General Store and post office. The article concludes with business envelopes from Eburne RR 1 postmarked May 1945 and RR 2 dated AU1946 .

CANADIAN MILITARY MAIL STUDY GROUP (bnaps)

Newsletter # 204 from the Cana-dian Military Mail study group included a D.N.D. cover with a boxed DPR mark. There was an article by George Sawatzki on a newly discovered CFS Armstrong, ONT cover. The base was built in 1952 and closed in 1974. Mark B. Trumpour wrote an article on Canada’s early mili-tary connection in Egypt, including Egyp-tian artifacts found in Canada. C. Ron McGuire wrote an interesting article on a 1942 Postal and Telegraph censorship document.

FANCY CANCEL AND MISCELLANEOUS MARKINGS (bnaps)

Issue 59 of the (BNAPS) Fancy Cancel and Miscellaneous Markings Study Group. A record 25% of the members submitted en-tries resulting in an eight page newsletter.

The Dead Letter Study Group had a new Example of a Crown Wax seal from the D. L.O. Toronto Branch. Another Es-quimalt crown cancel has been discovered and a large number of examples of On-tario cork cancels were submitted. There were examples of military ‘m’ cancels and carved ‘v’ victory cancels (many were homemade).

One member sent in some tracings of fancy cancels made by a “Judge Mulcahy”. The designs seem to originate from Almon-te, Ont.

In the miscellany: a star of David pre-cancel on a Sc. 37 Montreal printing be-tween 1873 and 1888, and a 4c overprint and a “horseshoe” or ‘U’ cancel on a 15 cent L.Q. Sc. 30b, about 1875. Turns out it is a “United States” Cancel. The newsletter concludes with the fakes, bogus, and spuri-ous items such as “ER”, presumably mean-ing “Elisabeth Regina” found somewhat inappropriately on King George V stamps, “Masonic” cancels and “bogeyhead” type cancels.

CALGARY PHILATELIC SOCIETY

Issue #116 of the Calgary Philatelic Society featured an article by Jon Johnson about the L & B Calgary perfin that was al-most never used. The law firm of Lougheed and Bennett was founded in February 1897. It was a partnership between Sir James Lougheed, Calgary lawyer since 1883 and lawyer Richard (R.B.) Bennett who was invited to join the law firm in Calgary in January 1897. In the winter of 1920 Ben-nett attended a Red Cross Convention in Switzerland, and took an extended visit to England where he acquired a postage stamp perforator. The ampersand and perforation hole size is of British style and size. The article shows one example of the perfin stamp on a cover dated 192?. (Dif-ficult to read the date in the photocopy). The partnership was dissolved in 1922 so the L&B perfin was no longer used on their business envelopes after August 1922. e


ILLUSTRATED • HARD COVER • 216 PAGES

PRICE $45.69 (+ postage)please make cheques payable to

postal history society of canada

PayPal payments accepted at e-mail address, below

PHSC Treasurer Scott TraquairP.O. Box 25061, RPO Hiway, Kitchener, ON N2A 4A5 Canada

e-mail: [email protected]

Stampin’ Aroundor

The Life of a Stamp Collector

The Memoirs ofFred Jarrett

available from

J. Gus KnierimP.O. Box 3044, Stn C, Kitchener, ON N2G 4R5

e-mail: [email protected]$30 (plus shipping)

please make cheque payable to J. Knierim – we can also accept PayPal payments at above e-mail address

The

ONTARIOPOST

OFFICEEric Manchee

– 2003 –

ONTARIO POST OFFICE

The

Atlas

ALL ONTARIO COUNTIES + THE DISTRICTS OF MUSKOKA, NIPISSING (SOUTH HALF), PARRY SOUND, & MANITOULIN IS.

Atlas

The PHSC Book Page

CANADA’S BARREL POSTMARKSperfect bound, 8½ x 11, 64 pages – full colour

is available, printed on demand, for just$28 + $5.00 (s&h) – H.S.T. includedfrom J. Gus Knierim, [email protected] make cheques payable to J. Knierim

Limited Edition!

The Rates of Postage of Canada 1711-1900,

Including Some Rules and RegulationsRegarding Rating and Treating

of the Mailsa

alan l. steinharta

edited by gray scrimgeour

Allan Steinhart’s

The Rates of Postageof Canada 1711-1900

available on a print-on-demand basis

444 PAGES, 8½ x 11 ISBN 978-0-919615-40-3

published by PHSC

PERFECT-BOUND (soft cover)

$39.00 + shippingfor general inquiries, shipping

costs, and orders

email [email protected]

J. KnierimP.O. Box 3044, Station C, Kitchener, ON N2G 4R5

We accept PayPal payments at the above email address(cheques payable to j. knierim)


Classified Ads Reach over 450 interested postal historians and collectors and support your Society. Take out an ad-vertisement in the PHSC Journal. Classified ads are just a $1 per line or portion thereof. Simply type out your message and send it with your remittance (cheque or money order) to the Advertising Manager, George Power, RR2, 668207 20th Sideroad, Lisle, Ontario, L0M 1M0. telephone (705) 466-3221 or email <[email protected]>. Please make cheques/money orderspayable to the Postal History Society of Canada – do not send cash in the mails.

DUFFERIN COUNTY postal history on post cards orcovers. Require the following offices: Auguston, Blount (1),Cardwell, Chedworth Crombie, Elba, Elder, Farmington, Granger, Lorraine, Lucille, Scarlet Hill, and Vanatter. Contact George Power, RR 2, 668207 20th Sideroad, Lisle, ON L0M 1M0 or e-mail [email protected]

• 152

NEW SPECIAL PRICE: Stampin’ Around or The Life of a Stamp Collector – Fred Jarrett’s memoirs are exciting to read and give a real insight into the hobby of previous generations. Now available. Cdn $29.95 + postage (please make cheques payable to postal history society of canada; we also accept PayPal at the email address listed below):

PHSC Treasurer Scott TraquairP.O. Box 25061, RPO Hiway, Kitchener, ON N2A 4A5

or e-mail [email protected]

CANADA, NEWFOUNDLAND COVERS on-line from my web-site, <http://www.donslau.com>. Thousands scanned – stampless to QE II – have a look. Don Slaughter, Box 8002, Sherwood Forest RPO, London, ON N6G 4X1 • 156

FOR SALE WANTED

LITERATUREWANTED: GRAIN COMPANY post cards, covers and covers with contents. D. Jansen, Box 161, LeRoy, SK S0K 2P0.

• 153WANTED: Duplex cancels of Harrow, Ontario on cover. Buy or trade. Contact: Larry Goldberg at [email protected]. or by snail mail (see page 74). • 152

WANTED: 1950’s Wildlife on CoverNeed only rare/strange/exotic usages & destinations.David Oldfield- email, [email protected] • 152

Got something to buy or sell?Classified ads in the PHSC Journal …

efficient, effective, economicalonly $1 per line per issue!

R. Maresch & Son,330 Bay Street, Suite 703Toronto, Ontario M5H 2S8

2 April 1998

Attention Bill Maresch and Rick Sheryer

Dear Bill and Rick,

Many thanks to you and your staff at R Maresch & Son for all your hard work in selling my West Indies collections so effectively.

I really appreciated your letting me review the descriptions and lotting for my part of the auction, although, in the event I had little to add to the excellent work you had done. Fellow collectors told me that Toronto was the wrong place to sell West Indies – your results proved them wrong. You certainly performed far better than major auction houses in Europe to which I have consigned material in the past. My worries about having my material among the last lots in a five-session, 2800-lot auction were also proven to be groundless.

I should also like to pass on to you the comments of several fellow- collectors from overseas to the effect that they were pleased to bid with complete confidence on lots where your wonderfully accurate colour illustrations gave them a true feeling for the colour shades that can be so important in our hobby.

You did me proud – many thanks! Yours sincerely

John Tyacke


OFFICERS * TERM: 2012–2014 # TERM: 2011–2013

PRESIDENT: * Stéphane Cloutier, 255 Shakespeare St., Ottawa, ON K1L 5M7 • email: [email protected] PRES.: G. Douglas Murray, 26 Alexandra Court, Stratford PE C1B 1KB • email: [email protected] PRES.: # Dr. Robert G. Leigh, Champaign, IL, USA • email [email protected].: # Scott Traquair, P.O. Box 25061, RPO Hiway, Kitchener, ON N2A 4A5 • email: [email protected]: # Larry Goldberg, P.O. Box 7170, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-7170 USA •˜email: [email protected] # Justus (Gus) Knierim, P.O. Box 3044, Stn C, Kitchener, ON N2G 4R5 • email: [email protected] # Roger F. Narbonne, 136 Morphy Street, Carleton Place, ON K7C 2B4 * Kevin O’Reilly, P.O. Box 444, Yellowknife, NT X1A 2N3 • email [email protected] * William S. Pawluk, Box 6032, Station A, Calgary, AB T2H 2L3 • email: [email protected] LARGE: * Dr. Gray Scrimgeour, 188 Douglas St., #570, Victoria, BC V8V 2P1 • email: [email protected]

JOURNAL EDITOR / CIRCULATION MANAGER:

The PHSC Journal is the official organ of the Postal History Society of Canada and is published quarterly. The subscription price for PHSC members is $35, per annum, included in the membership fees. All members automatically receive the Journal. Non-members cost: $40 per annum. Changes of address, undeliverable copies, and orders for subscriptions are to be sent to the Secretary at the address above; return postage guaranteed. Recent back issues are available from Gus Knierim: 113-144 may be obtained for $3 each; issues 1-140 at $7.50 each; and issue 141 and later $8.75 each. A one-time example may be purchased by a non-member for $8.75 postpaid. Membership applications should be mailed to the Secretary.

DUES: Canadian addresses, Cdn$35 per year, July 1 to June 30 membership year, prorated to the time of joining. US addresses: Cdn$45 per year; addresses in other countries: Cdn$55 (due to higher postage rates outside Canada).

ARTICLES: Anyone interested in reprinting articles published in the Journal must contact the Editor for details. The Publisher, the Society, its Directors, and its Members assume no responsibility for statements made by authors of articles in the Journal.

Copyright 2013 by Philaprint Inc. Printed by Conestoga Press, Kitchener, ON N2G 4R5 Canada Post Agreement Number 40069611 Published March 31, 2013

☛ PayPal accepted at [email protected] for all your PHSC payments

Larry Goldberg • email: [email protected] P.O. Box 7170, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-7170 USA EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: John Bloor • email: [email protected] Larry Goldberg • email: [email protected] Gus Knierim, Editor Emeritus • email: [email protected] K. G. Scrimgeour • email: [email protected] R. C. Smith • email: [email protected]: George Power • email: [email protected] RR 2, 668207 20th Sideroad, Lisle, ON L0M 1M0

PHSC CERTIFICATES & RIBBONS: J. Michael Powell • email: [email protected] 72 R12 Big Rideau Lake, RR 1 Lombardy, ON K0G 1L0WEB SITE COMMITTEE: www.postalhistorycanada.net Rob Leigh, webmaster, [email protected] Stéphane Cloutier • email: [email protected] Gus Knierim • email: [email protected] APPLICATIONS, CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Scott Traquair • email: email:[email protected]

P.O. Box 25061, RPO Hiway, Kitchener, ON N2A 4A5

Your Specialist in Canadian Postal History …

…from the ordinary to the unusual

Hugo Deshaye (Philatelist) Inc.PHSC•BNAPS•RPSC•SHPQ•CPS of GBP.O. Box 1000 Stn Forces, Box 444Courcelette, QuebecCanada G0A 4Z0

hugo@hdphilatelist,[email protected]

www.hdphilatelist.com1-888-516-5445

REQUEST OUR WEEKLYEMAIL PRICE LIST

PHSC Journal - Postal History Society of Canada (PHSC) · 4 • PHSC JOURNAL • Winter 2013 In This Issue … continued from page 3 Guide to Bar Precancels … 18 I have noted that

Documents