David Gurney

I was very pleased to acquire these two illustrated envelopes quite reasonably in the Society auction during the London meeting at the Royal on 25 November last year.

This envelope (Figure 1 below) was carried from Jethou to Guernsey by hand and posted to Frankfurt via London on the 28 October 1961 with two QE2 CEPT commemorative 2d and 4d stamps. It was then carried on the first Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt on the 1 November 1961 on Flight No. L.H 121. There is also an unofficial Isle of Jethou 1d adhesive label on the back cancelled with a circular Jethou cachet shown here. The two-line purple cachet on the front of the envelope ZURUCK / Nicht abgefordert translates as ‘Return / unclaimed’ (ie ‘not called for’).

The long illustrated advertising cover shown on the next page from the SEASCALE HOTEL in Gorey, Jersey, to Tunbridge Wells in Kent by SPECIAL DELIVERY was posted in October 1979 at the rate of £0.88. The hotel still exists today, now known as the Seascale Hotel, Bar and Restaurant, with a much changed exterior frontage.

I was really quite delighted to acquire this attractive cover at the CISS Auction held in London at the Royal Philatelic Society London in Abchurch Lane on Saturday 20 April 2024.

Posted in St. Malo on the 23 July 1901 and franked with French postage stamps to the value of 25 centimes it was addressed to H. Leffles at St. Ouen’s Rectory, Jersey, Iles de la Manche, and backstamped as shown with both the St. Malo despatch and Jersey receiving datestamps for the same date of 23 July 1901. A lovely clean cover illustrating the HOTEL DE FRANCE DE CHATEAUBRIAND ST. MALO itself, the original enclosures since removed.

In December 2015 I came across this unusual card (Figure 1)used by the Red Crosswhich is not recorded in my book and, at the time, I wrote to our member Dennis Riley to enquire whether he had such an example in his very large accumulation of scarce Red Cross material, but never received a reply.

Some years later I came to learn that Dennis had died, and I have also come to understand that his very large accumulation of scarce Red Cross material may have been sold. (Ed. Argyll Etkin auction on 20 April 2023). Can any member report having these items in their collection?

Also included with the card was a most unusual Red Cross wrapper (Figure 2) addressed to a Jersey girl in the UK in 1944 as far as I can see shown reduced in size as the lower half is very mutilated.

Very sadly Ron passed away peacefully on Monday 22 January 2024 at home surrounded by his family. Ron had sustained a fall in early January followed by two weeks in hospital at the age of 97 years. An amazing age and a member of our Society for at least 31 years so must surely have been our oldest member. Ron usually attended meetings with his wife, Betty (nearly 95), and their most recent attendance was at our London meeting this last November 2023 accompanied by their son and daughter! 

In the light of Ron’s age, it was decided he should be the first candidate for our Profiles of long serving members and was featured on page 5 of our March 2023 Journal. Ron enjoyed collecting the postal history and the LL postcards of all the Channel Islands.

Ron was called up in December 1944 and served in the Royal Armoured Corps in WW2 and then in the Middle East postwar. An accountant by profession he worked for the same shipping insurance company in the City of London for over 40 years. In addition to his keen interest in C.I. postal history, he was a keen sportsman playing football and tennis in his youth and bowls in his later years. An Arsenal supporter since his first visit to Highbury in the 1930’s and at various times a shareholder and season ticket holder. Ron and Betty were married for 68 years, they had Sue and Steve and there are now four grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Ron was very much a family man and will be much missed by his family and friends.

David Gurney, FRPSL

A commercially printed and attractive illustrated advertising envelope locally addressed within St, Helier, Jersey, during the German military occupation of the Islands, The Jersey 1d Arms stamp has been cancelled by the Jersey machine canceller on the 31^st May 1941. To the right below is the printing on the back of this envelope showing the name and address of the Agents in St. Helier. As stationery became scarce during the Occupation many such advertising envelopes from the 1930s continued to be used. A rare usage in this case.

I was very pleased to be able to attend this meeting in London after some time with all the intermittent railway strikes and thoroughly enjoyed myself catching up with old friends.  There were 14 members present at the meeting with a further four members joining the afternoon displays via Zoom.

The room auction in the morning comprised some 64 mixed lots which were well bid by a number of attendees in competition and was very successful with some 43 lots selling well either at reserve or in some cases well above reserve reaching total sales of £470. I was lucky to obtain an illustrated hotel advertising envelope which will fit into my collection very well. The auction was then followed by short displays by three members showing some interesting postcards, stamps and postal history.

Simon Burke provided some very interesting items relating to Herm, including seven scarce Tuck picture postcards and four postally used postcards, all cancelled either with a Herm double-ring datestamp for 1925, 1927 or 1934. Unfortunately, the date on the fourth item was unclear. This scarce double circle datestamp was used from 1925 – 1938. Simon also showed three items addressed to A. Toplis on Sark and a Sark registered first flight cover carried by Imperial Airways on its inaugural flight across the north Atlantic. Examples of the 1¼d postal stationery cards were also shown, along with a copy of a King George III Act of Parliament titled “Duties on Coal, Culm and Cinders and the Exportation of Salt, Pepper and Wine to Guernsey, Jersey and Sark.”

Nick Martin showed six items of mail sent from Guernsey to France via St Malo and Nick Stuart showed two postcards sent from Jersey bearing hotel cachets for  the Hotel de L’Europe and Grand Hotel  du Palais de Cristal. These two hotels formed part of the private postal service of French hotels in Jersey (for further information about this service see the book Delivered by the Hotel’s Care by Roger Harris available in our book list shown on the inside back cover of this Journal).

However my real surprise and delight was in the first display of the afternoon broadcast on zoom as well, given by our Treasurer, Bryan Elliston, on early Guernsey postal history which revealed a 1796 entire letter from Guernsey to Inverness in Scotland endorsed care of Mr Hugh Fraser/ Merchant Inverness N.B. (North Britain), in the address. At first my immediate thought was a Letter Forwarding Agent whom I did not know, but on reflection I realised it was not and reference to my books on Forwarding Agents worldwide showed the name was unknown. I am now
able to show a scan of this entire letter courtesy of Bryan Elliston to whom I am most grateful in which the endorsement is clearly ‘care of…………’.

(Bryan Elliston collection)

This most interesting display of early postal history was then followed by our Secretary, Richard Flemming, displaying Gerald Marriner’s destination mails also going out on zoom with some quite fascinating and interesting letters and postcards to and from all corners of the globe.

I have long felt in this difficult time today that finding interesting and unusual Channel Island items has become so difficult and this is where our Society auctions come into play, both our Room auctions and Postal auctions, where items can often be obtained for rather less than buying from commercial sources. Our Packets are also good sources for the more common items especially postcards.

So do bear in mind that attending these meeting auctions can be very rewarding and further enables one to meet and converse with other members present. The important facet of the room auction is that it is only available to those actually attending the meeting and some very good bargains have been acquired by several members over time mainly because our auction material is mostly drawn from deceased members’ estates so some material can be very scarce indeed.

Just before departing on a cruise to the West Indies and back before the last Christmas and New Year I was pleased to obtain this attractive envelope used by Jersey Wine Merchants DECOUR – BOISGARD & Cie trading at No.2, Sand Street, in St Helier, Jersey in the late 19c.

Addressed to Paris, France, the letter has been carried to Southampton where a 1887 QV 2½d purple on blue Jubilee stamp has been added and cancelled by a SOUTHAMPTON double circle datestamp on the 8^th November 1899. There are no backstamps on the reverse. A scarce letter.

When and why did you start collecting C.I. stamps/postal history?

I think it was in the late 1960s my parents returned my original stamp albums and I had also spotted the Occupation stamps in dealers’ windows at lunchtimes in the City. I also started a subscription for the Philatelic magazine, which was publishing the planned New Issues for the Islands and the Editor – O.W. ‘Bill’ Newport – had a strong focus on C.I. collecting.

When did you join the CISS? What/Who introduced you to the CISS?

1970. Probably an advert in the Philatelic magazine.

What benefit have you got from your membership of the CISS?

Fascination with the Channel Islands, an interest that encouraged me to research and write articles and then books on my early love of the Red Cross Civilian Postal Message Service, the Sub-Post offices and later Letter Forwarding Agents, finally an interest in Illustrated and Advertising covers. Membership extended from the Insurance & Banking P.S., local Societies, to the Royal, the Postal History Society and Society of Postal Historians. Enthusiasm, encouragement and comradeship helped, as did becoming part of a team and meeting knowledgeable collectors.

What aspect of C.I. stamps/postal history do you collect?

My past large collections have been the Occupation stamps, modern stamps and Island Revenues, the Red Cross Civilian Postal Message Scheme, the Receiving Houses and Sub-Post Offices of the British Channel Islands and currently early Letter Forwarding Agents handling Channel Islands Mails and Illustrated & Advertising letters connected with the Channel Islands. Topographical postcards.

Do you have a favourite item or group of items in your C.I. collection?

Yes, many especially those of historical and early maritime interest.

Do you collect other non-C.I. stamps/postal history?

Yes. Fine used GVI stamps of GB and the Commonwealth, local village postal history and local topographical postcards including Plaxtol and Tonbridge, Kent.

What has the hobby of philately meant to you?

It is a major part of my life especially with my involvement as Hon. Secretary of the Royal for four years and senior roles in the CISS. Always learning and collecting fascinating and scarce letters and documents, giving displays and travelling to various parts of GB, the Channel Islands and Europe.

I particularly enjoy the research and writing of articles and books and have had several published on mainly historical topics. I recall Alan Moorcroft FRPSL used to refer to me as ‘Mr Channel Islands’!