Channel Islands Specialists’ Society

75th Anniversary Year

Journal Articles

Journal Indexes

A Letter sent from the Customs House in Guernsey

I was intrigued by this letter (Figure 1 on page 13)  because it was sent from Guernsey to Captain Le Roy of the Brig ‘Esperanza of Guernsey’ care of Messrs Le Maitre & Co., Ship Brokers, Liverpool. However, the 1d red (plate 185) is cancelled with a Southampton duplex.

On the front, above the address, is ‘Via Hind’ which suggests that the Customs Officer gave it to the Captain of the Hind for him to post the letter in Southampton on his arrival. It was probably the quickest way to get it to England as the message required Captain Le Roy to act urgently with regard to the registration of his ship.

The entire is dated 16 October 1862, the Southampton duplex is dated OC 18 62. It was sent to London on the same day with a receiving thimble date stamp also for OC 18 62. It arrived in Liverpool the next day with a receiving thimble date stamp of OC 19 62.

This was delivered faster than the mail today from Guernsey!

The letter reads:

Customs Guernsey

16 Oct 1862

Captain Le Roy

Brig Esperanza

The certificate of Registry issued at this Port (I Mathew absent on leave) on 4hrs ? 15 was inadvertently granted for your vessel by the then acting Registrar – prior to this step having been taken, as it should have been administered under 21 Sec MS Act 1854 Part 2nd Rules.

It is now desirable to rectify this error that your loading shall not have proceeded too far, or such goods as you may have on board can with facility be removed imperatively she should be measured as above stated.

For this purpose it will be necessary that you with Mr Neber’s Representative attend before one of the Measuring Surveyors at the Custom House, who upon the proper application being put in will proceed to take dimensions

The formula (the Norm Coutt the new Tonnage) will then have to be forwarded to the Surveyor General for Tonnage, Customs House, London for verification with a request that when verified it may be sent to me here for the purpose of amending the mistake which has occurred.

Your Obdt Servant

On the letter, in a different manuscript, ‘Measurements & Cert of Registration transmitted 24/10/62’

On the front below the address is written “Guernsey 8th Return”. Presumably the letter was sent back to Guernsey along with the verified documents.

1860 St Owens (St. Ouens) Undated Double Arc

I have recently acquired a cover (Figure 1) sent from Jersey to St. Peter Port, Guernsey, which shows a 1d red brown (SG36) cancelled by a Jersey (J38) first type duplex canceller issued for use in Jersey in April 1858. The cover was despatched on 18 March 1860.

It can be seen on the reverse of the cover (Figure 2) that it was initially handed in at the St. Owens receiving house as it bears an example of the ST. OWENS undated double arc handstamp (Figure 3). This is the second undated double arc recorded from this office following Guy Dandoy’s excellent example, in turquoise ink, reported in Les Iles Normandes (December 2016, Volume 35 No.4).  To show the handstamp more clearly please see (Figure 4).

It is my view that this is an example of the first type of undated double arc as illustrated in David Gurney’s book, The Postal History of the Jersey Sub-Post Offices. My image does not seem as pronounced as the Type 2 version and, although it is not a particularly clear example, the arcs appear to be some distance away from the ‘Ss’ at the beginning and end of the office name.

To complete the picture, also on the reverse, is a Guernsey 19mm single circle receiving mark for 19 March 1860.

This is a particularly late example of the use of this handstamp as, with the growth of other services and a need for smaller datestamps, an instruction to Postmasters dated 17 March 1860 finally abolished the undated handstamps. In other words, this was probably used on the last day of validity.

With grateful thanks to David Winnie, FRPSL for his help in researching and compiling this article.

Wanted

Wanted by John Triggs – “Specimen Stamps and Stationery of Great Britain” by Marcus Samuel and Alan Huggins.  Please contact John by email at guern1974@cwgsy.net with cost and postage.

CISS Member Profile – OLAF BEECKEN

A close-up of a person Description automatically generatedWhen and why did you start collecting C.I. stamps/postal history?

It was back in 1978 after I had joined our local stamp club. Kurt Burmester was an elderly and most respected collector of Channel Islands wartime stamps. One day he kindly asked me to help out with my English because he had problems with his correspondences with Britain and overseas. He then often invited me to his home and apart from the translations he showed me his fantastic collection. Usually, he would not let me go without accepting little gifts, i.e. occupation mint stamps and also covers. Thus, I got acquainted with the Channel Islands and ever since I have been doing philatelic research in this field.

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

I joined CISS in 1985 after I had bought some material from our well-known dealer Tom Green. Tom convinced me that for a true CI philatelist a CISS membership is a must, and he was right.

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

Apart from the very many items I bought over the years at CISS meetings and weekends I have specially enjoyed the warm atmosphere there. I am very proud to say that I have made friends with quite a few members. It is the human factor that counts.

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

I concentrate on the time when the first German soldier set foot on CI territory (1 July 1940) to the day when the last one left the islands (June 1946); most people call it the German Occupation period.

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

Not really, some items are worth a bit more but that does not mean that I favour them. When I look at my collection, I try to think back how an item found its way into my collection and that gives me good memories.

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

I have recently focused on the philatelic aspects of forced labourers and POWs who came to my hometown Hamburg from nearly all over Europe during World War II.

What has the hobby of philately meant to you?

Philately has been part of my life since I was a child. It is a sort of balance compared to the usual hectic nature of my professional life. It helped me to learn a lot, not only about stamps and the Post Office. And above all helped me to meet a lot of friendly and helpful people!

Annual Competition Day – 8 February 2025

Next year’s Competition Day will be on Saturday 8 February 2025 at The Royal Philatelic Society London.

In line with last year, as many exhibits as possible will be available for viewing on the CISS website, as well as on the day at our meeting at the Royal. The rules can be found on our website on the competitions page, where an entry form can be found. Scans of entries will be accepted for members living outside the UK.

Entry forms and scans of entries should be sent to the Competitions Secretary by Saturday 25 January 2025 at competitions@ciss.uk.  UK based members should then bring their entries to the Royal on Competition Day.

Please feel free to contact me, the Competitions Secretary, at competitions@ciss.uk with any queries. Enquiries can be made by phone on 01865 378012

As always, we look forward to receiving your interesting and varied entries. The competition rules are easy to follow, and members often find that they can display previously written up material with relatively little amendment. I am happy to help members who may be new to competitions; feel free to contact me.

Julian Bagwell

Competitions Secretarycompetitions@ciss.uk

New Members

We welcome Bernie Smith of Manitoba, Canada, and Camilla Norman of Jersey as new members and wish them enjoyment of their memberships.

Forthcoming Meetings 2025

9 January 2025                 1.00pm – Anniversary Display to the Royal Philatelic Society London             

8 February 2025               Members’ Meeting – Annual Competition Day and Room Auction

11-13 April 2025              Society Weekend at the Peninsula Hotel, Guernsey

7-11 May 2025                  Europhilex, NEC, Birmingham

11 May 2025                      1.00pm-3.00pm – Society Meeting at Europhilex

17 May 2025                      The 2025 Solent Regional Meeting at Chandlers Ford, Hampshire.  Convener: Alan Whittaker

5 July 2025                 10.00am – MIDPEX, Warwickshire Exhibition Centre, near Leamington Spa (Society Stand)

12 July 2025               75th Annual General Meeting; Room Auction and Members’ displays

13 September 2025   Members’ Meeting – Postcards

29 November 2025   Members’ Meeting – Theme: Letters A, B, and/or C

Unless stated otherwise, all meetings are held at the Royal Philatelic Society London, 15 Abchurch Lane, London EC4N 7BW with meetings commencing at 11.00am. Tea and coffee is available from 10.30am in the Members’ Lounge

2025 Subscriptions

Subscription renewal payments can be made through our website www.ciss.uk. A subscription renewal form is no longer needed. In case of difficulty, please contact us by emailing membership@ciss.uk. All members will receive a renewal reminder via email enabling you to renew online through our new payment option. Please avail yourselves of this facility if possible. Members without email will receive a renewal request by letter. Members who have not renewed by 14 February 2025 will be assumed to have resigned.

If you prefer, you can pay your subscription using the same method of payment as last year, including bank transfer or PayPal, but if you pay by cheque, please make this payable to “The Channel Islands Specialists’ Society” and send this to the CISS Treasurer, Bryan Elliston, at Ragged Lands, Ranscombe Lane, Glynde, BN8 6RP.

Subscriptions will remain unchanged for 2025:

Paper memberships:

UK and Channel Islands                 £15.00

Rest of World                                    £20.00

Electronic membership:                              £10.00

Under-18 Membership                                  £1.00

Secretary’s Clipboard

Well here we are, coming to the end of another year, and with 2025 approaching fast. For those of you who are not aware, 2025 will the Society’s 75th anniversary and to celebrate the event, the President of the Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) has invited the Channel Islands Specialists’ Society (CISS) to provide one of the major displays at the Royal for 2025. Committee members have been busy behind the scenes putting the 54-frame exhibition together ready for Thursday, 9 January 2025, when the exhibition will be open from 1.00pm for all to view. In all, the material of twenty CISS members will be on display. As a member of the CISS you do not need to be a member of the RPSL to come along to view the material.

By the time you are reading these Secretary’s musings, I am assuming that we will have held the members’ meeting at the RPSL on Saturday 30 November, when will have been entertained by members who will be providing displays prior to the 9 January 2025 Exhibition. Can I thank all who provided exhibits, especially Alan Moorcroft and Gerald Marriner, for entertaining those members present at the Royal, and those members who could join the meeting via Zoom? A special thank you needs to go to Mark Bailey who set up the Zoom session for us.

2025 also sees the Society spreading its wings to Guernsey for its 2025 Members’ Weekend meeting at the Peninsula Hotel (11-13 April). Hopefully you have received the necessary information. It is recommended that you book as soon as you can. If you have any problems with booking your room, please contact me in the first instance.

Our first members’ meeting of 2025 will be the Annual Competition Day (8 February). I’m sure our new Competitions Secretary, Julian Bagwell, would welcome your competition entries. For full details see page 6 below or login to our website (www.ciss.uk) and click on ‘Competitions’.

Editorial

Following two bumper 44-page issues this year, we find ourselves returning to a slightly slimmer journal to end my first year as Editor. I am hugely grateful to all of the members who have sent me copy and would like to thank them for seeing me though my first year.

An ephemeral problem for journal editors is the reliance on a small group of members who regularly send in contributions and frequently jump to help out with “emergency” requests. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want to ask the regulars for fewer contributions, but it would be nice to hear from more of you about an interesting piece in your collection or a recent purchase. It can be a cover, stamp or piece of ephemera.  I have received very little on stamps which is after all where we probably all started our philatelic careers. And surely, we all have that odd item which we like but which doesn’t fit logically under any section of our collections and cannot easily fit into a display?

Next year will include several important philatelic events for the CISS, notably our anniversary display at the Royal Philatelic Society London, our weekend meeting at the Peninsula Hotel, Guernsey, and Europhilex international exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. We have arranged a society meeting at Europhilex, and we hope to see many of you there. But for those who are unable to attend these three important events, please do not forget that your main contact point with the society is the website and the journal. To your quills or mice, please!

Best wishes,

Nick