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