Australia - Can Anyone Identify These Placenames?

Thanks for the information everyone!

rod222, I really appreciate your input regarding WA postmarks, as just last week I just acquired a wonderful lot of about 300 WA datestamps (most on KGVs). Do you happen to know the scarcity ratings for the following: No. 1 State Mill Via Manjimup and No. 4 State Mill? (Incidently, does anyone have No. 2 State Mill, Dwellingup, and would be willing to sell it?)

Two other postmarks causing me headaches at the moment:

(1) This one seems to read '---LDA RLY STN.'

Would this be 'ST KILDA RLY STN' by any chance?



(2) This one seems to read '21 CENTRAL' or perhaps '(N)O. 1 CENTRAL.'



Any assistance identifying these cancels would be greatly appreciated!

Not sure which is the state mill 1 in Manjimup.

I came close to buying one of the original lumberjacks cottages
last December there. They were asking $75,000 but IIRC
were on a 35 year government lease.
Manjimup is a prize location nowadays, beautiful
old tall Karri forests, and close to surfing beaches.

No..1 state mill via manjimup rating 2-3
No..4 state mill C29 (prev wuraming mill) rating 1-2


There are two differing state mills dwellingup.

Caveat: these are 2002 ratings.

rod, this is my No. 1 State Mill Via Manjimup:



Apparently known today as Deanmill (name changed in 1936). Perhaps you know it by that name.

I was wondering why you didn't post an image,
(slap on the wrist for you)

Look, I am not a pmk collector per se, but
that looks like a jolly nice SON difficult to aquire pmk
I think you would get an excellent premium at a local auction.

I saw a WA "Niagara" pmk go for $30 recently
not sure if your "OS" adds to the mix

I could be talking through my hat, but I would suggest
that is a "keeper", very nice indeed.

I looked at the map of Deanmill, I am not sure
if it is the same "Milltown" I looked to purchase, but very close

From wiki,
and explains the (unusual for me) use of official postage
for such a remote town,
as the timber hewn, was to be used for railway sleepers for the
Trans Australian Railway.

After the Government Trading Concerns Act 1912 was passed in December of that year, several State-operated businesses were established.[3] One of these was State Saw Mills, which commenced with purchasing the South-West Timber Hewers' Co-operative for £80,000.[4] Construction on the State's Number 1 sawmill, later called Deanmill, began in 1913, as did construction of the Number 2 and 3 mills at Big Brook, later called Pemberton.[4] The mills cost an estimated £138,000,[4] and were to provide timber railway sleepers for the Trans-Australian Railway.[3] Construction of the mills was delayed by heavy rainfall, and the railway sleepers were delivered late.[4] Other problems included shipping disputes and the Commonwealth government's price for sleepers.[4]

State Saw Mills created a township surrounding the Number 1 mill, called Deanmill after a construction engineer named A. Dean.[4] They followed accepted practice at the time of placing a timber mill in a valley with accommodation and other facilities close by.[4] Deanmill Primary School was built in 1914 by the Public Works Department in association with State Saw Mills.[5] The school initially consisted of a single classroom, administration building and shed, all constructed out of timber.[5]

rod, thanks for that interesting information.

BTW I didn't post a scan because the one I had turned out to be too big so I had to re-scan and re-size it.

You're right - it's a very nice SON cancel. It was the standout in my WA batch of 300.

Here's the other one, Mill No. 4 (no name apparently) - also a great SON:

As you see,
there is nothing better than an image....

Thanks for the info, rod.

The Jarrahdale one must be very rare!

Could be JJ
may be just a reference for the reader
to go to "J" for Jarrahdale
(The book is back in the attic)

Two more problem postmarks for those who enjoy solving such mysteries!

(1) This would have to be a place with just three letters in the name, wouldn't it? So what's a three-letter NSW placename ending in 'H'?



(2) I think this has to be Wandella. But Wandella TO closed at the end of January 1939, well over a year before this stamp was issue. Are any alternative identifications possible?

How so?

You cannot say for sure the last letter is A

So the remaining known letters are "NDELL"

Ergo: One of these perhaps

ARNDELL PARK NSW
CONDELL PARK NSW
WINDELLA NSW
BUNDELLA NSW
WANDELLA NSW
WINDELLAMA NSW
BALLENDELLA VIC
WANDELLA VIC
DOOLANDELLA QLD
MILENDELLA SA

Thanks for those suggestions, rod. I think I've already ruled several of them out on other grounds, but the list gives me a couple of new avenues to explore.

With the first stamp, I thought the best explanation for the appearance of the cancel (just one letter for the placename) would be that the letters were spaced very widely apart and that three seems the maximum possible for this kind of extreme spacing. Surely that's the only possible explanation?

The only alternative is that only the letter 'H' got any ink on it, which doesn't seem likely.

Funnily enough, this discussion came up recently on another board.

I have this postmark with just an "O" on it:



Apparently they were cut-down date-stamps, used as Relief cancellers. There are some on the Premier Postal Auctions site here, under "A", "EY" and "G" https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-b...615172008975

Fascinating stuff,
I have learnt something else today,
never seen these before.




No