Great Brittain Postal Cancelations - Help Identifying

Can someone help me identifying the following cancelations?



If I search this website http://www.gbps.org.uk/information/...vincial1.php I think the cancelation on the left was used by Bradford. But I can't find the cancelation on the right.
Does someone knows where it was used?

107 is Bradford Yorks. I think the one on the right is one of the London district post and suburban offices and 19 was Halfway Street, Finsbury Park. This was a single obliterator with district initials, upright oval or circular.
If anyone knows better feel free to correct

I believe the W19 postmark is from the head office of the London Western District.

It would have been part of a duplex with a "LONDON.W" CDS.

Eiger,
Not au fait with your description?
That is a duplex hammer, no?

I concur with Nigel on the second stamp. I spent a lot of yesterday researching London postmarks. What an incredibly vast field!

Is there maybe a website or some documentation I can download somewere with the info about the different postmarks for the London districts (kinda like the site I posted)?

Here you go, Vincent.

http://gbstamp.co.uk/article/index-...ons-143.html

Hi Vincent,

I'm not aware of a comprehensive guide although there are many books with some information.

The site you've posted is an excellent reference, particularly if you make use of the detailed files in the download area.

One problem in this area is the profusion of numbers.

1. There are of course post office numbers as in your Bradford example and in the London district post and suburban offices that Eiger has mentioned, which typically had postmarks with a number within a circle within bars.

2. There are also the numbers of the London postal sub-districts which have now evolved into parts of the London postcodes, e.g. SE10 for Greenwich.

Here's an overview of the London Postal District and its various districts and sub-districts:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Londo...tal_district

Note that for example the Western District has sub-district numbers up to 14.

3. There are numbered cancellers where the number seems just to be there to identify the canceller, i.e. a "hammer number". Maybe some of them had particular purposes within the office they were used.

These include the district head office postmarks such as your W 19 and also the numbered postmarks of the London head office "Inland Section", which typically had a number within a diamond within bars.

The link you've posted makes the important point that the Inland Section also made some use of postmarks with numbers within circles within bars.

I'm not an expert at all in this area and I've found it confusing at times to work out what was going on. Bobby has summed it up well.

Vincent,

SG's Collect British Postmarks gives a very good overview of British postmarks but it doesn't try to go into every area in detail.

It includes the main lists of post office numbers but for example as far as I can see it only shows two examples of head office marks from the individual London districts.

It does though give some idea of the breadth of what exists including example of newspaper/printed matter markings, charge marks etc.

Hi Vincent,

For London info, follow this link

http://www.gbps.org.uk/information/...ications.php

and download the Parmenter material.

His book "Barred Numeral Cancellations of London" is excellent but get the other stuff too, especially "District and Branch Office Cancellations from 1856 - Intro, E, N, NE, NW, S, SE" as the Intro material helps with understanding this field.

Hi Vincent,

Thanks very much for this link.

I'd not seen the Parmenter listings before.

Thank you for the link Bobby De La Rue

I did not know before, but the stationery shown has a (later use) London Double Experimental Circle. It is relatively large compared to the stamps and other cancels.

Rod that was a description from the Collect British Postmarks book by Dr JT Whitney

Eiger posted:



Yes, CBP's type 7/10 shows a single example with this description: a vertical barred oval with NE over 3.

Here are a few more examples from the old but still very useful book Post Office Numbers by George Brumell:





Brumell also shows many duplex versions that include a CDS.

I guess these duplex marks would fall into CBP's very broad type 7/11.

The links given by Bobby give great coverage of all of these.

Me too.
that is an extraordinary gift to the Philatelic community.
Encourages collectors to delve into otherwise difficult themes, and (I would suggest) encourages collections of material, that at other times would be discarded.

It is a shame, that that fine British heritage of clear and meaningful postmarks, fell into the ugly and disgraceful examples we see from the 1960's onwards.