Cancels Can Be More Rare Than You Think.....example

The red "cancel" is part of an official imprint, perhaps a free frank. It has a facsimile signature at the top and the department info below: "Chairman / Civil Service / Commission of Canada". There was probably a circular dial at the left also.

I do not know about Canada's franking rules for official mail, so this may be off-base, but in the U.S. in this era a Congressman could free frank surface mail to his constituents, but had to add stamps for airmail, special delivery, etc. This may be from a similar use.

Beginning in 1938, the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission was Charles Bland. This seems to fit the signature in your cancel.

I don't know how long he served, but it is not impossible for your stamp.



Jan

John Becker and j2186..Thanks for the information..Now I have some thing to look up.

Thanks again..Robert

One resource I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is the Postal History Society of Canada's database of earliest and latest recorded dates for postmarks.

I collect Algoma District postmarks - here are some of my prized possessions:

These are the only two Sault Ste. Marie West duplex cancels presently known to exist, according to the PHSC. Interestingly the dates are only 3 days apart from each other:



This is a SON Nesterville split ring cancel - Nesterville is nothing more than a couple of shacks along Hwy 17, about 45 minutes east of Sault Ste. Marie - an old railway, logging ghost town.


Lastly, this is the only known Agate cancel known to exist. Agate was a whistle stop on the CNR line that runs between Hwy 101 and Hwy 631.


P.S. If anyone has any Algoma District cancels that they're interested in parting with, feel free to contact me!

Have you got a list of Algoma District cancels ?.

It's quite an expansive list. Algoma District used to include parts of Northern Ontario from around Thunder Bay to near Sudbury, including Manitoulin Island. My main interest is the area represented by today's boundaries of Algoma, but any of the small village cancellations from within the older district boundaries are of interest.

A list is available here, on the Library and Archives Canada website:

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/disco...rict=algoma&

That is quite a list.
Maybe you can help me with a cds on an 1898 map stamp. I presume its the same area of interest to you wert. I looked at the list that jjimclel provided, but could not see it.
I can make out NBAY & S.STE MARIE M.C 4th july 1899, but cannot make out the letters before NBAY. Even under lit 10x magnification I cannot read it.

I think it is: N. BAY & S. STE. MARIE

This is a railroad cancel, short for North Bay and Sault Saint Marie.

Jan

dynamode..I believe it is "Mal Bay"in Gaspe Quebec,

Robert

Robert, I think the M you see is part of M.C., an abbreviation for Mail Car

The letters after MARIE are definately MC. Its the letters after that and before NBAY I cannot read. Its a tricky one.

The other letters are probably No 2 (This is partly based on what the cancel should look like according to my book on railway cancels.)

Jan

This is the part I cannot read. I may be wrong but it does not look like no 2 to me.

Turn it upside down.

Jan

j2186 I think you are correct thanks.
The whole cancel reads clockwise. Why would they put that part of the cancel upside down ?.