Great Britain : Stamps

Having subsequently purchased several books on British postmarks, it is necessary to correct my previous identification. "Post Office Numbers 1844-1906" by George Brumell shows that this is likely to be part of a duplex, judging by the size of the bottom arc. The W stands for the West London District but, as is the case with all London obliterators showing District initials, the number is simply the handstamp number, 8 in this case.

Going to be an expensive month as GB are having 3 stamp issues this month
Tomorrow 3rd November - Christmas 2022 stamps so we have 6 Christmas stamps and also a miniature sheet so total for the 2 covers is £21.80
10th November - In Memoriam :Her Majesty The Queen, 4 stamps cover cost £7.99
24 November - Tutankhamun - Ordinary First day cover and a miniature sheet cost for the 2 covers £22.55
Geoff (GBCC) www.gbcovercollector.co.uk

The Great British Post Office scandal explained.

link


I am reminded of Australia's "robo debt" trauma, to the innocent public.

From the reference library.
Maritime Postal History of London-Robertson

Al, that's great. Did you knit it yourself? 

Daniel

Not a lot of Great Britain specialist use Scott. Am I correct in thinking you refer to this stamp from 1880?


It looks like the stamp was stuck on a piece of paper that remains attached to the back of the stamp. The 'Imperial Crown' watermark tends to be visible on these stamps. It, however could, be from the top right of the pane. That had such a line in the corners. If the sheet was not fed correctly, the marginal watermark would appear on the stamp: compare the well-known 'POSTAGE' watermark.

As it looks there is a curve at the bottom as well as at the top, the former is the likelier explanation. If it is the latter explanation, the left top corner or left half of the crown should be visible bottom left as shown.

The GB Postal Scandal.
Beggars belief.

More than 200 were imprisoned, many were left destitute and at least four have died by suicide.

link

I agree in principle, but it is often very difficult to test all the ways things can go wrong in a code, especially beyond a certain level of complexity. Of course, nothing beats a careful line-by-line reading, but sometimes the logic used by the original programmers, is, let's say, rather murky. So one relies on standardized tests. But users always find very creative ways to test a code that the originator never expected, so what does matter indeed is to trust the bug reports when they come back!

The programme certainly raised the awareness of the British public to the scandal, eventually!

Great Britain : Bisect Stamps

Source :McDonald Junior Reference Library  1969

I was born in YEOVIL  Somerset,
Not earth shattering news, I know  

However,  stamp collecting led me to an aside with tracing my genealogy,
it has been quite a ride, including finding my paternal great grandfather, a black illiterate sailor of Cornwall.

Now, along that path, I have found  YEOVIL's  first Post Office,  not only dated between c 1766-1780
but has everyone, in the painting named  ...extraordinary !
(Mercer :a dealer in textile fabrics, especially silks, velvets, and other fine materials.)

AH! Nostalgia ! that feeling of a place, we ache to go again, but cannot.  




link
link

I have added my own part of it's history, My School Photograph of 1956 (800+ students)
I am in there, but not telling

United Kingdom,  Pre Penny Post and after.
Seeking any sage advice, on the workings of the General Post office, and the service to Tiny towns, Hamlets, housing groups
outside of the major Postal Thoroughfares.

How did this all work?  Postage received and Paid for?  postal accounting?  this is all a mystery to me.

I am researching my home town of YEOVIL in South Somerset,
and was considering the rural enclave of WEST CAMEL, which lies 7 miles north of Yeovil.
West Camel is a village and civil parish in south Somerset, England, about 7 miles (11.3 km) north of the town of Yeovil.
It lies either side of the River Cam.
Local current population is 450, and I would suggest a similar strength in 1840

West Camel belongs to the electoral ward of Camelot.



I am aware 2d (tuppence) rate applied from 9th January 1840, for any letter up to 8 miles
and even with the 4d rate Uniform Post 5th December 1839  to 9th January 1840

So hypothetical cover being addressed to West Camel,  would it be held at Yeovil ?
if so how would it get delivered, if any.
Would there be a postal rider?  if so how was he to account for payments made for pre stamp covers, he delivered
and how would he have been paid for himself and horse?

Any links or literature you can recommend?

South Somerset hamlets etc

Suffering from Inflation?  I know we are in Oz

An England perspective   

It has been known for some time that the reign
of Henry VIII marked the end of more than a century of ‘surprising stability’ in the
cost of everyday foodstuffs and industrial goods, and the beginning of the second
great period of inflation experienced by the English in pre-modern times.” These
price rises were particularly noticeable in the 1520s and 1530s, although they did not
reach a peak until the 1540s when debasement of the coinage led to rampant inflation

The decennial price indexes for the 1520s and 1530s indicate a 50% rise in
prices of foodstuffs since 1500. Inflation was, then, a new economic force with which
the whole of English society was coming to terms during these two decades. While
individual families who were trapped by stable wage levels during these years
perhaps dealt with the rapidly rising price of foodstuffs by tightening their belts as
best they could, it was more difficult for a complex organisation such as the largest
monastic community in the country to respond quickly to this challenge and reduce its
expenditure, especially when increases in prices were initially thought to be cyclical
and therefore might be resisted to some extent by deploying accumulated reserves of
cash in the short term.


‘Crisis at Syon (Zion)  in the 1530s: The Ailing Finances of One of the “Greater” English Abbeys’
Peter Cunich
University of Hong Kong
ANZAMEMS 10th Biennial International Conference
Brisbane, 14-18 July 2015


The Dissolution of the Monasteries was a policy introduced in 1536 CE by Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) 
to close down and confiscate the lands and wealth of all monasteries in England and Wales.
The plan was designed as a lucrative element of his Reformation of the Church.