Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 25028 - Stamps and Covers of the World
Lot: 1010

(x) Crowned Circle Handstamps
New Zealand
1844 (16 May) entire letter from John Seal Bird in Wellington to his sister Lady Maxwell in London, with red framed "paid at/wellington" on the front, oval "wellington/ (crown)/ my 18/ 1844/ new zealand" on the reverse and red London receiving datestamp (5.10), manuscript '4' showing four pence paid but deleted as a double rate letter, also '1/4' to be paid by the recipient. Endorsed "Tyne", mail was taken off the Tyne in the Channel after she became stuck on Margate sands. John Bird arrived as a New Zealand Company settler with a land allocation but struggled. An advert from the New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator gives his address at Te Aro Flat and his occupation as Cabinet-maker, Upholsterer and Paper Hanger. The long transcribed letter thanks Lady Maxwell for a gift of £25, building a house, the natives demanding a high price for their land without paying "utu", buying a section, buying a brick making machine and a flour mill; most interesting. S.G. CC8

provenance:
Margaret Frankcom

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Estimate
£150 to £200

Starting price
£110