OHMS cover posted in Pretoria in 1897?
I'd welcome any comments on this cover.
It's an off-white On Her Majesty's Service envelope with "Money Order Office / No. 1." in the lower left corner, posted to an address in central Johannesburg. But it doesn't have a British or colonial postmark, as one would expect; instead in the top right corner there are two Pretoria date-stamps - a standard Pretoria double circle postmark dated 27.NOV.E97, in the usual black ink, and a second purple double circle date-stamp reading POSTW. DEPT / P.W.K. PRETORIA. Z.A.R., dated 27.NOV.97. This second date-stamp, though unreported, isn't completely surprising - it conforms to the general pattern of ZAR date-stamps in the later 1890s, and appears to be the date-stamp of the head office of the post office's Postwissel service - most large post offices at that time were classified as Postwisselkantoren, with a counter dealing with postal orders and other financial transactions, with their own PKW date-stamps - the attached scan of an Orange Free State postal order has a PWK JOHANNESBURG date-stamp showing where and when it was cashed.
But how and why are these date-stamps on an OHMS envelope?
Bas Payne
Uploaded files:
Bas, this is a mystery.
It appears that the cover itself was supplied to the Cape or Natal's M.O.O. No. 1 and that it has some connection to the Pretoria PWK, most likely when the enclosed Postal Order was cashed. But where was it posted from? It bears no stamps, which is exactly what you would expect of a Cape or Natal posted OHMS cover, and sadly no dispatch date stamp. It could have been posted in either of the British colonies, less likely in the ZAR. A GB OHMS cover had no free postal authority in the ZAR if posted there. It would have required ZAR stamps. Yet it has none, which is not what you would expect of a cover posted in Pretoria at a time of growing antagonism to Britain.
While it is addressed to Johannesburg there is no proof it was ever received there. Could it have been dispatched in Pretoria, received in Johannesburg (but did not get a receiving date stamp), then cashed in Pretoria on the same day with the PWK date stamp? That's some round trip by train JHB - PTA - JHB for 12/6d. I am guessing again but that maybe the cover arrived in JHB from the Cape or Natal without being struck with either a dispatch or a receiving datestamp until it was taken to Pretoria where it was stamped twice before being cashed in. But why stamp the cover? Could this curious piece be favour cancelled OHMS philatelic item? Was it cancelled in the way it has been in order to make the cover less re-usable?
I am not a ZAR specialist and do not know what to make of it other than like it a lot for being the attractive cover it is. I have a few PWK postmarks and have always wondered what 'PWK' stood for. Thanks for clearing that up for me. It's the only piece of clarity to come from this cover. I hope someone else will tell you more. That's is also a fine Bethlehem Postal Order. I have a similar OFS PO cashed in Cape Town's M.O.O.
Sorry, I should have said that there is a Johannesburg date-stamp on the reverse - I'll attach a scan. I think the date is 26 NOV 97 - a day earlier - but a simple error (26 instead of 28) seems to be the most likely explanation. If that's right, it passed through the post.
Uploaded files:
I now think it was sent from the Cape or Natal and received in Johannesburg by Mr Leiner on the 20th November. (It could be zero or a 6.) If a zero / 20, it took him a week to take it to the Pretoria PWK where he cashed it in on the 27th. (I always thought my explanation that it was posted in PTA, receieved in JHB and cashed in PTA ALL on the same day was a stretch!) If the 26th, he travelled to PTA to cash the cheque the next day. Perhaps he was desperate and needed the money. Perhaps 12/6d was a lot back in 1897. (My Dad's first job in Yorkshire when he was 15 in 1931 paid 5/- a week!) If he was a philatelist, it is possible that while he was at the counter in the PTA PO he asked for examples of the two datestamps. Alternatively, the PTA PO decided to cancel the cover for reasons known only to themselves. The way the ZAR (not PWK) postmark has been stamped over the OHMS it is as if they were trying to cancel it. Interesting!