Simonstown Cover.
Found this cover in a dealers 50p box. A little tatty but very interesting. Glenn
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Hi Glenn,
I completely missed seeing this. Sorry but I have been building up a display and my eye was off the ball here.
I have been collecting Simonstown for years and have several items associated with HMS Doris but I do not have an example like this of its ship's stationery. It is very nice, despite its tattiness. It also has a tale to tell. Many of the men from in the Naval Brigade that manned the converted naval guns in support of the previously outgunned British artillery during the early stages of the SAW (1899 - 1902) were drawn from HMS Doris. The Naval Brigade's commander was from HMS Doris, I think, and was killed at the Battle of Graspan in November 1899. Your cover is from the start of the guerilla war phase of the SAW so it is likely that the sender had been returned to his ship by October 1900. Pity there isn't a senders name. He would almost certainly have a very interesting QV SAW Campaign medal.
I hope you find more material like this. I reckon it was 50p because of the state of the cover despite the HMS Doris reference. Had the seller known more about its history you might have been asked to pay many more times than that!
Good luck and Happy Hunting!
Hi Steve, thank you for the information about the cover. It will make a nice display sheet for my wife who collects maritime mail. Thanks Glenn