Originally known as Buckingham House it was acquired as a large townhouse in 1703 for Duke of Buckingham .In 1761 it was acquired by King George III as Private residence for Queen Charlotte and became known as Queen’s House. It became Buckingham Palace and London residence of the British Monarch on accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.
It was First thrown open to Public on 07 Aug 1993 and a Special Cover was released to Commemorate this event. The Cancellation depicts the words “Ceremonial Capital Of World” and has mint stamps on each of the Monarchs who occupied Buckingham Palace from 1837 to 1993. In the foreground is a beautiful sketch of the Palace.
Inauguration of Niuafo’ou Airport – Tonga Tin Can Mail Study Circle 1983
The Inauguration of Niuafo’ou airport in 1983 marks the end of Tin Can Mail.Tonga issued a set of Four stamps on 11 May 1983 to mark the inauguration of airport.
Tonga Tin Can Mail study Circle issued a First Day Cover with a 29s stamp which has Tin Can Mail Printed on the stamp. This stamp was not part of four stamps issued on airport but printed separately ????.
The Cover is listed. Stamps shows a De Havilland Twin Otter Aircraft.
Tin Can Mail – Centenary – First Day Cover Tonga 1982
Kingdom of Tonga in South Pacific has a large number of Islands and one of them Niuafo’ou is very special in history of Philately and Mail .It is commonly known as Tin Can Mail Island for the way the mail was sent and delivered. The Concept of Tin Can mail was started in 1882 by William Travers when he realized as a plantation manager that he had no means to receive mail from outside world .The Island had no harbour as it was very steep and ships would not come. Then he tied up with Tonga Postal authorities to get the mail thrown overboard the ships in ships Biscuit tins and a swimmer from Island would swim for almost six hours and collect the mail and also deliver the outgoing mail.
Prior to this even Rocket Mail was tried mail fired through a rocket from the ship -but it was not successful.Slowly this Tin Can Mail became popular and ships with passengers would come to see this Mail Delivery system.
Arthur Tindall who traded in his ship and had established Coconut plantation at Niuafoou had a major role in Tin Can Mail (TCM) history. He used ships of Union Steamship company of Auckland to pick and deliver mail from 1902 to 1918. Later Tindall invited Charles Stuart Ramsey who acted as famous ” Swimming mailman of Tin Can Island” for 12 years-112 swims for postal delivery with natives from 1921 onwards.
Niuafo’ou PO cancellation on mail during 1920s was circular date but ramsey did not use any catchet hence not much is known about exact mail dates. However use of of simple cachet “TIN CAN MAIL” & “NIUAFOOU” is known since 1927 after arrival of Walter George Quensell a German trader on the Island.
Ramsey and Quensell became competitors .In April-1931 a swimmer was attacked by a shark and mail delivery by swimmers was suspended and stopped in Jul 1931 . After that delivery resumed as ” Canoe Mail” from Aug 1931 onwards.
Tin Can mail continued till 1946 when a Volcano erupted on the Island and it was evacuated but the period from 1931 -1947 had WWII and other stories. Quensell sent Tin Can mail around the World which are rare and valuable .He died in 1956. This type of mail delivery continued till 1983 when a small airport came up on the Island.
Tonga issued a set of Four stamps on 29 Sep 1982 to mark 100 Years of Tin Can Mail. A First Day Cover with stamps is listed -the cover front and back illustrates a large number of cancellations used on Tin Can mail in those 100 years.
FDC TONGA TIN CAN MAIL CENTENARY 1982FDC TONGA TIN CAN MAIL CENTENARY 1982
Ahmednagar Fort is located near the banks of Bhingar river near Ahmednagar Maharashtra. It was built by Malik Amed Shah -I in 1427. In 1596 Chand Bibi repulsed the initial attacks of Mughals but Akbar captured it in 1600 and Aurangzeb was the Viceroy in 1636 & 1650. Aurangzeb died at Ahmednagar Fort in 1707 and the Fort pased on to Nizams of Hyderabad from 1724 to 1759. Shivaji invaded Ahmednagar in 1657 & 1665.
The Marathas were occupants of Fort from 1759-1803.The Scindias imprisoned Nana Phadanvis, Peshwa diplomat in Ahmednagar Fort. In 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War Arthur Wellesley defeated Maratha Forces and East India Company occupied the Fort and later the British.
The British rulers imprisoned Jawahar Lal Nehru, Abdul Kalam Azad and Sardar Patel during 1942 Quit India Movement. During this period Nehru penned down “Discovery Of India” in Ahmednagar Fort. Abdul Kalam Azad also compiled his “Ghubar-e-Khatir”(Sallies of Mind) -an acclaimed “Epistolary Essays” of Urdu Literature.
After Independence this Fort is being looked after by Indian Army ( Armoured Corps).
A Special cover was released on 30 Jan 2017 on Ahmednagar Fort at Pune.
IDEAS 2000 – Stamps on International Defence Exhibition and Seminar -Pakistan 2000
This event was started in 2000 and held from 14-17 Nov at Karachi Expo Centre. It was a vehicle to promote Pakistan’s domestic arms manufacturing business and get solutions to Pakistan’s tri services requirements. It is being held once in two years since then.
A stamp was issued on 14 Nov 2000 and a FDC is listed.
FDC PAKISTAN 2000 – INTERNATIONAL DEFENCE EXHIBITION AND SEMINAR
