16 January 1841 Waghorn Cover

16 January 1841

Corinphila - 1841 (Jan 16): Entire letter from Major Eldred Pottinger in Calcutta to Dublin, Ireland struck on obverse with oval framed "Care of / Mr. Waghorn / Suez" in black (Sidebottom type 3), with "Suez" deleted and manuscript "Cornhill, London 95, GD for S.S. & Co." (Waghorn's Agent George Devenish for Samuel Smith & Co. in Calcutta). The entire shows that by this date Waghorn's business as a Forwarding Agent for the Indian Mails had largely ceased as the letter received no special treatmnent and arrived on the normal Steamer service via Falmouth. Rated "1s." due to pay with London datestamp (March 13) and Dublin arrival (March 15) in red on reverse. An important entire - the latest recorded Waghorn Forwarded entire from Calcutta. Rare. Signed Todd AIEP. Note 1: Journey time 58 days. Note 2: The letter from Major Eldred Pottinger (1811-1843) - who famously travelled through Afghanistan in disguise arriving at Herat just as the Persian Army (with Russian help) was about to attack Herat in 1837. Due to his and the Afghan Kamran Shah's defenders' exertions the attack, after over a year, was successfully thwarted. Thereafter he was known as the "Hero of Herat" due to his exploits during the siege. The contents state "I have just been appointed to take charge of the Turkestan Frontier in place of an Offi cer who was killed in the last action with Dost Mohammed Khan. The appointment has the same salary as before but is one requiring much larger expenditure and I think holds forth a chance of service...". Within a year Pottinger was to survive the massacre at Charikar and lead the retreat back to Kabul

"Camellia"