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Hand Struck Stamps
Waghorn Sidebottom 7a — marking, 1839, Black

Forwarding Agent · Marking

Waghorn Sidebottom 7a

Date
1839
Colour
Black
Rarity
1 example recorded
Note
Unrecorded in either Sidebottom or Smith
Submitted by
System

Census

Census records

1 cover recorded
COV-1779 pre stamp cover
COV-1779

1839

EGYPT, 1839, "CARE OF Mr. WAGHORN/GLASGOW ALEXANDRIA." (Unlisted in Sidebottom or Smith). Bold strike of two-line handstamp on 1839 folded letter to Madras, India, light strike of red Glasgow despatch datestamp, sender's directive "care of Mr. Waghorn, Alexandria", Bombay Jan. 1840 boxed transit datestamp with manuscript "12as" rate on back, while the strike is bold and clear, the cover is heavily toned and brittle leaving many of the folds separated and pieces missing ALMOST FINE. DESPITE THE DETERIORATION, THIS COVER IS THE ONLY KNOWN EXAMPLE OF THIS THOMAS WAGHORN GLASGOW STRIKE—UNRECORDED BY EITHER SIDEBOTTOM OR SMITH. As far as we are aware, this is the first time this strike has been offered publicly, having gone unrecorded for many decades. This was the case dating back to when Sidebottom wrote his informative book The Overland Mail, published in 1948. Although he does briefly mention "Six agencies in England used this latter handstamp (Type 4) eventually; they were situated in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Falmouth, but only London and Liverpool examples are known (Types 7-8)."

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About Waghorn Sidebottom 7a

Sidebottom 7a is recorded in neither Sidebottom nor Smith — a mark documented here rather than in the standard catalogues. It is known from 1839, at the height of the agency's activity, and is treated as a distinct variety alongside the catalogued Sidebottom 7.

Struck in black, it belongs to the small and important group of Waghorn markings that the published literature never listed. The existence of such a mark shows that the catalogues, for all their care, did not capture every cachet the agency used, and the covers recorded here are the primary evidence for it. Examples are correspondingly rare and each one adds to the record.