Scan or Photo Courtesy of Kishore Chandak
Date
27 July 1808
Description
1808 : No handstruck stamps were in use in BENARES Post Office until 1810, although a Post Office was set up there in January, 1774. In lieu of a handstruck stamp, the clerk at the Post Office wrote the despatch details as shown on this cover of 1808, namely "BENARES PT.PAID 8AS / 27 JULY1808". BENARES is situated on the left bank of Ganges. It was ruled by the Nawab of Oudh until 1776, when he ceded it to the British. Lot of serious disorders have been witnessed in the uprising in 1857.On arrival in the CALCUTTA G.P.O., the orange "G.P.O. / AUG 8 / 1808" receipt mark was stamped on the letter, this being the earliest recorded example of this mark, used during 1808.
Auction
Provenance
Derek Hammond Giles
Same office
Other recorded marks at Benares
18 marks18 other pre-1854 postal markings of Benares are recorded in the census. Compare their figure numbers, dates and colours to identify the mark on your cover.
- Benares HG 1handstampBlack1810–1820
- Benares HG 2handstampBlack1811
- Benares HG 3handstampBlack1824–1836
- Benares HG 4handstampBlack1827-35
- Benares HG 5handstampBlack1829
- Benares HG 6handstampBlack1832–1835
- Benares HG 7handstampRed1840-53
- Benares HG 8handstampBlack1839–1852
- Benares HG 9handstampRed1839-45
- Benares HG 10handstampRed1839
- Benares HG 11handstampBlack1850–1856
- Benares HG 12handstampRed1845–1850
- Benares HG 13handstampBlack1847-53
- Benares HG 14handstampRed1844
- Benares HG 15handstampBlack1847–1852
- Benares HG 16handstampBlack1845–1851
- Benares HG 17handstampRed1854
- Benares HG 18handstampBlack1851–1854
About this record
This 27 July 1808 pre stamp cover of British India bears the Benares MN 1 handstamp of the North Western Provinces, a mark with 1 example recorded in this census — the only surviving cover with this mark recorded so far. It has appeared at auction with Spink, lot 158, (Oct. 2000); Spink, lot 180, (Oct. 2001).