Lot 31
1882 Naval Officers Mail. Very fine cover prepaid by a 4d Grey-brown Pl.17 (Wmk. Crown) neatly cancelled by a London "10"...
E-Sale : Great Britain Stamps & Covers | SE24002
Auction: 16 February 2024 at 13:00 GMT
Estimate: £100 - £120
Description
1882 Naval Officers Mail. Very fine cover prepaid by a 4d Grey-brown Pl.17 (Wmk. Crown) neatly cancelled by a London "10" numeral. Addressed to a Miss Hilda Stephens of Beckenham, Kent with a receiving cds on reverse for MY.24.1882 alongside a printed "HMS. Thetis" on reverse flap. Initialled "P.W.S" by the writer Capt. Prescott W. Stephens on obverse, the Thetis at this time recorded as stationed at Valparaiso in Chile. Although not endorsed by any particular route, the letter was almost certainly carried by PSNCo. steamer "SS Aconcagua" via the straits of Magellan to St. Pauillac (Nr. Bordeaux) thence by closed bag overland to Calais and London.
Capt. Stephens never returned to the UK dying at sea a few month later in August 1882. Ex Geoff Osborne.
