Somerset

Somerset post office, 9 km southeast of Cape York, opened on 1 January 1865 and closed in late 1877

• Datestamp type 1a (11 April 1873 - 22 July 1875) rated 5R

Somerset numeral 51 HERE

Datestamp type 1a

Somerset datestamp type 1a. Dated 11 April 1873. Rated 5R. Seen in Abacus auction no 239 lot no 1753

Somerset datestamp type 1a. Dated 8 September 1874. Rated 5R. Seen in Phoenix auction no 62

Somerset datestamp type 1a. Dated 22 July 1875. Rated 5R. Seen in Grosvenor auction no 55

The Post at Somerset by P. Collas in Philately from Australia, vol 24 no 2 June 1972 pp. 51-4 and vol 27 no 2 June 1975 p. 46

This is the item in question. Seen in Abacus auction no 239 lot no 1753

This item was listed in Abacus auction no 250 lot no 906 showing a Cape York (Somerset) manuscript annotation. The auction text is "1872 (Dec 26; Boxing Day) overweight officer's letter to "F O'Neill Esquire/HMS Basilisk/Sydney NSW/Australia/Or Elsewhere", endorsed "Via Brindisi" with Great Britain 9d straw Plate '4' tied by 'DEVONPORT/FE20/73 - 250' duplex, British 'DEFICIENT POSTAGE ("9")/FINE ("6")' h/s & rated "1/3" in black, 'SYDNEY/ C /FE21/73 = A =' transit b/s, endorsed on the face "Recd/at/Cape York/15 May/1873" by the recipient"