A Late Fee was payable on letters posted between a half-hour and a quarter-hour before the scheduled departure of a mail. Originally a manuscript annotation, LATE FEE handstamps were introduced in late 1891 / early 1892
They have been seen for the following post offices. To see the handstamp, click on the link
Brisbane
Bowen - Seen by Campbell but not by me
Cunnamulla - Seen by Campbell but not by me
Port Douglas - Seen by Campbell but not by me
Townsville - Seen by Campbell but not by me
Yandina - Seen by Campbell but not by me
Information in Campbell (Queensland Postal History) p. 105
Late Fee Article: Philately in Australia, September 1976. Click on the image to enlarge it
LATE-FEE LETTERS. DEPARTMENTAL ARRANGEMENTS.
Brisbane Courier 10 May 1892
The extension of the time for posting for the English and foreign mails has been under the consideration of the Postal Department for some months. Up to the end of last year the regulation requiring a fee to be paid on late letters was not enforced, and as all letters posted up to 4.30 p.m. were included in the mails, this had the effect of causing very heavy posting during the last hour that the mails were open. This, together with the detailed entries that had to be made on the duplicate letter bills and recorded in the office books under the system in vogue before the adoption of the more simple methods of the universal postal union, as well as the want of better appliances, precluded any alteration, as correct sorting and despatch were considered of more importance than an extension of the times of posting, especially as late letters could be posted in the travelling post office until the departure of the mail train. In order that the sorting and despatch of the mails might be accelerated and the hours of posting extended, the Postmaster General some time since sanctioned certain improvements in connection with the posting of correspondence and also in the mechanical appliances for sorting letters, and it was arranged that as soon as these alterations could be made the times of posting should be extended as follows:- Packets and newspapers from 3.30 p.m. until 4.15; registered articles from 3.30 p.m. to 4 p.m.; ordinary letters from 4.15 to 5 p.m.; and late letters from 4.30 until 5.15 p.m. The Postmaster- General has now directed that the alterations indicated above, far as they relate to registered and late letters, shall have effect at once, the matter of extending the time for posting late letters having been brought into prominence by the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce at their last meeting, the other changes to await the completion of the mechanical appliances referred to.
It is unfortunate that the English and foreign mails necessarily close on Friday, as on this day, owing to the posting of all the weekly newspapers and other causes, the general work is unusually heavy. On any other day the mails could be made up and closed more easily and expeditiously. As a matter of public interest it may be mentioned that on Friday between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. mails for 118 places, with an average of 155 bags, are made up and despatched from the General Post Office, besides the numerous closed mails passing through which have also to be recorded in the books and entered in the bills. A table prepared by the department shows the comparative times of closing the English mails in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, and except in the matter of late letters it is generally in favour of t his colony, even as the times now stand It is also seen from this table that while the fee on English and foreign late letters is in Queensland uniformly 2.5 d., in New South Wales it is 5d. at the railway station, while in Victoria it is 3 d. at the Post Office and 6 d. at the train for ordinary letters, and for registered letters 6 d. and 1s. at the office. In Brisbane on one Friday in every month the mails for the Orient line and via San Francisco have to be closed and despatched at the same time, imposing a strain that is not experienced in the offices of the other colonies. The people of this city have generally the singular advantage of a supplementary English mail by steamer on Saturday, and by availing themselves of it they avoid the late fees on Friday's mails.
It is unfortunate that the English and foreign mails necessarily close on Friday, as on this day, owing to the posting of all the weekly newspapers and other causes, the general work is unusually heavy. On any other day the mails could be made up and closed more easily and expeditiously. As a matter of public interest it may be mentioned that on Friday between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. mails for 118 places, with an average of 155 bags, are made up and despatched from the General Post Office, besides the numerous closed mails passing through which have also to be recorded in the books and entered in the bills. A table prepared by the department shows the comparative times of closing the English mails in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, and except in the matter of late letters it is generally in favour of t his colony, even as the times now stand It is also seen from this table that while the fee on English and foreign late letters is in Queensland uniformly 2.5 d., in New South Wales it is 5d. at the railway station, while in Victoria it is 3 d. at the Post Office and 6 d. at the train for ordinary letters, and for registered letters 6 d. and 1s. at the office. In Brisbane on one Friday in every month the mails for the Orient line and via San Francisco have to be closed and despatched at the same time, imposing a strain that is not experienced in the offices of the other colonies. The people of this city have generally the singular advantage of a supplementary English mail by steamer on Saturday, and by availing themselves of it they avoid the late fees on Friday's mails.
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