Display by The Orange Free State Study Circle to the Royal Philatelic Society, London

on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of its Year of Inauguration

Presented on Thursday the 23rd October 2003

1890

1890 "1d" on 4d provisional - the unique block of nine with missing surcharge on No. 8. from the "Royal Philatelic Collection"

1898 - Mounted Police

1898 - Mounted Police Force R.D.M. on cover (Hepworth)

1877 -

1877 - "4" on 6d positional strip of three (Allison)

Welcome

It gives me great pleasure to welcome the members of the Royal Philatelic Society and their guests to this display by members of the Orange Free State Study Circle. We are particularly grateful to your President David Beech for the opportunity to present the display at this time, in order to celebrate our 50 th Anniversary. On behalf of the Study Circle, I would like to thank all of those who have contributed to what must surely be the most important display of O.F.S. material ever assembled. I would particularly like to thank Her Majesty the Queen for her gracious permission to exhibit material from the Royal Philatelic Collection and to Michael Sefi and Suresh Dhargalkar for arranging the content.

Michael Smith
Chairman OFSSC

The Orange Free State Study Circle

The Orange Free State Study Circle was founded on the 29th August 1953, to promote the study of the stamps and postal history of the Orange Free State. The membership has a worldwide base, being particularly strong in the U.S.A. and South Africa as well as the U.K. Meetings are held three times a year, usually in London. All members receive "The Orange Free State Bulletin", the Study Circle's quarterly journal. Society publications include the definitive handbook (in three volumes) of O.F.S. Philately, "Stamps of the Orange Free State" by G.D. Buckley and W.B. Marriott. The most recent publication is a set of four Postal History Maps, showing the location of postal offices and postal routes at 1850, 1870, 1890 and 1910. Enquiries should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary: Mr J.R. Stroud, 28 Oxford Street, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, TA8 1LQ.

The Royal Philatelic Collection

Frame 1.

The display commences with Die Proofs for the first postage stamps, in black without value and for the 1d, 6d and 1s. in black and colour. Also included are colour trials for the 1d in olive-green, carmine and red. A study of the 1s. value includes blocks, Specimen and Cancelled overprints and a rare double print. The "4" on 6d provisional includes the unique mint block of 6, a mint pair and varieties. Inverted and doubled surcharges of the "1d" on 5s. and "1⁄2d" on 5s. are followed by doubles of all five types of the "3d" on 4d. A strip of three of the "2d" on 3d has a curly-tailed "2" on the centre stamp. "1d" on 4d varieties include the unique block of nine with missing surcharge on No. 8 (Illustrated on the front cover).

Frame 2.

This frame includes interesting varieties of the "1d" on 3d (including a double print of the variety 'spaced 1 and d'), "21⁄2d" on 3d, "1⁄2d" on 3d, "Halve Penny" on 3d and combinations of these last two; also a Commando Brief and one on cover.

Frame 3.

A representative selection of republican telegraphs, with varieties, is followed by the First Setting of the V.R.I. postage issues with singles and multiples illustrating a multitude of varieties.

Frame 4.

The V.R.I. level stop varieties of the First Setting are followed with many spectacular varieties of the later raised stop settings. A diagonal 2d surcharge paired with a stamp without surcharge and another pair of 2d showing raised "I" and stop, are of particular note.

Frame 5.

This frame commences with a superb corner block of 8 of the V.R.I. Second Setting 5s. value, containing 3 stamps with the 'mixed stops' variety. It continues with important varieties of the 1900-02 provisional issues, including a double 'ORANGE RIVER COLONY' overprint of the halfpenny (Illustrated below) and a double, one inverted, of the E.R.I. 6d. Of particular interest is an unusual "4d" on 6d of 1902 with spaced "6" and "d".

1900 - ORC on Cape Halfpenny with Double Overprint

Lastly, is a fascinating, previously unrecorded, private essay (unadopted) for a 5s. stamp for the Colony showing a head and shoulders portrait of Lord Roberts who led the occupying force into Bloemfontein on 13th March 1900.

Frame 6.

The last of the six frames comprises a comprehensive study of the V.R.I. telegraphs with many blocks of the Army Telegraphs and the basic telegraphs, the latter including a rare interpaneau block of 8, the right hand block of four stamps with V.R.I. omitted. (Illustrated on the back cover)

Note: All illustrations from the "Royal Philatelic Collection" are reproduced by gracious permission of Her Majesty The Queen to whom copyright belongs.

Republican Period

It was not until the Great Trek that the Boers, dissatisfied with living under British Control in the Cape of Good Hope, pioneered the areas beyond the Orange River. Thus, the independent republic, the Orange Free State, was formed in December 1836. There were many difficulties, with repeated conflicts with both the Griquas and Basutos, often resulting from land disputes and cattle raids. In 1845, the Governor of the Cape sent Captain H.D. Warden, with a company of his regiment, to establish himself as British Resident, which he did on the site of the future capital Bloemfontein. In 1848, Sir Harry Smith the new Governor of the Cape proclaimed British Sovereignty over the entire country, which was now known as The Orange River Sovereignty. Initially, this period was one of prosperity and progress, but soon problems arose, with conflict between the Dutch and British factions and between these and the Basutos. In 1854, the British decided to withdraw and the country again became an independent republic.

Frames 7-8 Pre-stamp Period 1848 - 1867 (Robert Allison)

1864 - OFS Pre-stamp/Cape Combination Cover

Frames 9-12 Postage Stamps Part 1 (Robert Allison)

Initially, the postal service was of a most primitive character. It was not until 1865 that postage stamps were ordered from De La Rue in London. In 1866, President Brand appointed Mr H. Sybouts as Postmaster General and he set about the organisation of the post office on a sound basis and oversaw the issue of these stamps on the 1st of January 1868. As the service became established, additional values were added to the series.

1867 - 6d Die Proof Frames 13-16

Many rare or unique items from the collections of the following members:

Selected items from Members' collections
Robert Allison	Timothy Bartshe
John Cheminais	Alan Drysdall RDP , RDPSA
Derek Hepworth	Kurt Schau

1877- 6d Revenue Stamp - value double, one inverted

1877- 6d Revenue Stamp - value double, one inverted (Allison)

1900- Photographic Essay for un-adopted issue

1900- Photographic Essay for un-adopted issue, abandoned after the death of Queen Victoria (Cheminais)

Frames 17-19 Postage Stamps Part 2 (Robert Allison)

In addition to the basic series, a surprisingly large number of stamps with provisional surcharges were issued. There were two key reasons for this. Firstly, whenever there was a change in postal rates, new issues had to be ordered from De La Rue in London, a process that could take up to a year or more. Secondly, the failure to order a fresh printing of an existing value early enough in advance of the exhaustion of existing stocks. All of the provisional issues were printed by C. Borckenhagen & Co., the Government printer, locally in Bloemfontein.

1890 - 1d on 4d with Triple Surcharge

Frame 20 Embossed Revenue Stamps (Robert Allison)

Revenue stamps predated the issue of postage stamps by many years. Manuscript adhesive revenue stamps were in use from the earliest days of the republic. The first embossed stamps were issued in 1856.

Frames 21-22

Definitive Revenue Stamps (Wikus Van Heerden RDPSA) The embossed issue was superseded in 1877 by a series of definitive revenue stamps, printed by De La Rue in London.

1876 - £10 Revenue - Un-adopted hand-drawn Essay

Republican Period
Frames 7-8	Pre-stamp Period 1848 - 1867 (Robert Allison)
Frames 9-12	Postage Stamps Part 1 (Robert Allison)
Frames 13-16	Selected items from members collections
Frames 17-19	Postage Stamps Part 2 (Robert Allison)
Frame 20	Embossed Revenue Stamps (Robert Allison)
Frames 21-22	Definitive Revenue Stamps (W. Van Heerden RDPSA)
Frames 23-29	Postal History (Robert Allison & Richard Stroud)
Frames 30-33	Postal Stationery (Michael Smith)
The Second Anglo Boer War
Frames 34-38	The V.R.I. Stamps (Timothy Bartshe)
Frame 39	The V.R.I. Postal Stationery (Michael Smith)
Frame 40	Provisional Stamps of the O.R.C. (Robert Allison)
Frames 41 - 46	Postal History (Richard Stroud)
The Orange River Colony
Frames 47-48	The Edwardian Postage Stamps (Brian Trotter)
Frame 49	The Edwardian Postal Stationery (Michael Smith)
Frame 50	The Edwardian Revenues (Robert Allison)
Frame 51	The Interprovincial period (Chris Board)
Frame 52	Postal Orders (Richard Solly)

Frames 23-29 Postal History (Robert Allison & Richard Stroud)

The postal history of the O.F.S. is extremely complex and is therefore of great interest. The postal markings have been extensively studied, but until recently postal rates have received surprisingly little serious attention from philatelists. Of particular interest is early mail to destinations outside of the O.F.S., as until 1881, O.F.S. stamps only had local validity, so covers to external destinations had to bear additional stamps from the Cape, Z.A.R. or Natal, depending upon the route, giving rise to the so-called "Combination Covers".

This display incorporates the following sections:

Postal History of the Republic (Frames 23-27)
Mail from Natal sent "Via Bloemfontein" (Frame 28)
Postal Markings (Frame 29)

1878 - OFS/Cape Combination Cover to Germany

1878 - OFS/Cape Combination Cover to Germany (Allison)

1895 - Natal to London "Via Bloemfontein" Cover

1895 - Natal to London "Via Bloemfontein" Cover (Stroud)

Frames 30-33 Postal Stationery (Michael Smith)

Postal stationery in the form of postal cards was available from 1884. These cards can be divided into two distinct groups. Firstly, those printed by De La Rue in London and secondly those printed locally by C. Borckenhagen, in Bloemfontein from 1889 onwards. The latter are of particular importance as their method of production makes them unique within the field of postal stationery.

1889 - 1d

1889 - 1d "Bordered" Postal Card - First Printing

The Second Anglo Boer War

On the outbreak of war on the 11th of October 1899, the Transvaal and O.F.S. commandos invaded Cape Colony and Natal. On the Cape front, they occupied a territory about 25 miles parallel with the border, in which republican issues were valid for postage. After early setbacks, the British under Lord Roberts advanced to the relief of Kimberley and Mafeking and, following the surrender of General Cronje at Paardeburg, Roberts entered Bloemfontein on the 13th of March 1900 unopposed.

Following the occupation, the stamps and stationery of the O.F.S. were immediately declared invalid. Within a few days, British Occupation issues were produced by Curling & Co., locally, in Bloemfontein, by overprinting the republican issues "V.R.I." (Victoria Regina Imperatrix).

Frames 34-38 The V.R.I. Stamps (Timothy Bartshe)

"V.R.I." overprints had to be applied to postage, revenue and telegraph stamps, leading to a complex series of settings and numerous varieties.

1900 - 1s Orange V.R.I. (raised stops) matched pair

1900 - 1s Orange V.R.I. (raised stops) matched pair with mis-aligned overprint

Frame 39 The V.R.I. Postal Stationery (Michael Smith)

All of the De La Rue stationery cards were overprinted, together with a small number of locally produced threehalfpence cards.

1901 - Hand Illustrated ½d V.R.I. Postal Card

1901 - Hand Illustrated ½d V.R.I. Postal Card - 6th Setting

Frame 40 Provisional Stamps of the Orange River Colony (Robert Allison)

In mid 1900, it was confidently expected that the V.R.I. issues would be superseded by a definitive issue bearing the portrait of Queen Victoria. Plans underway for such an issue however had to be scrapped following the death of the Queen in January 1901. The result was a further group of provisionals produced by overprinting of Republican or Cape issues.

1s on 5s - surcharge double

Frames 41 - 46 Postal History (Richard Stroud)

The Boer War period provides the postal historian with a wealth of material for study. The following main areas can be identified:

Mail service suspended
Boer Censorship
The northern route via Delagoa Bay
Boer occupation of the Cape and Natal
Commando activities
The British advance and fall of Bloemfontein
The establishment of Kroonstad as the temporary capital
Mail to Boer Prisoners of War
Postal services established by the British
Military activities including the guerilla war
The establishment of Refugee (Concentration) Camps
The establishment of fixed Army Post Offices

1899 - Ficksburg to Cape Town via Delagoa Bay

1899 - Ficksburg to Cape Town via Delagoa Bay bearing First Type Postmaster General cachet

The Orange River Colony

Although the whole of the O.F.S. was formally annexed to the British Crown and renamed the Orange River Colony on the 28th of May 1900, a guerrilla war continued for a further eighteen months and it was not until the 31st of May 1902, that the war was formally ended by the signing of the Peace Treaty at Vereeniging.

Frames 47-48 The Edwardian postage stamps (Brian Trotter)

flaw positional block

4d "IOSTAGE" flaw positional block

The first Edwardian postage stamp, the 1d value, was issued in early 1903. This was quickly followed by the rest of the postage values and the revenue stamps. These issues have a particularly attractive design and colour scheme. The 4d value includes the spectacular "IOSTAGE" plate flaw.

Frame 49 The Edwardian postal stationery (Michael Smith)

Postal Stationery bearing the Head of King Edward VII was issued in mid 1902. This comprised postal cards (single and reply), newspaper wrappers and registered envelopes. Embossed envelopes were added in 1904.

4d Registered Envelope Die Proof

Frame 50 The Edwardian revenues (Robert Allison)

1s 6d Revenue with manuscript

1s 6d Revenue with manuscript "Specimen"

This display incorporates material from the William Frazer Estate.

Frame 51 The Interprovincial period (Chris Board)

The Orange River Colony existed as a political entity for exactly ten years. It then became part of the Union of South Africa alongside Cape Colony, Natal and the Transvaal on the 31st of May 1910. After Union, the use of the issues of the O.R.C. and other provinces was extended throughout South Africa, giving rise to the so-called "Interprovincials".

Frame 52 Postal Orders (Richard Solly)

1883 - 8d rate cover to the U.S.A.