“(Signed) Charles Connell, P.M.G.”
The postage on the above must, I think, have been prepaid in money until the issue of the One Cent stamp in May, 1860; for it is difficult to see how a halfpenny value could have been improvised out of the three stamps then current.
From the following notice, taken from The Royal Gazette for January 19th, 1859, it will be seen New Brunswick was one of the first, perhaps the earliest colony, to start a Parcels Post.
“PARCELS BY POST IN NEW BRUNSWICK.
“From the 1st February next a Parcel, not weighing over Two Pounds, will be conveyed by mail between any of the Post-offices in New Brunswick. They must be prepaid at the following rates by Postage Stamps only:
| For any weight not exceeding 1 lb. | 1s. 3d. |
| For any weight over 1 lb., and not exceeding 2 lbs. | 2s. 6d. |
“(Signed) Charles Connell, Postmaster-General.
“General Post Office, Fredericton, January 12th, 1859.”
I have now exhausted all the new information I have collected concerning the Postage Stamps of New Brunswick, and I have no further particulars to give you about the stamps issued in 1860, beyond what we find mentioned further on in the Society’s list; neither can I add anything to the history of the Five Cents “Connell” stamp so carefully related in the paper reproduced from The Halifax Philatelist. The stamps of this Colony became obsolete on the 27th of May, 1867, upon the formation of the Dominion of Canada.