The above no doubt first appeared in The Gazette about the middle of June, 1864; but, as is customary with similar notices, copies were published in subsequent numbers, and in this case continued to appear until the latter end of 1865. Not having been fortunate enough to find a file of The Gazette for 1861—the year the Two Pence Halfpenny stamp is said to have been first issued in—I am unable to give the exact day this stamp came into use. I am inclined to think the stamp was first solely used to prepay letters sent between New Westminster, the capital of British Columbia, and Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island. If this was so, we see from the first of the above notices that this rate was raised one halfpenny in June, 1864. It is apparent from the second notice that whatever distance the old 2½d. rate formerly paid, it was done away with or raised in the above month, as the stamp was to be sold at 3d., pending the arrival of a new one bearing the higher value. Perhaps it is as well for collectors that the idea of surcharging the Two Pence Half penny stamp 3d. did not enter the Postmaster’s head, or there is no telling how many varieties we should have had to add to our albums if the surcharge differed in type, as it probably would have done. The escape was no doubt due to the fact that at that time surcharges on stamps were few in number, and most likely altogether unknown to the Postal authorities of British Columbia. This Two Pence Halfpenny stamp is certainly admissable into a collection as a provisional Three Pence, provided it, or the paper it is attached to, is postmarked after June 19th, 1864. Another curious point in connection with the above notices is to know how the newspaper rate of one penny was prepaid. The second notice distinctly says, “All Letters and mail matter liable to postage must be prepaid.... There will be issued for the prepayment of postage the postage stamps at present in use.” Was this Three Penny provisional divided in any way like so many of the other North American Colonies stamps, or was the postage, even in face of the notice, prepaid in coin? One of these two alternatives naturally suggests itself to have been the case. I have never seen or heard of a copy of this stamp divided; but as it could have been only employed for newspapers sent by two special routes, the use of the stamp would probably be small, and the fact that it was found upon newspapers alone would account for the disappearance of specimens. We shall see from the next notice I give that the provisional Three Penny stamp was in use down to the 1st November, 1865. This notice is taken from The Gazette for October 21st, 1865, and runs as follows:
“NOTICE.
“General Post Office, 28th September, 1865.
“It having been found necessary to issue a new postage stamp to meet the requirements of the Postal Ordinance, 1864, notice is hereby given that from and after the 1st November next the stamp at present in use will not be received by the Post Office Department. Persons in possession of the stamp at present in use may exchange the same on application at any of the Post-offices of British Columbia on or after the 1st November.
“(Signed) Warner R. Spalding, Postmaster-General.”
The new postage stamp mentioned in the above is obviously the Three Pence, blue, with large fancy letter “v” and Crown in the centre, which is catalogued by M. Moens as issued on the 20th June, 1861, the date, we have seen, the provisional Three Penny stamp came into use. Like that provisional, I think it is possible the Three Pence, blue, may also have been divided to prepay the one penny newspaper rate; but future research will, I hope, definitely determine in each instance whether or not such was the case.
The following list of Post-offices, with the names of the Postmasters, was published in The Gazette, for April 14th, 1866. The list is chiefly interesting as showing upon what a small scale the Postal Service of the country then was, as at that time there were only sixteen Post-offices opened throughout the whole colony.
LIST OF POST OFFICES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
| PLACE. | POSTMASTER. |
|---|---|
| New Westminster | W. R. Spalding, P.M.G. |
| Hope | A. S. Hall. |
| Douglas | Richard White. |
| Lillooet | T. H. Sharwood. |
| Yale | L. Agassiz. |
| Lytton | W. M. Cochran. |
| Ashcroft[A] | C. F. Cornwall. |
| Clinton | J. Champness. |
| Lake La Hache | W. Anderson. |
| Soda Creek | J. T. Sanay. |
| Quesnelmouth | F. Mevor. |
| Van Winkle | L. Cahn. |
| William’s Creek | |
| Fort Shepherd | John Jane. |
| Columbia River, Big Bend District | |
| Kootenay |
[A] Ashcroft Post-office is the junction whence mail matter for Big Bend District will be forwarded.