This section does does not deal with the more specialised cancellations used in the ancillary services such as parcel post, T.P.O., ocean post and others which rather belong to different sections of this collection. It exclusively deals with circular markings used for dating and cancelling ordinary correspondence. The coverage of the earlier marks of this exhibit is mostly based on the James Perkins correspondence where material was adequate in my collection to form a coherent study with very little gaps. Now and then I have used colour prints of back of postcards and letters. This was intended to give the reader a flavour of the times when these postmarks were used.

The postmarks are firstly classified broadly into single or double circle and then divided into various types.

The First Circular Dated Stamp of the Cape of Good Hope (1864)

The first circular datestamps of the Cape of Good Hope were issued in 1864. At first these were only issued to the general Post Office at Cape Town and the Port Elizabeth post office.

This postmark was used both for the stamping of inland mail as well as overseas mail. The design is a circle of between 22 and 23 mm. The name of the town appears at the top, with ‘Cape Colony’ at the bottom. For the first time a time control letter appears in the postmark.

Apart from the differences in the diameter of the circle, other varieties – all relating to CDS 1 are known.

Cape triangular stamps defaced with this postmark at Cape Town and Port Elizabeth between january 1864 and 1865 are known. They can be found with this postamark either in black or red ink. The red,if genuine is rare. Care should be taken in acquiring items with this postamrk in other colours. After march 1865, this postmark was officially sanctioned to be used both for the back-stamping of letters as well as for defacing adhesives and consequently after 1865 their raririty is diminished.

A similar postmark to CDS 1 but approaching more the Second Circular Postmark was recorded in 1900.

This has a dot between ‘Cape’ and ‘Town’ but the ‘CAPE COLONY’ is absent. It has the time instead of a time control letter as shown for CDS 3. considerably.

The Second Circular Dated Stamp of the Cape of Good Hope (1864)

Shortly after the General Post Office at Cape Town and the Port Elizabeth post office began using CDS 1 and 2, a supply of datestamps was received from England. However, due to a misunderstanding, however, the wrong type had been sent.

These datestamps were not in accordance with the selected design, as the words “Cape Colony” in the lower section were omitted.

Because they were urgently required, the stamps were accepted by the authorities and distributed to the various post offices for which they had been ordered, instead of being returned to the manufacturers.

The design of the second Circular Dated Stamp of 1864 (CDS 3) was similar to one used in Great Britain at about the same time. The diameter is 20 mm and the name of the town appears at the top. The time control index letter and the day, month and year, in three lines, are located in the circle.

In 1865, when the correct datestamps arrived and were distributed, some post offices used both simultaneously, with and without the words “Cape Colony”. Impressions of this strike in green and violet should be avoided.

The Circular Dated Stamps of the Cape of Good Hope (1869 to 1882)

These Circular dated stamps of the Cape of Good Hope Goldblatt Types (CDS 4 to 15) are all very similar in design. They show the month, day and year of use in two lines and usually an index letter. The name of the town is top, immediately within the circle, but exceptions are CDS 11 and 12, where the name of the town is split and CDS 13, where a street address appears above, with ‘Cape Town’ below.

These circular datestamps of the Cape of Good Hope were not intended as defacers. They were normally used for dispatching as well as receiving marks.

The Circular Dated Stamp of the Cape of Good Hope – Dot at bottom-(1885)

The distinctive feature of this datestamp (Goldblatt Type CDS 16 to 20) is the dot at the bottom, approximately 2 mm above the lower curve of the circle. It was put into use in the Cape of Good Hope in 1885 and was widely distributed to most post offices in the colony.

The name of the town appears above and follows the curve of the circle. The month, day and year are in the centre. There is usually a control letter, although in some of them it is absent.

There are some interesting varieties of this Circular Dated Stamp of 1885. CDS 17 shows the letters P.O. (post Office) before the name. This was used in Upington with a large dot at the base. Steynsburg and Baviaans Drift used a similar one, but the dot is of normal size. The half-penny postcard illustrated above shows the same CDS for P.O. Mosheshsford. The second type shows both the name of the town and its territorial division as with ‘Concordia Namaqualand’.

The ‘Walfish Bay’ strike (CDS 20) shows a dash at the bottom instead of a dot. Cape datestamps from Walvis Bay are usually found cancelling Cape of Good Hope adhesives of the King Edward VII issue.

The Circular C.G.H. dated Stamps

In 1891 a circular datestamp with the letters C.G.H. – an abbreviation of ‘Cape of Good Hope’- was introduced and widely distributed. This datestamp survived many years into Union and was in use in some of the smaller offices, for example Paternoster as late as 1935.

Various circles, differing in diameter and lettering, were brought into use from time to time. The datestamp distributed in 1896 manifests two other characteristics, which assist classification: the presence or absence of dots before and after the name of the town and whether or not the letters are normal or wedge-shaped.

The Single Circle Dated Stamps of 1902 to 1903

During 1903 Single Dated Stamps were again put into use. These are found in various designs as shown below with diameters of either 23 mm or 26 mm.

These postmarks bear resemblance to the double circle postmarks issued between 1900-1902. The decision to actually issued them as single circle was possibly for better readability as the double circle postmarks had a tendency to wear out and also smudge the stamps.

Some of these postmarks can be found used well into the union period.

The Double Circle Dated Stamps of 1900 to 1902

Read this article.

The Maltese Cross at Bottom Stamp of the Cape of Good Hope

Read this article.

The Numeral at Bottom Stamp of the Cape of Good Hope

Read this article.

C.G.H. at bottom

Read this article.

‘CAPE TOWN’ at bottom

Read this article.

General Post Office Dated Stamps of the Cape of Good Hope

Read this article.

The double circle datestamps of 1900 to 1902 were the final postmarks issued befor the Cape of Good Hope was absorbed as a province of the Union of South Africa. The postmarks can be divided into three essential types based on what appears at the bottom of the postmarks-those with a Maltese cross at the bottom, those with a numeral at the bottom and lastly those that had C.G.H at the bottom or other wording such as ‘CAPE TOWN’.

The Maltese Cross Datestamps

These postmarks were brought into use in the course of 1900. They had a fairly large distribution within the Cape of Good Hope. The diameter of this Double Circle Datestamp (DCDS 1 to 14) varies between 23 to 25 mm and the inner circle ranges between 15 and 17 mm.A Maltese cross at the bottom, flanked by curved bars of different widths, is located between the inner and the outer circle. The time control is either expressed in ‘AM’ or ‘PM’ (DCDS 1 to 3).

The datestamp for Worcester (DCDS 11) shows thicker lettering, whereas that for Malsmesbury (DCDS 12) differs from all the others in that the curved bars and the Maltese cross are not centred between the inner and the outer circle. The Three Anchor Bay datestamp (DCDS 13) shows the adapation made for a long placename, with considerably shoretened thck bars on either side of the Maltese cross.

Two types of Maltese crosses were used. (See illustration at right)

DCDS 5 has long thick bars, with an outer circle diameter of 25 to 27 mm an an inner circle of 16 to 17 mm. DCDS 6 and 7 both have thin bars – decidely shorter in the latter – and an outer circle of 25 to 26 mm, with the inner circle measuring 15 to 16 mm.

Other Markings at Bottom

DCDS 14, in use at the Pier Head post office in Table Bay harbour, has the name of the office and ‘Cape Town’ within the two circles.

During 1891, a new postmark was brought into use (GPO 5). This incorporated the letters C.G.H. at the bottom of the circle. It is found in various diameters ranging from 22 mm to 25 mm. In 1895 a datestamp (GPO 6) was issued with the wording ‘GPO Cape Town’ in the upper portion of the postamark and words ‘Cape Town’ at the bottom.

Branches and Departmental Postmarks

Various Departments of the Post office used different cancellations and postmarks. In some towns there were head post offices as well as branches. Departments amongst others were the Record Branch, the Poste Restante, the Certificate department and the Money Order Office. These incorporated postmarks as shown in GPO 7 to GPO 13. These normally incorporated additional wording or abbreviations to designate the Department or particular branch.

Head Post Offices

H.P.O Postmarks (GPO 8) were used to distinguish the Head Post Office from branches. The letters H.P.O appear at the bottom of the circle. In Cape Town the letters G.P.O. (General Post Office) were used instead.

Poste Restante

Poste Restante, the Department where mail was kept until called for used two different postmarks. One with lettering 3 mm high and another one with lettering 2.5 mm (See GPO 9 and GPO 10).

The Record Branch

Postmarks denoting the Record Branch of the General Post Office of the Cape of Good Hope are found on letters and documents that required to be recorded by that Department. These are sometimes also found on letters, but this was only to indicate that the subject matter mentioned in the letters had been dealt with by the Records Branch. It did not perform any postal function.

The Postmaster General’s Handstamp

In the Postmaster-General’s office a handtamp (GPO 11) was used to datestamp letters and documents. It must be noted that as with the Record Branch handstamps, these were to be used for datestamping documents and not envelopes. Sometimes it is found cancelling fiscal stamps on documents.