Tristan Da Cunha - Help Required in Study of Early Postal Item

Tristan Da Cunha is the worlds most remote inhabited island. It lies in the South Atlantic roughly half way between South Africa and South America. In fact Tristan did not have its own stamps for outgoing mail until the 1950s.

The island has a fascinating history which is the subject of several websites in itself. However, for this article I am looking for help. Surely out there in Internet land there is someone who can cast light on this postal covers history?

The immediate thing you notice is that is it was probably written by someone in the Royal Navy during wartime. It bears not adhesive stamp and is marked 'On Active Service' in handwriting. The cover has been signed, possibly by the sender, a Lieutenant Commander (name cannot be made out) and it was sent to an address in Essex, England.

Three distinct markings have been applied. First, and possibly most importantly, there is a circular TRISTAN DA CUNHA handstamp. It measures approximately one inch in diameter and there is no date. According to the Stanley Gibbons catalogue, it appears to be the first regular postal cachet known to have been used in place of regular stamps on the island. As this marking was apparently first used in 1908, this suggests to me perhaps that this item was sent from, or via, Tristan Da Cunha during World War One.

There is a larger red handstamp that reads 'POST OFFICE MARITIME MAIL'. It has four straight lines across the mark and, again, there is no date information. I assume this is a mark applied on board a ship. The final mark is an octagonal (8 sided) black handstamp. It appears to be a large letter B over a feint number 38 or it maybe 39, it isn't clear. The purpose of this mark I don't know. Perhaps it will help identify the ship? It was definitely applied after the red marking.

As my welsh friend has pointed out, the first Tristan mark is considered very valuable by Stanley Gibbons and, not surprisingly, he is very keen to get a better understanding of this item before he risks losing it on eBay for peanuts!

I suggested we use the combined power of the written word and the Internet to see what else we could find out and he's agreed to let me give it a try. So if you, or somebody you know, can cast any light on this cover and its history, please feel free to contact me via the link at the top of the article.