AUSTRALIAN COLONIES, INCOMING MAIL TO THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES, MALTA

Lot 238		Estimate: $450 1841 (13 Jun) entire to a Royal Navy Captain in Melbourne without any marks of origin and likely carried by hand, rated '4' in black, and with oval 'MELBOURNE/NEW S. WALES' ds (OC 13 184[1])' on reverse. Vertical filing fold, and with stains, especially on reverse, which may be the result of disinfection. A very unusual origin for Australian mail
Lot 239		Estimate: $3,200 1841 (13 Jul) OHMS entire (an illustrated lettersheet with litho print of 'St. Jean d'Acre after the Battle') with lengthy letter to Swan River, Western Australia, with curved 'PAID/MALTA' and mss '6' in red, fine strike of 'GENERAL POST OFFICE/CAPE OF GOOD HOPE' ds (OC 25 1841), and endorsed 'Via Bombay' (but clearly routed via the Cape). The addressee is John Septimus Roe, Surveyor-General. He was key player in the development of Western Australia and has been called the 'Father of Australian Exploration' (biographical notes included with lot). Vertical filing fold has been professionally strengthened, otherwise fine, and a very early inwards letter to Western Australia from a very unusual origin