FIRST POSTAGE STAMPS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 26, 9 May 1947, Page 6

FIRST POSTAGE STAMPS

NORFOLK ISLAND ISSUE ‘‘BOUNTY DAY” NEXT MONTH On June 10, 1947, Norfolk Island, a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, will issue its first individual postage stamps. Until then the postal service will • continue to _ be administered as part of the Australian organisation, and the stamp of the Commonwealth of Australia will still be used in the territory. Establishment of a separate postal administration for Norfolk Island will be associated with the local “Bounty Day” celebrations, held annually to commemorate the landing and settlement of the Pitcairners, forefathers of many present Norfolk Island residents.

Discovered in 1774 by Captain Cook, Norfolk Island was a convict settlement from 1788 until 1856, when descendents of the “Bounty” mutineers were transferred from Pitcairn Island, and the convicts removed. Now the population is about 800. Dairying and agriculture are the chief industries, though production for exports of oil-giving tung nuts is becoming increasingly important.

Norfolk Island lies in the Pacific Ocean about 930 miles east ,and a little north, of Sydney, New South Wales. It is six miles long by three miles wide, has 8600 acres of land, mostly arable, and a climate that has often been described as perfect. Temperatures never rise above 90 degrees, nor'fall below 47 degrees, while the rainfall is good.

Some, of the beauty of the landscape has been captured in the design of the first issue of Norfolk Island postage stamps, which shows Ball Bay, with its towering coastal cliffs, and the attractive pines which grow freely all over the island. . Stamps are being issued in twelve denominations of uniform design, the colours. being: Id, orange; Id, blue-purple; lid, emerald; 2d, mauve lake; 2|d, red; 3d, tan brown; 4d, claret; 5 id, indigo; 6d, reddishbrown; 9d, rosine; 1/-, deep green; 2/-, sienna. Arrangements have been made for philatelists to buy stamps in sets or bulk quantities, or first day covers. Orders for stamps, with bank draft or money order to cover the value of the order, plus forwarding charges, will be handled by the Postmaster on the Island, to whom remittances should be made payable. (Orders for bulk supplies may also be addressed to the Postmaster, Norfolk Island, c/o Secretary, Department of External Territories, Canberra, Australia, or to the Australian High Commissioner’s Office, Wellington.

First day covers to commemorate the first day of issue of Norfolk Island stamps should be ordered from the Postmaster, Norfolk Island, as early as possible before the date of issue. They are being issued in a design to commemorate the first day of issue in three .categories:— (1) First day covers, with 2£d stamp affixed, at a cost of 2|d; (2) First day cover, with Id, 2d, 3d and 6d stamps affixed at the cost of 1/-; • (!) First day cover, with whatever stamps are desired by the purchasers affixed, and charged at face value.

Mails are despatched by sea from Sydney to Norfolk Island at sixweekly intervals. Letters may also be sent by air through Sydney to Auckland (New' Zealand) thence every Wednesday by air, arriving at Norfolk Island on the same day. There is a cable and a telegraphic money order service between Australia and Norfolk Island.