Western Australia - Colonial period: 1861 - 1900.
Delivery form: WC-DO-4.

  
General characteristics:

Heading and notes: No form number.
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WESTERN AUSTRALIA spanning the crest.
Message area: 5 boxes in each of 8 lines.
Reverse side: Blank.
Colours (text & form): Red on cream.
Size of form overall: 172 × 217 mm.
Distinctive characteristics of this form:
 

WC-DO-4Aa.

Perth to Albany.
13 December 1889.

Has scarce rubber TELEGRAPH OFFICE triple oval (RO6-TO) date stamp in pink (2nd earliest use recorded).

Characteristics:

  • has all three lines of text under the heading left justified;
  • no lines used to define the date stamp area in TRC;
  • reverse side has Regulations and Charges.

 

 

WC-DO-4Ab.

Same as above for DO-4Aa but the reverse side is blank.
WC-DO-4Ba WC-DO-4B.

Albany to CTO Perth
Rubber oval date stamp (RO6-TO) in green of 24 April 1894.

Characteristics:

  • 2nd and 3rd lines of text under the heading are indented;
  • W of WESTERN (3rd line) overlaps R of REGULATIONS in line above;
  • reverse side has Regulations and Charges.

 

 
WC-DO-4B rev

WC-DO-4B (reverse side).

A type DO-4B delivery form showing the regulations and charges printed on the reverse side.

Dated January 1889 in lower left corner.

WC-DO-4Ca.

Rubber oval date stamp (RO6-TO) in violet for telegram sent from Perth to Cue.
28 November 1894.

Characteristics:

A modification on WC-DO-4B above (so early).

  • 2nd and 3rd line of text under the heading are indented;
  • W of WESTERN (3rd line) overlaps R of REGULATIONS in line above;
  • "r" of "received" in line 1 is slightly to the left of "a(nd)" below;
  • "A" of "Australia" in line 3 is below "(io)ns" above;
  • reverse side is blank.

 
WC-DO-4Ca

WC-DO-4Cb.

Goongarrie to CTO Perth
Rubber oval date stamp (RO6-TO) in violet of 19 September 1896.

Characteristics:

  • 2nd and 3rd line of text under the heading are indented;
  • "r" of "received" in line 1 is slightly to the left of "a(nd)" below;
  • "A" of "Australia" in line 3 is below the space between "(ion)s a(nd)" above;
  • reverse side is blank.
WC-DO-4Cb WC-DO-4Cc.

Perth to Day Dawn (RO6-TO)
10 February 1897.

Characteristics:

  • 2nd and 3rd line of text under the heading are indented;
  • "r" of "received" in line 1 is above the "a(nd)" below;
  • "A" of "Australia" in line 3 is below "s" of (ion)s above;
    Note: some forms have a slightly more pronounced shift right in the 2nd line.
  • reverse side is blank.

Details of use and rarity.

Form
sub-number		 Schedule number Earliest recorded date Rarity rating
DO-4Aa None. 13 December 1889 at T.O. Albany. R
DO-4Ab None. 10 June 1895 at Cue. NC
DO-4B None. 7 September 1891 at C. T. O. Perth NC.
DO-4Ca None 28 November 1894 at Cue. R
DO-4Cb None. 10 September 1895 at Cue. NC
DO-4Cc None. 10 February 1897 at Day Dawn. NC