New South Wales - Colonial & Interim: 1854-1917.
Telegraph date stamps for regional Offices.


In addition to the date stamps produced for use at the Electric Telegraph Office in Sydney, date stamps were also provided - from about 1880 - to most of the major Post & Telegraph Offices in Sydney and in the rural areas. These quite distinctive date stamps were oval in shape and made from rubber.

Smaller offices were not provided with the rubber ovals and here the usual postal date stamps had to be used to cancel stamps affixed to transmission forms and to date telegram delivery forms. Indeed it appears that very often, whichever datesamp was closest was the one used. The rubber ovals were used in both the Colonial and the Interim periods.

Modern (post 1920s) rubber date stamps can be accessed either through the list of NSW Telegraph Offices or by name from those which have had such rubber telegraph date stamps.

There is no listing of the telegraph date stamps produced for NSW Telegraph offices. Those described below are some which have been seen. Assistance is required to confirm dates and formats as well as to extend the list.

Click on the following hyperlink for details of the Australian classification scheme for Telegraph date stamps.

All the date stamps listed were made from rubber and almost always struck in purple. The words used to describe the office varied significantly but the following descriptions encompass the known examples:

Electric Telegraph.

Offices noted are:

  • Bathurst (with a Crest in the centre)
    1878-1879: RC1 - ET;
  • Tamworth about 1891: RO7 - ET;


Armidale Electric Telegraph (RO7-ET).
11 April 1892.
Size: 25 × 44 mm (e = 0.68).
Rated: RRRR.

Used on NC-DO-9A.

 

 
   

 

Electric Telegraph Department.

Burwood about 1894: RO2 - ETD;  
Grafton about 1890: RO3-ETD;  

Parramatta.

 


19 November 1885.
   

 

Electric Telegraph Office.

Offices noted are:

 

Telegraph Office.

 

T.O.

Hopson & Tobin note that "very few steel date stamps were inscribed with T.O." (p. 15).

Burwood T.O.: 1944 - 1959;

Katoomba T.O. :1950- 1953..

 

Post & Tel Dept.

 

Offices noted with oval date stamps are:

  • Bathurst about 1895: RO2 - P&TD;
 

Offices noted with steel circular date stamps are:

  • Newcastle 4 November 1907 - 6 October 1908;
 

 

Oval with place name and date only.

  • Adamstown about 1898: RO2.
  • Cobargo about 1894: RO2.

Windsor - 9 December 1899.
RO2.