1886 Merchants' Bank of Halifax
| The earliest cover in my study, the Merchants’ Bank of Halifax had 22 branches and 64 employees in 1886. |
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| 1886 (DE 28) Truro, NS to Upper Stewiacke, Colchester Co. NS which is roughly 20 miles from Truro. 3˘ small queen (orange red, Montreal printing) paying the 3 cent domestic letter rate tied by 3 ring target obliterator. |
1899 Merchants' Bank of Halifax
| A Merchants' Bank of Halifax branch-to-branch stationery
cover, mailed from Montreal on July 24, arriving in Victoria on the 29th (a
Saturday), six days
later. The Montreal branch was opened in 1887 and Victoria in 1897. During
the 1890s, the bank adopted a conservative approach to growth, opening only a
few branches as a result of "the continuous commercial depression".
However, by 1896 the economy was turning around and BC was experiencing a mining
boom. On this, the Merchants' vaulted over Ontario and the Prairies to
open branches in Vancouver, Victoria, Rossland and several in the interior to
service the mining economy[1]. |
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Due to the fine and somewhat light impression left by the flag design, the flag was reinforced with two parallel bars in April 1898 to ensure stamps were sufficiently cancelled, as this cover clearly shows.[2] Flag Type F8 - Die III |
| 1899 (JUL 24) Montreal to Victoria, 2˘
'Numeral' paying the 2 cents per ounce domestic letter rate. Tied by a flag cancel made by a Bickerdike
rapid cancelling machine. |
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The Route After travelling overland by rail, the letter was carried on a Vancouver-Victoria steamer operated by the Canadian Pacific Navigation Co.[3] |
| Victoria JY29 99 receiver. |
[1] McDowall, Duncan. Quick to the Frontier
- Canada's Royal Bank, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1993, pg 68-69.
[2] Sessions, David. The Early Rapid Cancelling Machines of
Canada, Toronto: Unitrade Press, 1982, pg 59.
[3] Scrimgeour, Gray. "Re: 1899 cover from Montreal to
Victoria." E-mail to the author. 3 Nov 2007