TCP-M/J 04 - The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada

A Piece of
By Rev. J. Raymond Corbett
Scottish Postal History
Fig. 1. Local letter Manor to Peebles, dated January 19, 1856,
shows One Penny Red tied by Peebles ‘279’ cancel.
Fig. 2. Shows boxed MANOR name stamp.
GET ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
ON CANADIAN PHILATELY
Nearly half our members come from the other side of the pond.
They enjoy our quarterly award-winning magazine, Maple Leaves.
Some of them come to our annual convention
Are you missing out?
For a complimentary copy of Maple Leaves and
further information write to the Secretary:
John Wright, 12 Milchester House, Staveley Road,
Meads, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN20 7JX UK
SUBSCRIPTIONS PAYABLE IN CANADA
I believe it rarely happens that a stamp article
brings to light information about one’s
own family history. However, this is what
happened in an article in a recent issue of the
Scottish Post, the journal of the Scottish
Postal History Society. The article in question
was about the Post Office in the small
village of Manor (pronounced May-nor by
the locals) located about five miles S.W. from
the county town of Peebles in the borders of
Scotland. In 1861 the population was 247.
The post office opened in 1851 and a boxed
name stamp was introduced the same year
known philatelically as type D1 (sans serif
capitals in oblong frame). An example was
illustrated in the article, but the one shown
here is from my own collection (Figs. 1 and
2). Manor was served by a messenger from
Peebles six days a week to pick up the mail
which was carried back to the main post office
in Peebles for cancellation. The original
post office in Manor was closed in 1861.
The Postmaster was a John Horsburgh
who was also the blacksmith. His salary as
Postmaster was £3 a year. The post office, of
course, was his home which is still standing
– now an estate office of the Duke of Lothian.
The smithy, too, is still
there, although in ruins. I
know the name well because
John Horsburgh was my
great-great grandfather. But
what I did not know until I
read the article was that he
was the first Postmaster in
Manor. I doubt he could ever
imagine, on the 19th of January,
1856, when he applied the
Manor name stamp on a letter
to Peebles that one day it
would end up in Canada in
the hands of his great-great
grandson.
142 May - June / Mai - Juin 2004