c1828 CRADOCK crown-in-circle handstamp on letter wrapper notated "On H M Service", "Unpaid" & "Justice of the Peace, Cradock" forwarded to the Civil Commissioner "for Albany and Somerset, Grahamstown". The official status of the letter was rejected and postage at 3d was charged. The Cradock handstamp is elusive, this being a superior example. Paper watermarked 1828. VF, scarce.
