1901 ZUURBRON OVAL USED AS CANCELLER: Envelope via Humansdorp & Port Elizabeth to Cape Town. Franked 1d Hope Standing tied unusually by two strikes of the Oval Date Stamp AP 2. Censored on front with transit & arrival marks on reverse. VF, very scarce. The post office in this village near Humansdorp was opened in 1852. The postmaster received no salary, but did receive £1 per annum for postal stationery. Research records that the post office was without handstamps until 1895 (43 years since opening) and this was the year of the first envelope showing the Double Oval and the triangular obliterator. The first letter on this date is only one of two recorded whilst the letter described above is the third example found. One also has the explanation for the use of the Double Oval as canceller.
