Standard Printing & Song Backs
The standard front of WLS-E09 Type I, showing Soldiers of the Queen
“Where’s the Coward that would not dare To fight for such a Queen”
“Where’s the Coward that would not dare To fight for such a Queen”
Blank back, Type E-1
A standard, unused copy of WLS-E09 Type I with Song Back 11, The Land of the Maple, variation Type E-2.
A standard, unused copy of WLS-E09 Type I with Song Back 13, Soldiers of the Queen, variation Type E-3.
WLS-E09 Type I with Song Back 14, Pass the Hat for Your Credit’s Sake, and Pay—Pay—Pay!, variation Type E-4.
Canadian and Overseas Uses
Above, J.C. Wilson’s Soldiers of the Queen Type I Patriotic Envelope E-1 postmarked Port Hawkesbury, NS to Halifax, NS, May 15, 1900. Below, the blank back with a Halifax cancel of the same date.
An example of a WLS-09 Soldiers of the Queen Type I cover, with a 5¢ QV Numeral and a 2¢ Map Stamp, cancelled with York Street, Toronto Squared Circle postmarks dated May 15, 1900, mailed to Wm. Gehrs Esq, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
An example of a WLS-09 Type I Soldiers of the Queen cover, Type E-2, with a 2¢ QV Numeral stamp, cancelled with a Montreal Flag postmark dated May 2, 1900, mailed to Texas, USA.
An example of a WLS-09 Type I Soldiers of the Queen cover, with a four ½¢ QV Numeral stamps, cancelled with a Toronto P. Depot postmark dated August 27, 1900, mailed to Manchester, England.
Business Uses
An example of a WLS-09 Type I Soldiers of the Queen cover, Type E-1 with a blank back, used by M. McKechnie, Agent for Butterick’s Patterns, Sherbrooke, Que., bearing a 2¢ QV Numeral stamp, cancelled with a Sherbrooke, Quebec postmark dated January 17, 1900, mailed to Miss Grace Loomis, Ascot Corner Quebec, with a Scotstown Quebec Jan 18 CDS cancel and a January 19 Ascot Corner split circle cancel on the reverse.
Ex Colin Banfield, an example of a WLS-09 Type I Soldiers of the Queen cover, used by W.H. Manning, Importer of and Dealer in Hardware, Stoves and Tinware and all kinds of Household Furniture. Agent for the Massey-Harris Co. Insurance Agent. Issuer of Marriage Licences. Manning Block, Coldwater, Ont., bearing a 2¢ QV Numeral stamp, cancelled with a Coldwater, Ontario postmark dated December 15, 1900, mailed to Toronto.
Boer War Use
This J.C. Wilson WLS-E09 Type I Soldiers of the Queen E-1 (blank back) cover was postally used from British Army S. Africa Field Post Office 3 on June 5, 1900 to Miss Rachel Reade, 11 Beech Grove, Charlton C. Hardy, Lancashire, England, and has a Pietermaritzburg, Natal transit cancellation dated June 7, (heading in the direction of Durban, on the Indian Ocean) and a Manchester July 2 cancellation, on the back of the cover. In June 1900, according to Stephen Rich in his Philately of the Anglo-Boer War, the double circle FPO no. 3 was located in Wakkerstroom, the second oldest town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, formerly known as Transvaal. The cover was mailed on the day that Pretoria, the capital of Transvaal, was captured.
It has been franked with a Natal one penny stamp, Scott no. 67, and a British Queen Victoria Jubilee ½p, Scott no. 111, stamp.
Kenneth Rowe, in his The Postal History of the Canadian Contingents, Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902, notes that perhaps two thirds of Canadian Contingent soldier’s mail did not receive the Contingent handstamp. He also notes that FPOs #1, #17, #21, #30 and #100 have been found on Contingent mail.
The 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles and the Royal Canadian Dragoons advanced on Pretoria, culminating in it’s capture on June 5th. They were posted to the north and east of the city following that date, and frequently saw fighting.
The British Army’s York and Lancaster Regiment, long with the 2nd Royal Lancaster Regiment, 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers, and 1st South Lancashire Regiment, formed the 11th Brigade. The battalion remained a long time about Volksrust, Wakkerstroom, Ingogo, and Utrecht.
As this cover was sent to Lancashire, and in light of Kenneth Rowe’s observations noted above, it is possible this was sent from a Canadian soldier, perhaps from the Canadian Mounted Rifles and the Royal Canadian Dragoons, or from a Canadian soldier enlisted in a British unit, or possibly from a British soldier to his home town on a J.C. Wilson cover perhaps purchased or traded from a Canadian soldier.
Below, the reverse of the cover.
It has been franked with a Natal one penny stamp, Scott no. 67, and a British Queen Victoria Jubilee ½p, Scott no. 111, stamp.
Kenneth Rowe, in his The Postal History of the Canadian Contingents, Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902, notes that perhaps two thirds of Canadian Contingent soldier’s mail did not receive the Contingent handstamp. He also notes that FPOs #1, #17, #21, #30 and #100 have been found on Contingent mail.
The 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles and the Royal Canadian Dragoons advanced on Pretoria, culminating in it’s capture on June 5th. They were posted to the north and east of the city following that date, and frequently saw fighting.
The British Army’s York and Lancaster Regiment, long with the 2nd Royal Lancaster Regiment, 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers, and 1st South Lancashire Regiment, formed the 11th Brigade. The battalion remained a long time about Volksrust, Wakkerstroom, Ingogo, and Utrecht.
As this cover was sent to Lancashire, and in light of Kenneth Rowe’s observations noted above, it is possible this was sent from a Canadian soldier, perhaps from the Canadian Mounted Rifles and the Royal Canadian Dragoons, or from a Canadian soldier enlisted in a British unit, or possibly from a British soldier to his home town on a J.C. Wilson cover perhaps purchased or traded from a Canadian soldier.
Below, the reverse of the cover.
This J.C. Wilson Soldiers of the Queen WLS-E09 Type I E-4 cover with Song Back 14 “Pass the Hat for your Credit’s Sake, and Pay—Pay—Pay” was postally used from the British Army South Africa Field Post Office on July 17, 1900, with an FPO cancellation, to Mrs. J.M. Dunssette, initially in Belleville, but rerouted to Pakenham, Ontario, Canada, for delivery and has a Pakenham August 20, 1900 cancellation on the front and back of the cover. It also has a Belleville August 20, 1900 cancellation on the reverse. The cover has the notation “No stamps, on active service”.
The cover has been inscribed with “From E.T. Austin, Regt. No. 7575, RCR”, sent by a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment (of Infantry, at that time). Edwin T. Austin was discharged on Christmas day, 1900, and was awarded the South African medal with clasps. Austin’s address was registered as Murray Street in Belleville, so the recipient, assumed to be on Bridge Street West in Belleville prior to moving, was likely an acquaintance of some kind.
The cover bears the Canadian Contingent oval hand stamp dated July 21, 1900 in South Africa.
The cover was sent during the time following the capture of Johannesburg on 31 May and the capital of the Transvaal, Pretoria, on 5 June, at which point the war became more of a guerrilla action.
Below, the reverse of the cover.
The cover has been inscribed with “From E.T. Austin, Regt. No. 7575, RCR”, sent by a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment (of Infantry, at that time). Edwin T. Austin was discharged on Christmas day, 1900, and was awarded the South African medal with clasps. Austin’s address was registered as Murray Street in Belleville, so the recipient, assumed to be on Bridge Street West in Belleville prior to moving, was likely an acquaintance of some kind.
The cover bears the Canadian Contingent oval hand stamp dated July 21, 1900 in South Africa.
The cover was sent during the time following the capture of Johannesburg on 31 May and the capital of the Transvaal, Pretoria, on 5 June, at which point the war became more of a guerrilla action.
Below, the reverse of the cover.
