This was the earliest post office to be opened but the exact date of opening is not known. 25 August is the earliest recorded date.
Port Moresby was known as Granville from 1886 to October 1889.
B. Samarai, eastern division.
Type Where used Scarcity Notes, sizes, dates etc. 100A Port Moresby F 42x6½mm prob 1908-1910 100B Samarai E 42x6½mm 1909-1914? 100C Daru D 44x6½mm 1908-1921? 100D Ioma D 42½mmx6mm 1909-1928 100E Buna Bay C 42½mmx7mm 1908-1936 (seen in violet 1913) 100F Kanosia G 42½mmx6½mm 1910?-1917?
1906 flapless cvr to GB with BNG 2dx2 cancelled with superb 'BNG' & 'SAMARAI/26SP06/BRITISH NEW GUINEA' cds (Lee #29) alongside, minor blemishes. ( taken from Premier Philately ( http://www.premierphilately.com ) March 2002 online catalogue. The cancel illustrated is Lee#29 rated "F"- stated by Croaker as the only rare cancellation used in Samarai- however another cancellation was used only up till Nov 1901, and is similarly rare, rated "E" by Lee. (failed to reach reserve of $A500, March 2002).
Covers of the first issue, utilised between 1901 and 1905 are quite rare on cover. Lee believes they are of comparible rarity to the Queensland issues, if not even rarer. However, prices of first issue covers are generally not as high as their Queensland counterparts. This could be explained by the need of early collectors to having "used" specimens in their collection, and the lack of an interest in Postal History of the early Papuan philatelists.
C. Daru, western division.
A very nice set, cancelled FDI- for sale at Stanley Gibbons' website for 191 pounds. However, I am sure a similar lot sold recently in Australia for substantially less. D. Woodlarks, south-eastern division.
I have four Queensland stamps cancelled by the ten bar obliterator of Woodlarks/ Kulumadau on 1 piece.
The above image is Lot 1868 from Premier Philately ( http://www.premierphilately.com ) Sale 94, Est $A1400-$A2000.
1903 commercial cover to Sydney with BNG 2d x3 (one damaged) tied by 3 poor to good strikes of the 10-bars 'BNG' cancel of Kulumadau (Lee #60; rated E) & an almost fine strike of the 'WOODLARKS/BNG' cds (#59; rated F) with separate date h/s of 'MAY 6 1903', superb 'REGISTERED/WOODLARKS B.N.G' h/s (#61; rated D) at left, Samarai & Cooktown transit b/s. [The first PO at Kulumadau on Woodlarks Island opened late-1900 and closed 30/6/1905]
( sold for $A1400 (ex. buyers comm) March 2002).
Another similar cover, sold recently in Shreves' December 2001 sale for
$US 575.00
Quoting the item description:
1901 1p Carmine and black, vertical pair tied by multiple strikes of a "BNG" ten bar obliterator and manuscript blue crayon strokes to cover addressed to Sydney, N.S.W. via Samarai and Cooktown, showing "Woodlarks/B.N.G." unframed c.d.s. adjacent, very fine and rare; an exceptional town usage.
It has now appeared on the Stanley Gibbons website for 950(!) pounds, along with a few other items from the Shreves Sale- the lot is pictured below-
E. Tamata, northern division.
The post office was opened in the latter part of 1899. It is known that Clunas and Clark, storekeepers, made applications for full postal facilities on 17 April 1899. The post office was closed and all postal material transferred to Ioma in September 1905.
I have a copy of the BNG one penny issue cancelled with a 'Tamata' cancel. A poorer strike on the halfpenny issue was estimated at $A150 in a Macray Watson auction last year. Its rarity is stated as 'F' by Lee, the second rarest rating given. (My copy has since been sold, realizing about $A50).
I have seen about a dozen examples of this postmark offered for sale over the last ten years, and its seems a lot more common than similar cds's, such as Kokoda and Woodlarks, which are given the same rarity rating.
F. Nivani, south-eastern division.
G. Sudest, south-eastern division. PO opened in December 1899 or early January 1900 and closed about 1903.
H. Gira, northern division. No post office was ever opened here. However, cancellers were made and one at least of these was used elsewhere. By the time the cancellers were supplied the "old Gira" golfield had almost petered out and all postal business was handled at Tamata. A pair of the 1901 postcards is known CTO with the Gira cancel.
I. Kulumadau ( Woodlark Island), south-eastern division. The post office was opened in December 1899 or early January 1900 and closed 1 July 1905. It reopened toward the end of 1907, utilising 'Papua' cds's. The Kulumadau BNG cds seems quite rare ( I have not seen it).
J. Kumusi, northern division.
I have recently purchased for my collection an interesting pair of stamps, cancelled with a star-shaped obliterator numbered '148'. This has been stated to have been used at Thursday Island. This raises the question as to whether British New Guinea stamps were issued on Thursday Island, or whether the stamps in question were cancelled through transit from British New Guinea to Australia. The latter seems unlikely, even though in the thirties, it was used as a transit point for airmail flights.
The exact date of opening is again unknown but was as least as early as 29 September 1888. I have a set of the BNG Lakatois cancelled on the first day of issue ( 01-07-1901) with the Samarai BNG cds ( to one shilling), in use between 1888 to 28 Nov 1901.
The cover illustrated at left represents a rare usage on cover of the "registered" canceller used at various offices in the Papuan period. There are several different types of cancellation, related to different regions of Papua. They are hard to distinguish from one another, especially if the strike encountered is not a full strike. Lee lists the following information in his book "the Postal History of BNG and Papua 1885-1942":
"From about 1908 straight line "REGISTERED" handststamps type 100 were used at some offices mostly for a few years and these were almost identical, but for some minor differences, in the size and shape of the lettering".
(Table reproduced from Lee Page 47)
Opened in 1893 or 1894 but obliterators were not supplied until 1899 and Queensland adhesives with the Daru cancellation are rare.
This office is included because cancelling stamps were prepared inscribed WOODLARKS. No post office, however, was ever opened with that name.
Busai ( Woodlark Island) was opened as a receiving office about 1896 and closed in 1899. All letters of this period were sent with adhesives uncancelled to Samarai, where they received the Samarai postamrks.
The cancellers inscribed Woodlarks were supplied to Kulumadau post office which opened in December 1899 or January1900.
Pictured at left is auction lot 1057 from Leski Sale 195. Quoting from the item description: "1902(Feb26) registered cover to Sir Robert Bear Bart, Sydney, NSW, with unframed " TAMATA/ FE 26/ 2/ B.N.G." origin cds at lower left, with extremeley rare 2-line "registered/ TAMATA B.N.G." at upper left, franked 1d & 6d overlapped singles tied by multiple partial strikes of "SAMARAI/MR 12 1902/BRITISH NEW GUINEA" cds's; reverse has complete "Mambare/ British New Guinea" red wax seal; very fine and extremely rare usage. One of the great first issue covers of Papua, from both a cancellation and postal history aspect. [Realised $16500 in Belknap sale, October 1993].............$15000-$20000"
(note: this item sold for $US 4500 in Dec 2001 Shreves auction - not including Buyers Comm.)Sold 21 March Melbourne $A18000 (ex. buyers comm.).
Post office opened in December 1899 or early January 1900 and closed about 1903. Only a few examples of Queensland issues cancelled with the Nivani cds exist.
A post office was opened at Bogi on the Kumusi River late in 1901 or early 1902 and closed 1 July 1905. The date stamp supplied was inscribed Kumusi and the post office has always been known to philatelists by that name although it was really the name of the river.
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