Philatelic Covers

Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (Queensland)
Philatelic Covers 1944 - 1957

The covers were produced in two series: to commemorate the anniversary of the explorers Ludwig Leichhardt, Thomas Livingstone Mitchell and Edmund Kennedy, Charles Sturt, James Cook and Matthew Flinders expeditions.

Leichhardt’s expedition from Brisbane to Port Essington (near Darwin) was firstly commemorated with a cover intended to commemorate an event at Rolleston on Christmas Day 1844. This was where the Shire Council staff and locals, including the first white man born in the district treated the expedition explorers to a Christmas dinner of stewed cockatoo. The Society was able to make special arrangements to have these Rolleston covers cancelled on Christmas Day, 25 December 1944.

Leichhardt’s expedition reached Port Essington on 17 December 1845. Plaques commemorating the centenary were unveiled at both Darwin and Brisbane. This souvenir cover is Philatelically interesting for a number of reasons. In December 1945, no civilian post office existed in Darwin, because the post office had been bombed by the Japanese. The Society made representations through the Government Secretary to the Army which consented to use an old Darwin date stamp salvaged from the bombed Post Office. The 638 Darwin covers have the registration label of the Army Post Office No. 065. On the same day a similar plaque was unveiled at the Brisbane Office of the Society. This cover is of philatelic interest since it was the first to carry a Society cancel. An improvised Post Office was established at the Society’s office and a special hexagonal postmark was applied.

It appears that there was a desire to commemorate Cook and so the 176th anniversary of his discovery and naming of the Whitsunday Passage fitted the purpose. This was a most interesting commemoration. A cairn was unveiled on Daydream Island, a plaque attached and several baskets of homing pigeons released, each carrying a flimsy inscribed “QUEENSLAND’S FIRST PIGEONGRAM and bearing an inscription of the occasion. The birds were released at 2:30 pm and the first pigeon arrived back at Mackay at 3:30pm. Owing to hawks 13 pigeons failed to return. The pigeongrams were placed in envelopes, and all covers were postmarked Proserpine, which was the nearest post office, there being none at Day Dream Island.

The very first Philatelic cover of the RGSA (Q) is the Sturt cover of August 1944. The preferred cancellation of the Sturt cover is 10 August 1944 at Adelaide. This was the centenary of the date on which an expedition headed by Sturt left Adelaide to explore central Australia, including parts of western Queensland.

A Philatelic envelop was produced in 1935 for the Society’s Golden Jubilee. A cover was produced in 1945 and incorrectly labelled Golden Jubilee when it was in fact the Silver Jubilee. The cover held by RGSQ is indeed a fake, because it carries a 4 penny koala stamp when the correct postal rate was twopence. The postmark is sufficiently incomplete to draw suspicion.

For Thomas Livingstone Mitchell five different covers were issued. The first three were all cancelled with special circular postmarkers of the “Royal Geographical Society Qld”. The first commemorates the exploration of the St George district, the second his exploration of Mount Abundance and the third his exploration of the Blackall township area. The remaining two covers feature “Typical Merinos, Blackall” and “Pastoral Scene, Blackall.”

The Kennedy cover of most interest is the one usually referred to as the “Death of Kennedy” cover. The Society “officially” cancelled these at three different towns – Cardwell on 25 April 1948, Tully on 30 May and Kennedy on 26 June 1948.

Covers commemorating significant persons or events were also issued and cancelled.

The Princess Elizabeth Cover

The 21st Birthday – Heir Presumptive Cover 21 April 1947 had a first day issue stamp depicting Princess Elizabeth.

Farrer Cover

Issued commemorating the work of the wheat researcher William James Farrer on 12 July 1948.

Roberts Cover

On 1 December 1948 the Society issued a cover to commemorate the work of surveyor FE Roberts who surveyed the eastern part of the New South Wales/Queensland border. The Society arranged two different "official" cancellations, using the ordinary postmarkers at each of the twin border towns of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads. The Tweed Heads cover is scarcer than that of Coolangatta.

Lawson Cover

The national obsession and recognition of the poet Henry Lawson must have been the reason for a cover to commemorate him. Issued on 17 June 1949, 72 years after his birth. The format is typical of the RGSA (Q) covers and the rather unusual choice of text is typical of Dan O'Brien. It was cancelled at Grenfell where Lawson was born.

Nanango Cover

Issued on 26 April 1950 to celebrate Nanango, Kingaroy, Wendai, Mugon, Kilkivan, Rosalie 1850 – 1950.

Moffat Cover

On 24 May 1950 the Society issued a cover to celebrate the work of John Moffat, founder of the mining town of lrvinebank, south-west of Atherton near Cairns in North Queensland.

Cleveland (Redlands) Cover

The township of Cleveland (Redlands) on Moreton Bay just south-east of Brisbane was proclaimed on 13 December 1850. The Society issued a cover for the centenary of the event.

Cairns Cover

In 1951 the Society issued a cover for the 75th anniversary of Cairns.

Ross (Alice Springs) Cover

The RGSA (Q) issued a final cover six years later. This is a rather extraordinary cover which seeks to commemorate several different people and events. On 7 September 1957 a commemoration was held at Alice Springs to celebrate the "centenary of the pastoral industry". The "pastoral industry" in this context seems to mean the cattle industry of the Northern Territory. O’Brien himself unveiled a plaque of memorial to “John Ross, Members of the Overland Telegraph Line Exploration and Construction Parties 1870-2, and all pioneers of Central Australia, 1870 – 1920”.

Prepared by the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland Collections Committee 2024.