Postal Usage
Genuine postal usage occurred occasionally during the general issue of the stamps and to a greater degree after they were withdrawn at the end of October 1881 when they were unofficially accepted for postage on a fairly widespread basis. Desire for postally used examples at the turn of the century led to many faked examples and stamps being sent philatelically through the mail.
Plate 1 used postally during the telegraph period.
Sent 12 July 1876 from Limerick to Kilmallock.
Plate 1 not accepted for postage, 5d to pay, and “illegal stamp”.
Sent 14 July 1876 from Bolton to Manchester.
Plate 1 registered cover. One of many philatelic covers sent locally to this Liverpool address.
Plate 2 used postally, cancelled with a Kentish Town squared circle.
Plate 3 used postally, cancelled with an Oxford duplex.
Plate 1 used postally cancelled with a registered oval. Plate 2 with a duplex.
Plate 3 with a duplex, a London hooded circle, and an NPB “Newspaper Branch” cancellation.
Fiscal Usage
Pen cancelled with a cross and manuscript, probable fiscal usage.
Possibly used for payment of copies of telegrams as some seem to have telegram numbers or dates in manuscript, some even say “for copy” or “for copies”.
Railway Telegraph Office Usage
Cancelled with “English Station” numerals in circles, “Scottish Station” numerals in rectangles, and “Irish Station” numerals in diamonds.
| England and Wales | Scotland | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plate 1 | 176, 321, 717, 1438, 1439 | 97, 172, 176 | — |
| Plate 2 | 12, 150, 152, 270, 303, 418, 704, 758, 838, 839, 855, 879a, 1050, 1170, 1192, 1206, 1442 | 8A, 106, 219 | ?, 2? |
| Plate 3 | 472, 630, 704, 843, 1567 | 44, 154 | 9, 21 |