Syndicat Français des Nouvelles Hébrides" - SFNH - Interisland Postage - Covers later than 1903
5 September 1904
Letter seen at the 31 March 2006 Bertrand Sinais auction. The year slug is
missing the "0".
30 October 1904
Maroney "Chief de Fangoa" postcard with a 25c stamp - the year slug still missing the "0".
30 October 1904
Maroney ""Arrivée de nouveaux recrues à bord d'une Goelette" postcard with a 15c stamp - the year slug still missing the "0".
30 October 1904
Maroney "Deux enfants de Vate" postcard with a 15c stamp - the year slug still missing the "0".
22 January 1905
Postcard with stamp affixed on the first words of inscription to hide some words.
I think this was done to camouflage the fact that the picture has nothing to
do with the New Hebrides. The text: "Le Kava, boisson préparé avec
la racine d'une plante poivrée, mastiquée par de jeunes indigènes."
The card is not addressed. The cancel is PM3 with inverted date block. (Klinger coll.)
22 January 1905
reverse
22 January 1905
Postcard addressed to Sydney franked with New Caledonia 15c P & C postmarked
Port Sandwich PM3 22 XXX 05 ( the month as solid bar, the PPC is dated Jan 19, 1905).
Second strike in the upper right corner. On the picture side the card is franked
with 15c SFNH local tied by the same date cancel. The cancel is absolutely identic
to the one on [3.2.3.1] except for the month block. I wonder what happened (on the ship?)
on that day. (Klinger coll.)
An old auction catalogue ( Australia, early 1990's ) states: 1905 PPC depicting group
of natives on Mele Island addressed to Sydney franked with New Caledonia 15c P & C pmk
Port Sandwich 22 Jan 1905 (the month is indistinct but the PPC is dated Jan 19) 2nd strike
upper right.
22 January 1905
22 January 1905 - reverse
Both sides of the right card are interesting. The photo side which is franked with 15c
Syndicat Francaise/local tied by the same datestamp as the New Caledonian stamp. - Hals & Collas in their 1967
book "The New Hebrides Postal Stamps & their history" states "no covers are known
with either New Caledonia or New Hebrides stamps used in combination with locals".
They also state the earliest known use of the Port Sandwich pk is "10 Mar 05". Despite of the
inevitable toning this PPC is in quite unique collectible condition &, is obviously
a very rare & highly important piece of New Hebrides postal history.
According to a letter which Mr. Phil Collas wrote on 30th May, 1948 to an
Australian Collector named Rose, a then deceased collector E.D.E. van Weenan owned
two local SFdNH covers, addressed to the head of the French Mission at Malikolo,
which were postmarked at Vila on May 4, 1905.
Does somebody have any information on these covers of present time?
19 March 1905
A complete set and a New Caledonia 15c on an unaddressed cover. (Millet coll.)
16 April 1905
Postcard addressed to St. Ouen l'Aumône, France, franked with two
5c. SFNH locals tied by the PCH type 4 with interverted date block.
(See [4.3.3.8] for a card at same date with inverted block).("SeSi" coll.)
16 April 1905
16 April 1905 - reverse
11 June 1905
NC stamps (Yvert n°85 and 72A) tied by PCH 4 and a complete set of the French locals
cancelled with PCH 4 with interverted date block . Manuscript date 10-6-5 :
postcard written on board the Pacifique mentioning the ports of stopover:
Port-Vila, Api, Port Sandwich, canal du Segond, Port Havannah and Mélé.
Maybe the SFNH stamps had been cancelled separately and the affixed to the card, they
seem not to be tied to the card. But without doubt all has been done on the ship -
the canceller once more proving how unstable it was with the date block.
("SeSi" coll.)
11 June 1905
11 June 1905 - reverse
11 June 1905
A complete set on a part cover or just a piece of paper. (seen at Delcampe aucrtion site)
8 July 1905
(new 5/2019)
Postcard addressed to Noumea. It is rather interesting that this card is cancelled PM2. All other items here are cancelled PM3.
Image thanks to Status International.
8 July 1905
reverse
29 October 1905
Letter with a set of 4 SFNH local stamps,
cancelled 29 October 1905 with the Port Sandwich cancel.
The words "From Second Steward J Caraway SS Pacifique" are written vertically on
the left hand side. (old auction picture 1990s)
29 October 1905
Letter with a set of 4 SFNH local stamps,
cancelled 29 October 1905 with the Port Sandwich cancel.
The words "From Second Steward J Caraway SS Pacifique" are written vertically on
the left hand side.
This cover was auctioned in England in 1998.
When last seen in 2005, this cover was addressed to Mme Menard, No. 4 Avenue De Ponsvile 4,
Paris, France, (see picture below) but all circumstantial evidence gives reason
to believe that as recently as 1997 this cover bore no address at all! (picture above)
Jacques Merot adds this information: A street of this or similar name never existed
in Paris and the French way of writing a Paris address is "Paris 4", i.e. first
Paris and then the number of the arrondissement. Image thanks to David Feldman SA, Switzerland
29 October 1905
And here it is again in 2012. It can be seen that the address is added with a pencil so it could be removed again I think.
Image thanks to Sandafayre, England
29 October 1905
Letter with a set of 4 SFNH local stamps,
cancelled 29 October 1905 with the Port Sandwich cancel.
27 November 1905
New Year postcard to Szabadka (this is the hungarian name, it was hungarian until 1918, now Subotica, Serbia).
A type 4 cds Port Sandwich with inverted date block cancels the 15c and 1F SFdNH stamps. (Klinger coll.)
27 November 1905
27 November 1905 - address side of this card
27 November 1905
Postcard addressed to St Ouen l'Aumône France franked with the 5c. SFNH local
tied by the PCH 4 with interverted date block. Addresse is the same as on the 16 April 1905 item.
Correct postcard without words rate, but see the edges of the photography: the
text is written with shorthand characters...French "système D". ("SeSi" collection).
Interesting: the date is the same as on the 27 November 1905 postcard in "New Caledonia Agency - 1903 -1905" which was most likely
written and cancelled on the "Pacifique". So we suppose that SFNH stamps were available
on the Pacifique too.
27 November 1905
27 November 1905 - address side of this card
27 November 1905
Postcard addressed to St Ouen l'Aumône France franked with the 5c. SFNH local
tied by the PCH 4 with interverted date block. Addresse is the same as on the 16 April 1905 item.
Correct postcard without words rate, but see the edges of the photography: the
text is written with shorthand characters...French "système D". ("SeSi" collection).
Interesting: the date is the same as on the 27 November 1905 postcard in "New Caledonia Agency - 1903 -1905" which was most likely
written and cancelled on the "Pacifique". So we suppose that SFNH stamps were available
on the Pacifique too.
27 November 1905
27 November 1905 - address side of this card
27 November 1905 ??
I suppose that this card belongs to the same series because of the shorthand writing and the same addressee. The cancel is described on the card as Pt. Sandwich.
Image thanks to Lugdunum Philatélie
27 November 1905
27 November 1905 ?? - address side of this card
27 November 1905
Postcard "Nouvelles Hébrides: Danse guerrière" from Port-Sandwich to Besançon France.
The two 5c. SFNH stamps tied by PCH type 4 with the date block inverted. The sender wrote :
12/5/06
"J'espère Monsieur que vous pourrez garder celles-ci. Votre envoi m'a tellement charmée que
je vous adresse mes deux dernières cartes."
"I hope, Sir, that you can keep these. What you sent me pleased me so much that I send you my last two cards."
Addressee : Monsieur J. Prudent / Chef de Brigade des Postes / et des Télégraphes / 34 quai Veil-Picard / Besançon.
Maybe this card which was sent about half a year after the cancellation of the card was actually transported to France because the addressee was a postman too.
27 November 1905
address side of the card
27 November 1905
Postcard to France with two SFdNH 5c stamps cancelled PM3 on 27 November 1905. The card seems to have been correctly sent. (ex Millet coll.)
27 November 1905
reverse
dd january 1906
Cover front, letter from Nouméa to Paris with additionally affixed set
of SFdNH locals which had earlier been cancelled to order.
Seen at Lugdunum Auction 45. Image thanks to Lugdunum Philatélie, France
17 March 1906
This ppc to Oxford, England appears to have been postally. Itbears only a 25c syndicat francais stamp.
These stamps were not allowed for postal use. So it either slipped through postal service in Vila
(maybe by means of a bottle of red wine or so) - which is not very likely as it has no transit cancels -
or it could have been brought as a 'loose letter' directly to England and no one realised it was not
an authorised postage stamp. As the stamp had already been cancelled, the arrival port maybe did not
think it necessary to postmark it again. So it only has the Oxford arrival mark of MY 14, 06.
Noble Burrows was a stamp collector supposedly and produced First Day Covers in the 1930s. (unknown coll.)
17 March 1906
17 March 1906 - address side of this card
26 November 1906
Postcard "Nouvelles Hébrides - Marchands de Porcs, Pig Dealers"
The 5c local is tied with PCH type 4. (Merot coll.)
26 November 1906
5c. SFNH on postcard "Natives Vila" tied with PCH4 (month in italic). Not addressed. ("SeSi" coll.)
26 November 1906
Postcard "Shopping Mall in Vila 1903".
The 5c local is tied with PCH type 4. (Goron coll.)
26 November 1906
Postcard "Nouvelles Hébrides. - Veroomdoom et Chef de famille de la tribu
de Beltrahaf, Canal de Segou - Veroomdoom et family chief of Beltrahaftribé Segou Channal".
The 5c local is tied with PCH type 4. The card is not addressed and did not enter
the mail system. (DEG coll.)
16 March 1907
"A big cabbage" : 5c. SFNH tied with PCH 4 .Not addressed.
("SeSi" collection)
17 March 1907
Postcard "Nouvelles Hébrides - Jeunes Garçons des Iles Salomon -
Salomon Boys". 5c local tied with PCH type 4. ("Mele" coll.)
12 May 1907
Sealed letter with the four SFdNH stamps and a vertical pair of a New Caledonian
5c stamp, all cancelled by PCH type 4 (month italic). (Klinger coll.)
12 May 1907
12 May 1907 - reverse
postcard 1907
Postcard "Un indigène de l'Ile Tanna, Nlle. Hebrides.
xx May 1907
(new 1/2019)
Postcard xx Mai 1907 - according to the address sent to Italy? From my 2004 archive.
xx May 1907
xx May 1907 - reverse
21 December 1907
A complete set of the French locals together with two 4c and a 2c New Caledonian
Kagu stamps from the New Hebrides to Nouméa, New Caledonia. The
addressee (Pierre) Russier (1854-1941) was a teacher in Nouméa and held
some other professions too. The cancel is a PCH type 4 with the month italic and inverted. (Merot coll.)
21 December 1907
A complete set of the French locals together with a 10c New Caledonian
Kagu stamps from the New Hebrides to Nouméa, New Caledonia. The address looks very much like later
written, the handwriting is most unlikely from 1910 - it is untypical. Image from an old Lugdunum auction.
15 March 1908
Postcard with NC 5c stamp and SFdNH 5c stamp both tied with PCH type 5 cancel
to Nouméa. Both cancels have the same date of July 23 which speaks for
correct postal usage I think.(Yeomans coll.)
3 June 1908
Postcard with NC 5c stamp and SFdNH 25c stamp both tied with PCH type 5 cancel - address unknown to me. Another 3 June 08 postmark on the address side.
There could be a part of the right cancel's "08" on the SFdNH stamp.
Image thanks to Victoria Stamp Comapany Ridgewood, NJ, U.S.A.
23 July 1908
Postcard with NC 5c stamp and SFdNH 5c stamp both tied with PCH type 5 cancel
to Nouméa. Both cancels have the same date of July 23 which speaks for
correct posta usage I think. (Yeomans coll.)
23 July 1908
23 July 1908 - address side
23 July 1908
Postcard with SFdNH 5c stamp tied with PCH type 5 cancel to Brest in France.
Private postcard from a father Pierre Le Roux to his son Robert in France. On the picture side the stamp
is cancelled on 23 July 1908 and has a manuscript entry "Port Vila 25 Juillet 1908"
and the text side reads "Nouméa 19 Août 1908". The stamp has moved to
the right for about ½ mm by influence of humidity. I have an other postcard
from Mr. Le Roux to his son written in Nouméa on "Nouméa 17 Avril 1907" cancelled
Nouméa 16 April 1907. A third card exists from Nouméa to his wife
in Brest written on "Nouméa 19 Août 1908" cancelled Nouméa 10 Août 1908.
each with a New Caledonian 2c stamp. (Klinger coll.)
23 July 1908
23 July 1908 - address side
23 July 1908
A possible explanation for this date muddle could be
that Mr. Le Roux had all of the cards cancelled by favour, wrote the text later
and then sent them by letter. I don't know, please suggest your opinion.
23 July 1908
23 July 1908 - address side
23 July 1908
A possible explanation for this date muddle could be
that Mr. Le Roux had all of the cards cancelled by favour, wrote the text later
and then sent them by letter. I don't know, please suggest your opinion.
23 July 1908
23 July 1908 - address side
23 July 1908
A possible explanation for this date muddle could be
that Mr. Le Roux had all of the cards cancelled by favour, wrote the text later
and then sent them by letter. I don't know, please suggest your opinion.
23 July 1908
Postcard to Nouméa with a SFNH 5c. The card has a short message so the New Caledonian 5c stamp
pays the fees. (unknown collection)
23 July 1908
Postcard with a SFNH 5c. stamp tied with PCH type 4 to Nouméa. It may
have been carried regularly but with underpaid rate. ("SeSi" collection)
23 July 1908
Postcard to Nouméa with a SFNH 5c. The card has a short message so the New Caledonian 5c stamp
pays the fees. ("RW" collection)
23 July 1908
(new Dec 2017)
Commemoration postcard not addressed but dated 23 July 1908. to Nouméa with a SFNH 5c. I have the impression that all these cards were CTOs.
Gaertner Auctions
reverse
23 July 1908
(new 2/2020)
Commemoration postcard not used. The stamps are cncelled with GK PM2
reverse
23 July 1908
(new 3/2020)
Commemoration postcard not used. The stamps are cncelled with GK PM2
(klinger coll.)
1 August 1908
Picture postcard with the SFdNH 5c and 15c stamps cancelled with the GK Type PM3 Pt. Sandwich cancel held on board the steamer PACCIFIQUE.
In spite of the addresse written on the back the card may not have seen any postal use. (At least I couldn't find the street in Cannes today).
It may have been cancelled to order on the ship as this was very often the c ase.
(Image thanks to Gaertner Auctions )
1 August 1908
14 August 1908
12 JUIN 1908 Port-Vila / 14 AOUT 1908 Nouméa.
Postcard "Indigènes de Vila" written on front "Port Vila le 12 juin 1908 : mon meilleur souvenir".
Posted in NC on 14 aout 1908 to Marseille France.
The 5c SFNH stamp tied by NOUMEA 14 AOUT 08 cds. Apparently no problem with the post office. ("SeSi" coll.)
Reverse, Noumea cancel and acancel in wrong colours
12 October 1908
1c and 4c New Caledonia 1908 and a 15c SFdNH local cancelled with a New Hebrides postmark : "IDES" is readable right of the SFdNH stamp.
Image thanks to Lugdunum Philatelie
12 October 1908