Page 18 - Atmore_PH_QV

JAMAICA
Land of\'Vood and \X!atcr

By Act of 1795, members ofthe armed forces stationed abroad were allowed to send letters at a
privileged 1d rate. Tbe Act stipulated that each letter must not exceed Y20z in weight, should show the
full name, rank and regiment of the sender and, in addition, the signature of his commanding officer.

1875 (24th Nov), soldier's letter from Gunner J. W. Smith, serving with the Royal Artillery at Port
Royal, to Scarborough. Franked 1d, being the Armed Forces privileged rate of 1795.
l!::::i3~r·•

Both the .. A67" obliterator and the date-stamp have been .. assisted". Several other similarly assisted
examples of the .. A67" are known, as is an entirely manuscript .. 67" mark. It appears that, at some
juncture in early 1875, the .. A67" obliterator was damaged or became so clogged with dried ink that it
consistently failed to leave complete impressions. Poor impressions were .. completed" manually by the
Post Master until, finally, the .. A67" was temporarily withdrawn from service for repair or cleaning.

The sender, I. W. Smith, was a Gunner with the 5th Battery, 7th Brigade of the Royal Artillery.
His commanding officer, Lieut. H. P. Dawson. countersigned his letter as per the regulations.
The 7th Brigade were stationed in Jamaica from November 1872 until 1876.