A Labuan transit stationary postcard from the German Caroline Islands

 

This is a very unusual and rare item of postal history with a Labuan connection. It was posted at Angaur which is the southernmost island in the chain of islands called the Carolines in the western Pacific to the north of New Guinea. The islands to the extreme west including Angaur is now known as the Republic of Palau.

Historically, they were claimed by the Spaniards in 1528 and became part of the Spanish East Indies and were also known as the New Philippines, being governed from Manila. After their defeat by the Americans, Spain sold these islands to Germany in 1899. They were under German administration as part of German New Guinea until their defeat in WWI in 1918.

The island of Angaur was very rich in organic phosphates which were mined between 1909 to 1954. This card was definitely sent by one of the expatriate employees there. It was believed that there were several routes for mail to travel from the Carolines to Europe depending on the trade routes used by visiting German steamships. One of these routes was suppose to involve the regular visit of Angaur by one of the NDL ships which served Singapore, Labuan, North Borneo and Zamboanga in south Philippines. It has been said that this was monthly schedule. But there is no evidence to support this at all. As far as records in the BNBC Herald shows, the service only went as far as Zamboanga.

It was written on 7 March 1909, posted on 9-3 09 and transited Labuan on 19 MAR 1909 and Singapore MR 29 1909. A ship journey of 10 days between Angaur and Labuan was very fast even for nowadays. Moreover, looking at the shipping information on shipping arrivals and departures from Sandakan, I am unable to trace the ship with the right timing at Sandakan nor the journey to Labuan. The transmission of this card is not that straightforward. 

This early 20th century map shows the major shipping routes during that period. One could see a sea route between Angaur and Manila in the Philippines and then another one from Manila to Labuan. These were not the normal trading routes but ones used by fast mail steamers which would explain the swift 10 day journey from Angaur to Labuan. At Labuan it was sorted and received a transit postmark on 19 MAR 1909. It then left on the SS Darvel on 25 March 1909 and arrived at Singapore on 28 March 1909, from information derived from the Singapore Newspapers Archive.

 

Some nice cancellations

 

Labuan stamps were valid in North Borneo between 1890 and 1906 and vice versa when it was administered by the British North Borneo Company. Labuan stamps used at Gaya are not common and it is more uncommon with the Gaya D3 cancellation as compared to the Gayah D2 postmark because it was in use for less than 2 years between March 1898 and November 1899. The date on this stamp is 7 MAR 98.

This is the Gayah D2 postmark which was in use from August 1886 to June 1897. There are a few variants and the prefix B is the most common. The stamp on the right has no prefix at all. The earliest version has the prefix A and there are only a few in existence.

 

This pair of stamps were unfortunately removed from a potentially very expensive cover. It was posted at Mempakul and cancelled with D2 and then transit Labuan where it received a cds cancellation as well as a few Labuan 9 bar cancels.

The Elopura cancellation came into use in 1884 in Sandakan and was used to cancelled covers but not the stamps. The early version either had no prefix or the prefix A. It was withdrawn from use as the name of Sandakan was more acceptable than Elopura and was replaced by the Sandakan cancellations. Somehow in between 1889 and 1890 it was rehabilitated for use as a fiscal cancellation. It then had the prefix P and was mostly found on higher values which was the usual requirement on fiscal documents.

A few stamps of the 1889 lower values issue are also found with the Elopura P cancellation as seen on this 10c stamp due to low fees charged on minor documents. They tend to be less common than the higher values

This is a nice Sandakan D3 cancellation in red. It replaced the Elopura A cancellation in October 1885. On this 1883 8c stamp it has a date of 19 AU 1888. Earlier and extremely rare versions which were used to cancelled covers only has the prefix A or P.

It is difficult to find a full Kudat 13 bar cancellation like this example on this 1883 8c stamp. It was normally in red. The blue green version is more difficult to find. Proud mentions that it came into use in 1890 but I suspect it a lot earlier than that.

The 1883 higher value 50c and $1 stamps are very rarely found used. They were issued mainly for fiscal usage even though a few were probably used on parcels. The above stamp with a Kudat A cancellation 27 JU 1889 was most likely cancelled by favour but it is still a rare finding.

This Kudat A cancellation is in blue which is fairly uncommon is similar to the one in pink found on some early covers. In contrast to the Elopura A, Sandakan A and Gayah A cancellations, the Kudat A was used for a relatively longer period between 1886 and 1900. There is also a very rare Kudat P variant found on a few stamps only.

I rather like this Kudat D5 cancellation with the two Maltese Crosses at the side. I suspect this was mostly a fiscal cancellation but it has also been found on some covers.

Some recently acquired maps of North Borneo

I recently acquired these maps as part of a private philatelic collection which also included some amazing old North Borneo postal and fiscal cancellations which may in time appear on these pages.  

This is a Church Mission Map which probably dated from between 1841 and 1846. I deduce this from observing that the area of Sarawak under the control of James Brooke was only the region around Kuching which he established in 1841. And also the island of Labuan on the map was part of Brunei. It was ceded to Britain in 1846. It is also interesting to note the areas held respectively by the Sultans of Brunei and Sulu were mainly confined to the coastal areas.

In the North Borneo part, the settlements of  Sandakan and Kudat were not shown as these were established in 1879 and 1881 respectively. In fact there are no settlements named in North Borneo in contrast to Sarawak. The trading settlements of Tuaran and Murudu for example would have been thriving during that time. Maps of this period shows the legendary Kinabalu Lake to the east of the mountain. There is no evidence to show such a large of water ever existed.

This map is slightly more recent and likely around 1851. Here we can see that the area under James Brooke had expanded some way eastwards and also Labuan was noted as a British possession. The features of the North Borneo are similar with Kinabalu Lake and additionally, the settlements of Ambong and Marudu were recognised. The height of Mt Kinabalu was given as 13,698 feet which implies that this map was compiled after Hugh Low climbed the mountain in March 1851.

This is part of a large map showing the position of Borneo in relationship to the rest of the East Indies & Further India which in recent times is referred to as South East Asia. I would date this to be from early 20th century. Jesselton, Kudat, Sandakan and Silam were noted but no Lahad Datu and Tawau. Lahad Datu was established by 1897 and Tawau in 1898 and then Jesselton was founded at the end of 1899. 

On this map, there was an area just north west of Sandakan known as Balmoral which I found intriguing and it was an estate but I have not found any further information yet.

This is a large detailed map from 1964. I had to scan it in 4 different parts before pasting them together with photoshop to achieve this excellent composite image. It shows all the towns, settlements, natural features, roads, railway, airfields etc. I noted the road connecting Sandakan to Telupid. But it was completed in 1971 and then to Ranau in 1972. So what is shown here was the dust track that was laid during colonial times.  

Around the world covers that visited North Borneo

These two items are plainly philatelic and contrived by the same person in Scotland UK. Otherwise, it would be impossible to see such beautiful and interesting covers. The process was actually quite complicated and involved cooperation and help from friends and contacts in these countries.

This cover left Edinburg in November 1931 and went through Bermuda, Chile, Dutch West Indies and then North Borneo and from there to Italy and then Scotland.

It also received a Retour instruction as it went through Seattle, USA and then somehow managed to reach North Borneo.

This cover has a more ambitious route. It started from Edinburg in January 1931. It went first to Palestine, a country that no longer exist due to ongoing Middle East conflict. It was then sent to Kenya in Africa and from there to South India. Then it was sent to North Borneo where it was generously franked with five stamps of the beautiful 1931 issue. Fuji was the next port of call and from there to Jamaica and then to Saskatchewan Canada before being returned to Scotland.

Early North Borneo and Labuan Sanbride postcards

About 15 years or more ago before the colour postcards of Borneo were printed by Sanbride, there was a series of monochromic postcards published by F & K Chinn showing Kudat and Labuan and printed by Sanbride. Conceivably, there are others apart from these four here which are the only ones that I have seen so far. Chinn was probably based at Kudat. 

The Kudat Market is depicted here. There is no year date but it should be 1906 or later due to the lack of clear margins around the card where a message is usually scribbled prior to 1906.

Kudat Town and Harbour in 1906

Kudat Town and Harbour 1907

Labuan Government House circa 1906

The card has a divided back for a postcard of North Borneo from 1906. No written message was allowed on this side prior to 1906 or the lower postcard postal rate would have been forfeited.

Along the vertical line were these letters printed to confirmed Sanbride was the printer. This was before the logo with the steeple of St Bride Church on Fleet Street, London was adopted.

Update 9 April 2025

I have found another postcard of this series on the net. They are probably some others.