It is a One Penny postcard at the 1895 Imperial rate to British possessions overseas. It was posted at Newcastle on Tyne. Part of the Newcastle on Tyne Head Post Office 545 duplex cancellation was covered by the Labuan stamp. By shining a strong light from the back of the card, one could see the letters for Newcastle and the date of OC 10 95 which is confirmed by the written message at the back. It was sent to Labuan where a 1894 North Borneo 3c stamp was used for forwarding the letter to South Africa. North Borneo stamps were valid in Labuan between 1890 and 1905 when it was administered by the British North Borneo Company.
Three cents was the postcard rate to GB and all UPU countries from 1894 to 1905. There is a Labuan backstamp for DE 31 189(5). The North Borneo pictorial 3c stamp was cancelled by the local 9 bar cancellation which by this time was used less and less as the dated cds was the prefered option as it was kinder to the beautiful designs of those stamp issues and probably much more desired by collectors.
It was sent to Johannesburg in South Africa where after affixing 2 local One Penny stamps, it was sent back to Newcastle. South Africa used a rather unusual date format for its postal cancellations perhaps some Dutch influence here. The date seen of 16 MRT c' 6 should translate to 16 March 1896. The likelihood was that it did arrived back to Mr J Easton at Newcastle who sent it off in the first place.
So who was J Easton at 17 Maple Street at Newcastle GB in 1895? Apparently this address was the family home of a prominent local tailor, Robert Easton. J Easton can have John Easton who was his brother or Joseph Easton who was his son. One of them or all were likely keen philatelists in their day.
