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Auction: 22131 - New Zealand e-auction: The Property of Robin Gwynn; Followed by the Collection Formed by S.P. Riddell - e-Auction
Lot: 305

(x) New Zealand
The Chalon Issues
1873 No Watermark
1873 (18 Oct.) envelope to New South Wales sent during the final phase of the Maori Wars, franked 1d. brown and a defective 2d. orange, with on the reverse very rare manuscript "Wairoa/ 18.10.73" cancellation from the military redoubt at Wairoa. The subsequent cancellation at Wanganui proves this was not from the well-known wairoa in Hawke's Bay but from the redoubt just within Taranaki (near modern Waverley). The military camp had a Post Office but did not receive it's own cancellation, A.R. Marshall recorded no manuscript s from this redoubt in 'New Zealand Postal Manuscripts'; part of back flap missing and soiled, nevertheless very rare

Note: In 1868 the Maori leader Tikokowaru had provoked a full-scale battle at Te Ngutu which the Maori won so convincingly that the Patea Field Force disintegrated. This prolonged the New Zealand Wars into a final phase. By late 1868 'except for the fortified settlements of Patea and Wairoa, Tikokowaru now controlled virtually the whole area between Mount Egmont and Wanganui', and could 'devastate the whole Wanganui hinterland, both north and south of the town'. The military crisis Tikokowaru caused was 'perhaps the greatest threat to European dominance in the history of New Zealand' (James Belich, The New Zealand Wars, (Auckland U.P., 1986, pp.243, 253, 255, 257)

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Sold for
£750

Starting price
£160