BOER WAR
THE SIEGE OF MAFEKING - ITS STAMPS AND POSTAL HISTORY
When the British column of troops arrived from Kimberley to relieve and lift the 217 day siege of Mafeking on 17 May 1900, the word "Maffick" (to exult joyously) passed into the English language, as celebrations took place in both the Cape Colony and England. At the outbreak of the Boer War, the town of Mafeking, located near the frontier of the Bechuanaland Protectorate and also its administrative capital, was an important railway town on the Cape Town - Bulawayo line. With a population of 9800, of whom 1800 were of European origin, Mafeking was prepared for the ensuing siege by the Boers with 1200 British and Cape troops being stationed there to fortify and defend the town. On 12 October 1899, Boer forces, under the command of Cronje, numbering 8000 men and well equipped with artillery, began the siege after crossing the Cape border and marching from Zeerust. In retrospect, there is little doubt that had the far superior Boer forces made a determined offensive attack on the town, that Mafeking would have fallen. Instead, Cronje chose a policy of continual bombardment and the maintenance of a tight cordon around the perimeter. By January 1900, the Boers were obliged to ease this stanglehold when half their force was diverted to Kimberley.
Prior to the relief of Mafeking, one other unsuccessful attempt to lift the siege had been made by British forces under Brigadier-General Plumer in late January.
It was during the siege of Mafeking that young boys, who had already been organised into a cadet corps, were first used by the military to carry messages within the siege boundaries. From this experience, the idea of founding the Boy Scout movement was conceived by Colonel Baden-Powell, the Commander of Mafeking. Two local post stamps, known as the "Mafeking Blues" were produced by the photographic ferroprussiate process, in order to denote pre-payment of the delivery fee, and the local mail service was thus absorbed into the general postal system run by the Military authorities. The two denominations uniquely printed by this photographic process were the 1d. and 3d. The former depicted Sergeant-Major Warner Goodyear, a twelve year old lad who was the epitome of the ideal Boy Scout, in uniform with delivery pouch on his bicycle, while the latter displayed a bust of Baden-Powell.
The stamps issued in besieged Mafeking have, since the date of their issue, enjoyed attention and popularity among philatelists. Many eminent philatelists have studied and contributed to our knowledge of the surcharged stamps and the "Mafeking Blues".
The collection offered herewith has been formed over the last 40 years and represents the most comprehensive offering ever to have appeared on the market.
The number of covers it includes is truly remarkable and unsurpassed. Many items emanate from the collection of Dr. K. Freud and the legendary "Maria de la Queillerie" Cape of Good Hope collection.
1900 (23 Mar. - 25 Apr.) Stamps surcharged "MAFEKING/BESIEGED"
The military authorities bought the entire supply of stamps in the Mafeking Post Office and at the head office for the Bechuanaland Protectorate. Townsend & Son, local printers overprinted the stamps with either double or triple their face value - as required. The overprint "MAFEKING/BESIEGED" therefore exists on stamps of the Cape of Good Hope, British Bechuanaland and Bechuanaland Protectorate. These administrations recognised the stamps only on mail originating from Mafeking.
The "forme" of the "set up" consisted of six subjects only. The basic stamps were printed in panes of 60 (6 rows of 10 stamps) and the overprint was therefore applied a row at a time. Only the 1s. on 4d. British Bechuanaland was an exception as these stamps unoverprinted came in sheetlets of 20, thus only 5 subjects were applied at a time. There are at least four separate printings as indicated by different spacings of the overprint. The 16 overprinted stamps come with two different overprint styles, fancy letters and sans-serif letters.
The stamps issued are:
Surcharged in fancy type
On Cape of Good Hope stamps
1d. on ½d. green Hope seated issued 23.3.1900 7680 printed 1d. on ½d. green Hope standing issued 4.4.1900 5280 printed 3d. on 1d. carmine Hope standing issued 23.3.1900 6000 printed 6d. on 3d. magenta Hope seated issued 24.3.1900 840 printed 1s. on 4d. sage-green Hope seated issued 24.3.1900 1440 printed On Bechuanaland Protectorate stamps
1d. on ½d. vermilion issued 28.3.1900 6000 printed 3d. on 1d. lilac issued 4.4.1900 1800 printed 6d. on 2d. green and carmine issued 6.4.1900 1200 printed 6d. on 3d. purple on yellow issued 29.3.1900 1440 printed On British Bechuanaland stamps
6d. on 3d. lilac and black issued 27.3.1900 3600 printed 1s. on 4d. green and purple-brown issued 29.3.1900 2320 printed Surcharged in sans-serif letters
On Bechuanaland Protectorate stamps
3d. on 1d. lilac issued 25.4.1900 1800 printed 6d. on 2d. green and carmine issued 25.4.1900 1200 printed 1s. on 6d. purple on rose-red issued 25.4.1900 1440 printed On British Bechuanaland stamps
1s. on 6d. purple on rose-red issued 3.5.1900 240 printed 2s. on 1s. green issued 25.4.1900 570 printed
used The complete set of sixteen used, all except two (S.G. 4 and 10) are on pieces and all but three show complete cancellations, mainly fine, a couple of pieces have staining which slightly affect stamps (S.G. 5); also contemporary newspaper cutting pertaining to this issue. S.G. 1-16, #2374. Photo
Details
used The complete set of sixteen used, all except two (S.G. 4 and 10) are on pieces and all but three show complete cancellations, mainly fine, a couple of pieces have staining which slightly affect stamps (S.G. 5); also contemporary newspaper cutting pertaining to this issue. S.G. 1-16, #2374. Photo