Wooroolin

Wooroolin receiving office, 12 km south south west of Wondai, opened in 1900 and was elevated to a post office in February 1907

• Manuscript cancellation (August 1905) rated Very Rare -$100 on cover

Wooroolin numeral 635 HERE. Wooroolin registered HERE. Wooroolin date stamp 5b HERE

1905

Wooroolin registered manuscript cancellation dated Brisbane 30 August 1905 and rated Very Rare. Seen on Facebook

Wootha

Wootha receiving office, 7 km south west of Maleny. The Receiving Office opened in January 1907 

• Manuscript cancellation dated 1909 - 1910 rated Very Rare

1909

Wootha manuscript cancellation dated 8 June 1909 with a numeral ray 170 for Maleny and rated Very Rare. Seen on Ebay

1910

Wootha manuscript cancellation with a numeral ray 170 for Maleny dated 1 April 1910  and rated Very Rare. Seen on Ebay

Mungallala

Mungallala receiving office, 43 km east of Morven. The Receiving Office opened 1887 and was elevated to a post office in May 1911

• Manuscript cancellation dated 1904 and rated Very Rare

Mungallala numeral 724 HERE. Mungallala railway numeral 153 HERE. Mungallala registered HERE. Mungallala date stamp 6 HERE

Mungallala manuscript cancellation on a registered letter with a Roma date stamp dated 16 October 1904  and rated Very Rare. Seen in Phoenix auction no 67

Redlynch

Redlynch receiving office, 8 km north west of Cairns. The Receiving Office opened in December 1887

• Manuscript cancellation dated 1899 rated Very Rare

Redlynch registered manuscript cancellation on a registered letter with a Cairns date stamp dated 27 January 1899  and rated Very Rare. Seen in Abacus auction no 234 lot no 224

Unofficial receiving offices at Queensland pastoral properties and remote work locations

I have come across a handful of covers that have originated from Queensland pastoral properties and other remote work locations with their name written on the top left hand side. They also include a signature and the word registered if applicable. They are subsequently cancelled at the nearest post office. I suspect, given the size of these properties, the number of people employed by them and living on site, as well as their distance to the nearest post office, that these acted as unofficial receiving offices with the stamps affixed on site and then given to the letter carrier, when he delivered mail to that location, to take to the post office, where they were cancelled and registered. 

If you have any more examples. I would love to see them.

Originating at Darr Rivers Downs, a pastoral property west of Longreach. Dated 22 August 1907

Originating at Charlotte Plains, a pastoral property east of Cunnamulla. Dated 11 June 1903. Seen on Stampboards

A cover from Darr River Downs outside Longreach and dated 25 September 1904. Seen on Ebay

And this one from a Chain Gang crew (56) working on a railway outside Alpha in 1901

Retro Station outside Capella dated 19 March 1903. Seen in Queensland Facebook Group

Stoneleigh Station dated 21 July 1899 in the Ingham district. Seen in Queensland Facebook Group

Penola Downs near Kynuna dated 13 october 1904. Seen in Premier Postal auction no 56

A cover from Maneroo Station outside Longreach and dated 15 March 1903. Seen on Stampboards

Eumina dated 23 February 1901 in the Charleville district. Seen in Queensland Facebook Group

Caiwarro, a station in the Warrego district, date stamped at Bourke, NSW on 24 July 1907. Seen in Tasmanian Stamp auctions

Rockhampton

Rockhampton Post Office, 100 km north west of Gladstone. It opened on 1 April 1858

• Manuscript cancellation seen in 1860 rated Very Rare

Rockhampton 102 HERE. Rockhampton 201 HERE. Rockhampton 201 duplex HERE  Rockhampton 201 on NSW stamps HERE. Rockhampton 201 roller cancel HERE. Rockhampton 308 HERE. Rockhampton 391 HERE. Rockhampton 431 HERE. Rockhampton 447 HERE. Rockhampton 448 HERE. Rockhampton duplex 473 HERE. Rockhampton duplex 509 HERE. Rockhampton duplex 514 HERE. Rockhampton duplex 583 HERE. Rockhampton registered HERE. Rockhampton date stamps HERE. Rockhampton instructional markings HERE

Rockhampton manuscript cancellation and a Rockhampton datestamp dated 9 November 1860. It is not known why this cover was cancelled with a single wavy-line pen stroke, as the Rockhampton 201 ray type numeral has been seen on stamps prior to this date. Rated Very Rare. Seen at Spink Auction 12043 lot no 1143. Ex Griffiths

Springfield

Springfield, Brisbane district. It is not known which receiving office in the Brisbane area was responsible for this item

• Manuscript cancellation seen in 1868 rated Very Rare

Manuscript cancellation dated 29 December 1868. An entire letter from Springfield, Brisbane "via Southampton" to Scotland and redirected to Edinburgh, bearing 6d. yellow-green and "registered" (6d.) orange-yellow cancelled with manuscript pen stroke and faint "gpo" in barred roller and with faint Brisbane Registered oval datestamp in red  and rated Very Rare. Seen at Spink Auction 14015 lot no 2311

Jimna

Jimna Receiving office, on the Yabba Goldfield 45 km west of Nambour. It opened on 9 September 1891 and closed around January 1909. The receiving office keeper was G. Whittington

• Manuscript cancellation seen in 1895 - 1907 rated Very Rare

Jimna numeral 108 HERE. Jimna date stamp 1b HERE

Jimna manuscript cancellation with a Kilkoy datestamp of 7 August 1907 and a Kilkoy registered handstamp crossed out and replaced with Jimna and rated Very Rare. Seen on Ebay

Jimna manuscript cancellation dated 1895 and rated Very Rare. Seen in Phoenix auction no 18. Ex Smithies

North Arm

North Arm Receiving office, 13 km north of Nambour, opened at the railway station of the same name sometime after July 1891. It was elevated to a post office in late 1912

• Manuscript cancellation seen in 1894 rated Very Rare

North Arm registered HERE. North Arm date stamp 6 HERE

North Arm manuscript cancellation dated 25 June 1894 and rated Very Rare. Seen on Ebay

Receiving Office Regulations - 1892

Regulations regarding Receiving Offices from Queensland Postal Regulations, 1892

Rule 143 spells out how the letter is to be handled. It would appear that there was no requirement to do anything for letters that were not local. They were simply sent to the nearest post office/s in a secured and sealed bag.

Local letters were to "have the postage stamps obliterated by lines drawn diagonally across the stamps with a pen and black ink, and must have the name of the office and the date written on the upper left-hand corner of the letter, thus, Redbank, January 2nd 1892 - and be delivered when called for."

Example of a cover showing the diagonal crosses and the name and the date of the post office 

Registered articles (Rule 144), were to be handled in accordance with Rule 75

Example of a registered cover showing the red pencil lines, the registration number (584) and the word registered

Bingera Plantation

Bingera Plantation receiving office, a sugar plantation 16 km west of Bundaberg. It opened in 1894 and became a post office about January 1907. The receiving office keeper in 1894 was E. Doctor, in 1895 J. Barclay and from 1900 until it became a post office, Gibson and Howes. The oval rubber cancellation is known used with violet or blue ink.

• oval rubber cancellation seen from 1900 - 1906 rated Rare

Bingera Plantation numeral 638 HERE. Bingera Plantation date stamp type 5b HERE

A stylised example of this oval rubber datestamp seen in Campbell

1901

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in blue dated 21 February 1901 with a Bundaberg datestamp cancellation dated 21 February 1901, a Bundaberg numeral cancellation number 148 and a Bundaberg R registered handstamp and rated Rare. Seen at Prestige Philately auction no 214 lot no 513

1902

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet dated 15 January 1902 with a Bundaberg duplex numeral 148 cancellation dated 16 January 1902 rated Rare. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet dated 14 February 1902 with a Bundaberg duplex numeral 148 cancellation dated 15 February 1902 rated Rare. Seen at Phoenix auction no 8 lot no 922. Ex Smithies

1903

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet with a Registered datestamp cancellation dated 1903 and rated Rare

1904

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in blue dated 5 September 1904 with a TPO No 1 North Coast railway datestamp down cancellation of the same date and rated Rare. Seen at Abacus online auction no 5 lot no 746

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet with a Queensland date stamp cancellation dated October 1904 rated Rare. From my collection

1905

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in blue dated 22 November 1905 with a North Coast Railway datestamp cancellation dated 22 November 1905 and rated Rare. Seen at Spink auctions no 12043 lot no 1448. Ex Griffiths

1906

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in blue with a TPO No 2 North Coast railway datestamp down cancellation dated 21 May 1906 and rated Rare. Seen at Prestige Philately auction no 177 lot no 319

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet with a TPO No 1 North Coast Railway date stamp cancellation dated 11 October 1906 rated Rare. From my collection

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet dated November 1906 with a TPO North Coast railway datestamp cancellation and rated Rare. Seen at Prestige Philately auction no 177 lot no 319

Unknown year

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet with a Queensland date stamp cancellation dated 14 November 190- rated Rare. From my collection

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet and rated Rare. From my collection

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet with a Registered R cancellation and rated Rare. Seen at Phoenix auction no 41. Ex Smithies

Bingera Plantation oval rubber cancellation in violet with an indistinct postal cancellation and rated Rare