This cover was mailed from the Boer War to Belgium on July 5, 1900. It appears to have been from the same prolific writer who mailed several other J.C. Wilson covers from O’Okiep, CGH during the war.

This OHMS cover, postmarked October 11, 1901 at the Toronto Army Post Office, was on the occasion of the Royal Review at Exhibition Park Camp. It was addressed to L.H Irving, Esq., “Overbrook”, Mineral Springs, Ont. via T.H.&B. Ry.

The tour in 1901 by the Duke & Duchess of Cornwall and York included South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Colony of Newfoundland. Its primary goal was to reward the dominions for their participation in the South African War of 1899–1902.

While in Canada, the Duke presented newly minted South African War medals to veterans of the Boer War in a Royal Review ceremony in Toronto on October 11, 1901. The Canadian leg of the tour started in Quebec on September 16th, and also included Halifax, before departing from Newfoundland.

A copy of the WLS-E11 Tattered Flag design has been added. This is a P-2 variety with song back 2, with the lyrics of “It’s Only a Bit of Bunting”. The envelope has been postally used May 15, 1900 to Northport, NS with a W-149 Souris & Regina (with E, & No. 2 markings) RPO cancel on a 2¢ QV Numeral stamp. This is the earliest date of use I have encountered on this cover.

A cover has been added from J.O. Labrecque & Cie. The company specialized in the sale of “Diamant Noire” coal from their premises at 83 Rue Wolfe, Montreal. The image on the cover, by A.S. Brodeur, who had also illustrated the company’s 1898 ad in Le prix courant, Volume 22, Numéro 1, Page 10, shows a polar bear holding a black diamond over the heads of a gathering of South Africans & Boers with the caption ‘Les Boers en extose devant le “Diamant Noire” (célèbre charbon)’.

The cover was mailed December 16, 1901 with a Montreal Flag A postmark to M E.S. Parker, Bethlehem, P.A. US., with a Bethlehem receiving cancel on the reverse.

Another example of a cover contemporary to the J.C. Wilson series, a Sam Richey “Soldiers of the Queen Canadian Contingent” cover. This one has not been used by a soldier in the Boer War, but appears to be a locally released variation with the text added “Used by the Soldiers in South Africa As Supplied By The Canadian Government”. This copy is a colour printing, unlike the black & white printing posted from actual use in South Africa.

Another example has been posted of a cover contemporary to the J.C. Wilson series, a Sam Richey “Soldiers of the Queen Canadian Contingent” cover sent from G.P.O. Capetown to Ottawa on Mar 27, 1900, with an Ottawa receiving cancel dated April 28.

This example of the WLS-P09 Type I “Soldiers of the Queen” design has been used by St. Luke’s Church Bible Class, on Montreal on March 1st, 1900, commemorating the involvement of classmates injured in the Boer War. The card states:

“Fall In! Dear Friends, Scholars, Past and Present Members of the Class, will kindly attend at ___, on Sunday, March 4, to express our sympathy and admiration for the three members of the Class who fought in the late action at Paardeberg, South Africa. Two of the Scholars are reported wounded. Come, and bring a friend!Yours Sincerely, Henry J. Dart. God Save the Queen!”

A hand-written notation on the card notes “one has since died”.

This example of a J.C. Wilson patriotic cover front shows a use from Ookiep, Cape of Good Hope, to Cornwall England on April 23, 1900. This is another of the series of J.C. Wilson covers used by the same sender to the same recipient over the course of several months during the Boer War.

This example of a WLS-P09 Type I “Soldiers of the Queen” design has been used for business use by J.J. Turner & Sons, Sail, Tent, Awning & Flag M’f’rs of Peterborough, Ontario. The Boer War-themed pioneer patriotic postcard was postmarked with a Peterborough July 11, 1901 CDS cancel on the front, and bears a Lindsay, Ontario squared circle cancel of the same date on the reverse.

This is not the only example of a J.C. Wilson patriotic used by J.J. Turner & Sons for their business. A copy of a WLS-P10 Soldiers of the Queen Redesign card was sold by auction in June 1987 by Jim Hennok. That card was postmarked July 20, 1901, 9 days after this card was used.

I’ve also converted the WLS-P09 Type 1 postcard listings to the current site format and added additional material.

A very nice copy of J.C. Wilson’s Tattered Flag pioneer patriotic postcard from the Boer War era has been added to the site. This card, mailed from Montreal on March 21, 1902 to Crowell & Kirkpatrick Co. of New York, was received in New York on March 22nd.

One of the rarest of J.C. Wilson’s patriotic postcards is the design known as WLS-P10, “Soldiers of the Queen Redesign”, which was issued during the Boer War. This particular example is unused.

This copy of WLS-P02 Type II has been mailed on February 6, 1900 with a 1¢ Jubilee stamp by J.B. Harper of 26 Palace Street, Brantford, Ontario to Captain Stitt of Princeton, Ontario. Captain James Stitt of No. 4 Company, 22nd Battalion The Oxford Rifles (which was redesignated 3 months after this card was written on 8 May 1900 as the 22nd Regiment The Oxford Rifles), was a Private in the 22nd Battalion when he received the Canada General Service Medal for his role in the Fenian Raids in 1866. Harper asks Captain Stitt if Stitt could send him Harper’s medal, as he read in the newspaper that the medals had just come in. While the details of the medal are not mentioned, this may be a Boer-War-related medal.

One of the better known business use covers from the J.C. Wilson patriotics series is the use by Hotel Carslake of the WLS-E12 “God Save the Queen” patriotic cover. This particular cover comes with the Hotel Carlake letterhead enclosed with the envelope when it was mailed from Montreal on November 9, 1900 to Afton, New York, USA.

I’ve posted a series of postcards mailed from the Boer War to Mimico, Ontario, likely from Capt. Dr. Henry Ernest Tremayne of the 10th Canadian Field Hospital, mailed with Army Field Post postmarks on a series of Klerksdorp Transvaal postcards on the subject of the Anglo-Boer War, mailed to his niece.

I’ve added a section on postcards & covers contemporary to the J.C. Wilson era, primarily related to the Boer War. Some of this material was brought forward to conform to the new site design, while some additional material has been added, and some previous material is still awaiting update. The largest section of new material are the “Soldiers of Canada in South Africa” pioneer patriotic postcards by W.J. Gage.