Railway and Parcel Stamps of Australia

The first railway in New South Wales, 22.5 kilometres long, was opened between Sydney and Parramatta on 26 September 1855. By 1874, a total of 648 kilometres of line was in use throughout the colony. In the following decades, however, great expansion occurred and the Government Railways became paramount. Government Railway parcel stamps were introduced and effective for 1 August 1891. They were printed by the New South Wales Government Printing Office on unwatermarked white wove paper of varying thicknesses. Additional denominations were added at various dates, each of a different design. All of the dies were engraved on steel except the 1d, 4d, 5d, 9d and 5 shilling, which were of wood. Large, heavy black numeral cancels inside a 37mm diameter black circle or square or rectangle were common and the numeral identified the station number.

The first steam railway in Australia was opened between Melbourne and Port Melbourne on 12 September 1854. A Victorian Railways Department under responsibility of a Minister for Railways was created in 1856. Lines were opened from Flinders Street Station (Melbourne) to St Kilda (1859), and to Brighton Beach (1861). Spencer Street Station service to Williamstown commenced in 1859 and to Ballarat and Bendigo in 1862. The whole railway system within the colony came under Government control in the 1860s. The first railway parcel stamps were issued in the 1870s. The Registered control numbers were overprinted in red on all values except the 9d, which were overprinted in blue.

The first Queensland Parliament in 1861 passed ‘The Moreton Bay Tramway Act’ which empowered an already formed private company to construct railways on the land-grant principle. The company, however, had difficulty raising finance and, in 1863, and Act authorised the government to construct railways. The first government railway line was opened between Ipswich and Grandchester on 31 July 1865. Queensland shares with Victoria the distinction of issuing the earliest Australian railway parcel stamps. The exact date of issue is obscure, being usually reported as 1875 or 1876. Stamps of the first issue, however, have been found with manuscript cancels as early as June 1872.