G. Hitchcock & Co.

This G. Hitchcock & Co. overprint may be from the firm that preceded G. Hitchcock Williams & Co., who were known to have used underprints (G.H.W. & Co.) on issues of 1864-79.

Hitchcock Williams & Co. also used overprints on issues in the 1930s and 1940s.

Arthur and Company, Limited

In the 19th century there was a manufacturing firm named Arthur and Company, Limited that had its head office and warehouse in Glasgow. There were factories in London, Leeds, Manchester, Ireland and Scotland as well as an office in New Zealand. I believe that this overprint is from that firm.

There are at least three distinct overprints known from Arthur and Company, and all are on this issue.

R. Twining and Company Ltd.

The firm that was R. Twining and Company in the 1870s was founded in 1706 by Thomas Twining. At that time Thomas would sell 100 grams of his Gunpowder Green Tea for the equivalent of £160 in today’s currency.

Although Twinings is still in business today, I am not aware of their commercial overprints on any issue but the one shown here.

T. Tapling & Co. Ld. part 2

T. Tapling & Co. was in operation (and using commercial overprints) in 1874, as this example shows.

Tod Brothers & Co.

Tod Brothers were flour millers in Stockbridge, Edinburgh from at least 1874. The company's flour mill was severely damaged by a gas explosion and subsequent fire c. 1901.

The company moved to new premises in Leith, Edinburgh. At some point the name was changed to A & R Tod. Commercial overprints with that name are known from at least 1934 to 1943.

Dolgellau R.D.C.

It is difficult to know how rare a given overprint is, but this one from Dolgellau, Wales (pop. 2,700) is probably quite scarce.

At the time this overprint was created, Dolgellau was the county town (that is, "main town" or capital) of the county of Merionethshire.

A catalogue of British commercial overprints

Gianni Sironi has created a catalogue of British commercial overprints! The files at http://www.filateliaspecializzata.it/genoa1.html are in PDF form for easy printing. The image on the left is a sample page (the cover of chapter S).

I've been asked about the Bonney & Lane catalogues that were made years ago. Apparently those catalogues were created in a type of software that cannot be read these days. I'm told that there have been attempts to covert the data, but these were unsuccessful.