Victoria, B.C. 1888 - OHMS free franked Acknowledgement of Remittance form to Ashcroft, B.C.
On Her Majesty's Service
FREE - by order of the Postmaster General
THE POSTMASTER
of the Money Order Office at
Acknowledgment
of Remittance
Franking and Free Mail Matter. - Under the following Regulations, correspondence as hereinafter described is free of Canadian Postage.
10. All letters containing a remittance on account of the Public Revenue sent by any Postmaster in Canada to a Bank or Bank agency; and all remittances or acknowledgments sent by a Bank or Bank agency, on account of Public Revenue to any Postmaster in Canada.
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City of Victoria was incorporated - 2 August 1862. It was named after Her Majesty Queen Victoria (1819-1901), who ascended to the throne in 1837 at age 18, and reigned until her death. Victoria was formerly the capital of Vancouver Island and later of the united colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, and since the union with Canada in 1871, the capital of the province of British Columbia.
There is no record of opening of the post office. There was a mail service arranged for Victoria in 1858 from San Fransisco - there is no doubt that it was always the intention at headquarters for the new establishment in the Straits of De Fuca to be named Fort Victoria.
sent from - / VICTORIA • B.C. / 2 / DE 1 / 88 / CANADA. / - "Canada" split ring - this split ring hammer (A4-2) was proofed - 2 December 1887 - (RF A). The first "Canada" split ring hammer was proofed - 16 June 1879.
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The Cornwall brothers who established their ranch, "Ashcroft" in 1862, came originally from the village of Ashcroft in Gloucestershire, where their father had been vicar. When the CPR adopted the name Ashcroft for their station just east of the ranch (and what would become the townsite), the Cornwall's added "Manor" to the name of their home, making it Ashcroft Manor.
Ashcroft was founded in the 1860s, during the Cariboo Gold Rush, by two English brothers named Clement Francis Cornwall and Henry Pennant Cornwall, founders of Ashcroft Ranch, who emigrated to Canada from Ashcroft, at Newington Bagpath in Gloucestershire. The brothers had originally come in search of gold; however, on hearing stories from failed gold searchers they decided to found the town to give future gold searchers a place to saddle their horses. They sold flour to packers and miners, helping to make the community. Ashcroft was a major stop for trains, where mining supplies were dropped off.
- from 1908 "Lovell's Gazetteer of the Dominion of Canada" - ASHCROFT STATION, a post settlement and railroad depot on the C.P.R., in Yale co., B.C., about midway between Lytton and Kamloops, and 200 miles east of Vancouver. It is on the Thompson River, has a dry climate and light atmosphere, the surrounding district being excellent grazing land, on which much farming is done by irrigation and considerable stock raised. Ashcroft is the entrepot to the Cariboo district, via stage line to Barkerville, a distance of 287 miles. The village has a fine electric light plant and good water system; it has also 3 churches (Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist), 10 stores, 3 hotels, 1 bank, 1 saw mill, 1 printing and newspaper office ("Ashcroft Journal"), besides express and telegraph offices. The population in 1908 was 500.
(from 1918 - Wrigley's British Columbia directory) - Ashcroft - on the main line, C. P. R. and C. N. R., 204 miles east of Vancouver, in the Provincial Electoral District of Yale. Dominion and Canadian Northern Express. Altitude, 1,004 ft. Centre of the irrigated belt and noted particularly for its famous potatoes and beans. Stock-raising and mining. The population in 1918 was 500.
Ashcroft Station was an early settlement. Before the railway was established, Ashcroft Manor was a stopping point on the Cariboo Road. The post office was originally in the local store but was moved to the station. It was established - 1 March 1886. The name was shortened to Ashcroft - 1 April 1899.
arrived at - / ASHCROFT STATION / DE 3 / 88 / B.C. / - cds cancel
