Auction 321 - 332 Australian States & Commonwealth of Australia, St. Helena, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Swaziland, Brazil 1843 –1870 - Day 1

1849: Second sheet of letter endorsed "Free" in manuscript from Perth to York, signed at lower left by Revett Henry Bland (Acting Colonial Secretary in 1849 until March 1850 - hence the Free franking privilege), struck with heavily inked impression of "♛ / GENERAL / POST OFFICE / PERTH" handstamp in black. The letter, in poetic form, mentions the attempted assassination attempt on Queen Victoria, presumably the incident involving William Hamilton, who was found guilty of the attempt and transported for seven years (there were in fact eight attempts on Queen Victoria's life) - "the occasion did but give the Queen alarm, for God preserved her Majesty from harm". File folds do not detract from a scarce cover.rnrnNote: Revett Henry Bland (1811-1894), an early settler in Western Australia, arriving aged 18 in August 1829 on the "Marquis of Angelsey". He was appointed resident at York in 1834 and local Protector of the Aborigines in 1841. Acting Colonial Secretary in 1849 until June 1850, he then went back to England and returned to Victoria and was resident director of the Port Philip and Colonial Gold Mining Co. in Melbourne and director of the National Bank between 1863 and 1865.rnrnProvenance: Collection 'Fremantle', Prestige, Melbourne, 11 July 2008, lot 693.