Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Ronald A Harrison (1891-1968) was the son of Thomas Samuel Harrison, the man who was so important for the development of stamp printing in Australia. But while the family was still in England, both father and son worked at Waterlow Brothers & Layton. The first (and only) stamp engravings from son Ronald date from this time. In 1907 he engraved the Costa Rica telegraph stamps and in 1910, a Brazilian revenue stamp.
When father Thomas was given several job offers overseas, the family decided to depart for Australia in September 1912. Thomas Harrison was given the responsibility to make the Note Printing Office operational, and his son Ronald worked with him as an engraver and technical assistant.
While the bulk of their work in the early 1910s was focused on banknote printing, the two Harrisons were also involved in producing Australia’s first postage stamps. Son Ronald was responsible for the designs of its first stamps, which would be engraved by his father.
In fact, Ronald’s work would mainly consist of stamp design, and many of those early Australian classics are his work. He would, however, never match the engraving skills of his father and as such his engraving work really only consisted of adding the odd value to a stamp.
In 1951, Ronald retired, spending his retirement years dedicated to his favourite hobby photography. Even though the Harrison involvement in stamp production ended with him, he had been telling so many enthusiastic stamp stories to his grandson Joe, that the latter became a philatelist who ended up being a Council member of the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria.
OPENING OF SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE
At the time the design was developed in the Note Printing Branch, the bridge was only partly constructed. The bridge’s depiction in the stamp design was based on plans, drawings and photographs of the structure.
Several versions of the stamp design were prepared and that adopted shows the bridge in a foreshortened perspective, from the south-east direction. The stamp design lacks any embellishment, in order to give full force to the subject.
To emphasise the bridge’s size, an overseas liner, RMS Orford, is featured sailing under the structure. The stamps were designed by Ronald Harrison and engraved by Frank Davies Manley (1894-1976).
Three denominations were provided in the Sydney Harbour Bridge issue: 2d for basic letter postage; 3d fee for registration and surface letter postage to foreign countries; and 5/- for general makeup use for air mail letters, parcels and telegrams. The last was an unusually high denomination for a commemoration stamp.
Because of the large number of 2d stamps required, the decision was made to produce the bulk of these by letterpress printing, a more economical means of stamp production than intaglio printing. The balance of the requirement of 2d stamps and all 3d and 5/- stamps were intaglio-printed.
Forgeries were made of the 2d Sydney Harbour Bridge letterpress stamp in 1932 to defraud THE Post Office, not stamp collectors, but these were quickly detected, the offenders prosecuted, and all but one sheet of the forged stamps were destroyed.
For a short time in the early 1930s Australian stamps were overprinted “OS” (On Service) for use by government departments and Members of Parliament. The 2d and 3d Sydney Harbour Bridge stamps were overprinted in this fashion.
The colours of the Sydney Harbour Bridge stamps are 2d carmine-red, 3d blue and 5/- blue-greens. The stamps were issued on March 14 1932, which was five days before the bridge was officially opened. Post Offices were established in the pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and operated for two weeks following the bridge’s opening.
LIST OF OCCASIONS ON WHICH OBJECTS HAVE FALLEN FROM THE SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE
4th November, 1935. A piece of metal, 10lbs in weight, struck the ground close to an employee of the Council working beneath the Bridge in Dawes Point Park.
10th February, 1936. A piece of fabric metal fell within 3 ft. of an employee of the Council who was engaged mowing the lawn of Dawes Point Park.
18th February 1937. Piece of metal fell a few yards from an employee of the Council watering the lawn of Dawes Point Park.
18th February 1937. 2 small pieces of metal fell within a few feet of where employees of the Council were employed weeding the lawn at Dawes Point Park.
10th September, 1937. A bolt 18” x 1”, weighing 10lbs fell on an area in Dawes Point Park where children had been previously playing.
28th June 1938. An iron nut 1½” square with a piece of broken ½” bolt attached was found under the tramway track in Dawes Point Park.
30th June 1938. Piece of brass metal was seen to fall from the Bridge into Dawes Point Park.
4th July 1938. Piece of metal (brake block) was found in Dawes Point Park by an employee of the Council, under the eastern side of the Bridge and the tramway track.
11th August 1938. A bolt 2½” x ½” was picked up by an employee of the Council while mowing the grass in Dawes Point Park. The bolt was found under the tramway track.
14th September 1938. An object fell from the Bridge and hit an employee of the Council sinking holes in Dawson Point Park, upon the top of the hand. The employee was working on the eastern side under the tramway tracks.
21st November, 1938. At about 6:30 p.m. a piece of bolt approximately 1½” x ½” hit a woman on the shoulder while sitting on the main lawn in Dawes Point Park, under the tramway tracks.
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Thanks so much for this Rob. These Harbour Bridge stamps are some of my favorite stamps. I particularly like the 5sh Green. I'm very happy to have this set in my collection.
Regards ... Tim.
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Hi Tim
The Harbour Bridge stamps are also one of my all-time favourites, I have others as well, I believe I had post the collection in the past, anyway, I've uploaded the collection again, it isn't complete yet, I still need to get the 5/- with retouch, 5/- with plate 1 dot, and plates 3 & 4 with the 2d, plus a few other varieties.
The postal forgery is extremely difficult to find, it had taken me years patiently waiting for this mint stamp. And I agree, it's great to have a set, I believe it is the ultimate iconic set one could ever own.
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I'm a bit alarmed about all those objects that fell from the bridge. The list is from 1935 to 1938, when 6 falls are reported! What did the bridge authority do about it? Did this just stop happening or is the bridge still slowly disintegrating? Could it have been one inexpert riveter learning on the job? Or did the items that fell, fall off a train or tram passing over the bridge? (UK has some very rickety old trains still in service in places far from London) And those poor people who were hit - on the hand and the shoulder - something like that could break a bone easily, or kill you if it hit your head.
I looked on Google for more info but couldn't see anything. It'd probably be in the local papers.
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Tim,
This might be a good post to put on our articles page, don't you think?
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Hi Strider
I don't think any mishaps have been recorded lately, but it would have been a risk taker walking under the bridge. Can you imagine that it might have been just as risky on the Luna Park side.
Can you imagine the horrific tragedy that would have unfolded if a 10lb bolt landed on a child's head, as the council mentioned one such bolt fell into the park where kids were playing shortly before.
This was a private inter-council memo and would not have made the light of day for the public to read.
Rob
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By 1938, the newspapers were reporting freely about metal dropping from the bridge. Under-bridge nets were suggested at one point
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Hi Dave
You're correct. The Sydney Morning Herald printed the story on March 8, 1938. How did I miss that?
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STAMP ENGRAVER
Ronald A Harrison (1891-1968) was the son of Thomas Samuel Harrison, the man who was so important for the development of stamp printing in Australia. But while the family was still in England, both father and son worked at Waterlow Brothers & Layton. The first (and only) stamp engravings from son Ronald date from this time. In 1907 he engraved the Costa Rica telegraph stamps and in 1910, a Brazilian revenue stamp.
When father Thomas was given several job offers overseas, the family decided to depart for Australia in September 1912. Thomas Harrison was given the responsibility to make the Note Printing Office operational, and his son Ronald worked with him as an engraver and technical assistant.
While the bulk of their work in the early 1910s was focused on banknote printing, the two Harrisons were also involved in producing Australia’s first postage stamps. Son Ronald was responsible for the designs of its first stamps, which would be engraved by his father.
In fact, Ronald’s work would mainly consist of stamp design, and many of those early Australian classics are his work. He would, however, never match the engraving skills of his father and as such his engraving work really only consisted of adding the odd value to a stamp.
In 1951, Ronald retired, spending his retirement years dedicated to his favourite hobby photography. Even though the Harrison involvement in stamp production ended with him, he had been telling so many enthusiastic stamp stories to his grandson Joe, that the latter became a philatelist who ended up being a Council member of the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria.
OPENING OF SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE
At the time the design was developed in the Note Printing Branch, the bridge was only partly constructed. The bridge’s depiction in the stamp design was based on plans, drawings and photographs of the structure.
Several versions of the stamp design were prepared and that adopted shows the bridge in a foreshortened perspective, from the south-east direction. The stamp design lacks any embellishment, in order to give full force to the subject.
To emphasise the bridge’s size, an overseas liner, RMS Orford, is featured sailing under the structure. The stamps were designed by Ronald Harrison and engraved by Frank Davies Manley (1894-1976).
Three denominations were provided in the Sydney Harbour Bridge issue: 2d for basic letter postage; 3d fee for registration and surface letter postage to foreign countries; and 5/- for general makeup use for air mail letters, parcels and telegrams. The last was an unusually high denomination for a commemoration stamp.
Because of the large number of 2d stamps required, the decision was made to produce the bulk of these by letterpress printing, a more economical means of stamp production than intaglio printing. The balance of the requirement of 2d stamps and all 3d and 5/- stamps were intaglio-printed.
Forgeries were made of the 2d Sydney Harbour Bridge letterpress stamp in 1932 to defraud THE Post Office, not stamp collectors, but these were quickly detected, the offenders prosecuted, and all but one sheet of the forged stamps were destroyed.
For a short time in the early 1930s Australian stamps were overprinted “OS” (On Service) for use by government departments and Members of Parliament. The 2d and 3d Sydney Harbour Bridge stamps were overprinted in this fashion.
The colours of the Sydney Harbour Bridge stamps are 2d carmine-red, 3d blue and 5/- blue-greens. The stamps were issued on March 14 1932, which was five days before the bridge was officially opened. Post Offices were established in the pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and operated for two weeks following the bridge’s opening.
LIST OF OCCASIONS ON WHICH OBJECTS HAVE FALLEN FROM THE SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE
4th November, 1935. A piece of metal, 10lbs in weight, struck the ground close to an employee of the Council working beneath the Bridge in Dawes Point Park.
10th February, 1936. A piece of fabric metal fell within 3 ft. of an employee of the Council who was engaged mowing the lawn of Dawes Point Park.
18th February 1937. Piece of metal fell a few yards from an employee of the Council watering the lawn of Dawes Point Park.
18th February 1937. 2 small pieces of metal fell within a few feet of where employees of the Council were employed weeding the lawn at Dawes Point Park.
10th September, 1937. A bolt 18” x 1”, weighing 10lbs fell on an area in Dawes Point Park where children had been previously playing.
28th June 1938. An iron nut 1½” square with a piece of broken ½” bolt attached was found under the tramway track in Dawes Point Park.
30th June 1938. Piece of brass metal was seen to fall from the Bridge into Dawes Point Park.
4th July 1938. Piece of metal (brake block) was found in Dawes Point Park by an employee of the Council, under the eastern side of the Bridge and the tramway track.
11th August 1938. A bolt 2½” x ½” was picked up by an employee of the Council while mowing the grass in Dawes Point Park. The bolt was found under the tramway track.
14th September 1938. An object fell from the Bridge and hit an employee of the Council sinking holes in Dawson Point Park, upon the top of the hand. The employee was working on the eastern side under the tramway tracks.
21st November, 1938. At about 6:30 p.m. a piece of bolt approximately 1½” x ½” hit a woman on the shoulder while sitting on the main lawn in Dawes Point Park, under the tramway tracks.
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re: Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge
Thanks so much for this Rob. These Harbour Bridge stamps are some of my favorite stamps. I particularly like the 5sh Green. I'm very happy to have this set in my collection.
Regards ... Tim.
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re: Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge
Hi Tim
The Harbour Bridge stamps are also one of my all-time favourites, I have others as well, I believe I had post the collection in the past, anyway, I've uploaded the collection again, it isn't complete yet, I still need to get the 5/- with retouch, 5/- with plate 1 dot, and plates 3 & 4 with the 2d, plus a few other varieties.
The postal forgery is extremely difficult to find, it had taken me years patiently waiting for this mint stamp. And I agree, it's great to have a set, I believe it is the ultimate iconic set one could ever own.
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re: Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge
I'm a bit alarmed about all those objects that fell from the bridge. The list is from 1935 to 1938, when 6 falls are reported! What did the bridge authority do about it? Did this just stop happening or is the bridge still slowly disintegrating? Could it have been one inexpert riveter learning on the job? Or did the items that fell, fall off a train or tram passing over the bridge? (UK has some very rickety old trains still in service in places far from London) And those poor people who were hit - on the hand and the shoulder - something like that could break a bone easily, or kill you if it hit your head.
I looked on Google for more info but couldn't see anything. It'd probably be in the local papers.
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re: Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge
Tim,
This might be a good post to put on our articles page, don't you think?
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Login to Like.
re: Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge
Hi Strider
I don't think any mishaps have been recorded lately, but it would have been a risk taker walking under the bridge. Can you imagine that it might have been just as risky on the Luna Park side.
Can you imagine the horrific tragedy that would have unfolded if a 10lb bolt landed on a child's head, as the council mentioned one such bolt fell into the park where kids were playing shortly before.
This was a private inter-council memo and would not have made the light of day for the public to read.
Rob
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re: Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge
By 1938, the newspapers were reporting freely about metal dropping from the bridge. Under-bridge nets were suggested at one point
Login to Like
this post
re: Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge
Hi Dave
You're correct. The Sydney Morning Herald printed the story on March 8, 1938. How did I miss that?
Login to Like
this post