India 1855 entire from Bombay to Van Diemans Land, Tasmania with two rare “BOMBAY/SHIP LETTER/PAID” strikes of ship mail via Suez in red (Giles SD11 – only 2 recorded), “BOMBAY/Bearing” in black (Giles 21) alongside and on top of one of the “PAID” strikes, part strike of Bombay GPO on reverse – rare destination and route

1827 entire letter from Norwood, Great Britain to Calcutta, India, per forwarding agent Horatio Hardy, signed by him on reverse and dated “21 Nov 1827”, handstamped framed “Inld. Ptg.-5/Ship Do-2/(1) As.7” with red “CALCUTTA/G.P.O./27 MY 27/1858” arrival datestamp alongside. Horatio Hardy was the proprietor of Jerusalem and East India Coffee House and acted as a forwarding agent for transmitting mail to India. An important and rare piece of postal history.