Autograph request
Sent by Bray to Col. Rt. Hon.; E.J. + (Cigarette card featuring Edward James Saunderson) + MP on 12th January 1901 requesting his autograph.
Postcard with a cigarette card attached with the name portion removed leaving the postal authorities the challenge of identifying the intended recipient.
The card was redirected a number of times, in September a second halfpenny stamp was affixed on top of the original. The original stamp was probably cancelled with a Forest Hill postmark, whereas the second was cancelled in Belturbet where it finally caught up with Saunderson who obligingly signed the cigarette card.
Colonel Edward James Saunderson PC DL JP was an Anglo-Irish landowner and prominent Irish unionist politician. He led the Irish Unionist Alliance between 1891 and 1906.
