Patricia Airways and Exploration Limited

Formed in 1926 by H.A. "Doc" Oaks, G.A. "Tommy" Thompson, and S. "Sammy" Tomlinson, the three set out to operate in the Red Lake mining district. The company, financed by F.E. Davison, had their head office in Toronto, and provided daily service between Sioux Lookout, Pine Ridge (Goldpines), Red Lake, Woman Lake, Birch Lake and Cat lake. With Jack Elliot no longer flying in the area, the company received a government contract to carry mail. By 1927, the company started flying into the Rouyn goldfield area from Haileybury. This service was short lived due to the crash of an airplane.

Company Ephemera

Original company rate card. Front of card Back of card

Stamp Issued

The number of stamps are many with a host of different varieties and overprints, it is near impossible to comment on all without sufficient images. I will only comment on those that I have images for. I will point out that the company issued stamps in two different colours. One on a yellow-orange paper which signified the 25c rate bewteen Pine Ridge and Red Lake. The second on greenish-blue paper which signified the 50c rate between Woman Lake, Birch Lake and Cat Lake.

CL 13pii plate proof. A very rare example of the CL 13 plate proof with no airplane or route inscriptions.

CL 13 issued on July 1, 1926. First stamp issued. Yellow background indicates the 25 cent rate.

CL 13 issued on July 1, 1926. Mint example.

CL 14 issued April 1, 1927. Overprint in red signifying new rate.

CL 15 issued September 1, 1927. Overprint in red signifying new rate.

CL 18p plate proof. A very rare CL 18 plate proof with the orange airplane.

CL 18 issued on July 24, 1926. Blue-green background indicates 50 cent rate.

CL 19 issued on May 2, 1927. Overprinted in red to signify a new rate.

CL 21b issued June 8, 1927. An extremely rare example with only 16 printed.

CL 22a issued September 13, 1927. Another very rare stamp with only 24 printed.

CL 23 proof of rouletted issues.

CL 24 June 11, 1927. Overprinted in red to signify a new rate.

CL 25 issued on June 11, 1927. Overprinted in black to signify a new rate.

CL 25a issued on June 11, 1927. Overprinted in red to signify a new rate.

CL 25b issued on June 11, 1927. Overprinted in green to signify a new rate.

CL 25f Malformed 'O' variety

Offset variety.

CL 28 issued on Semptember 1, 1927. Overprinted twice in red first to signify 10 cent rate, then in black to signify new 5 cent rate.

CL 30 overprinted in black. Overprinted in black to signify a new rate.

CL 30c issued on September 17, 1927. Overprinted in purple to signify a new rate.

CL 30c inverted overprint in red. Overprinted in black to signify a new rate.

CL 30f issued on September 17, 1927. Overprinted in green to signify 5c rate.

CL 30f overprint in green desccending.

CL 30f inverted overprint in green. Overprinted in black to signify a new rate.

Full sheet of CL30f.

Flight Covers

Toronto to Red Lake March 21, 1926 This cover is the second leg of a flight that originated in New York, stopped in Toronto and Sudbury, then onto Red Lake. The purpose of this flight was to deliver a new Lark plane for use in the Red Lake district.

Red Lake to Sioux Lookout June 27, 1926. This cover was franked with a CL 6, however, Jack Elliot was no longer operating in the area. The cover was eventually flown by Patricia Airways and Exploration Limited. Since the company did not have there own stamps, they used a company box cancel to show proof of flight.

Red Lake to Sioux Lookout June 27, 1926. Same as above except the cover was originally franked with a CL 9.

Red Lake to Sioux Lookout to Kitchener July 7, 1926 On July 7, 1926, Patricia Airways and Exploration was authorized by the Post Office to carry mail in the District of Patricia. July 7th is believed to be the first usage of Patricia Airways CL 13. Cover Postmarked at Red Lake and Sioux Lookout on July 7, 1926. Cover arrived at Kitchener July 12, 1926. Cover and notes are from the David G. Brown collection. An amazing cover with an unusual destination.

Toronto to Pine Ridge via Red Lake July 20, 1926 The London, England based Anglo French Exploration Company Limited were one of the active mining interests with crews staking claims in the Red Lake area in the spring of 1926. That summer, Professor Miller from Queen's University was doing geological work for the company. The Canadian agent for this British mining firm, from 1920 top 1926 was mining consultant and surveyor Joseph Burr Tyrrell. J.B. Tyrrell was responsible for revitalizing the Kirkland Lake Mine through his insistance to go to a deeper shaft. As predicted, a significant ore bearing wein was struck and the mine began to produce gold by the end of 1926.. Front of cover Back of cover. Cover Postmarked at Red Lake on July 20, 1926. Cover and notes are from the David G. Brown collection. A wonderful commercial cover with great postal history significance. Thank you David for sharing this with us.

July 24, 1926. Sioux Lookout to Woman Lake Back of Cover Front of Cover The company stamp on this cover is CL 18 which is the 50c rate which also happened to be the first official use. Also shown is a special green cachet which were applied to letters from the Toronto head office. The Woman Lake cancel was produced by the company as no official post office was present at Woman Lake.

Sioux Lookout to Red Lake August 2, 1926.(temp substitute July 1, 1927 Bramalea SC Cover of the Month) A very nice cover which has the very rare route map cache on the front. A philatelic cover but rare with the cache.

Sioux Lookout to Pine Ridge August 13, 1926 Back of cover Front of cover An extremely rare example of a commercial cover flown by Patricia Airways. The telegram was probably hand delivered by the pilot since it did not go through the postal system.

Timmins via Sioux Lookout to Pine Ridge September 9, 1926 Back of cover Front of cover Another extremely rare example of a commercial cover flown by Patricia Airways. The cover is double weight as noted by the 4cent postage on the front. The stamp in use is the CL 18 to pay the 50 cent aimail rate. However, two CL 13 stamps should have been affixed to the cover since the CL 13 represents this route. I assume the CL 18 was used since it was easier to use. This is a very rare intra bank letter from the Bank of Montreal to the Imperial Bank in Pine Ridge. Rare!!

Red Lake to Liverpool, England January 28, 1927. A visually attractive cover with the correct 4 cent rate going to England. There is no receiver mark on the back which is unfortunate, but typical with philatelic covers. The sheet selvedge used on the left hand side makes it a very nice cover.

Toronto to Pine Ridge via Rolling Portage March 11, 1927 In January of 1927 there were two operating airlines serving the mining camps of Northwestern Ontario. The newly formed Western Canada Airways had begun flying out of Rolling Portage and Patricia Airways and Exploration Ltd. continued to operate out of Sioux Lookout. Through the first half of March, when this cover was flown, the priority of Western Canada Airways was the preparation for a government freight contract to Churchill Manitoba. Thus, carrying mail was left to Patricia Airways and Exploration Ltd. Cover and notes are from the David G. Brown collection. Another terrific commercial cover that are very difficult to find.

Rouyn to Haileybury June 23, 1927 First flight cover with the CL 19 overprinted in red in use. 50 cent overprinted covers are extremely rare.

Sioux Lookout to Goldpines June 25, 1927 First flight cover with the CL 25 overprinted in green in use. Most CL 25 covers were flown on March 9, 1928.

Red Lake to Sioux Lookout March 9, 1928 Stamp used was CL 26.

Company Notes

-First official flight was on July 7, 1927. Previous mail was flown by Patricia Airways and Exploration Limited. This mail had special box company cancels. -Cancels at Birch Lake and Woman Lake were produced by the company since no official post offices were present. -11 different cachets were used. -A host of different stamps ranging from CL13 to CL30. -Some stamps were overprinted with the F.E.D. monogram for F.E. Davison. -The 2c green Admiral stamp used on the front of official company mail are known to have a P A E perfin. -2 airplanes crashed. One during the Rouyn-Haileybury route, the other crashed near Hudson.

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