Canada/OFS 1900 Red Cross Letter Col Ryerson, FPO Bloemfontein

CANADA/OFS: 1900 Printed BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY, SOUTH AFRICA envelope postmarked FPO 36 (Bloemfontein / AP 18) addressed to Lady Russell and redirected in England from Reading to London. The cover is endorsed "Free", the Sender being "G S Ryerson Lt Col, Red Cross, Canada/Commanding (?)" and shows postmarks London Paid (red), Swallowfield MY 13 and Reading MY 18. Backstamped Reading MY 12. An exceedingly rare Red Cross stationery envelope of which only a handful survive (Rich recorded only a single example at the time of his writing), all the more desirable due the Canadian component. F-VF, exhibition showpiece. Colonel George Sterling Ryerson founded the Canadian Red Cross Society in 1896. An active Military Physician throughout his career, this letter is an important proving piece for Ryerson's own presence in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War.