The stamp shows Stoltenhoff Island and a portrait of one of the brothers, Gustav Stoltenhof, after the island was named.
The inscription gives on the left of the stamp s.v. BEACON LIGHT and on top “1871sank on fire” I have tried to find a drawing or painting of the ship but without success.
The BEACON LIGHT was a wooden ship rigged cargo vessel built in Moncton N.B., Canada for R. Blair at Saint John, N.B.
Launched as the BEACON LIGHT.
Tonnage 915 ton, dim. 174 x 34 x 22ft.
1869 Completed with homeport Saint John, N.B., Canada
From after completing till her end under command of Captain Fry.
She was not long in service, she was lost on a voyage bound for Rangoon in June 1871loaded with a cargo of coal when she got on fire and sank. The crew who did his best to fight the fire but after three days abandon the vessel in a position about 300 miles north-west of Tristan da Cunha. When they took to the boats one of the boats was swamped and six men were lost. The 16 survivors landed in an open boat on the west shore of Tristan a few days later.
The crew was later taken from the island by the NORTHFLEET.
The Canadian registry was closed in February 1871 with the notation “lost at sea in (1870 ?)”
Tristan da Cunha 1985 60p sg389, scott? 1986 45c sg?, scott?
Source: Mystic Ship Registry. Canada Ship Registry Index. Internet. Log Book Vol. 14 page 201.