11-12 October 2025 2025 WIPSG Convention and Auction. The venue is Sedgebrook Hall, near Northampton (https://www.sedgebrookhall.co.uk/).
The RPSL are holding several West Indies related events during Simon Richard’s Presidency: 4 September 2025 HM King’s collection of Leeward Islands, Dominica and Cayman Islands; 26 March 2026 Matthew Kewriga, Danish West Indies Foreign Mail up to UPU; 7 May 2026 Simon Richards, The British West Indies Packet Service
Even if you are not a member of RPSL you can come along as a guest of a member (not available for HM King’s collection) – contact Simon or Steve Jarvis if you wish to attend.
Members of the Society are giving displays at the following Societies if you are in the region:
Jonathon Guy: Bits of Barbados, Liverpool Philatelic Society, 29 September
Susan Taylor, Anguilla , Mid Sussex Philatelic Society, 29 September
James Podger, West Indies A to V, Maidenhead Philatelic Society, 7 October
James Podger, West Indies A to V, Tunbridge Wells Philatelic Society, 8 October
Susan Taylor, The Lady McLeod, Dundee Philatelic Society (Zoom Meeting), 23 October
James Podger, West Indies A to V, Southampton & Districts Philatelic Society 4 November

My main focus at the moment is the Convention and Auction in October.
The Catalogue contains 729 excellent lots, the printed catalogue is distributed with the journal and the website includes images of every item in all lots. Advance booking (and payment) to attend is essential (latest 14 September), hotel rooms are bookable first come,
first served, directly with the hotel.
The BWISC Library was put into auction at Cavendish Philatelic Auctions on 15 July, I am awaiting final details, but it appears all but three of our lots were sold, which is an excellent result.

Greetings philatelic friends! My apologies if you are one of the people who waited for a reply from your secretary. I’m now recovering after an operation but am making progress and expect to be back to full speed by the time of the convention in October.
The two really important things I must draw your attention to are the coming convention, at Sedgebrook Hall 11/12 October and the 2025 Auction, which takes place at the convention, but which any member from across the globe can take part in, by submitting bids. The auction catalogue is on the website – just click on ’Auction’ on the toolbar. The convention itself is packed with great displays and speakers. There are quizzes and competitions with prizes, and it promises to be a great gathering of philatelic minds, so I hope you will be able to join us.
A growing number of members are booking places on our 13 March 2027 Royal Clipper Cruise around the Windward Isles — seven nights starting in Barbados. Here are the details:
https://starclippers.co.uk/destinations/caribbean-sailing-cruises/caribbean-cruise.html?crid=RC130327
Darryl Fuller is looking for articles to put in the journal, so please consider writing about an interesting find, or something interesting in your collection. Email it to editor@wipsg.org
Best wishes to you all
Susan

Firstly, thank you to all the authors who have helped fill this issue. It is slightly smaller than the last few because there are a couple less one-page advertisements and I am running low on material. I purchased three interesting items this year and all are in this issue because I was low on articles. Normally I would not do this as they are all useful filler size articles. I hope you enjoy the new Bermuda section. We get little about Bermuda because it has its own Society. However, it is part of what we cover so I like the idea of a small Bermuda column each issue that covers non-published material. I would also note Sam Cutler’s article which I labelled a potpourri. I had originally planned to use the sections as filler articles, but I needed a few pages and published the lot. I hope this encourages others to put similar articles together that cover a range of interesting items they own, which you might not write about singly, but together they become an article.
I will be attending the FIP exhibit in Seoul in September, so if you are there say hello. If you can’t find me come to the FIP Revenue seminar in which I will be a speaker.

Simon Richards Signs the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists
During the Europhilex exhibition in Birmingham our President, Simon Richards, signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists. This is considered the most prestigious award in Philately. The first recipient of the award being KGV in 1921. The ceremony was held at the Birmingham Town Hall which is a very grand building. The other awardees were Birthe King, Adriano Bergamini and Eddie Leibu.

Peter Fernbank Awarded the Tapling Medal for the Second Time
The Royal Philatelic Society of London (RPSL) has a number of annual awards with Peter Fernbank and Joseph Hackmey receiving the following awards in 2025:
The Tapling Medal for the best article or supplement in the Society’s journal The London Philatelist was awarded to Peter Fernbank FRPSL for his article ‘De La Rue's Early Techniques in Recess Printing’.
The Tilleard Medal for the best afternoon display given to the Society went to Joseph Hackmey RDP, FRPSL for ‘Barbados and Grenada’.
Congratulations to both our members for their awards.

The Society manned a table on the Thursday selling WIPSG books and specialist auction catalogues from the BWISC library. Many people dropped by to have a chat and over £200 sales were taken. My thanks to Richard Capon who helped me set up and look after the table.
Attendees at the meeting on Saturday 10 May: Steve Jarvis, Ronald Rong, James Podger, Dan Walker, Darryl Fuller, Paul Wright, Paul Farrimond, Ray Stanton, Nigel Mohammed, Jackaleen Hemmings, Siluon Ramdeen, James Grimwood Taylor, Susan Taylor.
There was a good turnout and were interesting and unusual displays at our Europhilex meeting.
• James Grimwood Taylor brought along a selection of early WI covers from Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, Barbuda/Antigua, Dominica, St Kitts and the French Colonies -all worthy of close inspection.
• Paul Wright displayed a colourful exhibit of TB Cinderella labels.
• Ray Stanton shared some early Caribbean ship letters, and two examples of Rowntrees chocolate correspondence.
• Stephen Jarvis brought along a cheerful show of Jamaican overprint varieties, and Susan Taylor displayed three very early Tobago covers – one being the earliest known date.
There was much interest in all of the items shown. You know how it is with philatelists… they just love looking at stamps and covers.

The West Indies Philatelic Study Group has a wonderful website, that is underused. Our webmaster, Steve Jarvis, spends considerable time updating and maintaining it, so please do make the best of this incredible resource. Here is an easy guide to using it:
If you search for WIPSG.org or click on the above link you will find the website.

As a member you should first log in (top right) using your email address and password. If you have forgotten your password, it will give you a new one, or if you have difficulties contact me on sec@wipsg.org
Once logged in you can explore the site fully. You might want to start by checking that your details are up to date by clicking on Home > My Account.
Next take a look at the Toolbar (the grey and black bar that runs across the page)

Click on ‘Home’ on the toolbar to access the Members List from where you can identify other members living locally (those who have agreed to share their address), and their collecting interests.
Under ‘About’ you will find a list of the Study Groups, with contact details for each group leader.
Under ‘Society Journals’ You will find every journal that the British West Indies Study Circle, The British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, and the West Indies Philatelic Study Group have ever produced. This is an incredible resource. An index already exists for the extensive BWISC Bulletins, and work is ongoing to add an index for the BCPSG journals too.
Under ‘Publications’ you will find details of the many books and study papers the Society has published.
Under ‘Auction’ there is a listing of the 700 plus auction lots to bid on in the October society auction.
Take a look at ‘Reference and Galleries’ where the ‘Exhibits List’ contains many historic and informative presentations.
Also, under ‘Reference and Galleries’ is ‘Information’ which gives you a link for the census records of covers etc for Barbados, Trinidad, and Anguilla. There is also an alphabetic journal topic index in this section plus a listing of West Indies auctions (maintained by James Podger).
Under ‘Community’ there are details of associated philatelic societies. So, for example a Caribbean collector who is interested in birds might want to contact the Bird Stamp Society, or someone interested in Forces Postal History might want details of that society.
If a collector is looking for a particular item, they can use the ‘Member Wants’ section to advertise their search.
If a member is also a trader, they may find the ‘Commercial’ link helpful
Your Secretary hopes that all members are familiar with the ‘Join/Renew Membership’ link which gives clear details on how to pay!
And finally, there is a ‘Help’ key with most topics listed alphabetically. Below the toolbar, there is a carefully laid out page of topics for you to click on:
No. 11 – September 2025 West Indies Philately

Subjects (click Name) A sidebar with links to pages specific to that country with: • An overview of the philatelic history • A gallery of notable stamps and postal history • Resources: (Exhibits; Information; Journal Indexes; Auctions) – filtered results for information under the References & Galleries menu item • Auctions
For the following click on the plus sign to reveal more information on the subject e.g.
Meeting News Including a brochure and booking form for the 2025 Convention…and many others
Past Meetings Recent meetings
Journal News Links to the latest journal and to the BWISC journal index
Publication News Recent books
Other News Particularly forthcoming auctions but other news as well
Social Media A link to the WIPSG Facebook Page. Even if you are not a member of Facebook you will find it interesting to view the many excellent items being posted.
Exhibit News Exhibits of West Indies relevance
Videos Videos of Zoom presentations by members

Near the foot of the page is some historical information about the BWISC and BCPSG societies (If someone would like to research and put together more information on the BCPSG history then please send to Steve Jarvis at
info@wipsg.org

Finally, there are adverts from our advertisers – whenever you see them please mention that you have seen their advert in our journal to encourage them to continue placing adverts.

So please do take some time to explore your WIPSG website and make the most of your membership.

(Ed: I had some spare room, so here are more images of lots from the auction in October. It is another excellent mix of material with some useful postal history. There are some strong sections so take a look and bid strongly.)

P.O.W. in GERMANY: censored cover with Leeward Islands KG6 1½d, 6d, 2s pmk’d St. John’s, Antigua JA 8 1942 to Pilot Officer R.C.A. Hunter R.A.F. in OFLAG VI B, Germany addressed care of the Red Cross, Geneva, Switzerland.
P.O.W. INTERNMENT CAMP, JAMAICA: censored purpose-made lettersheet from female prisoner, written in German and dated 6 Jul 1944 to Gottingen, Germany.
ACTIVE SERVICE ARMY PRIVILEGE ENVELOPE overprinted WAR ECONOMY: changed original use with handstruck purple COMMAND PAYMASTER, BERMUDA with KG6 1½d Peace tied Hamilton 3 DEC 1946 locally addressed St. Georges.
WAR ECONOMY RE-USE ENVELOPE: printed OHMS cover from Colonial Postmaster, Barbados with pair Badge 1½d pmk’d GPO 6 JU 1946 to San Marino, California.
WAR ECONOMY RE-USE ENVELOPE: printed OHMS cover from Colonial Postmaster, Barbados with pair Badge 1½d pmk’d GPO 6 JU 1946 to San Marino, California.
AUSTERITY ENVELOPE: unused British made using obsolete map paper showing Falmouth in Cornwall (home to both BWI packets and RMSP steamers). No examples known to or from the BWI.
POST-WAR WWII AUSTERITY: Germany making use of obsolete wrong size envelope stock for an official First Day Airmail cover with 10pf pmk’d Berlin-Charlottenburg 23-6-49 to Bailey’s Bay, Bermuda.
KLM ADVERTISING AIRMAIL STICKER: Royal Dutch Airlines sticker on 2nd class Airmail cover with St. Kitts-Nevis Anguilla QE2 16c rate pmk’d Basseterre */9 DE 54 to Bristol.
Ïnsufficient Postage for transmission by Air Mail: Pegasus illustrated printed Air Mail cover with British Guiana QE2 9c rate pmk’d New Amsterdam 13 FE 56 to London.
STOLEN REGISTERED MAIL: pencil marked “£10 alleged to have been taken out of this letter” written inside this REGISTERED cover with Trinidad 1s (6d postage + 6d registration) pmk’d JY 26 1874 to Alice Davoren, Palmetto Point, St. Kitts. Three such letters known stolen period JY 6 1874 to SP 8 1874.
UPRATED MIXED REIGN AIR LETTER: KG6 6d with added QE2 3d pmk’d Hamilton AU 15 55 to Bombay, India with newsy social content mentioning bus drivers being on strike for the second time in two months wanting 7/-an hour (6/6d not accepted).
INDENTURED LABOUR: India QV ½a PSE with added QV ½a pmk’d Bombay JAN 16 1888 to servant Lalla Raghoonoth Pushade, Demerara Island
ABBREVIATED DATESTAMPS: uniquely used in St. Vincent on QV 1s rated covers to England with red ink “CH” (Chateaubelair) OC 9 74 and ‘’G” (Georgetown) DE 28 78, all the Post Offices open in 1872 had such abbreviates.
CODED DATESTAMPS: uniquely used in British Guiana with a first series (larger letters) employed in the 1850’s and second series from the 1860’s, this cover with 8c bisect (4c rate) tied “A 1 C” (used Airy Hall) dated NO 12 1861 addressed Georgetown.
PARISH BOOTHEELS: uniquely used in Barbados with a set for the 11 Parishes introduced in 1863.
PARISH ALPHABET LETTERS: Grenada gave her seven parishes identity with letters A,B,C,D,E,F, and G. Some letters can be found inverted and reversed, and blue ink is often used. This cover to Belgium has the St. Marks parish “B” dated 14 OC 97.
DECIMAL POSTAGE DUES: a mixed currency cover starting life in Swansea, Wales 10 V 61 with QE2 3d meter machine advertising Lloyds Bank Travellers Cheques, both red Insufficient for Airmail and jusqu’a bars, Tax handstamp, Mis-sent to Jamaica, arriving Victoria */JU 16 61 tying pair Grenada 2c Postage Dues.
ENVELOPE “USED ELSEWHERE”: Hotel Abacoa, San Andres Isla, Colombia used with St. Vincent 2c, 8c, 10c bird definitive pmk’d Mustique */9 AU 72.
IMPROVED COVERS: a delightful mourning cover with two strips of three GB QV 1d red pmk’d Berbice “A04” dated JY 24 1858 to Andover, Hampshire. Often illustrations in old auction catalogues reflect the truth, but fortunately not too often covers can be found with missing stamps added, addresses re-instated, or just outright fakes.
DAMAGED AND MISSING STAMPS: Sadly quite a few of the once most adorable covers have missing adhesives, this British Guiana cover pmk’d “E C 2” used Beterverwagting JU 22 1861 has three 1c, two 2c (one on reverse) and is missing further 1c, 2c for the 10c franking to Barbados.
FAKE STAMPS and FAKED CANCELLATIONS: a printed Georgetown cover with pair faked 1862 1c Type-set issue tied faked British Guiana MAY 7 62 duplex to the Lake Refinery, East Coast Berbice.

At my all too brief appearance (due to organisational duties) at the W.I.P.S.G. meeting at Europhilex in Birmingham’s NEC in May, I showed a few of my favourite West Indies covers – with the emphasis on postal rates
– including my two Dummer Packet letters. I have always collected early letters from around the world, but I have become particularly keen on those carried by the Dummer Packets, not least because my family tree includes the Edmund Dummer who established and ran those ships (although he is not a direct ancestor)!
Edmund Dummer (1651-1713), Royal Navy surveyor and MP, designed very fast (but lightly armed) ships that were ideal for the early Post Office Packet service. Throughout the 17th century, letters to and from British Colonies were sent by means of private ships that could be both slow and uncertain. In 1701 the British Government was all too conscious of the threat of an imminent war with France (in the event they were right; ‘Queen Anne’s War’ with France lasted from 1702 to 1712), and so Dummer’s May 1702 proposals for the first regular Packet ship service to the West Indies fell on fertile ground. The Dummer Packet service (to Barbados, Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis & Jamaica) started in August 1702 with a rate of 9d per sheet which rose to 1s-6d per sheet from 1705. The little-known official P.O. Notice about the 9d rate (that was in effect from the 21st October 1702 start of the service) appeared on page 2 of the ‘London Gazette’ of 11-14 January 1702/3 [i.e. 1703] (Figure 1). The text of that Notice was as follows:
“Whereas Her Majesty, for the Encouragement of Trade and Commerce, hath thought fit to appoint Boats to convey Letters and Pacquets between England and the Iflands of Barbadoes, Antego, Montferat, Nevis, St. Christophers, and Jamaica, in America; This is to give Notice, That a Mail for the abovementioned Islands, will go from the General Post-Office in London, on Saturday the 23rd Inftant; and the next Mail will go from the said Office on Tuesday the 25th of February next; and thence forward on the laft Thurfday in every Month; And Her Majefty, purfuent to the Statute made in the 12th Year of King Charles the Second, for Eftablishing a Poft-Office, hath directed and impowered the Poftmaster-General of England to take for the Port of all Letters and Pacquets, that shall be convey'd by the faid Boats, between London and any of the abovementioned Iflands, the Rates as follows; For every Letter not exceeding one Sheet of Paper 9d. For every Letter not exceeding two Sheets of Paper 1s. 6d. For every Pacquet weighing an Ounce 2s. 8d. and so in proportion.”
As many as 1,500 to 8,500 letters were sent to England in each sailing according to the official records, but only 13 ‘Dummer’ covers (and one part cover) – all dated from 1704 to 1711 – are now in private hands; of these, two are from Antigua, and the rest are from Jamaica. [Am I right in thinking that no ingoing Dummer Packet covers – addressed to the West Indies – appear to have been recorded as yet?]
My earliest Dummer Packet letter (Figure 2) happens also to be the earliest extant Dummer Packet cover in private hands; it is headed from “Antigua, July ye 5th 1704” (Figure 3) and was in the late Graham Booth’s collection, where seemingly it was not recognised as being a Dummer Packet letter by Graham but was by the auctioneers who sold it… I was lucky!). It was sent to London, arriving there on “SE/9” (hence the 9th Sept. London arrival Bishop Mark on the flap); the date and the “9[d]” postal rate (it was a single-sheet ‘thank you’ letter) proves that it was carried by the ship ‘Prince’ of the Dummer Packet service, not least because there was no other 9d British postal rate at this date. The writer was “John Lucie Blackman” who was an estate owner in Antigua and in Barbados and also a Member of Council in Antigua in 1705. The ‘Prince’ is recorded as having reached Plymouth on 6 September 1704 along with Dummer’s report on its arrival, which also reached Whitehall in London on 9 September.1 This is the earliest recorded ‘Dummer Packet’ cover in private hands, but it is also one of only two that are recorded from Antigua (the other was the very damaged May 1708 cover in the 2004 Toeg Collection auction).

After merely two years, this first (1702-1704) Dummer Packet rate of 9d was (with effect from March 1704/5) changed – with a 100% increase! – to the more familiar 1s-6d per sheet rate. As a result, there was a further ‘London Gazette’ Notice (in the 12 to 15 March 1704/5 issue, p.2):
“This is to give Notice, That Her Majefty, in regard to the great Expence She is at in maintaining the Correfpondence by Letters between England and Her Plantation I.lands in America, hath, pursuant to the Statute made in the Twelfth Year of his late Majesty King Charles II for establishing a Poft-Office, directed, and empowered the Poftmaster-General of England to receive and take for the Poft of all Letters and Packets that fhall be conveyed by the Poft lately eftablished between the Poft-Office-General in London and the Islands Barbadoes, Antegoa, Montferrat, Nevis, St. Chriftophers and Jamaica, the feveral Rates following, Viz.
For the Poft of every fingle Letter from England to the faid I.lands, not exceeding One Sheet of Paper, 1s. 3d. For the Poft of every Letter not exceeding Two Sheets of Paper, 2s. 6d. and fo in proportion to the fame Rates for every Packet of Letters. For the Post of every other Packet of any kind of greater Bulk, for every Ounce Weight, 6s. For the Post of every Letter from the said Islands to England, not exceeding One Sheet, 1s. 6d. For every Letter not exceeding Two Sheets, 3s. and fo in Proportion to the fame Rates for every Packet of Letters. For the Post of every other Packet of any kind of greater Bulk, for every Ounce Weight, 6s.”
1 Source; 'America and West Indies: September 1704', in Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 22, 1704-1705, p.248; “Sept. 9, [1704] London; 555. E. Dummer to Wm. Popple [1638-1708; Secretary to the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations]. Gives account of the Prince Packet boat's sailings to the West Indies. Out and home in 98 days. Signed, E. Dummer. Endorsed, Recd. 9th, Read 13th Sept., 1704. 1 p. [C.O. 323, 5. No. 63.]”.

It is interesting that as well as radically increasing the charges from the West Indies to Britain, there was also to be a 66% (6d) increase for letters sent from Britain to the West Indies.
I also showed my Jamaica Dummer Packet letter (Figure 4); it is dated 31st March 1708 and was sent by the “Franklin” (= Frankland) to London and charged “1 N 6” (i.e. 1s-6d). I always admired this cover in Bob Swarbrick’s collection, then in Francois Piat’s collection, and then in Hugh Wood’s collection… Finally, I was delighted to be able to acquire it in 2020, more than 30 years after I had first seen it. It is particularly special because it is in such fine condition, but it was also most unusually – uniquely – illustrated on the Jamaica 1971 P.O. Tercentenary 3c stamp (Figure 5)… Not many prestamp covers appear on postage stamps!

Following on from the very high rate cover in the June 2025 issue of the Journal (1) I managed to pick up another high rate cover, this time a very high single rate cover sent airmail to Australia during WWII. The cover is shown in Figures 1 and 2. The cover is endorsed Pacific Clipper. Via. Trinidad. San Francisco. New Zealand. Australia
and is dated 8 October 1941, two months before the Pearl Harbour attack. It is backstamped in Sydney on 29 October 1941, taking three weeks to arrive.
When looking through the high airmail rates charged during WWII, one often wonders whether anyone actually sent a half ounce letter at these rates. Well obviously, they did, but they are rare survivors.
The rate on the cover is 7s5d but neither Bayley (2) nor Proud (3) has rates listed for 1941. The closest is Bayley with a February 1940 airmail rate to Australia via the Pacific of 7s7d per half ounce or via Natal and London
(a less secure route in 1941) of 7s2d. Given the rate on the cover is very close to the listed 1940 rate, it is relatively safe to assume that it is correct. The difference may simply be due to exchange rate variations.
Another interesting aspect of this cover is that it appears to have not been censored until it reached Australia. I find this surprising but clearly it is what happened.
The other interesting aspect of the cover is how it went from Barbados to Trinidad. By this time in 1941, British West Indies Airways was flying between the islands. This was both quicker and safer than by steamer. There were good steamer links between Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean, but German U-boats made shipping quite dangerous. I am guessing that this cover flew BWIA to Trinidad, then FAM 5 to the USA, across the USA to San Francisco, FAM 19 to New Zealand then TEAL from Auckland to Sydney. A very long journey at a high rate.
References
(1) Darryl Fuller Barbados – Very High Franking WWII Airmail Cover, West Indies Philately 2025. No. 10, p18.
(2) Edmund A. Bayley, The History of the Post Offices in Barbados, 2008, Barbados

(3) Edward B Proud, The Postal History of Barbados and Grenada, 2006, East Sussex

(Ed: Nigel Shanks, the current President of the Bermuda Collectors Society (BCS) has volunteered to write a regular feature on Bermuda for the Journal. He assures me that all items will be new and will not duplicate the articles in the Bermuda Post Journal. Given that we get few articles about Bermuda I agreed to his offer.)
Bermuda, a tiny country with a land mass of just over 20 square miles, made up of more than 130 islands, located in isolation in the North Atlantic some 600 miles from the East Coast of the USA, over 3000 miles from the UK and Europe and some 900 miles to the north of the Caribbean certainly punches well above its weight in terms of philatelic interest and postal history.
Bermuda collectors have a multitude of options, many of which are well suited to a smaller budget and some which absolutely are not! With a conservative new issue policy in place it is possible to assemble and keep up to date a simplified ‘one of each’ stamp collection without too much difficulty. As long as you don’t mind a handful of likely gaps due to the exceptional rarity of some items.
However, when it comes to Bermuda’s Postal History, Key Plates and QEII Definitives; this is where one is absolutely spoilt for choice – there are just so many options and so many opportunities to collect, learn and further research some fascinating areas and events that have taken place in this tiny, yet strategically important country in the North Atlantic.
For starters there is maritime and naval mail from the 1800s to the present day – so many ships called at Bermuda, their crew and passengers are sometimes the only evidence we have of a particular visit. Then there are the 4000 or so Boer POWs, most of whom spent less than two years imprisoned on seven tiny islands in Bermuda from June 1901. This period saw Bermuda’s first censorship operation set up with the different markings, destinations and origins of POW mail not to mention the role some Bermudians played in assisting the POWs provides another fascinating area to collect. Still with censorship there is the significant role Bermuda played in the WWI censorship operation and even more so in WWII. Many books and articles have been written on Bermuda censorship and today we are still learning more and more and making new discoveries.
And that is just for starters – I’ve not mentioned instructional markings, stamp errors, airmail, postal stationery, Bermuda’s famous Keyplates and the QEII Definitive issues which are areas rich with flaws, different printings and their own postal history.
I’m Nigel Shanks and I’m an extremely passionate collector, researcher, writer and student of almost every aspect of Bermuda’s Postal History. I was born in Bermuda yet have spent all of my life in New Zealand where I have collected Bermuda Postal History ‘seriously’ since about 2002, and prior to that a little more haphazardly. As a member of WIPSG (and prior to that BCPSG) I approached our editor with the suggestion that I contribute something relating to Bermuda for each issue of West Indies Philately. I hope you enjoy my contribution and perhaps even become inspired to start or even expand into some aspect of Bermuda – be it stamps or postal history.

For this issue I am going to write about a small cache of 13 postcards relating to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) at St George’s Barracks from 1911 and 1912. No. 3 Company and No. 5 Company RGA had responsibility for Bermuda during this time and any mail to or from personnel in either contingent is hard to find, but often not expensive when located. What makes these cards interesting to me is that they are addressed to the same person – W S Ruffell (with some spelling variances) at either ‘St George’s Royal Barracks’ or ‘RGA, Royal Barracks, St George’s’. Even more interestingly they are from some quite unusual origins for the period.
I came across my first two ‘Ruffell’ cards from a collector friend who found them for me – he saw the origins of Belgium and Denmark and the RGA address and knew I’d be happy to have them. Some months went by, perhaps even a year and I saw another Ruffell card on eBay, this time from Japan and with a modest buy now. I secured this card and checked out the seller’s other items to find a further 11 cards all addressed to ‘Ruffell’ at the Royal Barracks, St Georges. What was going on here, I pondered. At the time of writing I have not been able to discover any detail around who W S Ruffell was and what role he played at the RGA, so this is all hypothesis on my part until I have time to research military records.
It would seem that Ruffell was placing advertising in publications around the world requesting to exchange postcards, in particular those depicting ‘views’. I would love to know the names of known publications these collectors used so that I could track down a copy of one of the advertisements. Some cards simply have a sender’s address, others have a message addressed to ‘Dear Friend’ or similar with a note along the lines of ‘please exchange postcards with me’.
Interestingly all but one of the cards have the stamp placed on the view side and some senders specifically ask for Ruffell to ensure he places the stamp on the view side on any cards he sends, perhaps a trend at the time and one which was against the postal regulations. The card from Spain notes a series of numbers in the message, perhaps indicating which cards in a series the writer is seeking from Ruffell.
The exchange of postcards is not unusual for the time as there were many keen postcard collectors around the world eager to expand their collections — however what does make this correspondence a little more interesting is both the Bermuda military connection and unusual postcard origins which are Japan (2), Germany, Spain, Austria (2), Belgium (2), Mexico, Canada, Cuba, Denmark and Hungary. I’ve never seen a correspondence like this as most cards and covers are to or from the UK and even then, they are seldom seen.

The earliest card in this correspondence is dated August 9, 1911 and the latest December 1, 1912. I wonder how many other Ruffell cards there are in collector or dealer hands. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out and will try to fill some of the gaps in this snapshot of life in the RGA in Bermuda just a few years before WWI.
There is much to write about, research and learn about the RGA in Bermuda during this period and I expect I will contribute more on this topic in the future.

Sometimes one comes across a letter that is theoretically possible but impossible to find. Such is the case for covers that are missent twice.
Of the tens of tens of thousands of envelopes that I have handled I have found but one (Kiribati missent to Australia and Jamaica). Until last week when this one (Figures 1 & 2) came in.
This is commercial. It went from Grenada to Barbados and then was missent to Canada getting a postal mechanization sort code 0048 which is SVG from the US Postal Service on the way back. How do I know this? Because if it went to Canada first, then it went to Barbados, it would have had a US Sort code of 00479 for Barbados.
But it is indeed an astounding cover. All commercial. Double missent. Theoretically possible but impossible. Yet there it is.

Ed: More current instructional markings sent in by Steven Zirinsky.

A previous article (1) examined the treatment of underpaid mail sent from Jamaica to other countries in the Postal Union during the early years of the General and Universal Postal Unions (to 1906). This article continues the same theme, beginning with the outcomes of the 1906 UPU Congress in Rome and looking at the procedures and handstamps used in Jamaica until the end of World War I.
1907: Regulations from the 1906 Rome Congress
The regulations agreed in Rome (2) came into force on 1 October 1907 and resulted in a change in the way that dispatching offices marked underpaid mail. The office was still required to:
• impress on each item a prominent letter “T” (indicating a tax to be paid), and
• mark the number of rates in the top left corner if a letter or other postal packet is liable to more than a single rate of postage.

But now the dispatching office had to:
• write the actual postage due (i.e. double the deficiency, in francs/centimes), alongside the stamps; the requirement to write in black ink no longer applied, but the regulations indicated use of a handstamp or other process with easily read figures.
Redirected mail that became underpaid by reason of the redirection (in the case of Jamaica this would be inland or Empire mail that was redirected to a foreign UPU country) was taxed just a single deficiency, as before. This exception was the reason for the change in procedure since the dispatching office was best placed to decide if the article was fully paid for its first transmission, and whether to charge single or double deficiency.
Another major change arising from the Rome Convention was the increase in the letter weight step to 20 grams. As an exception, Britain and other countries not using the decimal system were allowed to use one ounce (28g) weight steps. The weight steps for the Imperial Penny Post were also increased to one ounce. These changes resulted in far fewer overweight letters.
The new regulations prompted the Jamaican Post Office to introduce a series of handstamps to show the postage due in centimes. Initially these were separate marks from the “T” handstamps, but duplex handstamps combining both were soon introduced, as shown in this article (Fig.1).

Fig. 1 “T” and charge handstamps used in Jamaica in this period.
Single Circular Charge Marks
These simple circular markings (UPSC-D07a) are known in three values (10, 30 & 40 centimes) although others might occur. A separate “T” handstamp had to be applied to the article, and initially both circular (UPTC-D06a) and triangular (UPTT-D05a) types were used. Evidence from examples seen suggests that the circular charge marks were introduced late in 1909, the earliest recorded example being a 10 centimes handstamp on an underpaid letter (not shown) which passed through Kingston Post Office on 4 December 1909 on its way to New Jersey, United States.
Figure 2 shows an underpaid letter from Oracabessa to New York City which passed through Kingston on 7 May 1912 and was marked with a triangular “T” tax mark (UPTT-D05a) and a 30 centimes circular charge mark (UPSC­D07a) corresponding to twice the deficiency (2 × 1½d. = 3d. which corresponds to 30 centimes at the British/Jamaican exchange rate of 1d. = 10 centimes). The postage due was converted to 6 cents on arrival in the United States.

Fig. 2 An underpaid letter of 6 May 1912 from Oracabessa to New York City.
The existing “T” handstamps, both circular and triangular, may have become worn or damaged and a new much bolder circular “T” handstamp (UPTC-D06b) was introduced for use with the circular charge markings. The earliest recorded example is on an underpaid letter to the United States, mailed on 25 February 1912 (before the triangular “T” handstamp was retired).
Two examples of the new bold circular “T” handstamp from later in 1912, both on (halfpenny) underpaid postcards to England, are shown in Figure 3. The picture postcard mailed in Savannah-la-Mar on 2 December 1912 shows the UPTC-D06b “T” handstamp with a circular 10 centimes charge mark (UPSC-D07a) partially overstruck. Unusually, the halfpenny postal stationery card which was mailed two weeks earlier in Cross Roads on 19 November 1912 (and passed through Kingston later the same day) received a manuscript “1/10” charge mark in blue crayon instead of the handstamp. The “1” corresponds to the number of rates, and the “10” to the postage due (2 × ½d. = 1d. which converts to 10 centimes).
The reason why the circular charge mark was not used on the postal stationery card can only be speculated, but these handstamps were replaced by the new duplex type in early 1913, so it is possible that they were becoming worn. The smudge of purple ink on this card may represent an indistinct impression of a charge handstamp that has been deliberately obliterated and replaced with the manuscript notation. Alternatively, postal clerks may have considered finding and applying the correct charge mark sometimes more onerous than writing a charge mark manually with a blue crayon that was always at hand. Both treatments were perfectly acceptable under the UPU regulations.
Both cards were correctly treated on arrival in England, receiving one penny postage due handstamps at the Foreign Branch of the Post Office in London.

Fig. 3 A postal stationery card from Cross Roads (19 November 1912) and a picture postcard from Savannah-la-Mar (2 December 1912), with underpayment by a halfpenny marked in manuscript and by handstamp respectively.
Duplex Charge Marks
Not surprisingly, to avoid clerks having to use two different handstamps, the “T” and the charge markings were soon combined into a single duplex handstamp. The first such type (UPTD-D09) comprised a bold serifed “T” and “JAMAICA” in the left-hand circle, and the value and “CENTIMES” in the right (Fig.1), and was introduced early in 1913. The handstamps were made of rubber and purple ink was used. Four values have been reported: 10, 20, 30 and 40 centimes.
An example of the 10 centimes duplex charge mark (UPTD-D09) is shown on an underpaid picture postcard in Figure 4. This card was mailed from Kingston to the United States on 9 April 1913 with only a halfpenny stamp, although the UPU postcard rate was one penny. Being a halfpenny underpaid, the postal clerk in Kingston applied the duplex handstamp for 10 centimes, this corresponding to twice the deficiency in postage (1d. = 10 centimes). This is the earliest recorded example of the 10 centimes mark, although the 30 centimes handstamp is known from February 1913.
On arrival in New York at the Hudson Terminal Station Post Office (14 April 1913) the postage due was calculated as two U.S. cents and the appropriate duplex handstamp was applied to instruct the delivery office in New Jersey to collect the correct amount.

Fig. 4 An underpaid picture postcard of 9 April 1913 from Kingston to Laurel Springs, New Jersey, United States.
This type of duplex handstamp was used until after the end of World War I when they were replaced by similar duplex handstamps that differed in certain respects; these lie outside the time range covered by the present article.
1916: Introduction of War Tax in Jamaica
On 1 April 1916 the Post Office (War Tax) Law was introduced in Jamaica which saw the addition of a halfpenny tax to letters and postcards sent either inland or to the United Kingdom and British Colonies & Dominions. At the same time a three pence tax was imposed on parcels. The War Tax was introduced not only to help the war effort through the raising of a contingent of troops, but also to support the local economy which had been severely hit by the destruction of the banana crops by a hurricane in 1915.
These postage rate increases led to an associated increase in underpaid letters and postcards. Underpayment of the War Tax was charged double deficiency to the recipient, the same as an underpayment of normal postage.
Figure 5 shows a picture postcard mailed from Kingston to England on 5 April 1916, just five days after the introduction of the War Tax. It is franked with a one penny stamp, so the additional halfpenny War Tax has not been paid, and consequently it has been marked as underpaid by the impression of a 10 centimes duplex charge mark (UPTD-D09) in Kingston (twice the halfpenny deficiency = 1d. = 10 centimes). On arrival in Hull the postcard received the “1d.” handstamp and a British one penny postage due stamp was applied and cancelled with a Hull single ring datestamp of 22 May 1916, collecting the one penny postage due for the unpaid War Tax.
However, the War Tax on postcards from Jamaica to the UK and British Colonies & Dominions was soon to be revoked. When the War Tax proposals were belatedly sent on 8 April 1916 to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London for (retrospective) approval, it was pointed out that under the regulations of the 1906 Rome Convention one penny (10 centimes) was the maximum postage rate allowed for postcards sent to places within the Universal Postal Union (3). His reply of 31 May 1916 requested that the War Tax was removed from such postcards; however, War Tax could continue to be charged on inland postcards, ½d. postage + ½d. War Tax being within the regulations. Accordingly, the War Tax on overseas postcards (UK and British possessions) was removed, but not until 19 October 1916.
Figure 6 shows a picture postcard sent from Jamaica to England in the period just before the War Tax was formally revoked. It was mailed in Kingston on 12 September 1916 franked with a penny stamp which paid the normal postage but not the War Tax. The postcard was marked as being underpaid (by the halfpenny War Tax) by a 10 centimes duplex charge mark (UPTD-D09). It was probably carried to England by a ship of the Elders & Fyffes Line and on arrival the “T” part of the duplex handstamp (indicating tax needed to be paid) was struck out in black ink, indicating that the Post Office thought that no postage due was payable. This is consistent with the maximum postcard rate allowed by the UPU of one penny and the consequent instruction to Jamaica to revoke the War Tax on overseas postcards.

Fig. 5 A picture postcard of 5 April 1916 from Kingston to Hull, England with the War Tax unpaid and collected as one penny postage due.
Fig. 6 A picture postcard of 12 September 1916 from Kingston to London with War Tax unpaid; marked as postage due in Jamaica but struck out in England as one penny was the maximum postage allowed for a postcard.
Concluding remarks
There is no evidence to suggest that any of the postage due markings discussed in this article (either “T” or charge marks) were applied anywhere other than Kingston, even when the letter or postcard was mailed in a Post Town. The previous article (1) showed a handstamp that was used in Port Antonio around the turn of the 19th Century, but this has not been recorded after 1908. The post offices in some other ports from where mail left the island on non-contract vessels may also have had postage due markings, but there is no evidence of such, and overseas mail services were severely disrupted after the onset of World War I in 1914.
References
(1) Farrimond P. Jamaica – Postage Due on Outgoing Mail to the Postal Union: 1. From 1877 to 1906. West Indies Philately (2025). No. 10, 27–33.
(2) Universal Postal Union. Convention of Rome (26 May 1906). H.M. Stationery Office.
(3) Davis J.G.M. War Tax Stamps of the British Empire First World War, The West Indies. The Royal Philatelic Society London (2009). 400pp.

Figure 1 illustrates a well-known KGV 1½d red envelope that appears to be a variation of the April 1927 printing of 5,000 envelopes which measured 133 x 108mm (5¼ x 4¼ inches). This envelope, which Oliver (1) noted as a size F, measures 133 x 82mm (5¼ x 3¼ inches). There was no record in the De La Rue records of a such an item being printed. I own this copy and I have seen another one, both addressed to Marshall. The 1d red envelope also exists in this format, I believe, but I don’t own a copy.
The truth about these envelopes was worked out in 2003 by Wayne Menuz who had the opportunity, when I exhibited in the USA, to take a close look at the cover.
I recommend you read the original article which was in the journal Postal Stationery in 2004 (2). Basically, what has occurred is that the original envelope was steamed open, any creases from folding smoothed as much as possible, cut and refolded to get the new size. When it was posted, in order to cover up the remnants of the crease, the blue registration line on the reverse was placed much lower than normal (see Figure 2).
The question arises as to why these were done. As a bit of fun or to fool Marshall. Or did he do them and send them back to Antigua to be posted? We will probably never know but for a long time, they were considered rarities, but are now just curios, and I have never exhibited this item since. This is, of course, old news and my reason for this article is that I have found a new and quite different ‘fake’ of a Leeward Islands envelope.

At the National exhibition in Sydney in March I took a look through Chris Rainey’s stock (one of our advertisers) and ran across the envelope illustrated in Figure 3. It is an example of the most common of the Leeward Island KGV postal stationery envelopes. It is a relatively clean commercial usage of the envelope. It appears to be nothing special until you turn it over. Figure 4 illustrates the back of the envelope and the you will note the flap is upside down, is an odd shape and has a major crease across it. It measures 133 x 85mm (5¼ x 3 3/8 inches), a slightly different size to the earlier fakes. There were three printings of this envelope and it is from one of the later printings as I checked the envelope knife and it is what I call Type 2. The date of postage, 26 MR 31 ties in with the likelihood of it
being a later printing.
This is not an envelope with the indicia printed upside down. The envelope has been steamed open, refolded and a new flap cut on the bottom part of the envelope. It was not done very carefully and does not appear to have been done to deceive collectors, as it was sent to a business in New York.
This envelope is unknown as a ‘fake’ and, to me, there are three possibilities. Firstly, someone may have just had some fun one day – possible but to me unlikely. Secondly, the envelope was damaged and to salvage it, it was steamed opened, cut down and refolded – possible but a lot of work. Thirdly, it was cutdown to make it an exact size to fit something specific (photographs?) – again it seems unlikely but remains a possibility.
If any other collectors have any ideas on why this was done, please let me know. In addition, if you have something similar, I would be interested in seeing a scan.
References
(1) Oliver M.N., The Leeward Islands, Notes for Philatelists, British West Indies Study Circle, 1st Edition, 2000
(2) Menuz, W, Leeward Islands – The ‘Size F’ Envelope, Postal Stationery, UPSS, Vol 46, No. 1, W/N 334 (Jan-Feb 2004)

The second edition of “Barbados: The Britannia Issues” by the late M. Fitz Roett has now been completed by Jonathan Guy and me. By the time you read this it should be with the printers. It will be a 198-page A4 softback book in full colour, and copies will be available at Convention in October. Full details will appear on the WIPSG website when it has been published.

Denis is seeking explanations of the various manuscript and postal markings on the 1871 Jamaican cover shown below. Written vertically in crayon on the left-hand side is 'Due 20 cts'.
The cover is addressed to Miss Cornelia Robinson-Owen, a resident of Campobello Island, New Brunswick … where President Roosevelt, alas, contracted Polio.
It is part of an original correspondence between members of a distinguished British naval family, but that's another story!

(Ed: Sam is one of our newer members and sent in this eclectic mix of varieties and interesting items which I relabelled a potpourri.)
Modern Production Anomalies
Incomplete Overprint on 10th Anniversary of Air Jamaica
Figure 1 shows an anomaly on the 10th Anniversary of Air Jamaica overprint stamp (SG 478, Sc 451). The upper two­thirds of the A of “APRIL” is missing. A closer view of the missing A is shown in Figure 1a. Does anyone else have the incomplete “A?” Is it a constant flaw or just a freak?
Production Freak on 6d Aerogramme The lower aerogramme (H&G F9) (Figure 2) made it through inspection and into my collection as part of a fairly large postal stationery lot. It has an 83 mm smear of the red ink running from right to left of the “stamp” rectangle. Compare it to the normal.
Anomalies on de Laurence Covers: Many thousands of non-philatelic covers that were sent from Jamaica to the de Laurence company in Chicago, Illinois (United States) have made it to stamp collectors. I once bought a lot of about 2,200 de Laurence covers that yielded a vast array of modern single ring town cancels from the 1960s and ‘70s, with lesser quantities of double ring, Birmingham-type, registered, and machine slogan cancels included. Besides all of the variety, there were quite a few covers that had been damaged at the de Laurence company, due to the way they were sliced open, as well as by staples. However, there were some treasures to be gleaned. Figure 3 shows a mis-perforated 8d Blue Mountain Peak stamp (SG 167, Sc 167) tied by a Kingston machine dater with the “Summerland” pictorial slogan on 7 October 1961.
Figure 4 shows two covers, each bearing two of the 6d butterfly stamps (SG 223, Sc 223a) missing the ultramarine dots on the butterfly’s wings. Both covers were sent from Port Morant, just two days apart, April 20 and 22, 1967, suggesting that they may have come from the same pane. Missing colour butterfly stamps have usually been found on unused stamps and I do not recall seeing a catalogue listing for this stamp in used condition. One must be careful when examining the 6d butterfly stamp; due to misregistration, the blue dots sometimes appear over the black ink of the wings and are not missing at all.
Unusual Destination – Congo State
Most collectors have found items that we treasure and sometimes I remember to silently thank those who came before us and preserved older and fascinating material. This Jamaican card was sent to an unusual place in the late 19th century – the Congo State (Figure 5).
Fig. 5 1d postal card (H&G 17) forwarded from Ocho Rios to Kingston. The next marking was Lisbon, Portugal (on reverse), Banana, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (on reverse in blue), Boma, blue, (in the DRC), and finally Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), Congo State also in blue on the reverse. Two months in transit.

My Most Travelled Cover
This battered 1920 registered cover (Figure 6) travelled 16,314 miles and reached its destination after a bit of poor routing. (mileage in parentheses)
Bygone Jamaican philatelist G. C. Gunter posted this letter at Kingston February 24, 1920, where it was sent to New York by ship, (2,536)
Arrived at the New York Registry Division March 2 and mistakenly sent to New Britain, Connecticut instead of New Britain, North West Pacific Islands, (112)
New Britain, Connecticut, March 5, realized the mistake and forwarded it by train toward the Pacific coast to Seattle, Washington, (2,944)
Seattle, March 11, sent the cover to San Francisco, California, (808)
San Francisco, March 13, put the cover on a ship to Sydney, Australia, (7,419)
Sydney, April 19, sent the cover to Rabaul, New Britain, (2,050)
And finally, from Rabaul to Madang in what is now Papua New Guinea, where Frank P. Hitchcox presumably signed for his registered letter (445).

Contrary to Regulations
Despite clearly stated Jamaica Postal regulations, not every contrary item gets flagged by the postal officials.
Too Small
The smallest legal dimensions for a letter was 4” x 2 ¾.” The 27/16 cover in Figure 7 measures 3¾ by inches (9.5 x 6.2cm). Bearing two larger stamps did not make matters easier when it had to be re-routed from Fort Worth, Texas to Marion, Massachusetts (backstamp)
Cut-outs from Postal Stationery
It was also illegal to cut out values from postal stationery and paste them on letters. To make up the 15c airmail rate, this 1970 airmail cover from Kingston to Bussum, Holland bears two legitimate postage stamps totalling 7c and an 8c cut-out from an aerogram (Figure 8).
Three 1/2d Edward VII cut-outs from wrappers (H&G E2) were added to the cover with a 1d stamp to make up the 2 1/2d letter rate to the U.S. in 1909 (Figure 9).
In 1951 this 6d value from a George VI aerogramme (H&G FG1a) was cut-out and paid for sending the cover to the
U.S. by Pan American World Airways (Figure 10).

Fig. 10 Use of Revenue/Fiscal Stamps to Pay Postage A three half-pence revenue was used for transmission from Kingston to Old Harbour in 1896 (Figure 11). Three-shilling National Insurance fiscal stamp used for transmission by air from Kingston to the U.S. in 1968

Fig. 12 Forgery of the 3-shilling Stamp of 1920
Until finding the forged 3-shilling stamp of 1920 (SG 88, Sc 85), I had never seen a forged Jamaican stamp other than those of the first issues. As the early students of Jamaican philately pointed out, the forgeries of Jamaica’s pineapple watermarked first issues were “very poor and rough in execution.”1 They were on unwatermarked paper and bore fake cancels. A little less crude, yet bearing a fake cancel is the 3-shilling issue of 1920, depicting the statue of Sir Charles Metcalf, shown (Figure 13) with a genuine stamp. The colours on the forged stamp are slightly off and there are minute variations in the details of the pedestal, statue, and value tablets. The forged perforations are rough, and of course, the forgery lacks a watermark. All of these forgeries were created to deceive collectors, not the post office, as evidenced by the selection of higher valued stamps and the addition of a “postmark.” None of the fake postmarks resemble any known on Jamaican stamps. Were other 20th century Jamaican stamps forged?

Following on from Sam Cutler’s small Jamaican cover, I just happened to purchase an even smaller Trinidad cover at Europhilex. It is shown above in actual size and measures 8.1 x 4.2cm (3 3/16 x 1 5/8 inches). It was sent at the local ½d rate plus ½d war tax from Tortuga to Gran Couva and went via Port of Spain. It was posted on 14 December 1917 and is backstamped in Port of Spain on 19 December and Gran Couva on 20 December.
I do not know if there was a minimum size for an envelope in Trinidad, but it seems likely. In this case it was let through without being taxed. What it contained would be interesting to know. It seems a bit small for a letter but may have held a calling card with a short note on reverse. I am reasonably confident such items were still being used at the time. Certainly, the envelope looks specifically made for such a card.
It is a little hard to see on modern maps but Tortuga and Gran Couva are not that far apart so the five day interval between posting and Port of Spain is interesting.
If anyone has a smaller cover from the Caribbean, please send a scan to the editor. I do have a smaller Australian one, but it was taxed in transit. It was sent in the 1980s and was an invitation to an opening, but I wonder how many people actually received them.

11-12 October 2025 2025 WIPSG Convention and Auction. The venue is Sedgebrook Hall, near Northampton (https://www.sedgebrookhall.co.uk/).
Members of the Society are giving displays at the following Societies if you are in the region:
Jonathon Guy Bits of Barbados Liverpool Philatelic Society 29 September
Susan Taylor Anguilla Petersfield Philatelic Society 2 June
James Podger West Indies A to V Henley Philatelic Society 11 June
Susan Taylor Anguilla Mid Sussex Philatelic Society 29 September
James Podger West Indies A to V Maidenhead Philatelic Society 7 October
James Podger West Indies A to V Tunbridge Wells Philatelic Society 8 October
Susan Taylor The Lady McLeod Dundee Philatelic Society (Zoom Meeting) 23 October
James Podger West Indies A to V Southampton & Districts Philatelic Society 4 November

London and was invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists to become an RDP.
Congratulation also to our Secretary, Susan Taylor, who was elected a Fellow of the RPSL and is a member of their Publications Committee.
Whilst we are on the subject of pats on the back, our new book Dominica: Philately to 1967 achieved a Large Gold Medal at the recent ABPS National Exhibition. This was authored by Simon Richards and typeset by our Publications Manager, Paul Farrimond.
In Susan’s report she has highlighted some of the activities at our Convention.
Bookings for attendance are coming in steadily but the more the merrier.
Information, a flyer and a booking form are on the website and can be accessed from the Home Page under “Meeting News”. Please book attendance and the hotel early as we will need to confirm numbers in late summer.
Auction catalogues from the BWISC Library were put into auction at Cavendish Philatelic Auctions recently. Only one of the four lots sold but that one greatly exceeded estimate. The unsolds will be offered again soon. The books have now also been taken to Cavendish (17 boxes). These are expected to be included in a philatelic literature sale, probably in July. I will post an announcement on the website when confirmed – please have a look through and bid for anything that would enhance your own libraries (and boost Society funds).

Since last reporting some of our American friends have been impacted by the Californian fires. We hope all is well now and that the coming months will be fire-free. Meanwhile the soggy UK weather turned, and we have had a marvellous Spring. This meant that the WIPSG 'Rosebank Gathering' held on 10 April was able to spill over into the garden. Stephen King has kindly written about the event. Suffice to say it was good to see philatelists having a pleasant time in one another's company.
By the time you read this Europhilex will be over and there will be a report in the next issue
Our Annual Convention at Sedgebrook Hall near Northampton draws nearer and having spent time researching and preparing a 'Caribbean Philatelic Quiz' for which there will be a Hamper Prize, I am hoping that many of you will attend, do the quiz and not leave me with a basket of items to eat! Click on https://wipsg.org/2025-convention for details of the event. We have some fantastic presentations taking place, and I gather that there are c.600 lots in the auction taking place at the event. Click on https://wipsg.org/auction for further details.
Finally, it was disappointing to find that a number of members had not yet paid their dues when I ran a check last month, necessitating a raft of reminders. If you haven't yet paid, you'll be hearing from me.

Being editor means having the last word, in most cases literarily as I write the editorial to fill what space I have left to fill. Generally, one to three paragraphs but sometimes a little more, as in this issue. My hope is that everyone is still enjoying our hobby as we live in interesting times. Although the saying “May you live in interesting times” is supposedly an English translation of a Chinese curse.
I entered my exhibit “The Development of Commercial Aviation in the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Bermuda” in the FIP Uruguay exhibition in February. I had last entered it in Taipei in 2023 in an FIAP exhibition and was curious to see how it would do in South America where they are more familiar with the material. It was also a quite limited exhibition and I thought it the most likely of my exhibits to be accepted. I had previously received a gold medal in Taipei in postal history as I had written it up this way, rather than aerophilatelically. In Uruguay it was transferred from postal history to aerophilately and was awarded a gold medal also. I had not changed the exhibit at all. I would have preferred it stay in postal history, but I would never complain about a gold medal. I am now in a quandary having an exhibit that has received gold medals in two different classes. Probably not unique, but highly unusual and I now don’t know which class to enter it in, in the future. My guess would be that FIP is a higher award than FIAP so it may stay in aerophilately.
I was pleased to get a reply about Terry Harrison’s faked St Vincent cover from James Grimwood-Taylor. I will always try to publish such replies where I can, so please send in responses to queries if you have an answer.
I definitely need more articles as the cupboard is starting to look bare. I would certainly prefer to always have a couple of issues of material on hand as it allows me to prepare issues that fit to my personal timetable, as I am travelling a fair bit to exhibitions, while I can. So please send in material, long and short as I need both. One area I would like to increase is unusual covers. The London Philatelist has an ongoing series of articles titled “The Story Behind the Cover”. I would like to do something similar for material from the West Indies. If you have an interesting cover with a background story of interest, or something rarely seen, then please write it up and send it in. It need not be very rare and valuable, just interesting. The Dominica airmail cover provided by Ray Stanton that I wrote about in the last issue is a good example. Many of you have such an item so please put a few words down and send it in with a scan of the cover.

I am delighted to report that Simon Richards’ book “Dominica: Philately to 1967” achieved a Large Gold at the recent ABPS National Exhibition and has been shortlisted for the Crawford Medal at the RPSL. The book has sold well but a few copies are still available to WIPSG Members for the very reasonable price of £32 plus postage from Pennymead Auctions.
Jonathan Guy and I are currently working on a second edition of “Barbados: The Britannia Issues” by M. Fitz Roett. A pdf file that Peter Ford had been working on was discovered earlier this year and will be completed and updated. It is hoped to publish the book in the second half of 2025. Any member with new items or corrections to the first edition can contact me (email publications@wipsg.org) and we will try to include them.

Rosebank Pass Muster, 10 April 2025
Susan and David did us proud for their second WIPSG informal convivial convention, throwing open their home to a motley bunch of philatelists and supporters. In order to give voice to all I hope: here are snatches of the conversations and events.
Neil Hatton inspired by his geography teacher 'Sir' to begin a lifelong stamps journey, visiting the Caribbean before easily accessible long-haul flights and 'learning about philately as it wasn't for an exam'. James Podger has lightened his shelves by selling his philatelic book collection through Corinphila, drove to Switzerland he did. Lawrence Grech showed nine frames of Barbados 1892 QV ½d on 4d provisionals. Made for close examination. Charles Kinnard celebrated his birthday with us and had given Sue a British Guiana cover with 1940 red cachet commemorating the postage stamp's centenary. Graham Stockdale kindly managed the car parking and it was good to see all three authors of the Anguilla book present. Julian Waldron travelled on the train from Paris with rather bruised Aston Villa fans, defeated at PSG, 3 to 1. “It’s a fine line between rare and not noticed”. Frances Stockdale loved the apricot crumble and performed sterling duties in the kitchen supporting Sue, welcoming us all with teas & coffees. Emma Guy shyly confessed to a capsule collection of Northern Ireland philatelic material, contemporary and Red Hands of Ulster on Wildings. Watch this space… Absolutely Montserrat Peter Tribe enjoyed chatting about stamps and sharing knowledge on postal history. Simon Burke who joined the RPSL in 1993 but is new to West Indies St Vincent. John Black travelled from Petersfield bringing Monserrat and St Christopher treasures. Peter White, Chair of the Surrey Philatelic Federation club 'liked the food' (said with a big smile) having shared his WWII censors & examiners marks covering the West Indies. The list of codes was extensive. Somalia being YY. I never knew that. Fiona Black doesn't collect stamps; her apology was disregarded as she made a great audience. From Harrogate, Keith Burton (Editor of the ABPS) shared two covers, one with 1946 GVI Peace and Reconstruction 2½d stamps x 14 to Miss Bessie Harper, of blessed memory. Jonathan Guy treated us to contemporary Barbados Recorded Delivery plastic envelopes for which he made a tour of the island, choice ephemera. David our host showed new Trinidad and Montserrat postal history acquisitions when not plying us with refreshments, a fine Montepulciano. Sue Taylor, for whom ‘having guests is a pleasure’, says events like these ‘make the society more cohesive'. Lucy the dog happily snaffled around and once again blessed by the weather I happily returned to London, the Philatelic imposter [?] grateful for a fine day. Perfect vinaigrette, fab fruit salad.

Just saw your query cover [St Vincent Faked Cover to France Using Revenue Stamp Overprints] in the WIPSGJ (p.34, March 2025 issue).
This is an intriguing item; I am sure it was a genuine stampless cover (probably from Cuba) to Paris, to which someone added the Revenues, the regd. label and the fake St Vincent/Paris (larger one) marks…
The key to this is the genuine diamond-framed “GB/3F60C” mark (Van der Linden fig. 1634; known 1870-74 on unpaid – i.e. stampless - mail ex Cuba via US & GB to France) visible on your cover, partly obscured by the genuine 12/NY d.s.
I have handled a number of genuine 1870-1874 stampless “GB/3F60C” covers ex Havana, for example see this one ex Cavendish Vandervelde Collection auction (5/12/2023), lot 315:
If the sender had not put his cachet on this cover and there were no contents, no one would know it came from Havana.
The backstamps are usually LONDON & CALAIS A PARIS (TPO) cds’s. I think your cover was 1872 or 1873; the genuine backstamps’ year dates have been fiddled with!
The US Regd label has been added, as has the large fake PARIS cds overlapping it; also, the stamps and the three St. Vincent cds’s!!
It never went anywhere near St. Vincent, sadly.
Not really a very clever forgery, but good to record as an indication of what people are/were ‘creating’.
Hope this helps.

Our 53rd auction will take place at the Convention to be held at Sedgebrook Hall, Northampton on the Saturday 11 October. We have over 700 lots to tempt you with total estimated realisations a little over £40,000, provided by 17 different vendors. Last year we were delighted to sell 78% of the material offered which is available at 80% of estimate. The 70 or so of you who will be successful purchasers have nothing extra to pay in terms of buyer’s premium – just postage and packing if you are not present on the day.
The bid book opens from the moment you receive the catalogue and tied bids will go to the first received. The book closes at 14.00 on 10 October. The Society receives a 10% commission on all lots sold but this is payable by the vendor. We try to maintain an average estimate per lot of £50 and this year is no exception, estimates range from £5 to £500.
Printed catalogues are due to be sent out on 25 August and should be available on the website a little in advance of that date.
As last year, the exceptional Paul Hancock postmark collection of numeral cancels means Jamaica leads the way in terms of numbers of lots and total estimate. Many of Paul’s items have strong provenances and Paul had a real eye for quality.
In addition, we have been consigned a very fine collection of Turks Islands, as well as collections of Barbados and Dominica, which have been broken down into suitable lots.
There is a strong offering of Trinidad postal history, a number ex-Marriott. From our estate sales there is a fine selection of Antigua, a strong section of British Guiana postmarks, from Simon Greenwood, and a selection of scarce St Kitts censor mail.
Estate sales continue to dominate the proceedings. Besides Paul’s Jamaica, we have over 100 lots from former President Graham Booth’s estate; some lovely material from Antigua and the Leeward Islands from Mike Roberts, British Guiana from Simon Greenwood and items from the estates of Chris May and Simon Goldblatt.
The deadline for bids is 14.00 on Friday 10 October before the sale, do please e-mail them to me, they will be acknowledged. If you don’t get an acknowledgement, then check!

1924 BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION ADVERTISING LABELS: cover from British Guiana with KGV 1c x 2, 2c x 2, 2c War Tax, 5c (13c rate) reg. to Queenstown, Cape of Good Hope pmk’d JY 14 1925, and a second type in red affixed reverse of Georgetown 21 AP 26 cover, plus British Honduras KGV 2c brown/buff newspaper wrapper to London pmk’d Belize JY 11 24.
WAR FUND LABEL: cover with Cayman Islands KG6 2½d to Mobile, Alabama with War Fund label tied Georgetown JU 27 1940 double ring, Opened by Censor label alongside address panel.
DOUBLE SURCHARGE ERROR: JU 16 1899 local cover with British Guiana pair “TWO CENTS.” on 15c Mount Roraima, one DOUBLE SURCHARGE.
PICTORIAL UPU POST CARD: seldom seen from the Bahamas on KE7 1d Post Card pmk’d Nassau 25 OCT 05 to Newark, New Jersey.
FORMULA PICTORIAL AIR LETTER: registered from British Guiana showing printed Kaieteur waterfalls with deleted EXPRESS handstamps and QE2 30c franking pmk’d REG. BRANCH 5 JA 66 skeleton cds.
CARRIED BY HOVERCRAFT: Trinidad QE2 65c airmail rate cover pmk’d 9 MAR 74 addressed France with final leg on RAMSGATE to CALAIS hovercraft with 1/- EXPORTERS LETTER SERVICE label depicting Sir Rowland Hill.
HANDSTRUCK red “1d” DUE TO THE COLONY: cover with GB QV 1/- green pmk’d Manchester JA 28 1865 to Bethel, St Kitts showing 1d due to Colony on the 1s per half ounce rate.
HANDSTRUCK red “2(d)” DUE TO THE COLONY: double rate cover marked Royal Mail Steam Packet “Shannon” with pair GB QV 1/- green pmk’d during 1866 to St Kitts, showing 2d due to the Colony, applied London, on the double half ounce rate.
Manuscript red “1(d)” DUE TO THE COLONY with HANDSTRUCK black “2”: single half ounce rate to Belize, British Honduras with GB QV 1/- pmk’d at London MY 16 67 with JY 6 67 arrival (51 days), the black 2(d) due, applied London, is thought to be 1d Late Fee plus 1d Fine to be collected from recipient.
VILLAGE MANUSCRIPT DATED STAMP: post-UPU cover from St Christopher with QV 1d dated “24/8/80” in the style known to be used at Dieppe Bay with QV 4d cancelled at Basseterre addressed Demerara, the use of 1d from village to GPO Head Office contrary to UPU regulations.
STAMPLESS O.H.M.S. (“HIS” changed “HER”): Development Board departmental cachet on cover to Pennsylvania pmk’d Nassau JA 23 54.
LOCALLY MISSENT: Jamaica 50c rate cover pmk’d Bickersteth FE 25 1991 addressed Mandeville and missent Jones Town Post Office 28 FEB 1991.
EMPIRE 1d RATE O.H.M.S. ("Her" changed "His"): in manuscript due death of Queen Victoria JA 22 1901 on cover from Bermuda with QV 1d pmk’d Hamilton MR 28 1901 to Bombay, India with “RE EXPEDIE” boxed return to London and forwarding to North Banffshire.
PRE-UPU INTERNALLY REGISTERED: very rare as such with Jamaica QV 6d (being 2d postage plus 4d registration) tied Kingston “A01” with registered d/ring oval MY 9 77 alongside addressed Port Maria.
TOO LATE: boxed handstamp on St Vincent to West Hampstead, London cover with 3 x QV ½d, single 2½d on 1d pmk’d Kingstown C/MY 6 86.
TOO LATE FOR BAG: boxed handstamp on Trinidad cover with 1s Britannia pmk’d Cedros Steamer coded small numeral 23/MY 9 1872 with partial red Trinidad Paid to London.
Port Antonio, Jamaica pmk’d MY 6 1853 to Orleans, France rated unpaid 1/2 changed 1/7 showing postage due for re-direction to Charing Cross, London. Contents describe the discovery of "copper well interspersed with silver" and "strong indications of Black Lead" on another property. The letter goes on to describe the boom in mining and exploration - "The Parish of Portland seems to be one vast lump of mineral worth, every day brings a new discovery"
Overprinted SPECIMEN with handstruck blue ink ULTRAMAR: Montserrat 1d Badge UPU Post Card sent to Spanish receiving authority for reference.
DAMAGED BY SEA WATER: boxed purple ink handstamps on Cayman Islands covers pmk’d at Georgetown on OC 6 1946 and OC 3 1951 with Peace issue stamps to London and Tampa, Florida, reason for handstamps on these dates not known.
PICTURE POST CARD “USED ELSEWHERE”: ppc of the Bathsheba Coast, Barbados from tourists having arrived Bequia (island), St Vincent by mail schooner with QE2 12c rate pmk’d */6 JA 65 to Washington DC.

Many collectors of Bahamas will be aware of the philatelic activities of Dr Walter Hess, the Colonial Surgeon of Bahamas and an avid philatelist, in particular his involvement in sending ‘philatelic’ covers commemorating various first flights and other notable events in the evolving American aviation scene during the late 1920s and early 1930s. So prolific did they become that these ‘philatelic’ covers have acquired a degree of notoriety. They reached their zenith in a series of multiple First Flight covers sent to 28 foreign destinations that were initially carried on the ‘Resumed Service’ Foreign Air Mail flight (FAM 7) from Nassau to Miami on 2 January 1930 (the initial first flight from Nassau to Miami was exactly a year earlier, 2 January 1929). They would then be transferred to other FAM flights to reach their ultimate destination. In 1969 Graham Hoey provided a broad outline of the scheme and listed 27 of the 28 destinations (he missed Nicaragua) (1).
Fig. 1 A typical Hess cover, to Panama, with the official 3-line cachet to Miami and the additional 2-line cachet plus aeroplane added by Walter Hess.
These covers were philatelic creations that had been subject to some very detailed planning on the part of Dr Hess. During the First World War it appears that he had made a considerable investment in sheets of the various War Tax and War Charity issues of Bahamas and it would seem that he had had difficulty in disposing of these stocks of stamps (in common with other War Stamp ‘investors’ of that time). In late 1929 he made plans to use them up by creating First Day covers addressed to the various destinations on some of the new FAM routes that had been awarded by the American government to Pan American Airways.
In preparation for this event Hess prepared a range of separate rubber handstamps with which to stamp the covers. These were as follows:
1. FIRST FLIGHT
2. NASSAU TO – – – – – – – – (the name of the country was inserted in rubber type)
3. RESUMED SERVICE (present on only a minority of the covers seen)
The illustration of a Trimotor aircraft in use at that time appears to have been a commercially available rubber handstamp which had been modified (2). This is not present on all covers of this type.
The cachets produced by these rubber stamps appear in a several colours – shades of red, magenta, green and black – but there appears to be no special significance in the colour chosen. In addition, every cover to Miami on the flight of 2 January 1930 bears an additional 3-line cachet in red ‘FIRST DAILY FLIGHT/NASSAU TO MIAMI/1930’, applied by the Nassau postal authorities.
Fig. 2 Typical examples from the range of covers sent to different destinations.
Nicaragua Argentina (Buenos Aires) Bolivia St Lucia Jamaica St Thomas (VI)
The postal rate comprised the normal foreign rate to the destination, a 4d registration fee plus an additional airmail fee (ultimately payable to the airline company – Pan Am in this case). The fee to the airline could be paid either by Bahamas stamps or American airmail stamps. Where Bahamas stamps were used they comprised only the ½d, 1d, 3d and 1s of the single line De La Rue War Tax overprints of July 1918, the ½d, 1d and 1s of the two-line De La Rue War Tax overprints of 1919 and the 1919 War Charity overprint on the 1d Queen’s Staircase issue, all of which were still valid for postage by 1930. Generally, Hess used his supply of War Tax stamps but in a number of cases added American airmail stamps instead to pay the airline fee.
A letter in the possession of the author dated 28 December 1929 contains a valuable reference to the sterling to dollar conversion rate applicable at that time. Replying to a customer who had sent $1 requesting First Flight covers for the FAM 7 flight to Miami of 2 January 1930, the Acting Postmaster, J. Herbert Peet, stated that “… as the Air Mail Postage from the Bahamas to the United States is 6d (12 cents) …”, i.e. one penny (1d) = 2 cents. In three cases I have two covers to the same destination, one with all Bahamas stamps and the other with a combination of Bahamas and US airmail stamps:
• To Mexico, one at 1s 2½d, one at 8d + 5c (2½d). Converted to sterling, this equates to 10½d for the latter cover.
• To Br. Honduras, one at 1s 9d, one at 8d + 15c (7½d). Converted to sterling, this equates to 1s 3½d for the latter cover.
• To Chile, one at 3s 6d, the other at 8d + 50c (25d = 2s 1d). Converted to sterling, this equates to 2s 9d for the latter cover.
I have yet to find an explanation for the difference in the value of the airmail fee between sterling and dollar rates.
The covers were sent by registered post, usually addressed to the postmaster of the destination town or city. This ensured that they would be ultimately returned to the sender. Many of these covers contain a note to the effect ‘Unclaimed; Return to writer’, sometimes applied as a stamped cachet, sometimes handwritten in the local language.
The airmail postal rates applicable at the time of these flights is a little problematical. It was not until 18 January 1930 that a formal notice appeared specifying the exact rate to foreign destinations, some of which differ considerably from the rates that Hess used on his covers. Nonetheless, none of these covers contain a postage due stamp or a label or note to indicate that the rate paid was too low. It is quite possible that Hess discussed the rates to use with the Bahamas postal authorities beforehand. This was a costly exercise since the new airmail rates were relatively expensive. Note that the surface rate from Bahamas was 2½d to foreign countries but only 1d to other British colonies.
There has been a tendency in some quarters to view these covers as a random distribution of destinations, but they were carefully planned. Apart from 4 destinations the others were sent to points on or adjacent to three FAM routes: the eastern Caribbean route to Suriname via the West Indian islands (FAM 6), the central America and northern South America route to Curacao (FAM 5) and down the west coast route of South America and across to Buenos Aires (FAM 9).
FAM 6 - the eastern Caribbean route to Suriname via the West Indian islands.
Destination Date of arrival Postal Rate Paid Reg. Fee Surface Rate per 1oz Derived Air Fee per ½oz from 18 Jan Air Fee
Cuba No datestamp 10½d 4d 2½d 4d 6d+4c = 8d 6d
Jamaica ᵠ 10 Jan 1930 10½d 4d 1d 5½d 5d+1c? n/a
Haiti 4 Jan 1930 1s 2½d 4d 2½d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 1s2d
Dominican Republic 4 Jan 1930 1s 2½d 4d 2½d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 1s2d
San Juan, Puerto Rico 4 Jan 1930 1s 1d 4d 2½d 6½d. 6d+1c? 1s2d
St Thomas, Virgin Is. 5 Jan 1930 1s 1d 4d 2½d 6½d. 6d+1c? 1s2d
St Kitts * 8 Jan 1930 1s 1d 4d 1d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 1s8d
Antigua 5 Jan 1930 1s 1d 4d 1d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 1s8d
Barbuda* 17 Jan 1930 1s 1d 4d 1d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 1s8d
St Lucia 5 Jan 1930 1s 1d 4d 1d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 1s8d
Trinidad 6 Jan 1930 1s 1d 4d 1d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 1s8d
British Guiana 6 Jan 1930 1s 1d 4d 1d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 2s3d
Suriname 8 Jan 1930 1s 2½d 4d 2½d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 2s3d
* via Antigua and then by sea
ᵠ via Cuba and then by sea
. would be US Domestic rate
FAM 5 - the Central America and northern South America route to Curacao
Destination Date of arrival Postal Rate Reg. Fee Surface Rate per 1oz Derived Air Fee per ½oz from 18 Jan Air Fee
British Honduras 4 Jan 1930 1s 9d 4d 1d 1s4d Double 8d? 1s5d 8d+15c = 1s3½ 4d 1d 10½d
Republic of Honduras 6 Jan 1930 7d+15c = 1s2½d 4d 2½d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 1s5d
Nicaragua 15 Jan 1930 8d+25c = 1s8½d 4d 2½d 1s2d 1s5d
Panama 6 Jan 1930 1s 10½d 4d 2½d 1s4d Double 8d? 1s8d
Canal Zone (Balboa) 6 Jan 1930 1s 10½d 4d 2½d 1s4d Double 8d? 1s8d
Colombia (Barraquilla) 7 Jan 1930 1s 11½d 4d 2½d 1s5d 2s3d
Curacao 8 Jan 1930 1s 2½d 4d 2½d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 2s3d
FAM 9 - the western South America route to Buenos Aires
Destination Date of arrival Postal Rate Reg. Fee Surface Rate per 1oz Derived Air Fee per ½oz from 18 Jan Air Fee
Peru (Lima) 9 Jan 1930 8d+55c = 2s11½d 4d 2½d 2s5d 2s8d
Bolivia (La Paz) 10 Jan 1930 8d+50c = 2s9d 4d 2½d 2s2½d 2s8d
Chile (Valpariso) 12 Jan 1930 3s 6d 4d 2½d 2s11½d 3s3d 8d+50c = 2s9d 4d 2½d 2s2½d
Argentina (Buenos Aires) 13 Jan 1930 4s 4d 2½d 3s5½d 3s6d
Other Destinations
Destination Date of arrival Postal Rate Reg. Fee Surface Rate per 1oz Derived Air Fee per ½oz from 18 Jan Air Fee
Canada 12 Jan 1930 8d 4d 1d (½oz) 2½d 5c = 2½d 6d
Salvador ? 6d + 15c =1s1½d 4d 2½d 7d 1s5d
Mexico (Mexico City) 5 Jan 1930 1s 2½d 4d 2½d 8d 6d+4c = 8d 1s3d 8d+5c =10½d 4d 2½ 4d
Guatemala 9 Jan 1930 8d + 10c = 1s1d 4d 2½d 6½d 1s5d
Hess can rightly be accused of generating a large series of ‘philatelic’ covers (to 28 different destinations) for his own personal profit and this has somewhat soured their reputation. However, he was not alone in this; most first flight covers are philatelic although generally not as prolific as the Hess creations.
Despite the relatively poor reputation of these ‘2 Jan 1930’ covers they remain attractive and collectible items and I have managed to obtain at least one example for each of the 28 destinations. In their favour they actually travelled on the various routes to their destination. Note also that they appear to have paid the correct postage + airmail rate thereby providing an important record of the postal rate in force on 2 January 1930 (these rates were constantly changing during this explosive period of airmail expansion).
Fig. 3 – Cover to Lima (Peru). Outward - Miami Jan 2, Cristobal (CZ) Jan 6, Lima (Peru) Jan 9. Return - Cristobal (CZ) Jan 11, Bilbao (CZ) Jan 11, New York Feb 21, Miami Feb 24, Nassau Feb 25.
The covers were all sent by registered post and usually addressed to the Postmaster of the destination town/city. First Flight covers addressed in this way and sent by registered post meant that they must be returned to the sender and hence they attracted a number of special markings to this effect. However, such returned mail was not sent by airmail; it travelled by normal post by the most economical means and in some cases it was several weeks (months in some cases) before they arrived back in Nassau. A specific case was for a cover to Curacao that arrived on 8 January but didn’t get back to Dr Hess until 21 August! In a number of instances covers have multiple cancels on the back recording the initial route to their destination and the (often) different route back to Dr Hess in Nassau (Figure 3).
Estimating Number of Covers Sent
How many covers were sent to each destination? Over the past few years I have been recording details of these covers as I come across them and have summarised them in order of their registration number in Table 1. I have accumulated sufficient examples for those territories on the FAM 6 route (via the West Indies to Suriname), plus Curacao, to confidently suggest that 30 covers were sent to each of those territories (Table 1). In these cases, the registration numbers recorded would seem to indicate that the covers were prepared in batches of 30 for each territory and that each was sequentially numbered within that batch.
Although the territories covered by flights FAM5 and FAM9 are much less well represented in this survey there are enough examples to suggest that the number of covers sent to each was nearer 10-15 in most cases. There are sufficient examples available for Mexico spread out between 546 and 632, with no numbers seen from other destinations within this number range, to suggest a large number of covers were addressed to Mexico (currently at least 86). For some destinations I have insufficient examples at present to speculate on the number range for that destination. There are a couple (in red in Table 1) which are anomalous, where additional covers may have been prepared and registered at a different time to those of an earlier batch for that destination. These show an unlikely wide gap between the highest and the previous number. Alternatively, they may have become detached from others within their original batch and just been added into a different batch that was being registered (it is unlikely that the postmaster was in the least concerned whether each batch was consecutively numbered). West Indies Philately No. 10 – June 2025 Page 17
Table 1 - FAM Routes & Registration Numbers (in Reg. No. Order)
Country Registration No. Total examples Batch Range Suggested Reg. No. range Route
1 St Lucia 9, 24, 26, 27 4 18 1-30 FAM 6
2 Curacao 34, 58 2 24 31-60 FAM 5
3 Trinidad 61, 67, 73, 74, 78, 85, 89 7 28 61-90 FAM 6
4 Br. Guiana 102, 109, 111, 115 4 13 91-120 FAM 6
5 Suriname 128, 137 2 9 121-150 FAM 6
6 Barbuda 165, 169, 171, 172, 178 5 13 151-180 FAM 6
7 Antigua 182, 190, 192, 196, 201, 204, 208, 209 8 27 181-210 FAM 6
8 St Thomas, VI 217, 224, 230, 232, 237 5 20 211-240 FAM 6
9 St Kitts 244, 250, 266 3 22 241-270 FAM 6
10 Puerto Rico 272, 278, 285 3 13 271-300 FAM 6
11 Haiti 311, 312, 314, 325 4 14 301-330 FAM 6
12 Dominican Republic 372, 377 2 5 331-360 FAM 6
13 Panama 386, 387, 388 3 2 361-389 FAM 5
14 Canal Zone 390, 394, 399 3 9 FAM 5
15 Br. Honduras 415, 427, 465 3 FAM 5
16 Columbia 446 1 FAM 5
17 Chile 452, 516 2 FAM 9
18 Argentina 455 1 FAM 9
19 Salvador 485 1 ?
20 Honduras 490, 491, 492 3 2 FAM 5
21 Guatemala 506, 508, 511 3 5 ?
22 Bolivia 522, 523 2 1 FAM 9
23 Nicaragua 527 1 FAM 5
24 Peru 538 1 FAM 9
25 Mexico 546, 548, 571, 583, 585, 593, 626, 632 8 86 ?
26 Canada 643, 644, 654, 659, 660, 663 4 20 ?
27 Cuba 700, 703, 705 3 5 FAM 6
28 Jamaica 721, 724, 730, 741 4 20 FAM 6
Batch Range = last Reg. No. - first Reg. No. for that destination.
Since the highest registration number I have for covers bearing the ‘2 Jan 1930’ datestamp is ‘741’ it is a reasonable assumption that Hess must have sent at least c.750 such covers on this flight (in addition there were also many other Hess covers that simply travelled to Miami unregistered). One could well imagine the look of alarm on the face of the Nassau postmaster when Hess approached bearing this vast batch of covers to be registered.
To make further progress in this evaluation of the number of covers existing for each destination I need more examples together with their details (preferably scans, front and back). The Hess covers required must be dated 2 Jan 1930 and they must have been registered (any other dates are not applicable since a different set of registration numbers may have been used). If scans are not available, then just the destination and the registration number would still provide valuable information. Please send to pfernbank@tiscali.co.uk.
My thanks to Steve Jarvis for casting an experienced eye over my draft of this article and supplying much information on the postal rates in force during this era.
References 1. Graham Hoey, First Daily Flight, Nassau-Miami, BCPSG Journal, No 50, p143, August 1969. 2. Ibid, p145

The cover shown in Figure 1 is a Barbados airmail cover sent to England on 30 June 1942. It is a commercial cover sent to First Lieutenant Kovač in the Czechoslovakian Air Inspectorate. It is franked at 58s10d in postage or just under £3. A very large sum for an individual in 1942 with £3 worth close to £119 today.
It is franked with mainly 5-shilling stamps because that was the highest value stamp available on Barbados at the time. The question arises as to what rate this represents but if you look carefully at the cover there is a small pencilled 19R just under Northatlantic Airmail (Figure 2). Such notations are often found on Barbados airmail covers, put there by the postal clerks. This indicates that the cover weighed between 9 and 9½ ounces. According to Bayley (1) the airmail rate, all the way to England, was 3s1d per half ounce. Thus, the total due was 19 x 3s1d plus 3d for registration which equals 58s10d, the rate on the cover.
I have never seen a higher rate cover from the West Indies during WWII. Indeed, only airmail covers from Australia to England or vice versa during this period are likely to exceed this. If any member has a commercial cover from the Caribbean that comes close or beats this, please let me know.
Footnote: I purchased this cover on eBay at least a decade ago where it remained unloved. It was put up at $US25 and failed to sell. It then went up again and failed to sell a second time. It didn’t really fit my collection but the third time it went up I purchased it because it was such a high franking. I thought the used block of 5-shilling stamps was worth more than the asking price. The total catalogue value according my Stanley Gibbons catalogue is just over £168 were you to soak them off (heaven forbid!).
Reference: (1) Edmund A. Bayley, The History of the Post Offices in Barbados, 2008, Barbados

David Taylor would like to hear from anyone who owns an 1887 Montserrat 1d Lilac Revenue tete-beche pair in mint or used condition. He would like to hear from you either to buy the item, or at a minimum for a scan.
He can be contacted at david@taylorzone.co.uk

In the March 2025 edition of the WIPSG Journal, Dr John K. Courtis’s article on Overprinted Private Wrappers of the Caribbean, pp.13-19, was of particular interest to me, especially in regard to the two Barbados Department of Agriculture wrappers he illustrated. Both had OFFICIAL PAID cancels, with no adhesives and were sent to England, one in 1902 and the other in 1910 (which was signed by Francis Walts).
Illustrated is the only Barbados wrapper I have seen, which I purchased six years ago. It is also from the Department of Agriculture and signed by Francis Walts. However, the differences are that it bears a 1916 halfpenny “Badge” adhesive date stamped 31 October 1918 and is addressed to the U.S.A.
This raises a query which hopefully other readers may be able to answer, and it may relate to either inland or U.P.U. postal regulations.
Covering the period from 1902 to 1918,
1) Was it optional for a Government Department to use an adhesive stamp or an ‘official paid’ marking on mail to Empire as well as foreign countries? Or,
2) Were ‘official paid’ markings only acceptable on mail to the U.K and Empire countries but adhesives had to be used on mail to the U.S.A. and other foreign countries? Or,
3) Was there a change in the regulations some time between 1910 and 1918 requiring only adhesive stamps to be used to any destination?

This project represents my dedication to cataloguing the rich and diverse history of British Guiana’s postmarks. But why create another catalogue when The Postage Stamps and Postal History of British Guiana by Townsend & Howe, published by The Royal Philatelic Society, London in 1970 (limited to just 500 copies for sale), and The Postal History of British Guiana by Edward B. Proud, published in 2000, have already extensively documented these postmarks? Both works provide invaluable research for collectors and historians alike.
However, one crucial issue remains unresolved—neither catalogue assigns a unique identifier to each postmark. Without this, collectors lack a clear way to track what is missing from their collections. My goal with this catalogue is to provide a structured, easy-to-reference system that ensures every postmark is uniquely identified. By doing so, collectors can more accurately document their holdings, expand their knowledge, and better appreciate the evolution of British Guiana’s postal history.
One of the great advantages of a virtual catalogue is that it eliminates the common dilemma of whether to organize postmarks by Type or by Post Office—a challenge many collectors face. With a digital format, we can present the postmarks in both ways, allowing users to navigate them by Postmark Type or by Post Office. This dual approach makes the catalogue more versatile, offering multiple perspectives for exploration and research.
This work builds upon the foundational research of W.A. Townsend, F.G. Howe, Edward B. Proud, Peter Ford, and Michael Rego, incorporating new data and refining previous work to offer a more precise and accessible catalogue. It was developed in collaboration with The Guyana Philatelic Society. I would like to personally thank Ann Wood, Charles Kennard, Michael Hamilton, and Richard Maisel for their contributions, as well as the late Simon Goldblatt, Charles Freeland, and Michael Medlicott, whose work and insights have been invaluable. And to the late Derek Nathan, whose displays on British Guiana’s postal history inspired this project, I owe my deepest gratitude.
The Series E catalogue, covering late 1877 to January 22, 1901, is now complete and featured in this article. It is also available online at https://britishguianaphilately.wordpress.com, and a PDF version with labels can be requested at britishguiana1@gmail.com.
Please note that this catalogue is a work in progress. Comments, critiques, and corrections are welcome. Here’s a sample of one of the Types in the Catalogue which is organized by Type:

This article presents an overview, with examples, of the treatment of unpaid and underpaid mail sent from Jamaica to other countries in the Postal Union during the early years of the General/Universal Postal Union.
1877: Joining the General Postal Union
When Jamaica joined the General Postal Union (GPU) on 1 April 1877 the Post Office was then required to follow the regulations set out in the GPU Treaty signed at Berne on 9 October 1874 (1), at least so far as mail to Union members was concerned. At this time Jamaica reduced the letter rate for other places within the Postal Union (whether by Packet or Private Ship) to 6d. per half ounce (postcards 3d. each). The Post Office Report for 1878 noted a consequent reduction of income from packet postage although revenue from inland postage continued to rise.
The GPO Notice (2) in the Jamaica Gazette on 29 March 1877 stated that unpaid letters to GPU countries would be charged 9d. per half ounce, which was not consistent with GPU regulations that stated: ‘The charge on unpaid letters shall be double the rate levied in the country of destination on prepaid letters’. Partially paid letters were to be ‘…charged as unpaid letters, after deducting the value of the stamped envelopes or postage stamps (if any) employed’. In practice, as demonstrated by the first cover shown later in this article, letters were charged in the destination country following their interpretation of the GPU regulations.
Prepayment of inland letter postage had become compulsory on 1 January 1872, and unpaid letters were charged with double postage (less the amount of any stamps on a partially paid item). Underpaid inland mail did not have to be processed according to GPU regulations; local practices could be retained. Internal island mail from this period with postage due is rare, but probably involved the use of manuscript annotations.
The GPU regulations for the marking of underpaid mail to member countries required the dispatching post office to:
• impress on each item a prominent letter “T” (indicating a tax to be paid); (Figure 1)
• mark the number of rates in the top left corner if a letter or other postal packet was liable to more than a single rate of postage; and
• write the total value of the postage stamps in figures, in black ink, alongside the stamps; the value was to be expressed in francs and centimes, the adopted standard currency of the GPU being the Franc of the Latin Monetary Union.
Fig. 1 “T” handstamps used in Jamaica during the GPU and early UPU period. Reference codes are from the Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Philately, adapted from Lant (3).
The standard GPU prepaid letter rate stipulated in the Treaty was 25 centimes per 15 grams (or a half ounce), although a range from 20 to 32 centimes was allowed. The British Post Office set a GPU letter rate of 2½d. and considered 1d. to be equivalent to 10 centimes. Jamaica, in using the British Pound Sterling, followed the same exchange rate. On this basis, the letter rate from Jamaica to GPU countries should have been set at 2½d. or 3d. rather than the 6d. used in 1877. However, the Treaty allowed addition of a maritime surcharge (initially of up to 50%) for conveyance by sea of distances over 300 miles and an interim Congress held in Berne in 1876 decided that the country whose ships carried the mail could add a surcharge of 100% of the normal letter rate (4, p.259). Great Britain consequently adopted a 6d. rate to and from her colonies.
It was the responsibility of the country of destination to charge any insufficiently paid articles with the amount of postage due, this being calculated as double the rate that should have been paid and subtracting any actual postage paid (Snelson (5) provides a summary of the GPU regulations).
A rare example of unpaid mail from Jamaica to a GPU member from the two-year period under GPU rules (1 April 1877 – 31 March 1879) is shown in Figure 2. The letter was mailed from Kingston to the United States, completely unpaid, on 13 March 1879. Being unpaid, the postal clerk in Kingston applied the triangular T marking (UPTT-D05- 2) to indicate that postage due should be raised at the destination. This is the earliest recorded example of this triangular T mark, the first to be used in Jamaica, and it is notably sharp compared to later strikes. On postage due mail the clerk would normally have written the value of the postage prepaid, but as no postage had been paid in this case, no such value marking was made. The letter was carried on the fortnightly contract mail steamer service to New York, departing Kingston on 13 March 1879. On arrival in New York on 21 March the postage due was calculated as twice the United States GPU letter rate, i.e. 2 × 25 centimes = 50 centimes. The United States exchange rate of 1c = 5 centimes resulted in a charge of 10 cents.
1879: The Universal Postal Union
On 1 April 1879 the GPU was renamed the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the stipulations of the 1878 Paris Convention (6) came into effect. The standard UPU letter rate to other member countries, the list of which had by now increased significantly (7), remained at 25 centimes, with a reduced permissible range and the maritime surcharge returned to 50% of the letter rate. In Jamaica, the rate for letters to UPU members was reduced from 6d. to 4d. (per 15g) when prepaid. This conformed with the standard letter rate (25 centimes) plus the 50% maritime surcharge (12½ centimes) = 37½ centimes, rounded up to 40 centimes. At the British exchange rate of 1d. = 10 centimes, this equates to a rate of 4d. The UPU regulations stated that unpaid letters were still charged double (i.e. 8d.), but insufficiently prepaid letters were now charged double the amount of the deficiency from the prepaid rate.
Regarding handling of underpaid mail, the dispatching office was still required to:
• impress on each item a prominent letter “T” (indicating a tax to be paid), and
• mark the number of rates in the top left corner if a letter or other postal packet was liable to more than a single rate of postage But now the dispatching office had to:
• write the deficiency in the postage (rather than the value of the postage paid), in black ink, alongside the stamps; this value to be expressed in francs and centimes as before.
The receiving office remained responsible for calculating and collecting double the deficiency in the prepayment, usually marking this on the item in local currency, either by handstamp or in manuscript. Calculation of the postage due by the destination country was now a simpler matter with the actual deficiency in prepayment being shown on the article.
Fig. 3 Underpaid letter of 13 March 1884 from Kingston to North Abington, Massachusetts, United States. The 2d Crown CA watermarked stamp was used four days before the previously recorded earliest date of use.
An example of underpaid mail sent from Jamaica to a UPU member country during this early period of the UPU is shown in Figure 3. This letter was mailed from Kingston to the United States on 13 March 1884 (single ring datestamp on the back) and only franked at the two pence inland letter rate instead of the four pence UPU letter rate. Being two pence underpaid, the postal clerk in Kingston applied the triangular “T” marking (UPTT-D05-2) to identify the letter as having postage due. They wrote the deficiency alongside the stamp in blue crayon as “20” (centimes). UPU regulations specified that the deficiency should be written in black ink, but postal clerks in Jamaica usually used blue crayon. On arrival in New York on 21 March the postage due was calculated as 2 × 20 centimes = 40 centimes which was converted to 8 cents and the appropriate handstamp applied.
Fig. 4 A letter of 3 May 1892 from Kingston to Nantes, France, underpaying the new 2½d. UPU letter rate by a halfpenny. Double deficiency (10 centimes) shown by the French postage due stamp.
On 1 January 1891 the letter rate to UPU countries was reduced from 4d to 2½d, corresponding to the removal of the maritime surcharge. An example of a letter underpaid by a half penny is shown in Figure 4 with the manuscript marking “1/5” denoting a single rate letter with five centimes deficiency.
As mentioned earlier, overweight letters were marked with the number of rates, together with the value of the deficiency in postage paid (in francs/centimes); an example is shown in Figure 5. This double rate letter was only franked as a single rate (half ounce) and was thus 2½d. (25 centimes) underpaid. At the Kingston Post Office (on 6 August 1895) the clerk impressed the triangular “T” handstamp (UPTT-D05-2) and wrote “2/25” in blue crayon denoting the number of rates and the deficiency. On arrival in London the postage due was charged as double the deficiency: 50 centimes equating to five pence, as shown by the Foreign Branch (F.B.) tax mark.
Fig. 5 Underpaid double rate letter of 5 August 1895 from Little London to London.
Fig. 6 Underpaid letter of 7 March 1900 Port Antonio to Malden, Massachusetts, United States bearing the triangular “T” handstamp of Port Antonio.
The Port Antonio “T” Handstamp
Although most foreign mail at this time left the island from Kingston, and was handled by the Kingston GPO, some non-contract vessels carrying mail, particularly to the United States, left from other ports. Most notably, ships of the Boston Fruit Company (later the United Fruit Company) operated frequently between Port Antonio and ports on the east coast of the United States and had a contract with the US Government for the carriage of mail (8). This mail was handled by the Port Antonio Post Office, and underpaid covers indicate that they had their own distinctive triangular “T” handstamp (UPTT-D05-1) with a very thin “T” in a non-equilateral triangular frame. An example is shown in Figure 6 which was apparently underpaid, so was probably a double rate letter, although the postal clerk in Port Antonio failed to mark both the number of rates and the deficiency; this may be why there is no evidence of any postage due having been collected in the United States.
Fig. 7 Underpaid picture postcard of 22 March 1904 from Port Antonio to Bristol, UK, bearing triangular “T” handstamps of both Port Antonio (near the Kingston datestamp) and Kingston.
Figure 7 shows a picture postcard to Bristol, mailed in Port Antonio, which bears triangular “T” handstamps from two different Jamaican post offices. The Port Antonio “T” (UPTT-D05-1) was applied alongside a manuscript “5” in blue crayon, indicating a deficiency of 5 centimes (i.e. a halfpenny; the postcard rate to England being one penny). The postcard was then taken to Kingston rather than being carried on an American vessel from Port Antonio, and in the Kingston GPO it received another triangular “T” handstamp (UPTT-D05a), this being the new larger type with serifs (introduced in 1897 to replace the previous type, UPTT-D05-2, in the Kingston office). The card was carried to Liverpool, probably by a ship of the Leyland Line which operated a monthly service, and on arrival it received the “1d.” charge handstamp of the Liverpool office (code 466).
Divided-back Picture Postcards
These cards were not allowed as postcards under UPU regulations until after the 1906 Rome Congress (9; introduced 1 October 1907), because no message was permitted on the front of the card, only the address, stamp and postal markings. They were considered as letters and taxed accordingly. One such example is shown in Figure 8 – sent from Kingston to the United States franked at the one penny postcard rate but treated as a letter and impressed with a new circular “T” handstamp (UPTC-D06; this example being the earliest recorded date of use). The postal clerk in Kingston failed to mark the deficiency (15 centimes), but it was correctly charged 6 cents (30 centimes) postage due in the United States.
Fig. 8 Divided back postcard of 20 March 1905 sent from Kingston to Cleveland, Ohio, United States, not allowed under prevailing regulations and charged as a letter.
The divided-back postcard shown in Figure 9 was sent from Black River to the United States, and was similarly marked as underpaid in Kingston, this time with a second type of circular “T” handstamp (UPTC-D06a), the “T” having a shorter base and more widely spaced serifs on the upper bar. On arrival in Washington DC it was redirected to Vittoria in Canada. As the Empire letter rate of one penny had been introduced in Jamaica in 1899, and this was the same as the postcard rate, there was no deficiency in postage. This example illustrates the UPU regulation that redirected mail that was fully paid at the UPU rate was not subject to additional charges, and as it was delivered in Canada it was this letter rate (1d.) that was appropriate. Accordingly, both the “T” handstamp and the crayon “1/15” charge markings applied in Jamaica were struck out in Canada.
Fig. 9 Divided back postcard of 30 July 1906 sent from Black River to Washington DC, United States, and redirected to Vittoria, Ontario, Canada. Charged at the letter rate, this card was underpaid for delivery in the United States, but fully paid for delivery in Canada
A future companion article on the handling of postage due mail in Jamaica will take up the story from the implementation on 1 October 1907 of the regulations from the UPU’s Rome Congress, examining the changes in procedure and associated postage due markings used up to the end of the First World War.
References (1) Treaty Concerning the Formation of a General Postal Union. Signed at Berne, October 9, 1874. Government Printing Office, Washington (1875). (2) Eleventh Annual Report on the Post Office Department. General Post Office, Jamaica Gazette (7 August 1879). (3) Lant R. (1980). The “Unpaid and Tax” Markings of Jamaica: Part II. British Caribbean Philatelic Journal 20(2), 48-55. (4) Robinson H. Carrying British Mails Overseas. New York University Press (1964), 327pp. (5) Snelson K. UK Taxe Marks for International Mail 1875-2000, Usage & Listing. Self-published (2007), 178pp. (6) Universal Postal Union. Convention of Paris, June 1878. (7) Codding G.A. The Universal Postal Union. Coordinator of the International Mails. New York University Press, (1964), 296pp. (8) Rego M.R. Steamship Lines to the Caribbean, Volume Two, History, Routes, Agents, Ship Markings, Ships, Fleet List. The British West Indies Study Circle (2007). (9) Universal Postal Union. Convention of Rome (26 May 1906). H.M. Stationery Office.

(Originally published in the Philatelic Society of Trinidad & Tobago Bulletin #305 (April – July 2024))
Overall the 1960 definitive set was a stark departure from the conservative designs of earlier issues and the $1.20 is perhaps the brightest and most colourful example of this change. The stamp was designed by Geoffrey Michael Goaman, a well-known graphic artist, whose archive has survived and has been broken up and sold piecemeal.
The notes on the planned 1960 series show that all values were initially intended to be in the same smaller format (Figure 1).The sample stamp attached to the note sent to the artist was a 1959 Singapore 4c issue, and was meant to be a guide to the design they were looking for. Printed cards showing the font styles and titles to be used were also sent (Figure 2). Mr Goaman was tasked with designing three values which later became the 25c with scarlet ibis, 50c with the Mohammed Jinnah Mosque and the $1.20 with hummingbird.
Fig. 2 Font and title reference cards.
The archive contained a black and white photograph of a hummingbird feeding from a flower (Figure 3) which was obviously the basis for the first mock-up (Figure 4). Being black and white, the artist had full liberty to choose a colour scheme from his imagination.
Fig. 3 Black and white photograph which is the basis of the first proof.
After the first design was produced, it was presumably reviewed by the Crown Agents and authorities in Trinidad and Tobago, and they sent a note to Mr Goaman suggesting improvements to the flower and the hummingbird. The hummingbird described is the copper-rumped hummingbird (Saucerottia tobaci), (this was mentioned in an October 1960 article in GSM). I think a good faith effort was made to capture a likeness of the bird but this was done without an actual example and so the colouration is more generic. (see Figure 4).
Fig. 4 Copper-rumped hummingbird (Saucerottia tobaci) and notes on changes to the design
The hibiscus is more realistic as it was based on a local postcard sent to the designer, titled: “White, red, flame and yellow – the Hibiscus is the queen of tropical flowers” published by Mike Roberts Color Production, Berkeley 2, Calif., distributed by M. Jolly, St Augustine, Trinidad, W.I. The leaves however are based on a UK sourced postcard and sketches made at Kew. It is interesting to note how Mr Goaman drew from sources at Kew Gardens and the Natural History Museum in London, to build what is a tropical scene; and the level of care taken to make the representation accurate and “avoid complaints and unfavourable comments from philatelists”.
Fig. 5 Postcards and sketches of the hibiscus flowers and leaves used to develop the design.
The decision was also made to print this value in a larger format which allowed for a more expansive design. The development of the artwork and the colour scheme can be seen progressing with colour swatches of the design elements and pencil sketches.
Fig. 6 Colour swatch for the new design.
Fig. 7 Three items showing the design progression.
The final document is somewhat ironic as it states that "All relevant rough drawings which are made preparatory to the completion of the design must be destroyed." As is often the case, collectors love what escaped destruction, especially if it tells the story of how a stamp was born. So, while Mr Goaman might have been breaking the rules by keeping his archive, we secretly salute him.
Fig. 8 Notes for the designer.

A member of the society has some unwanted literature that is available free of charge to any member who can collect them from the Bushey/Watford area. These include:
(1) "Exploring Jamaica through Obliterators" by Ian R Woodward (BCPSG)
(2) "The Unpaid Tax Markings of Jamaica" by Reg Lant (BCPSG)
(3) "Jamaica Railway Town Cancellations" and "Registration Markings and Labels of Jamaica" (BCPSG)
(4) "Handbook of Jamaica 1933/34"
(5) "Guide to Jamaica British West Indies" first published 1937
There are also back issues of the British Caribbean Philatelic Journal and the BWISC Bulletin, and various listings from dealers. If interested in any of these please contact Paul Farrimond (publications@wipsg.org) who will put you in contact with the owner.

The stamps shown at right are reproductions of actual stamps for KGV & KGVI but a fantasy for KEVII. They are for sale on eBay for $US16 and have nothing on the back stating they are replicas. There is another set for sale at a similar price that has replica handstamped on the back. While the latter are allowed on eBay the former are not. The problem with these copies is that they will end up in the general collector market and fool some novice collectors in parting with good money. They are a drug on the market and have the potential to harm the hobby as modern technology makes such items easy to produce. Please do not buy them, even as curios, as this simply encourages further manufacture.

In 2025 we look forward to two major events in the UK.
In May, we have Europhilex at the NEC near Birmingham:
• The Society has a table on the Thursday where we will be selling our books and also have available for purchase some auction catalogues from the BWISC Library. James Podger has taken over updating the Philatelic Auction Bibliography created by Michel Forand and Charles Freeland. I have added hyperlinks to the catalogues that I have scanned to PDFs being disposed of from the Library. The listing can be accessed via the website menu at Reference & Galleries > Information > Philatelic Auction Bibliography

https://wipsg.org/philatelic-auction-bibliography

•
On Saturday afternoon (3 to 5 pm) we will have a Society meeting. Please bring along an informal display.

In October, we have our Convention, including the AGM and Auction. Details and a booking form are enclosed as a flyer with the Journal for those who receive a printed copy. The information is also on the website and can be accessed from the Home Page under “Meeting News”. Please book attendance and the hotel early as we will need to confirm numbers in late summer.
Finally, a reminder that 2025 subscriptions are now due. Thank you if you have already paid. Your status can be seen on the front page of the printed journal address sheet or can be viewed on the website after logging in (top right of the screen). Please pay promptly to save administrative effort for the Society volunteers.

Happy New Year everyone. Here are some important dates for your diary:
• 7 to 11 May Europhilex, Birmingham, UK. The WIPSG will have a table there on 8 May (do drop by to say hello) and is holding a meeting on 10 May from 3 to 5pm. Please bring something of interest along to share with other members.
• 10 April-the Secretary is again holding an ‘open house and lunch’, in Surrey, for members. Do let her know if you plan to attend.
• 11 and 12 October the WIPSG Convention is taking place at Sedgebrook Hall near Northampton. Booking details are on the website. Please contact Steve Jarvis or Susan Taylor if you would like to exhibit at this event. The AGM and annual WIPSG Auction will also take place as part of the weekend’s events. The auction looks as if it is going to be ‘a cracker’. Contact Simon Richards on auction@wipsg.org if you wish to submit any items.
Other news of note:
• Member, Paul Ramsaroop is compiling a catalogue of British Guiana date stamps used on pre adhesive envelopes from the colony’s formation in 1831 and up to 1901. Please take a look at https://britishguianaphilately.wordpress.com/post-offices and contact Paul on pramsaroop@gmail.com if you are able to help.
• Do you have a 30-page display that you could load onto PowerPoint and use to deliver on Zoom to fellow members? If so, please contact Susan Taylor on sec@wipsg.org The society needs more members to share their expertise and Zoom makes the process very easy.
• Jonathan Guy is researching and writing a book on the postal stationary of Barbados. If you have items in your collection that are of relevance please email him on jonathanmguy@hotmail.com – he’ll be delighted to hear from you.
Finally, and most importantly! Please, please, pay your dues for 2025 if you have not already done so. Kindest regards Susan

Welcome to the third year of the WIPSG Journal which I hope continues to maintain that balance between the classics and modern philately (the classics of the future?). Philately must be the most written about hobby in the world with modern publication techniques making the task that much simpler. However, budding authors of monographs should use an editor (if possible) or at least a very good proofreader. I have been lucky to date in having two excellent proofreaders for the journal. In terms of articles for the journal, please keep them coming as we are running a little low and I like to be a few issues ahead of the curve.
This year is shaping up to be a busy one if you are interested in exhibitions and exhibiting. By the time you read this the FIP exhibition in Uruguay will be over. It is an exhibition I would have loved to attend but instead I managed to get an exhibit accepted (The Development of Commercial Airmail in the Caribbean – a postal history exhibit). It is an FIP exhibition but relatively small. Then for me there is a national exhibition in New Zealand in March followed by a national show in Sydney two weeks later. Then we have EuroPhilex (FEPA) in May, Bangkok in August (FIAP), PhilaKorea in September (FIP), Dubai in October (FIP and tying in with the UPU Congress), plus a national one-frame exhibition in Hobart at the end of October. Then there are all the US national shows plus some FEPA and FIAF shows I am sure I have missed. I will be attending a number of these and hope to catch up some of you at one of them, particularly EuroPhilex. One thing about our hobby is that if you like to travel it is never dull and you will invariably meet an Australian collector or two at most of these exhibitions.
The hobby remains strong, but this is tempered by the fact that we are all getting older and it is hard to draw in younger blood, but we should try. We should also try to draw in our women collectors whom we know are out there but are not always dealt with in a way that attracts them to organised philately. We need to change that and, on that note, enjoy the new year.

Simon Richards’ book “Dominica: Philately to 1967” was published in November. This 296-page hardback book is available to WIPSG Members for the very reasonable price of £32 plus postage from Pennymead Auctions. One hundred copies were printed but they are selling fast so please act soon to secure your copy.
If any member is thinking of writing a book (of any size – they don’t have to be 296 pages!) please contact Paul Farrimond at publications@wipsg.org and he will be pleased to discuss it with you.
Members who are interested in early covers of Trinidad or Barbados will be interested to know that the censuses of covers reported in the two books compiled by Peter Ford (2019 & 2022) are available on the WIPSG website under “Reference & Galleries” then “Information” from the menu on the Home Page. These compilations are searchable and are being routinely updated as new information is made available. If any member can add further examples, we would be pleased to receive scans and details: for Barbados to Jonathan Guy (jonathanmguy@hotmail.com), for Trinidad to David Druett (pennymeadbooks@hotmail.co.uk); please also copy Paul Farrimond (publications@wipsg.org).
Paul Farrimond & Steve Jarvis

Michael was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham and spent his childhood in Worcestershire, Somerset and Kent. After graduating from Lincoln College, Oxford in 1965, Michael joined P&O Orient Lines as a graduate trainee. He rose through the ranks and was a Director of P&O Travel by 1980. After an extensive career in the travel and air industry, and in Finance (Nomura International and on the Board of National Savings and Investments) Michael then moved into healthcare in 2010. Michael also held many government advisory positions including being on the ‘Tidy Britain Group’, ‘The Heritage of London Trust’, and ‘The Audit Committee of HM Treasury’. Regardless of what must have been an extremely demanding career, Michael was able to make time for a wide variety of interests. He enjoyed travel, was a keen opera buff, an enthusiastic gardener, and he loved his philately. Michael was also a big family man with his son Oliver, and three daughters Charlotte, Annabel and Flora; plus, six grandchildren, whom he adored (although sadly none of them had an interest in stamps despite his best efforts). He will be greatly missed by his wife Susan and his family.
Michael’s parents had neighbours with family living in Barbados and as a result, from the age of 5, Michael was supplied with Caribbean stamps ‘to collect’. Thus, commenced what became a lifetime’s passion for philately. He travelled widely and always took the time to visit the local stamp shops and post office wherever he was.
Michael was a member and a fellow of the Royal Philatelic
Society, being awarded the RPSL Gold Plaquette in 2016. He has also been a member of the West Indies Philatelic Study Group for nearly 55 years (originally as a member of the British West Indies Study Circle). He wrote many articles for the Bulletin over the years.
Michael co-authored the now famous ‘Trinidad: a philatelic history to 1913’ book with two other philatelic giants – Ben Ramkissoon and John Marriott. It won the Charles Peterson Literature Grand Award and Gold Medal in 2011 and a further 4 international gold medals. British Empire Revenue stamps were a key area of his collecting (he had various exhibits of these), as were the manuscript postmarks of small villages in the West Indies before the issue of date stamps. His British Empire revenues were dispersed in a landmark Stanley Gibbons auction on 26 Oct 2022. The catalogue, with many exotic highlights in the form of essays, proofs and usages, gives an insight into Michael's approach to collecting.
Michael was well known for his kindness and his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things philatelic. Michael’s thoughtfulness was epitomised by the appreciative emails he posted to members who researched and wrote good articles, and the time he put into writing detailed book reviews. His displays on Caribbean philatelic subjects were epic, always meticulously written up in his characteristic neat script.
He was always keen to share his discoveries such as cancels, watermark varieties or constant plate flaws, which would be communicated to the BWISC journal or to Hugh Jefferies for possible inclusion in Part I. A recent example was the "broken frame" on the British Guiana 1876-79 issue and its subsequent surcharges, and he always went out of his way to support and encourage fledgling members.
Michael’s Trinidad Collection will be auctioned by Spink on 29 April 2025.

RELIGIOUS BROADCAST: printed cover from sender at Frederiksted, St. Croix, D.W.I. announcing that “JESUS IS COMING, GET READY” posted to Apthorp, New Hampshire with Montserrat ½d Badge dated AP 1 1911.

INTERRUPTED MAIL with EXEMPT SHIP LETTER:
wrapper without contents dated JU xx 1839 marked “Consignees Letter per Ealing Grove”. The “Ealing Grove” left Dominica for London via Antigua where she was stranded on the south side of Antigua June 28th and took on water. She got off July 1st after being lightened and reached Antigua on the 3rd but condemned as unseaworthy on July 13th. The mails were carried to England on the “Thos. Carty” and landed with HASTINGS/SHIP LETTER on August 10th. Handstruck POSTAGE NOT PAID/TO LONDON and (Crown) EXEMPT SHIP LR rated 1/4 changed to 3/4 as re-addressed Lancaster.

SUGAR PLANTATION ESTATE RETURN: monthly return printed sheet for New Division Estate for September 1862 unusually posted with internally struck PAID AT ANTIGUA Crowned Circle and pmk’d A/OC 11 62 to Whitehaven. Contents include canes planted, list of livestock and goods received, with Estate Cash Expenditure for Labour with itemised cost of groom, foreman, watchmen, coopers, blacksmith, saddlers, water carriers, carpenters, pensioners, and costs for weeding, ploughing etc.

INTAGLIO SHIP LETTER HANDSTAMP: unique SHIP LETTER/(crown)/LIVERPOOL N.S. on entire from Barbados JU 18 1824 marked “p. Benson” to Merchants in St. John, New Brunswick rated “1N7”.
BAHAMAS sent PHILADELPHIA for LONDON: entire from Nassau dated OC 13 1851 routed via New York where it caught the Cunard steamer “Europa” for Liverpool. In late September 1852 there was an outbreak of cholera in the Bahamas in which over 1,000 persons died within a period of five months. The Daily Atlas described “Vessels in the harbour as crowded with people fleeing the scourge”.

ROUTED VIA BRITISH PACKET AGENT ON AMERICAN MAINLAND: following the wreck of the RMSPCo paddle steamer “Medina” (MY 12 1842): the “Gipsy” ship (JU 1 1842), the “Nesbitt” barque (JU 10 1842), the “Isabella” (JY 7 1842) all wrecked around Turks Islands, the RMSP service to the Turks was discontinued due to unsuitable anchorage in October 1842, and UK addressed mail was usually sent to agents in New York. The illustrated pre-stamp dated JY 13 1843 to the Wesleyan Mission, London was forwarded to the British Packet agent in Boston, Massachusetts and handstruck red “BOSTON”.

PRIVATE SHIP LETTER WITH SCOTTISH WHEEL TAX (“additional halfpenny”) HANDSTAMPS:
progressively introduced 9-13 June 1813, and initially shown in manuscript, with the first handstamps at London JU 17, Berwick JU 20, and Edinburgh JU 22 being applied to all letters for Scotland carried in a carriage with more than two wheels in addition to normal postage rates. 133 handstamps were used in Scotland, nearly all made in Edinburgh, and issued to 78 Scottish Post Offices. By contrast a further 47 handstamps in England (and Ireland) were made locally in the towns they were issued. The tax was abolished JA 1 1840 effective on that date. Scottish “½” handstamps are widely collected and make both an interesting collection and display. The illustrated entire is from Berbice AP 10 1827 marked “p. Cambria” to Inverness, North Britain landed with red ink LYMINGTON/SHIP LRE and rated 1/5 changed to 2/1 with boxed Scottish “½”.

DEFICIENT POSTAGE/FINE CANCELLED DUE ‘’Refused’’: GB QV 6d pmk’d Edinburgh AP 1 79 duplex to St. Christopher (not UPU member until JY 1 79 when 1s rate reduced to 4d) with DEFICIENT POSTAGE 6/BRITISH SHARE OF FINE 6 = 1/-, initially rated 1/5 (1d for Colony) changed to 1/6 but with red underlined “Refused” all fines and rates scrubbed out. Backstamped AP 16 79 arrival.

FLEURON INSCRIBED “Withdrawn Ship Letter”: the Post Paid Withdrawn Ship Letter Act commenced from OC 10 1814 and was terminated AU 1 1815. The act stipulated that letters could be taken into the Post Office to be sent at nearest one-third of packet rate plus inland postage payable prior to release as a private ship letter. The rate to Bristol being 1s 2d to Falmouth plus 11d inland post = 25, double = 50, one third being 17 pence or 1s 5d. This entire with ANTIGUA fleuron dated JUN 21 without year is inscribed “Withdrawn Ship Letter” and appended “Paid 1/5” in red ink alongside, the recipient has marked address panel as received “June 22nd 1815”.

MOURNING COVER: the standard style cover with outer edge mourning bands incoming from Sydney, New South Wales to Antigua with QV 1d, 4 x 2d, 1/-(1/9d rate) pmk’d SP 7 1872 showing London transit 28 OC 72 with red crayon “11d” (postage credit due to London) and handstruck red “1d” (postage credit due to Antigua).

UNUSUAL STYLE MOURNING COVER WITH TINY TRIANGLES TOP AND BOTTOM EDGES: British Guiana cover with 2c pair and strip of three, 12c, 24c (46c rate = 1/11d) pmk’d Georgetown “A03” during December 1872 to Richibucto, New Brunswick with red crayon ‘8’.

Overprinted private postal wrappers is an area of philately that has not been systematically documented. Postal wrappers, open at each end for postal inspection is a concessionary class of mail for the sending of printed matter. Because these wrappers are not official Post Office types bearing a prepaid indicium, they are not included within the domain of postal stationery and, over the years, appear to have fallen through the philatelic cracks. Their appearance in collections and elsewhere revolve around some postal history attribute. Private wrappers represent a fresh area of philately with potential for research, and considerably more freedom to collect without the constraints of postal stationery rules.
All postal wrappers suffered low survival rates, 1% or even 0.01% being regularly observed. Recipients were interested in the enclosure, with little thought for the collectability of the wrapper itself. Normal behaviour was to tear off and discard the outer covering. Because of this rough treatment all overprinted private wrappers can be considered elusive, if not scarce. Print runs would likely have been in the low thousands (if that much) with a distribution list of actual and potential customers interested in the enclosed catalogue or pricelist, but not the wrapper as such. The keeping of the wrapper, for whatever reason, was incidental and so those copies that did survive, and subsequently found their way into philatelic collections, did so usually as examples of postal rate usage rather than for their social philately interest.
Even after Post Office wrappers became available for sale to the public, there were many organizations that preferred to use their own overprinted paper. Special needs for paper size, strength and gumming to meet bulky enclosures were met by printers contracted to supply according to desired specifications. These included additional overprinting that served to quickly signal the nature of the contents to the addressee. Often including an illustration, the overprinting was intended to be an aid in ensuring recipients removed the enclosure for reading. In many cases, they had no genuine choice in the matter but to use private wrappers, for not all countries issued Post Office wrappers. When this omission occurred, the use of private wrappers was unavoidable if the user sought to take advantage of the lower concessionary rate for mailing newspapers, magazines, and approved printed matter such as price lists and catalogues.
Country collectors who seek to be as complete as possible, will wish to add overprinted private postal wrappers, either as a separate class of mail, and/or as examples of concessionary postal rates. The listing which follows alerts these collectors as to what has appeared on the philatelic market over the past almost two decades.
Social philatelists are interested in the story behind the wrapper: who was the sender, who was the addressee, what was the enclosure, and why was it sent? Answers to these questions form the background for the development of an underlying social story. The overprinting provides clues to develop the research.
Compiling a list of overprinted private wrappers for a country or region is a pioneering exercise because, at best, it can only be a work-in-progress. New “finds” appear regularly and spasmodically, although, the Caribbean region has been more moderate with private overprinted postal wrappers than some other countries and areas. Anything of this nature that appears on the auction platforms of eBay and Delcampe from this region should be considered for acquisition by interested collectors because these items are elusive and uncommon. Of the 12 countries listed below, eight have shown only four or less overprinted private wrappers on these two major auction platforms over the past 18 years.
For the purposes of this exposition, 11 countries have been included within the Caribbean region. Fifty-six overprinted private wrappers have been recorded in the database. These have been hand-collected daily since 2006, to the present, and include: Cuba (15), Jamaica (12), Barbados (11), Bermuda (4), Curaçao (3), Antigua (2), Dominican Republic (2), Trinidad (2) and Bahamas (2), Martinique, and Turks & Caicos (1 each). Countries are treated in alphabetical order.
Antigua
On His Majesty’s Service (2)
On His Majesty’s Service, St. Johns MY 3 44 to Washington D.C., USA
On His Majesty’s Service [upper case], SP 3 31 to Washington, D.C., USA
Bahamas
The Gulf Company Ltd., Hotel Royal Victoria
The Gulf Company, Ltd., Miami, Florida, Cat Cay 18 JUN 1937 to New York, USA
Hotel Royal Victoria, Nassau, H. E. Bemis, Mgr., JA 14 99 to Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Barbados
Barbados Advocate (2) On His Majesty’s Service (Imperial Dept of Agriculture) (2) On Service (2) Prices Current Only Printed Circular (2) Royal Bank of Canada
Barbados Advocate, Advocate Co., Ltd., The Only Daily Paper in the Island, Published Every Day Except Mondays, Bridgetown, Colonial Section 25 Jan. 1944, to Washington D.C., USA
Barbados Advocate, Advocate Co., Ltd., Published Every Day Except Sundays, 21 2 1944 to Washington D.C., USA
On Service. Wj L. C. Phillips, Clerk General Assembly, Barbados JY 15 96, to Harrison College, City
On Service, Colonial Postmaster, Returned Letter, NO 14 34
Prices Current Only, Barbados AU 25 64, Mail via Halifax, N.S. to Annapolis, Nova Scotia
Printed Circular, [thin underline ends on downstroke of L], FE 16 94 to Halifax, Nova Scotia
Printed Circular, [thick underline ends after A], to Annapolis County, Nova Scotia
The Royal Bank of Canada, to Georgetown, British Guiana
Bermuda
O.H.M.S. (3)
Cuba
Boletin Informativo Correspondencia Cuba Evangelization Association Bulletin Face As Actualidad Faro Cristiano Grito de Guerra Juventud Metodista Monde Medical Real Asademia de Ciencias Medicas, Fisicas y Naturales Revista de Medicina y Cirugia Revista Filatélica de Cuba Scouts de Cuba Sociedad Geografica de Cuba United Railways of Havana Whitened Harvest
Boletin Informativo, to San Francisco, California, USA
La Correspondencia, Diaro de Informacion, to Poughkeepsie, New York, USA
Cuba Evangelization Association Bulletin, Habana, to Philadelphia, Pa., USA
Face As Actualidad, Mensual Adolfo Garcia, Española, 20c, to Baltimore, Md., USA
El Faro Cristiano, Aguacate, Jardco 1901 to Sheffield, England
El Grito de Guerra, Organo Oficial del Ejército de Salvación en Cuba, 1935 to San Francisco California, USA
Juventud Metodista, Organo Oficial de la Juventud de la Iglesia Metodista, La Habana to New York, USA
Le Monde Medical, Revista Internacional De Medicina Y Terapeutica, to Catalina de Guines, Habana
Real Asademia de Ciencias Medicas, Fisicas y Naturales, Habana, to Brussels, Belgium
Revista de Medicina y Cirugia, Publicacion bi-Mensual, Habana, to Ludwigschafen s/Rhine, Germany
Revista Filatélica de Cuba, Sociedad “Filatélica Latino Americana”, Habana to Pappeenranta, Finland
Scouts de Cuba, Ministerio de Defensa Nacional, Habana, to Copenhagen, Denmark
Sociedad Geografica de Cuba, Publication Trimestral, Habana, to Halle, Germany, DEC 29 1924 to Pennsylvania, USA
United Railways of Havana, Commercial Department, Passenger Agency, DEC 29 1924 to Pennsylvania, USA
The Whitened Harvest, The West Indies Mission, Placetas, to Paterson, New Jersey, USA
Curaçao
Weekblad Curacao Neerlandia (2)
Weekblad “Curacao” to London, England
Neerlandia, Maandblad van het Alg Ned. Verbond, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Neerlandia, Orgaan van het Algemeen Nederlandsch Verbond, Willemstad 1.8.44 to Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Dominican Republic
Sociedad Filatélica Dominicana Revista de Educacion Revista La F. O. L. A.
Sociedad Filatélica Dominicana, MAR 16 1957 to New York, USA
Revista de Educacion, ...de la Secretaria de Estado de Educación, Publica y Bellas Artes, to North Dakota, USA.
Revista La “F. O. L. A.” FEB 13 1940 to Milford, Delaware, USA
Jamaica
Barrington Smith Catholic Opinion The Daily Gleaner Fred N, Martinez
O.H.M.S.
(Jamaica Agricultural Society) On His Majesty’s Service On Her Majesty’s Service (2)
P.
J. Fernandez Prisoner of War Mail Public Gardens & Plantations Tropical Life
L. Barrington Smith, Halfway Tree, Airmail to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Catholic Opinion, A Weekly Publication, Feb 1 1924 to USA
The Daily Gleaner, Published Every Morning, The Leading Paper of the West Indies, Jamaica 1921 to London, UK
Fred N, Martinez, OC 3 08 to Southend-on-Sea, England
O.H.M.S., Jamaica Agricultural Society, Kingston SE 6 15? to Caicos Islands, B.W.I.
On His Majesty’s Service, Kingston DE 8 30 to New Jersey, USA
On Her Majesty’s Service, MY 1 61 to Downington, Penn. Pa., USA
On Her Majesty’s Service, Director of Public Gardens and Plantations, to Kingston
P. J. Fernandez, Exchange Supt., Kingston, JA 10 11 to Binghamton, New York, USA
Prisoner of War Mail, Internment Camp, Jamaica, B.W.I.
Public Gardens & Plantations, MR 5 94 to Bristol, England
Tropic Life, L. Barrington Smith Publications, Printers and Publishers, Half Way Tree, Ap 18 41 to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Martinique
Service meteorologique, Consul Americain, May 43 to Fort-de-France
Trinidad/Trinidad & Tobago
O.H.M.S.
Tropical Agriculture West Indian Illustrated
O.H.M.S.
Tropical Agriculture, Editorial Department, Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad, B.W.I., to Zurich, Switzerland
Free Press, Published bi-weekly by Turks & Caicos Free Press Ltd., West Indies, JU 5 86 to West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Summary
In 2006, the author commenced collecting images of overprinted private wrappers. Initially it was thought that because of the enormity of the worldwide population of corporations and other institutions, the incidence of private wrappers would swamp overprinted Post Office postal stationery wrappers. This has not been the case. Private wrappers are not as prolific as expected and when they appear on the market they should be considered.
A study of more than 5,000 images has shown 12 countries from the Caribbean region have 56 identified overprinted private wrappers. Some countries have only one or two examples. All wrappers falling into this category of mail are elusive and scarce.

On a recent envelope sent to me by the Philatelic Bureau in Barbados, I noticed a new hand stamp on the rear of the envelope. I enquired with the bureau and they responded as follows:
"This handstamp is new. It came into use February 2023 and is used at the main stamp counter for Registration. Hope this information is helpful."
And in a quick update, it appears that other, similar cancellers are now in use as I’ve just received this one, struck in black ink, also from the Philatelic Bureau.

We had one hope and made one long-term undertaking when writing our book on Anguilla. We hoped that new material would come to light as readers dug out their collections or dusted off stock adding to or changing the information in the book. We also undertook to update through the WIPSG website to keep reference information fresh and to complete (gradually) some missing elements of information. This article summarises the new material and information. Readers will find the updates below by subject, with a reference to the book where useful. Our grateful thanks are due to all who have given us feedback, new material and insight – and a particular thank you to Steven Zirinsky for his invaluable help on registration and official markings. The website information was previously available to those who purchased a copy of the book. (The new information is freely available to members.)
STATEHOOD (CHAPTER 5)
We made the assertion that “Anguilla does not appear to have used the Associated Statehood date-stamp issued to the island by the St Kitts postal authorities (or at most very rarely).” The two examples of the date-stamp on cover at the time of writing were clearly philatelic. An air mail cover dated 17 March 1967 has now come to light, addressed to Joel, a member of the Richardson family, correctly franked at 25c with no transit or arrival stamps (Figure 1). The Richardsons in the USA were frequent addressees before and after 1967, including one to Joel dated November 1967. The two philatelic examples are dated 28 March, possibly amongst the last examples before the datestamp was taken out of use (a cover reverting to the previous “Anguilla Valley” date-stamp is known from 28 April). Statehood Day was 27 February 1967 which enables us to give a tentative use period of about a month.

Fig.1 Statehood cover Anguilla to New York dated 17 March 1967
CENSORSHIP (CHAPTER 3)
On P42 PARA 3, we noted that “dedicated censors and handstamps were issued from 1940.” This is now corrected to “1939” with the appearance (Figure 2) of a cover with the CH2 censor handstamp in reddish-brown ink with the code number “6” dated to 10 October 1939. “6” was used exclusively in Anguilla.
Fig.2 Censored cover to Louisiana dated 10 October 1939 CAMP ALAMO (CHAPTER 9) The failure of negotiations on Anguilla’s future led to the invasion by British troops (Operation Sheepskin) and the establishment of a Field Post Office at Camp Alamo on Anguilla between 1969 and 1971. New handstamps used at the FPO have appeared, shown in Figures 3 & 4.
Fig.3 Boxed handstamp 46x29mm 2 Para. Regt. “Orderly Room” dated 2 April 1969.
Fig.4 Boxed handstamp inscribed “ANGUILLA / POLICE UNIT” struck in violet, initialled, on an OHMS cover to New Scotland Yard dated 17 August 1969
Most of the known covers from Camp Alamo use the GB Machin definitives of the period, both pre-and postdecimal (the latter within a couple of weeks of their introduction in the UK). Values up to 10p equivalent are currently known. Whereas we previously thought that only a few GB commemoratives were sent to the island and posted back for collectors, we now know that most of the 1970 issues, many from 1969 and some dating back to 1967 were used on mail – see the appendix.
STAMPS AVAILABLE ON ANGUILLA (CHAPTER 3)
A 2s St Kitts-Nevis Tercentenary commemorative has come to light cancelled with the “A” date-stamp AN-P-2 probably dated 30 December 1925. This contradicts our belief that that only low-value stamps were made available on Anguilla until 1927 when the Anguilla Valley post office was upgraded. It is also possible that the whole Tercentenary set up to £1 was issued to Anguilla – as it was to Nevis (all values are known cancelled there) and the St Kitts villages (Sandy Point).
AN-P-2 DATESTAMP EKD AND LKD (CHAPTER 3)
Anguilla’s second datestamp (Code “A”, AN-P-2) has its EKD advanced to January 1924 and its LKD pushed back to September 1927, implying a longer overlap with the follow-on datestamp (“Anguilla Valley”, AN-P-3). Examples of this canceller remain very scarce, nonetheless.
MAIL BETWEEN ANGUILLA AND ST KITTS (CENSUS P172) – POSTAGE RATES
There is surprisingly little evidence of substantial mail volumes between St Kitts and Anguilla. Our census contained only one example -a 1967 overprint cover from Anguilla to Pastor Duerloo on St Kitts. More material is coming to light, most of it commercial, such as: 1) a KGV Leeward Islands pre-registered envelope to the lawyer
D.H. Semper on St Kitts dated 17 March 1931 (Figure 5), and 2) a plain cover from Anguilla to the Reverend Keith Gibson at Cayon, St Kitts dated 22 January 1952 complete with its St Kitts arrival stamp. The 1931 envelope is a very scarce example of Leeward Island stationery used in the Presidency which preferred its own stationery until withdrawn in 1927 (KEVII and earlier KGV LI stationery is also found used Anguilla).

Fig.5 Pre-registered double rate envelope Anguilla to St Kitts dated 17 March 1931
The new material illustrates the postage rates between Anguilla and St Kitts. The 1952 cover referred to above is franked at 1d and Figure 5 is franked at 2d for what could be a double rate letter. The initial decimal rate appears to have been 5c based on covers from Anguilla to St Kitts dated 23 June 1961 (Figure 6) and from St Kitts to Anguilla dated 13 June 1973.
DATESTAMPS IN CURRENT USE
Visits by the authors and by Steven Zirinsky confirm the instruments used at the Anguilla Valley Post Office in 2023/4. See Steven’s article in WIPSG No.6 June 2024.
REGISTRATION MARKINGS
Time and space prevented a comprehensive listing of registration markings found on Anguillian mail in the book. We can now rectify this on the website. The initial listing records over thirty instruments dating from 1920 and including the barcode printouts used on modern mail.

Fig. 6 Local cover from Anguilla to the Treasury Chambers in Basseterre franked at 5c
OFFICIAL MARKINGS
From the appearance of pre-printed envelopes with different guises of the revolutionary government to official mail sent locally and inter-island, there is a wealth of official markings on mail. An initial listing can be found on the website.
FORGERIES (CHAPTER 5)
On pages 65ff, we commented in detail on the known forgeries, some of which date back to 1968 and others being more recent. Depressingly, it would appear that forgeries are still entering the market, focusing on the high values as one might expect. Readers are advised to bear in mind this paragraph: “Complete mint sets of the 1967 Overprints will fetch full catalogue prices and so a prudent buyer will get the set certified. An up-to-date certificate is recommended as earlier certificates cannot be guaranteed and it is wise, where a certificate exists, to contact the body involved and check that the serial number is valid, as fake certificates exist.”
Appendix 1.
The “Y” in the list below checks off those GB commemoratives found to date on covers from FPO 1046/Camp Alamo.
1967 1969
20 February EFTA Y 15 January British Ships Y 24 April Wildflowers Y 2 April Notable Anniversaries 10 July British Paintings 28 May British Architecture (Cathedrals) 24 July Sir Francis Chichester’s World Voyage 1 July Investiture of H.R.H. The Prince of Wales 19 September British Discovery & Invention 13 August Gandhi Centenary Year Y 18 October Christmas Y 1 October Post Office Technology
26 November Christmas
1968 1970
29 April British Bridges 11 February British Rural Architecture Y 29 May British Anniversaries Y 1 April General Anniversaries 12 August British Paintings Y 3 June Literary Anniversaries 25 November Christmas Y 15 July British Commonwealth Games
Y 18 September “Philympia 70” Y 25 November Christmas

In the June 2023 issue of the WIPSG Journal (No. 2) I wrote about a rare early Barbados airmail cover sent via St Lucia in 1930. This prompted Ray Stanton to send me a copy of a Dominican cover that he had in his collection that he now realised was not quite as he thought. This cover is illustrated below and is a true gem of philately from the period. It has what a late friend of mine would have called ‘sex appeal’.

The cover was posted on board the “Lady Hawkins” when it was in Dominica (and received the Lady Hawkins handstamp) – with the next port of call Barbados (1). The boxed ‘Posted/on/Board’ handstamp is a quite common cancellation and in use (probably more than one) over many years. It was applied once the cover was placed into the Barbados postal system. Unusually the cover made it onto another steamer heading to St Lucia very quickly and is postmarked St Lucia the next day. From St Lucia it was carried by Pan Am on FAM 6 to Miami and then onto New York where the ‘BY AIR MAIL, VIA ST. LUCIA’ was cancelled by the New York Post Office Jusqu’á parallel bars, indicating the cover was transferred to surface mail. It would then have gone by fast steamer to England. Overall a wonderful combination of services that used what was available to speed the mail.
Ray’s original writeup of the cover assumed that the postage rate of 1s10½d comprised the airmail rate from Dominica to England of 1s6d plus 1½d surface mail plus 3d for registration (but not registered as it was posted on board). However, according to Bayley (2) the rate via St Lucia to Europe in 1932 was 1s9d plus surface mail of 1½d which is the same as the rate on this cover. A correctly paid airmail cover from Dominica which did not have a direct air service for many years. Ray also queried how the sender knew what the Barbados air mail postal rates were but clearly, after two years of the Pan Am service, there was obviously an interchange of information amongst post offices.
This cover illustrates the need to actually see the postal guides from the period because it is easy to make incorrect assumptions when interpreting air mail rates. One of the more common errors is that surface rates were usually per ounce and airmail rates were per half ounce, thus a one-ounce cover was not usually double a half ounce cover. The problem with this is that postal clerks sometimes made the same error.
References:
(1)
M. N. Oliver, The Leeward Islands, Notes for Philatelists, 2000, BWISC, Cheshire

(2)
Edmund A. Bayley, The History of the Post Offices in Barbados, 2008, Barbados

As a long time collector of modern Registered Envelopes from Barbados, whilst on a recent trip I wanted to continue a practice I began a decade ago and send myself back some examples from different parish post offices. Unlike the traditional covers we all know from Victorian times through to early QEII, the modern versions are no longer envelopes, but plastic wrappers which, in most cases, are disposed of by the recipients on arrival.
Over several years I have managed to accumulate a small number of these, in both the available sizes, sent from most of the different parishes on the island. The two sizes approximate to A4 and A5 paper, but both are slightly larger to allow them to safely accommodate standard and folded sheets of paper. The actual dimensions of these two types of envelopes are:
Envelope Width Height
Smaller size (A5) 310mm 154mm
Larger size (A4) 354mm 231mm
The two different envelopes are shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Fig. 1a Front of the A5 size registered envelope. Fig. 1b Rear of the A5 size registered envelope.
Fig. 2a Front of the A4 size registered envelope.
Fig. 2b Rear of the A4 size registered envelope.

Having used these myself on several occasions I can say with certainty that the stickers (Ed: refer to the table below as these are the adhesive labels) make the task of writing the names and addresses much easier as trying to write directly onto the envelope with anything other than a good ball point pen is quite difficult.
On my recent visit, I took some of the plastic envelopes with me that I already had in stock, acquired some additional envelopes in the Philatelic Bureau in Bridgetown, and then a few more from the general sales counter at the G.P.O. in Bridgetown. This gave me a total of six I could potentially send to myself. Unfortunately, I did not make a detailed note of what I bought and when.
It was only when I sat with all the envelopes, dutifully packing them with stiffeners to protect them en route, that I noticed some were different. Until that point, I had assumed that they were all one design and, checking back to my earlier covers, all of them from 2014 to 2019 are identical.
From those now in front of me, I could see that whilst the A4 size envelopes remained the same as those I had sent myself over the past decade, the A5 size had now changed, not once, but twice. Of course, there is no record of when these changed, or why they changed so we can’t tell how long any of these have been in circulation, and as there are so few likely to be retained by those who receive them, it is unlikely that any will turn up to help us understand when the change was made.
What we can see, however, is that there are now three distinct types of these smaller envelopes:

Three different types of A5 envelope, from L-R Types 1, 2 and 3
Type From Box To Box Barcode Label Box
1 Box top left.Blue box with printed bluewriting in capitals. BARBADOSpre filled in ‘Country’ Box bottom right.Blue box with printed bluewriting in capitals. Box bottom left. Red lined white box with ‘Place Barcode Label Here’ in red.
2 Box top left.Yellow adhesive label with blue writing in capitals Box bottom right.Blue adhesive label with writingin capitals Box bottom left. Red lined pink box with‘Place Barcode Label Here’ in red.
3 Box bottom right.Blue lined box with printed bluewriting in capitals on blue background Box top left.Yellow lined box with printedyellow writing in capitals onyellow background Box bottom left. Red lined pink box with‘Place Barcode Label Here’ in red.

The original envelope, which I have labelled Type 1, has, at some point been replaced by a revised version with a yellow box top left (Type 2). Moreover, Type 3 has reversed the traditional arrangement of the sender details being top left and replaced them with the recipient details.

Close up of Type 3 showing the reversing of the ‘to’ and ‘from’ boxes.
Whether this will work well in practice I am unsure but may find out shortly, as all three of these envelopes are currently in the post, en route to me in the U.K. (Ed. This was back in January 2024.)
It’s not currently possible to establish when these different types were printed, used or distributed but I believe that this is the first time it has been established that there is more than one type of these smaller registered envelopes in use.
I would be delighted to hear from anyone who may be able to shed any light on this matter, especially if they have postally used, dated copies of these envelopes to perhaps help us establish a timeline of use.

Previous articles dealt with the 19th century Packet Express in Jamaica. This article looks at a different topic – instances of the Express or Special Delivery of post from Jamaica to overseas in the late 19th and 20th century.
Many countries had some form of expedited domestic post at various dates before 1885, notably in Prussia from 1842. In March 1885 the Lisbon Congress of the UPU codified the interchange of Express letters between countries who had such systems, with a maximum fee of 30 centimes or 3d. However, the interchange of Express letters between countries remained discretionary, depending on bilateral agreements.
Many of these Express services were called Special Delivery rather than Express – they were for the expeditious delivery from the office of arrival to the address, not for rapid transit between towns or countries.
The best-known international arrangement in the British West Indies was that between Bahamas and Canada from 1916. Users in Canada paid the fee to secure urgent delivery of post in the Bahamas. The Bahamas supplied 5d Special Delivery stamps to selected Canadian offices to affix to this urgent mail for the Bahamas (1).
Only six British Commonwealth countries ever issued Special Delivery stamps: Bahamas, Canada, Egypt, Mauritius, New Zealand and British Guiana (2). But other countries in the Empire and elsewhere did have Express or Special Delivery systems without using Special Delivery stamps. These included Great Britain.
Jamaica to Great Britain
Great Britain at first opposed and opted out of the UPU’s 1885 Lisbon agreement for the exchange of Express or Special Delivery letters. This was based more on concern that the financial burdens would fall unevenly rather than any opposition to the principle of international Express. Great Britain had had various bilateral agreements to link with other countries’ Express systems as far back as the Anglo-Belgian Convention of 1865. But it was only later, under domestic pressure, that Britain adopted its own internal scheme of Express delivery in 1891.
The two main express services in Britain were services I and II. Service I was a messenger all the way service for which the extra fee was payable by the sender with adhesive postage stamps placed on a post office form, the “E—Form”, not the cover. So those Express covers usually have no adhesives (although breaches of this rule are known). However, with Service II, which was for delivery by messenger only from the nearest Express office to the addressee after normal transmission through the post, both postage and at least the basic Express fee were
placed on the cover and only any extra charges that might be payable (eg for delivery over one mile) were accounted for on an E-Form.
The original system was only for inland post, with incoming mail from certain specified countries added from 1892. Until 1902 the specified countries did not include any colonies, so this cannot explain 1895 covers from Jamaica marked Express.
Yet they exist – see Figures 1 and 2, covers from the Dubois (Hugh Wood) collection. The Express handstamp on these 1895 covers to Great Britain was listed by Proud (3) as a Jamaica mark (EXP1). He cites the dates 15 April and 29 [sic] June 1895, almost certainly these two covers.

If these two were Express covers, at what stage of their journeys might they have travelled byFig. 1 Manchioneal 15 April 1895. Express?

The 15 April 1895 item was a registered letter at the single UPU 4½d rate (2½d single rate and 2d registration) posted in Manchioneal. It could have gone by the Packet Express departing Manchioneal at 3.45pm on Monday 15 April and arrived in Kingston by noon on Tuesday 16 April, for the RMSP sailing at 1pm. What is doubtful is this journey earning such a spectacular and unusual Express handstamp when other Packet Express covers in Jamaica did not. Would branch offices like Manchioneal have been furnished with such a specialised handstamp? And if they were widely used, why are not more examples known?
The 25 June 1895 cover was another registered letter, franked 7d for the double UPU rate (2½d x 2 and 2d registration). The letter would have caught the Tuesday 25 June 1pm packet sailing. This 25 June letter originated in Kingston, so there was no inland Jamaica travel involved, let alone any use of the Packet Express.
This evidence is heavily against the oval Express being a Jamaican mark. Nor was there any scope for Express treatment on the RMSP packets. This points to the letter arriving in Britain without any Express marking. The oval Express handstamp was of a type used in Britain at that time for both domestic and international Express. Figure 3 shows the Express oval on an 1899 international Express cover outgoing from London to Germany. Such a British post office mark might have been applied to the two Jamaican letters after arrival in Plymouth or in London.
The packet carrying the 21 April letter was due to arrive at Plymouth at 9 pm on Wednesday 1 May, but it may have been early, as the letter reached London in time to earn a London registered 1 May. The packet carrying the second cover was due to arrive in Plymouth on Wednesday 10 July, likewise, it is postmarked that day in London.

But why would a letter arriving in Britain with no extra franking and no “Express” mark then be treated as Express? The most likely answer is a provision of the GB Express system whereby the addressee, in this case Park Macfadyen & Co, could have paid for the privilege of having their incoming mail sorted out at the delivery office and immediately delivered by special messenger.
The GB Post Office’s 1896 booklet Express Delivery of Letters and Parcels (4), page 30, describes this variant of the British Express delivery system, known at the time as “Service III”:
“SPECIAL DELIVERY OF LETTERS &c. IN ADVANCE OF THE ORDINARY DELIVERIES BY POSTMEN AT THE REQUEST OF THE ADDRESSEE.
“Persons or Firms who desire at any time to receive their letter, or other postal packets of any kind…in advance of the ordinary delivery, may have them delivered by Special Messenger on payment of the following fees….” “Applications for such special delivery must be signed by the person to whom or firm to whom the letters or postal packets in question are addressed…”
This Service III amounts to Express delivery ordered and paid for by the addressee rather than the sender. The scheme explicitly included mail from overseas. This explains the Express delivery of a letter from overseas not on the list of approved countries. Park Macfadyen must have applied (and paid for separately, hence the absence of any extra franking) to have their mail, from wherever sent, pulled out of the ordinary post on arrival at the London delivery office and delivered by special messenger. Both covers being to the same addressee supports this.
Service III covers in Britain are scarce and may not always be identifiable. No extra adhesives should have appeared on such covers nor were covers necessarily marked Express, because the fee and all post office instructions were on a tracking form. These two Jamaican covers look as if they were handstamped Express by an over-zealous British post office official.
It is unlikely but not impossible that another contemporaneous cover to Park Macfadyen, not necessarily from Jamaica, will come to light. It would be interesting to see whether that, too, were Express.
Jamaica to the USA
Part 3 of the article in this journal on the Packet Express (5) discussed two covers labelled Express sent from Jamaica to the USA in 1904 and 1912. The status of those covers is uncertain, but the USA had Special Delivery then.
The USA began preparing its own Special Delivery service immediately after the UPU’s Lisbon Congress of March 1885 agreed the framework of an international Express system. The US system, complete with newly designed and printed Special Delivery stamps, opened on 1 October 1885. The rate was 10c for a Special Delivery stamp. Special Delivery letters could only be sent to, at first, a selected list of 555 Special Delivery offices, but this was soon extended in 1886 to all 4,000 first class offices and later to all offices. The letters did not receive special treatment along their route, but once they reached the delivery office they were sent out for delivery by a special messenger.
As Markovits (2) notes, the US also gave Special Delivery treatment at the US destination to incoming foreign mail bearing its Special Delivery stamps, so long as the foreign post office did not cancel the US stamp. Covers given Special Delivery on arrival in the USA are known as early as 1886. Among many instances are some from the West Indies: Bermuda (1917), British Guiana (1929) and Trinidad and Tobago (1941).
From 1926 the USA began reciprocal Special Delivery service agreements with foreign countries. These countries included British Guiana where a reciprocal agreement was signed in 1928, but there is no trace of an agreement with Jamaica (6).

Figure 4 shows a 1932 cover from Constant Spring, Jamaica to the USA, ex Swarbrick. The cover is franked 2½d surface rate to the USA, choosing not to find the extra to pay 10d for ½oz air mail but to pay 10c for Special Delivery on arrival. The 10c Special Delivery stamp, presumably affixed in Jamaica, is cancelled on reaching the
USA in New York, 29 February 1932. The US marks continue with New York and Washington RPO 1 March 1932 and finally Washington D.C. Special Delivery, 1 March 1932.
Figure 5, registered from Kingston to the USA on 12 November 1934, is also from the Swarbrick collection. It pays the correct 9d airmail rate plus a 2d registration fee, all in Jamaican adhesives, all cancelled in Kingston.
In a departure from the 1932 cover, there is also a handstamped Fee Claimed Chicago Ill.

In addition, there is 10c of US postage adhesives, not Special Delivery stamps, cancelled at Miami. The U.S. post office sanctioned the use of ordinary postage stamps instead of Special Delivery stamps, at least in the rules on domestic Special Delivery in 1925 (7).
“This service is obtained by placing on any letter or article of mail weighing not more than 2 pounds a 10-cent special-delivery stamp or 10 cents’ worth of ordinary stamps in addition to the lawful postage... When ordinary stamps are used the words “Special Delivery” must be placed on the envelope or wrapper directly below, but never on the stamps.”
Both the 1932 and 1934 covers show the system very much as described in Markovitz (2). But another cover of 1935 (Figure 6), also from the Swarbrick collection, does not. It puzzled Bob Swarbrick himself, and he sought help in an article in the BCPJ (8).
The cover was sent from Kingston to the USA by air on 13 November 1935, franked 1s 6d in Jamaican adhesives, which was not a correct rate. Air mail to the USA at this date was 1s 3½d for 1oz. The cover may be overpaid by 2½d because the sender did not understand that the airmail fee of 1/3½d was all inclusive and added the 2½d foreign letter rate to the 1/3½d to make 1/6d.
Special Delivery is paid by a pair of 5c US adhesives – like the 1934 cover, these are ordinary adhesives, not Special Delivery stamps.
US Stamps, both Special Delivery and ordinary postage, used on covers from Jamaica might have been carried to the country privately. Many business entities such as the American Express Company stocked stamps at foreign locations for employee and customer use. Foreign news correspondents were also supplied with Special Delivery stamps and tourists and visitors to foreign countries were also known to carry Special Delivery stamps in order to obtain fast service in the USA (6).
In addition, a few countries, notably Canada, sold US Special Delivery and postage stamps at their post offices. There is no record of such an arrangement with Jamaica. However, it is just plausible that U.S. Special Delivery adhesives, or even ordinary U.S. postage stamps, were supplied by the U.S. for sale through the Kingston G.P.O. This arrangement would have resembled the sale of Bermuda Special Delivery stamps in Canada.

Fig. 6 Kingston 13 November 1935.
The remaining loose end on the 1935 cover is that the pair of 5c US postage stamps, correctly paying for Special Delivery in the U.S. were cancelled in Kingston, Jamaica, not on arrival in the USA. This contradicts the 1932 and 1934 covers, whose U.S. adhesives were cancelled only on arrival in the U.S., and the account of the Special Delivery system in Markovits2(2) and Beech (6). Examples of other similar covers, from Britain to the USA, suggest that this is simply a mistaken excess of cancelling zeal at Kingston.
Swarbrick put a tantalising note on his album page for this cover: “U.S. stamps were on sale for U.S. special delivery at the G.P.O. Kingston & were cancelled on posting”. He must have added this note after the BCPSJ article, because it answers one of his questions posed, but where Swarbrick found the evidence is now lost. Unless readers can supply the missing information?
Both the 1934 and 1935 covers are inscribed Special Delivery, probably by the sender, in ink next to the US adhesives. On the 1935 cover has been added a SPECIAL DELIVERY handstamp in maroon ink matching an AIR MAIL handstamp. Swarbrick suggested that the maroon handstamps were applied in the U.S., and this seems most likely.
The final example (Figure 7) seems to show that these Special Delivery arrangements continued to a much later date.
This is dated 10 June 1968 from

Conclusion
There was some Express and Special Delivery of outgoing Jamaican international mail, not necessarily under the UPU framework nor by treaty. Where it involved only Special Delivery on arrival, little or no formal international agreement was needed, so it may have left little trace in official records, only the evidence of covers.
A future article will describe the 20th century Express Delivery service within Jamaica.
References
(1) Fernbank, Peter. The Locally Overprinted Special Delivery Stamps of Bahamas, 1916–17. BWISC study paper no 4, 2011.
(2) Markovits, Robert L. The 10 cent Special Delivery Rate of the U.S. 1885-1917 Scott E 1 -11 and Forerunners. A Presentation by Robert L. Markovits for the Garfield Perry Stamp Club 11/9/01.
(3) Proud, Edward B. The Postal History of Jamaica, 2004, page 196.
(4) [British] Post Office. Express Delivery of Letters and Parcels. 1896.
(5) Wright, P, Farrimond, P, Jarvis, S & Stanton, R, Jamaica -The Packet Express, (Part 3). West Indies Philately No 7, September 2024.
(6) Beech, Colin, extensive advice by email 2024.
(7) United States Official Postal Guide, July 1925, pages 25 and 52.
(8) Swarbrick, R. V. Jamaica: Special Delivery to the U.S. British Caribbean Philatelic Journal, Vol. 34, No. 1, page 29, March 1994.

Individual revenue stamps with forged cancellations are plentiful but in all my years of collecting St. Vincent material I have not seen a usage on cover. So, when Malcolm Lacey sent me a photocopy of a cover he had found in a fellow dealer’s stock asking for my opinion I was only too pleased to purchase it.
St. Vincent cover to France using revenue overprint stamps. Addressed to Mademoiselle Arani, 11 Rue Lafitte, Paris, Seine.
The address exists, as ‘Archives de Paris’ (www. archives.paris.fr) (1) has a photograph of the Rue Lafitte showing number 11 as part of a row of four-story apartments with shops at street level. Unfortunately, I have not been able to identify the recipient.
The two revenues on the cover are genuine with the ‘THREE PENCE’ on six pence being introduced in 1884 and the ‘1s on one shilling’ introduced in 1888. This shows up the first anomaly as the date on the cover is ‘Nov 3 1887’!
Looking at the St Vincent datestamps in some detail they do not align with any of the dies shown in the Pierce, Messenger, Lowe (PML) book (2) or the Proud, Chin Aelong book (3). The diameters of the steel dies are given to the nearest half millimetre in PML and the largest diameter die is 19.5mm. Using the postmark gauge, provided by Proud, and measuring each of the three datestamps on the cover gives the following dimensions:
Lefthand stamp front 21mm diameter
Righthand stamp front 22mm diameter
Stamp on rear 21mm diameter So, all three datestamps are larger than the largest known St Vincent single ring datestamp. As the originals are steel dies the increase in diameter cannot be accounted for by the die spreading or by the mark being smudged.
Further investigation of the datestamps shows that there is no dot below the ‘T’ of ‘St’ and the hyphen is missing between the ‘T’ of ‘St’ and the ‘V’ of ‘Vincent’. All genuine small circular St. Vincent datestamps show these attributions.
Other marks on the front of the cover are a ‘New 12 York Nov 12’ single ring datestamp overstruck with a partial strike of a ‘GB//3F 60C’ accountancy mark which was not in use after 1 July 1875 when Britain acceded to the first UPU postal treaty.
Also present is a New York registration label overstruck with a double ring ‘Paris 26 Nov 87’ stamp, a Calais entry mark for 25 Nov 87, a manuscript mark ‘via England’ and a crayon ‘15’ which may be the inland rate from Calais to Paris.
There is a single ring datestamp on the back ‘EJ 1.0N??? NO 24’ and a partial strike that appears to be headed ‘PAR....’
It is not clear why this cover was routed via New York when there were regular British and French packets calling at St Vincent. In fact, mail for France from Martinique regularly went via England carried by British packets.
As there are no St Vincent registration marks on the cover why did it get a USA registration label?
Was a genuine mistake made by a clerk in the New York post office reading REVENUE as REGISTER and applying the U.S. registration label accordingly?
My understanding is that postal clerks would not encounter revenue stamps during the normal course of their work as revenue collection was a function of the Treasury not the Post Office.
Looking at the postal rate of 1s3d the cover appears to have been overpaid for delivery to France unless the originator mistook the 1s on one shilling as a 1d stamp, which would give a postage rate of 4d, which from 12 April 1882 was the rate to Europe per half ounce.
I am unable to confirm the accuracy of the London (4) and French postmarks but feel that the period of 23 days from St. Vincent to the recipient is within an acceptable timescale.
So, there we have it. Having spent some time studying this cover my gut feeling is that it started out as contrivance in St. Vincent with forged single ring datestamps although once it left the island all of the other marks may be genuine.
If anyone can help shed further light on this conundrum, I will be pleased to hear from them via
tlhmilhis69@gmail.com
References:
1. Archives de Paris http;//www.archives.paris.fr/r/130/recherchés/
2. Pierce, A.D., Messenger, J.L. & Lowe, R. St. Vincent, Robson Lowe, 1971, London.
3. Proud, E.B. & Chin Aleong, J. The Postal History of St. Lucia & St. Vincent, 2006, Proud Publications Ltd., Heathfield, E. Sussex.
4. Mackay, J. Postmarks of England and Wales, 1988, Dumfries, Scotland.

Many countries in the Caribbean (and elsewhere) backstamp incoming international mail. St. Vincent is no exception.
In a country as large as St. Vincent (population 103,000), this is not done at the front counter, but at a separate area/desk. Thus, the postmark being used is specific for this desk and a designated device. It sometimes migrates from the front counter to the “back room” and sometimes migrates the other way.
Typically, it is slightly different from other markers so as to give clarity as to what is being used where. Everyone once in a while it might get lost or there is extra mail that needs cancelling so other postmarkers get put into service.
Often times, this whole process is fairly boring, but like anything else it can get interesting.
I noticed a misspelling on one of these – “Granadines” (See attached Item D) and became curious to see how long such a device would be in use …roughly nine months it seems. And not used to cancel mail otherwise.
The table above is just a sampling from my boxes showing earliest and last known dates. I would think there are other dates that could expand these ranges. Also, you will note that different types are used concurrently, and that some are also used to postmark mail as well, though I have not identified these as such.
There is more study required here!
Postscript: This error postmark was in use when the BCPSG met in St. Vincent and I don’t think anyone noticed.

This cover is franked with a 1d purple brown (SG2) which is tied by a type 0.1a numeral 2 (large) of San Fernando and addressed to Mrs. Stewart of Stirlingshire, Scotland. Other, later covers, are known from this correspondence but this is the earliest, and the earliest known from San Fernando (also the 2nd earliest from Trinidad as a whole). It is back stamped with a Trinidad double arc datestamp on reverse, applied in Port of Spain (AU 26 1851). There is also a Stirling double arc arrival datestamp (25 SE 1851); the CR in red on face is a Caledonian Railways mark.

The following is a quote direct from Wike (1): “Following negotiations by the British Government with British South American Airways and British West Indian Airways a reduced ‘British’ rate was introduced where the Air Mail was carried all the way by a British owned airline. The destinations affected were British Caribbean territories, United States of America, Europe and Great Britain. To benefit from this service the packet had to be marked ‘By British
carrier’. The service became effective 17 March 1950 …”
Figure 1 is a cover that took advantage of this service. It is dated 20 March 1950 so was a very early use of the reduced rate. According to Wike the rate should be 30 cents versus 48 cents for a foreign carrier for the same journey. It is in fact over franked as it has 32 cents in postage. Before this service started it was 36 cents for a half ounce letter. Mail sent this way to destinations other than the USA or Great Britain is not common, in my opinion. Given the handstamp was used three days after the service was started, I believe it is a Post Office handstamp and not a private one.
The cover in Figure 2 was a more recent purchase that is dated 10 January 1953. According to Wike, the distinction between British and Foreign carriers was abandoned on 9 February 1953. This cover confirms my suspicion that Wike has an error in his table of postal rates (page 169) for this period. He has the Foreign rate to the USA as 20 cents and the British rate as 24 cents. This is clearly wrong as this cover confirms. There is a small purple mark on the stamp which suggests that this is a postal marking. This is in fact the first copy of this marking I have seen but there should be others out there.
Neither of these markings is listed or shown in Wike, Proud (2) or ter Welle (3) and may be a lot scarcer than realised.
References:
1 R.G. Wike, Airmails of Trinidad and Tobago, 1999, BWISC, Cheshire 2 Joe Chin Aleong & Edward B. Proud, The Postal History of Trinidad & Tobago, 1997, Proud-Bailey Co. Ltd, East Sussex 3 Jan C. ter Welle, Jusqu’á Hand Stamps and Other Route Indications, 2nd Edition, Self-Published

11-12 October 2025 Plans are well underway for the 2025 WIPSG Convention and Auction. It will take place on Saturday 11 October 2025 and Sunday 12 October 2025. The venue is Sedgebrook Hall, near Northampton (https://www.sedgebrookhall.co.uk/). Please put the dates in your diary, further details and a booking form now online, and will be distributed with the March journal.
(Nigel Mohammed’s Zoom presentation on Trinidad Numeral Postmarks is now available on YouTube. Just click on the link that is on the WIPSG website under 'Videos'.)

As agreed at the 2023 AGM, the BWISC library is being wound down through lack of use. Therefore item 7 of the WIPSG Objectives stated in the journal has been removed – “7 TO maintain a specialised library from which home members can borrow books” (the Constitution is not affected). The contents are being progressively transferred from Ian Jakes to myself. I am scanning some of the material. Items missing from the RPSL Library are being donated to them, other items will be sold to raise funds for the Society.
Peter Fernbank and I have been enhancing the BWISC Bulletin cumulative index, it now includes an author index. It can be accessed using a search facility on the WIPSG website and a printed version can be downloaded.
We have now turned our attention to producing a similar cumulative index for the BCPSG journal, which we hope will be available early in the new year.
Finally, a reminder, 2025 subscriptions are now due. Your status can be seen on the front page of the printed journal address sheet or can be viewed on the web site after logging in (top right of the screen). Please pay promptly to save administrative effort for the Society volunteers.

This issue represents the end of the second year of publication of the combined Societies and I believe it is going well. Being editor is not necessarily a difficult task but more one of balance. In this issue we ended up with an unexpected one-page advertisement that threw out my carefully edited issue. The advertisements are important to both the advertisers and the members, so they need to be included. In particular they subsidise the journal. One impact of this is that I had to remove a three-page article and then find two pages of replacement material. This may mean that some articles are held over, and other very recent ones are published because they fit the space – all part of the balance. The flow of material remains good but has slowed a little so please keep the articles coming in, both long and short. Especially if you collect and study the smaller islands. The Journal also has a little more member achievement and social news than the BWISC Bulletin had, but I think this remains important. I will continue to publish it, if I receive it, so keep it coming in. Exhibitions are a great place for get togethers (such as the GASS back in August), both formal and informal. If you think such an event is worth trying to organise, let me know and we can publish the details. There are two FIP shows next year, Uruguay and Seoul, which may be a little difficult but there is also Birmingham in May which would be a great place to meet. Personally, I will be in Seoul and will try to get to one of the others. One final plea is for members to publish finds that they make, such as Censor markings. There are two books on such markings for WWII in the Caribbean. One by Peter Burrows in 2010 and its earlier version by Christopher Miller in 2006. I remember publishing an update on a number of markings across the Caribbean, including new ones, in the BCPSG Journal a number of years ago. I would be very happy to publish new findings such as this as an ongoing series, so please start looking and writing. They can be as simple as a scan of the mark and/or cover, its reference (or not) and a few words.

The Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS) presented our member Peter Fernbank with its Order of Merit award for services to the West Indies Philatelic Study Group and the Banbury Stamp Society. The presentation occurred in mid-July.

(Attendees: John Seidl, Dale Wade, Simon Richards, Nigel Mohammed, Steven Zirinsky, Steve Rose, Somnah Basu, Keith Moh, Russell Silverstein, Susan Taylor, David Taylor). Our roving reporter and Secretary, Susan Taylor managed to make it to the WIPSG meeting at GASS. However, sometimes the best laid plans go awry. This was the case when, after a wonderful day exploring Boston, their Greyhound bus to Hartford had a traffic accident and was severely delayed. David and Susan arrived, breathless and dragging suitcases, after the WIPSG meeting had started.
Steve Zirinsky was presenting ‘Post Cancels of Dominica’, then ‘Modern Overprints of the Caribbean’. Then Susan was asked to share the ‘Anguilla Story’. Thanks must go to John Seidl for having made excellent arrangements for the society meeting, show stand, and wonderful WIPSG dinner. Simon Richards (WIPSG President) had also travelled to the show and Simon, David and Susan were delighted to meet American members of the WIPSG.
The Great American Stamp Show was an impressive occasion. Loads of dealers, interesting displays and some incredible exhibitions. They especially liked ‘Britain’s Marvellous Machins’ by Stephen McGill which won the ‘Most Popular of Champions’ Award.
WIPSG Member Jaz Ali’s ‘Slogans of Trinidad and Tobago’ won a large gold award in the literature category, and ‘Anguilla’s Quest for Identity’ (Taylor, Waldron & Stockdale) took a gold…so the society could feel proud.
There was plenty of interest in the stand, with new members signing up to join, and people taking our book list so they could order from Pennymead. Many thanks must go to the members who took turns to man the booth.

There was a Literature Competition at GASS and two members received the following awards for articles they had published.
Juan Riera
1) "The Barefoot Mailman" That appeared in La Posta: The Journal of American Postal History. Large Silver with 73 points.
2) "Indian Rocks Beach, Florida" that appeared in the Florida Postal History Journal. Silver with 65 points.
Daniel Maddalini
1) "Dominica #55-What Is It?" that appeared in the Cresthaven News. Large Vermeil with 80 points.
2) "Department of Florida National Women's Relief Corps" that appeared in the Florida Postal History Journal. Large Silver with 70 points.
(Ed: If I missed any member’s result for the literature, please let me know.)

The following report on a small gathering of members was provided by Stephen King.
Confessions of a philatelic impostor
Whisked into the depths of beautiful sunny Surrey from Waterloo for my first philatelic social encounter. Coffee, lemon drizzle cake and introductions set us on the path to gather round Sue and David Taylor's long dining room table to 'play with stamps', bits of paper the size of butterfly wings that somehow seem to fascinate. Old postage stamps can be intimidating. Training one’s eye and palate takes time and this was a great opportunity.
David showed Sue's late father’s cherished albums from when he lived in Trinidad managing British (later Berger) Paints. They’ve made new additions to his Montserrat collection. Some splendid revenues, handsome numbered full sheets, a good spread of C19th scratchy steel pen signatures plus postal history. Neil Hatton (another of the attendees) reminded us how back in the day stamps were simply torn from covers and soaked off, motioning with hands as he spoke. Neil then proceeded to show us his own Montserrat and Antigua collections. I liked his 1903/1908 Antigua stamps picturing the former seal of the colony, amazingly numismatic, something I’d not noticed before.
Lunch was superb, treats of homemade tomato soup, lasagne and roast chicken. Apple and blackberry crumble, the piece de resistance with custard. I hope the group resumed round the dining room table following my departure. We were a blessed
crowd.
The Antigua stamps image was provided by Stephen.
(L to R) Neil Hatton, James Podger, Simon Burke, Graham Stockdale, David Taylor, Stephen King, Lawrence Grech

COMICAL ILLUSTRATION: printed sender address cover with alligator snapping at man’s coat tails and “If you cannot gobble him in ten days come home to” Samuel Humber at A. E. Morlan, Jeweler pmk’d Belize, British Honduras JY 12 88.
TEMPORARY RUBBER DATESTAMP: locally addressed cover with Jamaica QV 1d Keyplate pmk’d ALLIGATOR POND manuscript dated 22.4.92.
DAMAGED BY STAMPING MACHINE: on Barbados cover to B.B.C. House Wife’s Choice pmk’d 9 MR 59.
U.P.U. MEMBER to NON U.P.U. MEMBER: printed advertising cover with Jamaica 2½d rate (for UPU members) pmk’d MR 22 92 to Bedford, Cape Colony with “T” in triangle tax handstamp and handstruck 1s/1d for 6½d double deficiency as rate 9d to Cape of Good Hope which joined the U.P.U. on January 1st 1895.
SANS-SERIF DOUBLE ARC with SANS-SERIF DATE SLUGS: prepaid cover to Bungay, Suffolk with red ink NEVIS dbl-arc dated SP 27 1853. Although the PAID AT NEVIS Crowned Circle was proofed at GPO, London in 1852 it was not used until 1855.
PRIVATELY PRINTED POST CARD with sender’s own
locally produced DRINK DEMERARA COFFEE advertising handstamp: plain back Post Card with British Guiana KGV 3c rate pmk’d Georgetown 1 AP 1938 to Berlin, New Hampshire.
REGISTRATION LABEL WITH SPELLING ERROR: KGV 2c postage + 3c registration PSRE pmk’d COROSAL (Spanish adaptation) pmk’d JU 4 19 to Chicago with COROZEL spelling error for COROZAL.
TELEGRAM (No charge for delivery) envelope with handstruck JAMAICA TELEGRAPHS/MR 22 93/ KINGSTON addressed to Fleet Street (London).
PRISONER OF WAR (1914-18): Barbados cover pmk’d 5 SE 17 to Rockfort, Illinois from the camp holding 58 prisoners, mainly apprehended aliens or crews of enemy ships seized in the early stages of the war in the West Indies or Atlantic Ocean waters
COMPLETE OFFSET OF DESIGN INSIDE POSTAL STATIONERY ENVELOPE: local use of the British Guiana 2c carmine PSE to Hopetown, West Coast, Berbice with design pmk’d Fort Wellington OC 10 96, a full offset of the design printed inside.
MISSENT TO WRONG TOWN: Bahamas QV 2½d PSE pmk’d C/FE 1 93 to Sutton, Surrey with Reigate L/20 FE 93 mis-direction cancels, “Try Sutton” in blue crayon with Sutton A/FE 21 93 arrival backstamp.
MANUSCRIPT MISSENT TO WRONG COUNTRY: stampless prepaid from Burscheid, Prussia JY 6 1861 to a passenger on board the R.M. Steamer leaving Rio de Janeiro 7th July c/o British Consul, San Vincent (Cape Verde Islands, Madeira) with red ink manuscript “Missent to St. Vincent. W.I.”
UPU POST CARD WITH A STORY (news of RIOTS in British Honduras due to currency changed to United States gold dollar standard): QV 3c Post Card pmk’d “K.65” with Belize A/JA 11 95 despatch to Famagusta, Cyprus arriving A/FE 13 95. Message includes “Here we have been having furious Riots, and Mutiny of Constables, American Burglars, and the like – we are having dances and fetes, making much of the military and naval defenders”. During October 1894 the currency of the Colony aligned to the U.S. gold standard resulting in 5c = 2½d postal rate (previously 6c = 2½d).
PRE-STAMP POSTED WITH MALTESE CROSS: entire posted with both LIVERPOOL dbl-arc dated MR 30 1840 and Maltese Cross to George Town, Demerara rated black 1/- unpaid (quarter ounce rate period JA 1 1840 to DE 31 1841).
Handstruck UNCLAIMED: Denmark 4ore PSE with added seven x 3ore, single 5ore (30ore rate) pmk’d Horsens JU 28 1889 to St. Kidd tts (sic) showing ST. KITTS C/AU 2 89 arrival cds and “UNCLAIMED.” Opened in error (initialled W.P.P. Postmaster Pearce).
Manuscript UNCLAIMED: cover from Havana, Cuba franked 1r to Bahamas showing Ship Letter Nassau C/OC 21 64 arrival and subsequent “Unclaimed”.
SANS-SERIF DOUBLE ARC with SANS-SERIF DATE SLUGS: unpaid 2/- entire to London with black ink GRENADA dbl-arc dated NO 7 1848 (Type 8, only 4 known, the earliest without code letter “A”).
MAIL FROM A POSTAL PRANKSTER that fooled the British, the Jamaican, and the American Postal Authorities: W. Reginald Bray devised all manner of devious methods to add to his collection of postmarks especially on covers/cards delivered to his home address in Forest Hill. His great friend Ernest Arnold was a willing participant in many of Bray’s antics. The illustrated cover has already used U.S. stamps addressed to Arnold using a fictitious address, Arnold crossed out the original address and wrote on Jamaican address “Villa du Regal” (Government House), cover placed in Fulham (London) post box. Post Office found the cover which looked like it originated in the USA and redirected it legitimately to Jamaica, unable to locate Villa du Regal the cover was sent to Myrtle Bank Hotel, opened in error added, became undelivered mail, returned to U.S. Dead Letter Office, advertised, after period of requisite time in the U.S. sent back to the Forest Hill, England address on reverse. Bray’s cunning fooled the British post office into their believing they handled a genuine American letter. The Jamaican post office was fooled into thinking it should be returned to its American origin; and the American postal authorities failed to acknowledge the original (deliberate?) underpaid 4c rate to England and that their stamps never even belonged to the entire. Interested readers should acquire the book “The Englishman who Posted Himself (by walking into a Post Office with a stamp stuck on his forehead) and Other Curious Objects”.
MAIL BY GERMAN STEAMER: cover from Trinidad marked “Per German Steamer” with three (1d), single 4d (being 3d private ship letter rate + 4d registration) addressed Godalming, Surrey pmk’d AP 26 1874.
THREE FARTHINGS RATE: cover from Dominica pmk’d Roseau */17 DE 45 to Hastings, Barbados showing the surcharge of a farthing (¼d) on the ½d printed matter rate in force until 1952.
POSTAGE DUE EXPRESSED IN CENTIMES AND
STERLING: underpaid cover from Isfakanan, Persia 19.11.32 to Jamaica with circled “T” appended red ink “5 cts”, overstruck Jamaica purple woodblock “5d”.

BDT was founded on 23 July 1980 and dissolved on 12 November 2021; an export-oriented subsidiary of Irish Security Stamp Printing based in Dublin (Ireland).
It printed stamps for at least 74 entities, and during its existence printed over 12,000 different individual stamp designs. (Both these numbers may be too low.) Originally BDT had a monopoly on Irish stamps, but later the European Common Market forced Ireland to allow other Common Market printers to bid on contracts. Competition coupled with the dramatic drop in stamp usage as email took over, heralded the end of BDT.
Apparently, the company kept a printer’s sheet of many stamps it issued in the form of imperforate uncut press sheets. These were often folded and written on as one would expect with working proofs. All that I have seen are on watermarked paper identical to the finished products, if so used, but watermark varieties do exist for other entities.
Looking back on the FORMAT proofs that came out some time back, it appears some countries may have kept a much tighter rein on their stamp printers, as some seem to have almost no proofs out there, whereas others have virtually everything in proofs.
Figure 1 shows the Environment Protection Part 7 in an uncut pair of miniature sheets, which were never issued as such. The most interesting formats of the proofs are gutter pairs, marginals with oversize margins, cross gutter pairs and blocks, and especially items with stamps from two different countries. Many of these position pieces are unique and show how the stamps were printed. Most position pieces were never available as issued stamps or miniature sheets,
Many issues I have only found as singles or pairs, but occasionally a marginal block with printer’s marks still attached or intact gutter pairs have been offered. The press sheets were often made up of different stamps in the same issue separated by gutters, and sometimes stamps by different countries separated by gutters as well. Figure 2 shows a cross gutter block of two of the Waters of Life issues printed together.
For example, SG 1347-50 the Royal Horticulture set was printed in two different formats as Figures 3 and 4 prove, though neither are mentioned in the catalogues I have seen. First in panes of 50 separated by gutters and second as a compound sheet with all four stamps alternated.
Figure 5 exhibits 2005 Defence Force/Key West Connections cross gutter blocks of two issues printed on the same press sheet. My suspicion is that this was done to prevent overprinting of lesser used denominations.
In the 2006 QEII 80th Birthday issue, the gold Queen’s head is omitted on those I have seen for Bahamas and similarly for BVI they are missing the silver Queen’s head. There are likely other proofs that were unissued or issued in different colours or denominations.
Finally, Figure 6 shows 2013 Ascension and Bahamas Coronation miniature sheets, printed se-tenant, colour bar to left. Probably more efficient to have one long print run of a combination press sheet than many smaller individual runs.
Thus far I have not found more than one press sheet of any issue based on the countries I collect, and the positional pieces I have been able to locate. With Belize being the only exception, all proofs I have found in the past three years were issued in the 1999-2016 range. Bahamas seem to have ended sooner in 2013. Undoubtedly there are others lurking out there, but I figured you might want to know what is currently going on with the Bahamas issues.
Not all issues, in some sets, have been found as proofs and are so noted in my list of Bahamas proofs. It could be they were not kept, were damaged, or may be incorrectly filed. I recently discovered, while mounting a couple of my Bermuda BDT proofs of the Diamond Jubilee miniature sheets of 8, that they were actually from St. Helena, a country I do not collect!
Those in red are missing one or more values. If they are not listed, I have not verified imperforate proofs as yet. I have discovered these at auctions in Europe, with European dealers, and a few on Ebay! Sometimes they are
offered as “ERRORS”.
The list is by SG numbers, and all are imperforate.
1193-96 1999 Environment Protection 7th Series set of 4
1197 1999 $2 Environment Protection Bottle-nosed Dolphins, (Figure 1, uncut pair of miniature sheets)
1289-94 2002 Natural History
1311-14 2003 Family Island Regatta
1328-31 2003 Christmas/St Matthews Church
1332-5 2003 Waters of Life (Figure 2, cross gutter block)
1336-9 2004 2nd Wetlands Harrold/Wilson Ponds 4 low values, 2 high values SG 1340-1 unknown
1342-46a 2004 300th Anniversary John Wesley
1347-50 2004 Royal Horticultural Society set, cross gutter blocks of 4, Figure 3
1347-50 2004 Royal Horticultural Society gutter composite block of 20 (5 sets) (Figure 4)
1351-5 2004 1st Lighthouses
1359a 2004 25c Killdeer single
1360-65 2004 Christmas Junkanoo set of 6
1372-5 2005 Bush Medicinal Plants (4th series) set of 4
1376-9 2005 25th Anniversary Bahamas Defence Force
1376-9,1387-90 2005 Defence Force/Key West Connections cross gutter block (Figure 5), unusual to have two different issues in same press sheet
1391-1395 2005 EUROPA sheetlets of 4 stamps & miniature sheet
1396-1400 2005 Lighthouses (2nd series)
1401 2005 $1 Pope John Paul II
1402 2005 $2 30th Anniversary of Bahamas College miniature sheet
1407-13 2006 Birdlife, Bahama Nuthatch singles and miniature sheet
1414-7 2006 QE2 80th Birthday set of 4 singles missing gold
1418 2006 QE2 80th Birthday miniature sheet not seen
1419-24 2006 Broadcasting (ZNS)
1427-38 2006 Flowers definitives singles missing 5¢ 10¢
1453-7 2007 Diamond Wedding sheetlets of 6 and miniature sheet
1468-73 2007 Christmas set of 6
1478-84 2008 Butterflies set of 6 & miniature sheet
1485-9 2008 Military Uniforms set of 5
1494-1505 2008 Flowers singles missing 15¢ 55¢ 80¢
1542-3 2009 Centenary Naval Aviation 2 high values unknown SG 1544-5
1546 2009 Centenary Naval Aviation miniature sheet
1553 2009 Commonwealth Anniversary miniature sheet
1576-81 2011 Lifetime of Service sheetlets of 6 unknown
1582 2011 Lifetime of Service $5.00 miniature sheet
1583 2011 Lifetime of Service $2.50 miniature sheet
1646 2013 BAHAMAS/TRISTAN Coronation miniature sheets se-tenant
1646 2013 ASCENSION/BAHAMAS Coronation miniature sheets, se-tenant, colour bar to left, (Figure 6)
There are BDT issues both before and after this range that I have not seen as proofs as well as several issues in the range unknown as proofs. Those shown in red probably exist, as I have missed several auctions along the way.
I would appreciate scans of any you have that I have not listed. I do have a number of BDT proof duplicates as well as from several other countries I would be willing to trade.

This cover (Figure 1) was sent from Dominica to the recipient in the United States. It carries the expected 2½d postage and 1d War Tax that was still in effect in 1944 in Dominica.
Inside was a preprinted letter from the Post Office (Figure 3) and with it the order form (Figure 2) for Mr. Leet to use.
To me the interesting thing is the cost of a packet of Registration envelopes at 6/9¼.
Toeg’s book on Dominica only covers the island’s postal history to 1935, but it mentions that the Registration envelopes were sold in packs of 25. There is no reason to suppose that the pack size had changed size in nine years and the calculations would not work otherwise.
The registration was 3d at this time, so this accounted for 6/3 of the cost, leaving 6¼d for the cost of the envelopes. Conveniently, 6¼d is 25x¼d.
Any postal service costing a farthing is interesting to me. I do not have a library of all the books published on empire postal history, but not unreasonably, the books I have, rarely mention the cost of items of postal stationery over and above the cost of the service itself.
I know that one reason why the Cayman Islands prepaid farthing postcards were reputed to be less popular than an ordinary postcard with an adhesive, was the additional cost of the card itself, and it is more common in my experience for registered mail to be in ordinary envelopes with a registered handstamp rather than using Post Office envelopes that have the Registration fee included.
My question is … what was the cost of the items of postal stationery themselves in a variety of islands and did this affect the ways that the island postal services worked?
Another question that might arise from the letter is …
if one wanted a complete set of local stamps at $US
2.50½ … how did one pay ½ cent?
It may also be noted that there were no reliable stamp dealers or collectors in Roseau at that time!

I am writing to enquire about the Jamaica 1921-29 multiple script CA 3d with inverted watermark, SG99w. Gibbons have a dash against it, and I have not been able to locate examples of this variety [in the literature].
With this in mind, I do have three examples of this variety all used at Mandeville and cancelled with the boxed Mandeville handstamp dated 25 MR 24. One perhaps can presume they came from a sheet held at the Mandeville PO.
Do you have any records on this variety or perhaps your members may be able to express a view?
Please contact Abed at abedhnajjar52@gmail.com

The 1925-35 recess printed ‘Badge’ issue by De La Rue has thrown up yet more complications, this time in regard to plate sizes.
THE 1d ‘SINGLE WORKING PLATE 160 SET’. The Crown Agents’ Register of Dies, Plates, Formes etc. of the 1928-33 period records the first 1d plate as being 160-set and curved (Figure 1). A 160-stamp plate is a unique configuration in this definitive issue. The plate size for the ten other original denominations was 80 stamps in 8 horizontal rows of 10.
However, the 1d is also the only denomination to be found in sheets of 80 stamps with a ‘1’ in a centre left margin of one sheet and a ‘2’ in a centre right margin of another sheet (Figure 2). This would suggest that the 1d plate consisted of two ‘panes’, each of 80 stamps, probably side by side. My reconstruction of how the 160-set plate probably looked, showing the marginal lines I currently have, is shown in my diagram (Figure 3). They could have been two plates, made separately, each with its own marginal lines on all four sides, somehow held together and then affixed to the printing cylinder. The plate is described as having been curved but at present I only have two examples from the same top corner – one is shown in Figure 2 – and they show no signs of slot or screw marks which would confirm curving. However, the slots for holding the joined plate onto the printing cylinder could well have been placed further out. The 1d was a very high demand denomination, with nearly 16 million stamps printed, over twice as many as the next highest denomination, the ½d.
Fig. 1 Extract from the Crown Agents’ Register for Barbados recording the 1d plate of 160 stamps.
Fig. 2 Plate numbers 1 and 2 of the 1d and their positions in the centre margins of the two ‘panes’.
Fig. 3 Probable configuration of the two 1d ‘panes’ – ‘1’ on the left and ‘2’ on the right.
2. Bridger & Kay, 1980 Commonwealth Five Reigns, 1980, R. Ward & Sons Ltd, UK
THE ‘CUT TO 60 SET’ PLATES. As a result of correspondence between myself and Peter Fernbank regarding plates and marginal lines, I discovered that I had top right corner blocks of four in the 2½d, 3d and 4d denominations which showed the normally central guide mark – shaped like a sideways T – which normally occurs between rows 4 and 5, positioned instead between rows 2 and 3! (Figure 4). This was very puzzling until Peter recalled what he’d seen in a scan from The De La Rue Collection containing a page taken from DLR’s Works Progressive Specimen File. This showed annotations made by Mr L.C. Cockle of the Stamp Department beside specimen overprinted examples of the 2½d, 3d, 4d and 1/- as being Cut to 60 set and the dates when these were done (Figure 5).
The ‘cut to 60 set’ denominations:
Value Date This affected Printing Type Curved or Flat
2½d June 1933 The final two printings, 7th and 8th Dry paper Plate still curved?
3d July 1934 The final two printings, 8th and 9th Wet paper Plate still curved
4d July 1934 The final printing, 5th Wet paper Plate still flat?
1s 27 October 1935 The final printing, 7th Wet paper Plate curved
From the mid 1920s, De La Rue began using rotary presses which not only sped up the printing process but removed the need for the paper to be dampened. However, ‘wet’ paper could still be used in conjunction with curved plates and rotary printing.
I have no evidence of the 4d plate ever having been curved and the Crown Agents’ Register indicates it was still flat in the 1928-33 period. However, it may have been curved later. The 2½d, 3d and 1/- plates had been curved. If the top two rows of stamps were somehow ‘removed’ from the plate, it would leave a plate of 60 stamps and explain why the previously central guide mark now appears two rows higher up, between rows 2 and 3, as illustrated in Fig. 4. However, new marginal lines along the top of the plate would have required re-engraving and also – if the surrounding plate was removed along with the two rows of stamps - new slots made to affix the shorter plate to the printing cylinder. This is assuming the plate remained in a curved state.
Fig. 4 My blocks of the 2½d, 3d and 4d showing the central guide mark now between rows 2 and 3 instead of 4 and 5. I lack a similar block of the 1/-.
Fig. 5 Portion of a scan of a page from De La Rue’s Works Progressive Specimen File showing the 2½d, 3d, 4d and 1/- described as ‘cut to 60 set’.
Fig. 5a Slightly clearer image of “Cut to 60 set”.
Bayley (1) records the 2½d as changing from an 80 to 60 stamp format for the 7th printing, dispatched in September 1933. Bridger & Kay’s 1980 Commonwealth Five Reigns Catalogue (2) lists the 3d in yellow brown on pale yellow paper (G 90) as being in a 10 x 6 sheet size. These two appear to be the only references to sheets of 60 stamps.
HOW was the ‘cutting out’ of the two top rows carried out and particularly WHY? These are the two big questions. Could the two top rows have been rolled or beaten out or were they literally ‘cut’ out? In the George VI ‘Badge’ 3d, DLR ‘replaced’ the cliché at Row 4 No. 10 between printings (the well-known ‘line over the horse’s head’ flaw). The ‘replaced’ image, without the flaw, was recognized by Murray Payne as being a deeper and darker impression. (‘Sixth Sense, No. 8, 1996). So, did DLR ‘remove’ the complete top two rows and replace with enough metal for the replacement top marginal lines to be engraved?
My ‘cut to 60’ 2½d, 3d and 4d blocks show no signs in the top corners of any slot or screw marks, whereas my blocks from earlier 80-stamp sheets of the 2½d and 3d do show the slot marks. But if only the top two rows of stamps were ‘removed’ with a new top marginal line engraved but leaving the plate edges still intact, then the existing slots could still be used to secure the plate to the cylinder. These marks would be cut off when the sheets were guillotined. This assumes that there wasn’t a need for these plates to be shorter. If new slots had to be drilled into the ’60-set’ plates, they must have been placed further out as their marks no longer show in the top right corners in my examples. There is a possibility, though, that these plates were ‘cut’ down to fit a smaller sized cylinder.
Possible reasons for shortening the plates:
• Did these four plates receive some damage to their tops?
• Did these plates need to be ‘cut’ down to fit a shorter sized printing cylinder at that time? (However, the 6d also had two printings in this 1933-35 period and were not shortened as I have blocks from these printings showing slot and screw marks and no T-marks between rows 2 and 3).
• Other possibilities(?).
De La Rue’s confusing and complex methods over this period are continuing to pose challenges to our understanding. With time and more pieces of evidence it is hoped some of these matters can be resolved.
Does anyone have top left or right corner marginal blocks in the 2½d, 3d, 4d and especially the 1/- (which I don’t have) showing the guide mark – the sideways T – between rows 2 and 3? Can anyone suggest or know of any other ways that these top two rows could have been ‘cut’ and why? If so, I would be very grateful for any thoughts, information and/or scans. My email is: colinpat2525@gmail.com if you wish to contact me personally.
References
1. Edmund A. Bayley, The Stamps of Barbados, 1989, Self-Published, Barbados, p.126

Steve sent in this Dominican cover (Figure 1) from the Postmaster because of its contents. It is an order for a Dominican £1 stamp for which 20s6d had been sent. Given it is a single stamp and the associated letters could be folded, it is not clear why a large official envelope was used. The postage of 6d appears overpaid as registration was 3d and postage to England in 1925 was 2d for the first ounce, and 1½d per ounce above that. Therefore, the letter weighed less than one ounce. Most likely the postmaster used the 6d stamp because this covered registration and postage and the extra 1d had been paid. It was probably unusual to receive an order for a £1 stamp, but the recipient may not have been expecting a typed response (Figure 2). The interesting part of the letter is “…for which you enclosed 20/6 to the late Postmaster of this Island on the 23rd August 1924…”. The letter is dated some three West Indies Philately No. 8 – December 2024 Page 21 months later and there appears to have been some catching up to do with old correspondence by the new Postmaster. Steve asked if anyone has a list of Postmasters for Dominica to see who was it that appears to have died suddenly in 1924. The collector may have been wondering where his 20s6d had gone.
Also enclosed was the order list (Figure 3) as used by the Post Office. This lists all the Dominican stamps available as well as those of the Leeward Islands. For the latter only stamps to 5 shillings are listed as the 10s and £1 stamps were not issued until 1928.

Previous articles have dealt with the 19th century Packet Express in Jamaica and with the Express or Special Delivery of post from Jamaica to overseas in the 19th and 20th century. This article describes the internal Express Delivery service in Jamaica in the latter part of the 20th century. A previous account was published by Reg Lant in 1984 (1).
The Law and Practice of Express Delivery
The Express Delivery service for inland post only was introduced to Jamaica on 1 December 1957 (2). The service
“provides for delivery of postal articles by special messenger immediately after they are received at the office of destination”. (3)
Like the GB system on which it was modelled, the collection and the transmission between offices was the same as for normal post. Articles did not have to be handed in at a post office, they could be posted in letter boxes. Articles travelled between offices with the normal post at its usual speed. The Express items were identified for separate treatment only when sorted at the office of destination. These postal articles were then immediately delivered by special messenger.
The service remained substantially the same for as long as it can be traced through the series of Post Office guides up to 1977 (3).
The articles permitted.
The Regulations of 1957 allowed “an inland postal article”, which might be anything whose transmission through the post was permitted. Successive Post Office guides specifically mentioned that this included letters, parcels and “all other articles”. It was also possible, but not obligatory, to register Express articles.
Weight.
The weight of the article was not to exceed seven pounds. Within this blanket limit on Express Delivery, each class of post was still subject to its own normal limits where these were lower. The effect was that the limit was that applicable to that class of normal post or 7lb, whichever was the lower.
This probably affected mainly parcels, where the normal inland weight limit was various higher figures at various dates. There were such things as Express parcels. Figure 3 below shows a 1964 certificate of posting of a registered parcel by Express.
These weight limits were there probably for the protection of the “special messenger”, though there is no account of a means of delivery different from that of the normal post.
Requirements on marking the article.
Under the 1957 Regulations “the word ‘express' shall be marked in bold letters on the upper left-hand corner of the address side.” The Post Office guides put it slightly differently: “the word “Express” must be boldly and legibly written above the address on the left-hand side of the cover”.
The fees charged.
In addition to postage, the Express charge to be prepaid was 6d. Beyond this basic 6d:
“where the point of delivery is more than one mile from the office of destination an additional charge for porterage (which shall either be pre-paid or be paid by the addressee) at the following rates-
(i) sixpence for every mile beyond the first mile from the office of destination where the entire distance does not exceed three miles;
(ii) (ii) one shilling for every mile from the office of destination to the point of delivery where the distance exceeds three miles.”
(iii) It is noteworthy that this additional distance charge could be either prepaid or paid by the addressee. Post Office guides in 1962 and 1967 elaborated on this:
“The normal postage plus the minimum express fee of 6d. must be prepaid and the additional charges shown in (2) and (3) above should be prepaid whenever possible. Any amount insufficiently prepaid will be collected from the addressee on delivery or, should he refuse to take delivery, from the sender to whom the article would be returned in case of non-delivery.”
These charges remained unchanged until decimal currency (4). From 8 September 1969 the basic Express charge was 5c and the additional charges of 6d and 1s became 5c and 10c. There were no other immediate changes in the rules for charges.
From 1 October 1972 (5), “New postal rates come into effect today… Express Delivery Fee Per article 20c”, presumably an increase in the basic charge from 5c. There is no mention of the extra charges for distance. It is possible that the extra distance charges were dropped at this date. The 1977 Post Office guide does not mention them, it says simply “The normal postage plus the express fee of 20c. must be prepaid.”
The areas where Express Delivery was made. Express Delivery letters could be posted from anywhere in the island. But only certain destinations in urban areas qualified for delivery. The original provision in the 1957 Regulations was:
“the office of destination shall be in one of the following areas, that is to say-
(i) the Urban and Suburban Districts of the parishes of Kingston and Saint Andrew as defined and described in the Second Schedule to the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation Law;
(ii) (ii) Montego Bay;
(iii) (iii) Mandeville;
(iv) (iv) Spanish Town;
(v) (v) May Pen.”
The list of allowable destinations grew:
• The 1962 Post Office guide added Linstead, Old Harbour, Port Antonio, Port Maria, St Ann’s Bay and Savanna-la-Mar.
• The 1967 guide added Falmouth and Morant Bay
• The 1977 guide kept the same list.
Times of deliveries.
The 1957 Regulations prescribed that:
“Express delivery articles shall be delivered on any day, other than a Sunday or a Public General Holiday, between the hours of eight o’clock in the morning and eight o'clock in the evening, and may be delivered on a Public General Holiday during such hours as the office of destination may be open.”
The 1962 and 1967 Post Office guides had much the same effect but switched the definition to the timing of receipt of the mails:
“Delivery of express articles will be restricted to those contained in mails received at the delivery office between 8.0 in the morning and 8.0 in the evening on week days and on Public Holidays to the hours the office is open to deal with incoming mails.”
In the 1977 guide these hours were altered and simplified to:
“Delivery of express articles will be restricted to the hours of 8.0 in the morning and 7.0 in the evening on week days and 12 noon on Saturdays.”
Post Office Express markings
The Post Office did not rely on senders alone to identify Express articles. A proper Express letter had both a sender’s ‘Express’ at the top left and either a Post Office Express label or handstamp applied by the Post Office at the office of posting.
This article studied 20 items, 11 that Lant identified in his article (1) and a further nine in the authors’ collections. Within these 20, five have Post Office Express labels, dating from 1961 (the earliest cover seen) until 1965 (discounting a 6th on the philatelic confection of 1974 to Tom Foster). Handstamps appear on a further 12 items, from 1964 onwards. It is likely that as initial supplies of labels ran out each office resorted to locally made handstamps.
Post Office Express labels
The distinctive brown Post Office Express labels are like those used in Britain and some other colonies at the time and were probably from the same printer. Like contemporary British labels, the colours vary from rose-red, through shades of red-brown to chocolate, though Lant described them as maroon. The separation is by rouletting 10, but this also varies, with some straight edges. This in turn varies the size of the labels, around about 16mm high x 28mm wide. All in all, no useful classification can be drawn from the small number known.
Post Office Express handstamps
Lant suggested that each office procured its own local handstamp, and certainly no two offices had the same. Although the number of offices delivering Express Delivery was limited, it could be posted at any office, so there might theoretically be a different EXPRESS handstamp for each office in Jamaica, a diversity reminiscent of the UNCLAIMED handstamps. Handstamps were struck in typical Jamaica Post Office violet or black ink.
Lant assigned numbers to types. EXP1 was the printed Post Office Express label, EXP2 to 8 were post office handstamps and EXP9 was a sender’s typed ‘Express.’ The following table adds the examples from the authors’ collections to Lant’s list, a total of 12 items with handstamps, only a fraction of the types that must exist.
Lant number Size Office Ink Dates
EXP type 2 10 x 30 mm Montego Bay Black 15 January 1964
EXP type 3 6.5 x 20 mm Kingston Parcels Post Violet: Black: 1964 20 August – 30 October 27 November
EXP type 4 6 x 26 mm Vineyard Town Black 14 January 1967
EXP type 5 5 x 37 mm Mandeville Violet 23 January 1968 - 10 April 1970
EXP type 6 11 x 63 mm Port Antonio Black 10 September 1972
EXP type 7 9 x 50 mm Savanna- La-Mar Black 21 January 1974
EXP type 8 8.5 x 50 mm Montego Bay (1) Black 15 February 1974
- 9 x 60 mm Cross Roads Black 10 April 1972
Examples of Express Delivery Lant illustrates nine Express Delivery items. The following eight further examples are from the authors’ collections.
Figure 1 shows an Express cover from the Salvation Army in Kingston to Montego Bay, 1961. All the procedures have been observed. The franking is 8d (2d inland postage, 6d Express Delivery fee). A correctly typed “EXPRESS” is at the left and a Post Office Express label at the right. Note that the label is rouletted on 3 sides, but the fourth side is cut straight. It seems likely that the labels came in sheets, so the straight edge is at the sheet margin. The cover left Kingston on 18 October 1961 and was delivered at Montego Bay the same day.
Figure 2 shows an Express cover sent within Mandeville in 1964. This is franked 9d (3d inland postage, 6d Express Delivery fee) with a manuscript SPECIAL DELIVERY rather than the prescribed EXPRESS and a Post Office Express label.
Figure 3 shows a certificate of posting for an Express parcel to Montego Bay, 1964. The datestamp is Parcels Post 30 October 1964 without a place name but is probably from Kingston. The postage paid is 1s 2d. This would pay a 2lb parcel at 4d per lb plus the 6d Express charge. “PD” is written next to the Lant EXP Type 3 Express handstamp. Fig. 1 Kingston 18 October 1961.
Fig. 2 Mandeville 8.30 am 2 April 1964.
Fig. 3 Certificate of posting a parcel to Montego Bay 30 October 1964. No. 8 – December 2024 West Indies Philately Page 26 Figure 4 shows a very philatelic cover of 26 November 1965 from White Sands Beach to the U.S.A. There is no sender’s Express mark. Although it bears a Post Office Express label these labels only secure Express Delivery at destinations within Jamaica and would have no effect on delivery in the U.S.A.
Fig. 4 White Sands Beach to the USA. (reduced)
Figure 5 shows an Express cover posted on 23 December 1965 from an Interflora florist in Montego Bay to Aguilar in Kingston 10. Just before Christmas this might be legitimate florist’s business rather than a philatelic confection. The address in Kingston 10 is at Half- Way-Tree, within the prescribed districts of Kingston. It is franked 9d (3d inland postage and 6d Express Delivery fee). The cover is unusual as an Express Delivery cover with just the sender's note "Special Delivery" at top left and a scrawled crayon EXPRESS, the latter is probably a Post Office marking applied at Montego Bay in lieu of either a Post Office Express label or a handstamp.
Figure 6 shows a registered Express cover from Mandeville to Kingston, 10 April 1970. It is franked 16c (inland postage 3c; registration fee 8c; Express Delivery fee 5c). There is a Lant EXP type 5 Express handstamp, probably applied at Mandeville, but no Post Office Express label.
Fig. 5 Montego Bay 23 December 1965. West Indies Philately No. 8 – December 2024 Page 27
Fig. 6 Mandeville to Kingston 10 April 1970. (reduced)
Figure 7 shows an Express cover from Cross Roads to Kingston, 10 April 1972. It is franked 8c (inland postage 3c; Express Delivery fee 5c). There is a Post Office Express handstamp (a type not listed by Lant) probably applied at Cross Roads, but no Post Office Express label.
Figure 8 shows a memorable postal history cover to commemorate the visit of Tom Foster to Jamaica in 1974. It is a registered Express cover struck with the Tom Foster TRD 29 January 1974, sent within Kingston to Tom and signed by him. It is franked 16c (3c inland postage, 8c registration fee and 5c Express Delivery fee) and it bears a Post Office Express label.
Fig. 7 Cross Roads to Kingston 10 April 1972.
Fig. 8 Kingston 29 January 1974.
Recent Express Services The public records of postal services in Jamaica have deteriorated since the last complete Post Office guide was published in 1977. It is difficult to establish what has happened and exactly when in more recent years. According to Lant (1), the Express Delivery service was withdrawn in the late 70s. However, Express mail of some sort has continued. As recently as 2007 the Postal Corporation of Jamaica published a list of “Commercial Services Offered at the Post Offices” including “express mail service”.
The Jamaica Post website (6) in July 2022 described 3 expedited services, one inland and two international:
Zipmail (an inland delivery service). “Have your documents and parcels delivered the NEXT BUSINESS DAY at competitive prices. We will pick up your package at your door. Choose from four delivery options, access online tracking and customer service assistance.”
Fast Track (International Express Shipping). “Fast Track is a quick and easy way to send documents and packages worldwide at an affordable price. Fast Track offers customers delivery from Jamaica to the door of the recipient in the destination country and online tracking.”
Express Mail Service (EMS). “Ship documents and packages using EMS to 12 countries in the Caribbean, North America, Europe and Latin America and have your item arrive within 3 – 5 business days.”
Perhaps, if covers are found, the stories of Jamaica Express Delivery and international Express services can be carried forward to the present.
Conclusion It would be welcome if these articles on a variety of Jamaica Express topics stimulate readers to look at their own collections for more examples. More examples of the early Packet Express, of overseas Express Delivery and internal Express Delivery letters and covers of all sorts are needed to fill gaps and solidify some of the tentative findings. As with any research on new ground, there will also be errors to be corrected.
Please send scans and arguments to the authors at paul.wrightsw19@btinternet.com.
There are also untold stories of Express mail in other countries. For example, Graham Williams put a note in the BWISC Bulletin in March 2005 about Express Delivery in British Guiana. He found references to such a service in 1910-11 as well as covers from the 1930s onward (7).
Acknowledgements The authors have received help and advice on overseas and internal Express Delivery for these articles from many sources, but especially Peter Fernbank, Michael Hamilton and Julian Tweed.
References
(1) Reg H Lant, Jamaica Express Delivery Service, British Caribbean Philatelic Journal, volume 24 No 3, whole no 131 (1984 July) pages 68 to 81.
(2) THE POST OFFICE (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1957 and THE POST OFFICE (FEES FOR EXPRESS DELIVERY) ORDER, 1957 in The Jamaica Gazette, Supplement, Proclamations, Rules and Regulations. 429. Vol. LXXX, Thusday, November 21, 1957. No. 112. 28 November 1957. Reproduced on the website of the Encyclopedia of Jamaican Philately http://jamaicaphilately.info/ under Information Index / 1957 / PO Law Revision (Express Delivery).
(3) Post Office Guides for 1962, (pages 53 to 54), 1967 (pages 26 and 45 to 46) and 1977 (pages 24 and 41). Reproduced on the website of the Encyclopedia of Jamaican Philately http://jamaicaphilately.info/ under Jamaica PO Guides.
(4) THE POST OFFICE (POSTAL CHARGES) ORDER, 1969 in The Jamaica Gazette, Supplement, Proclamations, Rules and Regulations. 551. Vol. XCII, Saturday, September 6, 1969. No. 115. 5 September 1969. Reproduced on the website of the Encyclopedia of Jamaican Philately http://jamaicaphilately.info/ under Information Index / 1969 / PO Law Revision (Express Delivery).
(5) Jamaica Post Office Notices 1972. 1 Oct 1972; Rates to Overseas Destinations [Gleaner 1 Oct 1972]. In spite of the heading, the notice covers both inland and overseas rates and also a correction of a misprinted 2c to 20c published in the Gleaner on 30 October 1972. Reproduced on the website of the Encyclopedia of Jamaican Philately http://jamaicaphilately.info/. under Information Index.
(6) https://jamaicapost.gov.jm/ under Expedited Services.
(7) Williams, Graham, British Guiana Express Delivery. BWISC Bulletin No 204 March 2005, page 7.

Supplied by Susan Taylor and from the St Lucia Post website on 31 March 2024.
Effective 1 August 2013.
Local https://stluciapostal.com/local/ 1st Step Steps
Letters $0.50c (<=28gm) $0.25c (per 28gm)
Postcards $0.30c
Books and Printed Papers $0.50c (<=56gm) $0.20c (per 56gm) $2.00 (<=453g, max)
Small Packets $0.50c (<=56gm) $0.20c (per 56gm)
Parcels $2.00 (<=453g) $1.00 (per 453gms)
Bulk Mail $0.35c (<=28gm) $0.25c (per 28gm) one hundred or more envelopes
Literature for the blind no charge
Registered Items Item postage rate plus $2.50 registration fee.
International https://stluciapostal.com/international/
LETTERS Per 14g (½ oz)
POST CARDS Per 14g (½ oz)
PRINTED MATTER Per 14g (½ oz)
SMALL PACKETS Per 14g (½ oz) Zone A $1.25 $1.00 $0.55 $1.50 Caribbean BVI Zone B $1.50 $1.00 $0.60 $2.00 USA, UK, Canada, USVI, Puerto Rico Zone C $1.60 $1.00 $0.75 $2,50 European Countries Zone D $1.75 $1.00 $0.95 $4.00 Asia, Russia, Middle East, India, Africa, New Zealand, China
Foreign Registration requires item postage rate plus an additional $4.00 Parcels are more complicated, being country specific, see https://stluciapostal.com/parcels/ Effective December 1, 2012

Introduction
The two ounces and four ounces opium duty labels (Figure 1), as they were referred to in the Ordinance No. 14 of 1879, are an extremely rare set. These labels were used for official customs purposes to track opium shipments or imports in Trinidad when the opium trade was regulated. It's an interesting artefact that provides a glimpse into historical drug policies and customs practices in Trinidad. Currently a total of only eight examples are known to exist to the author. These are the rarest of all Trinidad revenue stamps and a highly sought-after gem to collectors of revenue stamps.
The history behind these labels is widely unknown. The philatelic story is equally scarce and very little has been written. As such, the author has tried to illustrate its story and its significance.
Opium History
Opium has been one of the world’s oldest medicinal and recreational drugs. It was first referenced by the Sumerians around 3,400 B.C. The origin of the opium poppy plant (Papaver somniferum) comes from Mesopotamia. Today we know this area as modern-day Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Alexander the Great was said to have introduced it to India around the 4th century B.C. during his conquest of the Persian Empire. Opium eventually spread across Asia and then ultimately to China via the silk road as well as by the British and Portuguese ship merchants of that time.
Opium Poppy Production in India
In India, the opium trade was controlled and operated by the East India Company, a British owned company. Vast opium poppy fields were cultivated in the fertile regions of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh. Farmers harvested opium from the green poppy capsules by hand. To extract the opium, the outer surface of the poppy bulb was lightly scored with a sharp knife. This allowed the milky white sap to ooze. After a couple days when the sap was dried, it was scraped off the bulb and collected by the field laborers. The collection of milky fluid sap was then made into cakes and packed into wooden chests by the factory workers.
Fig. 1 Four-ounce duty label, O2-1
Fig. 2 Opium poppy plant drawing, 18th century
Workers in Figure 3 are seen drying opium cakes using sunlight and open air at a factory compound. This helps us understand how it was handled and processed. It was a laborious and time-consuming enterprise. The size and scale of the opium storage warehouse in Patna India, Figure 4, gives an idea as to the magnitude of the opium trade. There was a huge market with a high global demand for the drug. Many wars were also fought over opium, that is a story for another time.
Opium Connection to Indentureship in Trinidad
After slavery was abolished in Trinidad in 1838, the Sugar Cane Planters were faced with a labour shortage dilemma. Without a new source of workers, they were staring the collapse of the already struggling sugar industry. Under the governorship of Sir Henry McLeod, the first glimmer of hope to the planters was realized. This was a tremendous victory for William Burnley since he had the greatest stake in the sugar business to lose. Burnley was arguably the most powerful person on the island. He was the largest slave owner and proprietor of most of the sugar plantations. He was also known to have great political influence and power over many government officials.
On May 30, 1845, Captain Cubitt Sparkhall Rundle docked the Fatel Rozack ship in Port of Spain (Figure 5). He landed the first batch of East Indian indentured laborers to Trinidad who came on their own “free will” chasing greener pastures. Most of the East Indians coming to Trinidad were from the regions of Uttar Pradesh and Bengal. They were typically of a lower caste and of the labouring class. In 1845, about 225 indentured laborers came to Trinidad, but by the end of the Indentureship in 1917, over 150,000 East Indians had arrived there.
Some of the East Indians coming to Trinidad were already in the habit of using opium. This can be traced to the questions emigrants had to answer after being quarantined in the departure depot for seven days. Before being allowed to embark on the ship, each emigrant had to answer a series of questions posed by The Protector of the Emigrants. The 6th question read: “Are you aware that there are no more than two cooking places on board the ship, one for Hindoos, the other for Musselmen, and that you must eat all your food cooked in these cabooses; also, that anyone found with opium or gunja or other intoxicating drugs in his possession will be severely punished.”
Fig. 3 Drying opium for packaging, India
Fig. 4 Opium factory, stacking room, India.
Fig. 5 Fatel Rozack, the first ship to bring East Indians to Trinidad
Another opium reference on the sailing voyage read: “Fraternization of the crew, officers, and male passengers with female emigrants was forbidden; the Surgeon Superintendent appointed male married emigrants to serve as night watchmen to see that female emigrants did not visit the crew's quarters or the single male's compartment during the night on the pretence of going to the toilet. Any kind of intoxicants, opium, ganja (marijuana) were prohibited; and the crew was forbidden to sell or supply the passengers with such items.”
Chinese indentured laborers were also present in Trinidad during the 19th century and were brought there during the period 1853 to 1866. Approximately 2,645 immigrants landed in Trinidad during this time as an alternative source of field and labour workers for the sugar and cocoa industry. Dr. Henry Mitchell, Agent-General of Immigrants, reported “The last ship of 1853 was the Lady Flora Hastings, from the Province of Fokéén. Her immigrants were inferior to those by the two other ships (referring to the ships Australia and Clarendon), and many were confirmed opium-smokers. They were landed during the first week in July, proved a source of continual annoyance to the estates that received them, and, before six months passed, suffered so severely from dysentery and sores, as to form a subject of inquiry by the Local Government.”
A large percentage of the East Indians migrating to Trinidad in the 19th century was from the same region opium was cultivated. By 1879, over 60,000 of them had arrived there under Indentureship. The Chinese were consumers of opium too. Opium had caused severe economic and social problems in China. This led the Chinese into two wars with the British, the first during the period 1839-1842, the second from 1856-1860.
Ordinance No. 14 – 1879
The opium trade was global and present in most major countries of the world. It had been a great revenue source for the British especially during the 19th century. As expected, there was a demand for opium in Trinidad. It would be intuitive that this was mainly driven by the indentured laborers of India and China. To fulfil this market, the sale and control of opium had to be established. The taxation of opium would prove to be an additional revenue stream, and one the British used to help offset the cost of the colony expenses.
On 10 September 1879, by the order of Governor Henry Turner Irving, the opium Ordinance No. 14 – 1879 (Figure 6) was enacted. This ordinance was structured with a strict set of rules and penalties for the management, enforcement, control, and distribution of the opium. The complete ordinance is listed at the end of this article. All imported opium to the island was stored in the Customs Warehouse, located in the capital, Port of Spain.
The revenues generated from the sale of opium was from both the license to sell and from the import duties. In 1879, the license fee was £1 and by 1905 the fee had increased to £10. In 1888, the Trinidad Official and Commercial Register and Almanac reported that any goods containing opium for medicinal purposes had a duty on it of 10 shillings per pound.
Fig. 6 Opium Ordinance of 1879
HOW WAS OPIUM CONSUMED AND ITS FATAL LURE
Opium was mainly used recreationally by both East Indian and Chinese indentured laborers. The opium was either eaten, chewed, or smoked. The intoxication and high derived from this narcotic, would render the consumer incapable of self-control, and essentially incapacitating them. It also had the effect of making the user depressed. As with any drug, overdosing and death was a reality. In a report to Colonial Secretary Thomas F. Johnston regarding the deaths of Chinese emigrants from Dr. Henry Mithcell dated April 19, 1854, Mitchell stated “On those estates where the Chinese deaths were most numerous, the people were moved from one situation to another without any beneficial result. Although some allowances may be made for nostalgia and its consequent depression of spirit, it is to be feared that many deaths of parties who to all appearance were doing well in the evening, and died before morning, must be ascribed to opium or similar poisons. In three cases opium was found in the mouths of the dead, and full dose in the second stage of climate fever is almost assuredly fatal.”
Mitchell even stated that the Chinese were so addicted to opium that they were spending more on it than they had earned, “How far the sale of the drug might be restricted, and how far the restriction might be attended with advantage, it were difficult to say, but I have been credibly informed that individuals have purchased as much as 25 dollars' worth at once. As they barely earn on an average more than is sufficient for their support, this sum must have been deducted from the necessary supplies of life.”
In the early 1900s there were postcards depicting Coolies smoking (Figures 7&8). It is likely they were smoking opium or ganja. Medicinally, opium was used to treat a series of pain, ailments and used as cures in both humans and animals.
Opium Label: Its Purpose and Why it is Rare
Fig. 8 Coolies smoking
Fig. 7 Postcard of Coolie husband and wife smoking.
The main purpose of the label was to act as some type of security device on packaged opium as outlined in Section 10 of the Ordinance. The Collector of Customs directed the opium to be made into separate packets and labelled as either two-ounce or four-ounce sizes (refer Figure 9). The label was wrapped around the opium package in a protective manner. This would have served as a tamper-proof mechanism in preventing the package from being opened unnoticed. The only way the consumer would have access to the opium was to destroy the label in the process of opening the package. Also, the vendor needed to obliterate the stamp when it was sold.
For these reasons very few used labels would have survived. Opium addicts would not have been collectors of anything in general, certainly not packaging labels. This is akin to cigarette smokers opening a pack and discarding the waste. Additionally, revenue labels were not fancied or seen worthy of collecting in the 19th century or even the early 20th century. The fact that there are five mint examples known to date is a testament to its rarity. Examples of cancelled labels are highlighted in Figures 14 and 15 and are of the utmost rarity. We are very thankful to the collectors who saw the significance and value of keeping these around!
Opium Label – A Description
The two label denominations are printed on white unwatermarked paper. They are identical in print and style, the only difference being their values and colours. The first denomination, the two ounces of opium label, Figure 10, is printed in all red. The second denomination is the blue four ounces of opium label, Figure 1, and is printed in all blue. The label is divided into three distinct sections.
The first section of the stamp in red or blue ink:
1. Has a rectangular design with decorative borders filled in with dots and small cross symbols in the corners. The outer dimensions of the rectangular design measures approximately 42 mm x 29 mm.
2. The text is printed on a white background and reads: "CUSTOMS OPIUM TRINIDAD"
The second section of the label also printed in red or blue:
1. The top section reads: "The Vendor is required to obliterate the Stamp on Sale before delivery to the Purchaser, Under a Penalty of £20."
2. The bottom section, enclosed in a decorative border, states: "TWO (or FOUR OUNCES) OF OPIUM"
3. The dimensions of the outer rectangle containing the print are approximately 56 mm x 28 mm. Key points to note: 1. The stamp was meant for a specific quantity of opium (Two or Four ounces). 2. There were legal procedures in place for its sale, including the requirement for the vendor to destroy or "obliterate" the stamp upon sale. 3. Non-compliance with the procedure carried a significant monetary penalty (£20), indicating the seriousness with which the authorities viewed proper documentation and sale of opium.
Fig. 9 Label information of Ordinance 14
Fig. 10 Two-ounce duty label, O1-1
Fig. 11 First Section
Fig. 12 Second Section
The key elements of the third section printed in red or blue are:
1. At the top, it prominently displays "TRINIDAD" in an arched text.
2. The center features the 19th century style British Coat of Arms, which includes: o A crown at the top o Two animals (lion and unicorn) as supporters on either side o A central shield or emblem
3. At the bottom, it clearly states "DUTY ON OPIUM".
4. The entire design is enclosed in an ornate border with decorative elements, including what appear to be stylized leaves or floral motifs at the bottom corners.
5. The outer dimensions of this are approximately 45 mm x 28 mm.
Known Examples of the Opium Label and Census
To the author, there are what appear to be 6 mint examples: three two-ounce labels and three four-ounce labels (albeit, one cut down and trimmed). An example of the two-ounces label listed on Andrew McClellan’s revenue website shows that a full label had five panels for the Customs, Opium, Trinidad portion, Figure 14. He reported the dimensions of this entire label as being 335 mm x 33 mm.
There appear to be two types of these labels, one perforated 14 and the other imperforated, Figure 16. The other explantion for Figure 16 could be that the perfs were cut out, but this is difficult to state without a better examination of the label. The numbering system given on Andrew’s list refers to the two-ounce red as O1 and the four-ounce blue as O2.
Fig. 14 Full two-ounce duty label (Andrew McClellan, Revenue Reverend), O1-2
Fig. 15 Two-ounce duty label (Andrew McClellan, Revenue Reverend), O1-3
Fig. 16 Four-ounce duty label, imperforated (Andrew McClellan, Revenue Reverend), O2-2
Fig. 13 Third Section
I am only aware of two used examples, one of each denomination. They are illustrated in Figures 18 and 19 with a black line cancellation through the coat of arms. Andrew has reported them as of the highest rarity and I am not aware of any other cancelled examples.
I’ve started a census of the known examples. In keeping with Andrew’s numbering system, I’ve added a number to the end (Ex: O1-1, O1-2, O2-1, O2-2 etc.) so that we can document examples as they are discovered and place them with a unique distinction in the records.
In conclusion, I would argue that these are perhaps one of the rarest Trinidad philatelic items, whether it be a revenue label or a postage stamp. Compared to the famed Lady Mcleod with approximately 90 known examples (on cover or singles), this label is extremely rare and makes it the envy of any collection.
The author is very interested in learning of other examples that you may know of or have in your collection. Should you have information on this, kindly contact me by email at nigelphilately@gmail.com.
Fig. 17 Cut out four-ounce duty label, O2-3
Fig. 18 Two-ounce duty label, obliterated, O1-4
Fig. 19 Four-ounce duty label, obliterated, O2-4
No. 14 - 1879 AN ORDINANCE to regulate the Sale of Opium (L.S.) Henry T. Irving 10th September, 1879
Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, as follows:-
1. This Ordinance may be cited as for all purposes “The Opium License Ordinance 1879”.
2. This Ordinance shall not come into operation until a day to be appointed by the Governor by proclamation.
3. From and thereafter the commencement of this Ordinance shall be paid to Her Majesty for the purposes of this Colony for a license to be taken out yearly by every person who sells or deals in opium, the annual duty of one pound.
4. The said duty may be paid to and the said license may be granted by the Receiver-General or Sub-Receiver ; and all moneys received directly or indirectly by the Receiver-General or Sub-Receiver on account of such duty shall be accounted for and paid over as public moneys received by them for the use of Her Majesty, and in case of any default or misapplication they and each of them shall be liable to the same actions, suits, proceedings, penalties, forfeitures and punishments to which they are respectively liable in the case of other public moneys received for the use of Her Majesty.
5. Every license granted under this Ordinance shall be in such form as the Receiver-General directs, and shall contain the name and description of the licensee and the description of the premises in respect of which the license. is granted, and shall be dated on the day of grant and expire on the next following thirty -first of December. No license under this Ordinance shall be granted upon payment of a less sum than the duty for a whole year, nor shall any such license be transferable.
6. Every person who grants licenses under this Ordinance shall keep a register of all such licenses granted by him, specifying the name and description of every licensee, the description of the licensed premises and the date of every such license.
7. Every person who sells or deals in opium, without having in force a license granted to him under this Ordinance, or upon any premises other than those specified in his license, shall be guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds.
8. The occupier of any unlicensed premises on which any opium is sold or dealt in, or if such premises are occupied case of sale in by more than one person, every occupier thereof, shall be guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds, unless he proves to the satisfaction of the Justice or Justices before whom the case is heard that he had no notice of such sale or dealing or intended sale or dealing, or that having such notice he took all reasonable means to prevent such sale or dealing, and as soon as he reasonably could , gave information thereof to some police constable .
9. No opium nor compound containing opium, except tincture of opium to be used for medicinal purposes only, shall be imported or brought into this Colony except to be warehoused in the first instance in the Customs Warehouse in Port- of- Spain, and if any opium or compound containing opium is imported contrary to this section, or being imported is not forthwith duly entered or warehoused, the same shall be forfeited, and the importer thereof and every dealer or other person concerned in the importation thereof, or to whose hands any such opium or compound comes, shall forfeit either treble the value thereof or the penalty of one hundred pounds at the election of the Collector of Customs.
10. No opium or compound containing opium shall be delivered from the customs warehouse for consumption in the Colony except under the following conditions:- 1. Such opium or compound shall be made into separate packets of such weights respectively as the Collector of Customs directs; 2. Each such packet shall be enclosed by the importer in a wrapper or box approved by the Collector of Customs; 3. Each such wrapper or box shall be securely fastened by a label, to be provided by the Collector of Customs and pasted on such wrapper or box by the importer, so that the packet cannot be opened nor any part of the contents thereof abstracted without tearing or destroying the label or cutting or destroying the wrapper or box at any other part or place than that on which the label is pasted or secured; 4. Before any opium imported or warehoused is made into packets as aforesaid, the same shall be duly entered for consumption in the Colony, and the full duty of Customs paid thereon. The labels provided by the Collector of Customs under this section shall be printed or stamped with such device as the Collector of Customs thinks proper.
11. If any opium or compound containing opium, not being enclosed in a wrapper or box securely fastened by such label as in this Ordinance is prescribed, or of which such wrapper, box or label has been cut, torn, obliterated or cancelled, or bears any mark or appearance of having been opened or tampered with, is sold or exposed for sale by, or found in the possession of, any importer or dealer in or retailer of opium, he shall forfeit either treble the value thereof or the penalty of one hundred pounds at the election of the Collector of Customs, and all such opium or compound shall be forfeited. Provided that if at the commencement of this Ordinance any importer or retailer of or dealer in opium has in his possession any opium or compound containing opium shall not till the expiration of twenty-eight days after the commencement of this Ordinance be liable to any penalty in respect of such possession, and within such period he may bring the same to the Customs Warehouse in Port of Spain, and may there wrap or enclose and label the same according to this Ordinance, first rendering an account thereof and showing to the satisfaction of the Collector of Customs that the duty due on importation thereof has been duly paid.
12. If any person forges or counterfeits any label provided by the Collector of Customs pursuant to this Ordinance, or the device thereon, or utters any such label or device knowing the same to be forged or counterfeited, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof may be imprisoned with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding two years .
13. If any vendor of any packet of opium or compound containing opium labelled as required by this Ordinance fails on the sale thereof and before delivery to the purchaser to obliterate the label so as to render the same incapable of being again used for the same purpose, he shall be guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds .
14. Any penalty incurred under this Ordinance, except in respect of an offence punishable on summary conviction shall be recoverable as if it were a penalty incurred under “The Customs Ordinance, 1878.”
15. Nothing in this Ordinance shall apply to a licensed druggist importing for medicinal purposes opium or any compound containing opium, or selling and delivering any medicine, whether for man or any animal, containing opium, or when ordered by the prescription of a legally qualified medical practitioner, uncompounded opium. Passed in Council this first day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine. G.F. BUSHE, Acting Clerk of the Council.
References and Resources:
1. Laws of Trinidad and Tobago: https://laws.gov.tt
2. Laws of Trinidad and Tobago, Vol. 5. 1905
3. Trinidad and the Other West India Islands and Colonies, Daniel Hart, 1866
4. Accounts and Papers: Colonies Immigration. Session 3 February – 19 April 1859. Vol XVI
5. A History of the East Indian Indentured Plantation Worker in Trinidad, 1845-1917 by John Allen Perry. (chrome xtension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2611&context=gradschool_disstheses)
6. Stanley Gibbons Auction, British Commonwealth Revenues: The Michael Medlicott FRPSL Collection, 2022
7. ‘Sterile Citizens’ & ‘Excellent Disbursers’: Opium and the Representations of Indentured Migrant Consumption in British Guiana and Trinidad, Slavery & Abolition, Jamie Banks (06 Nov 2023): DOI:
10.1080/0144039X.2023.2275631 https://doi.org/10.1080/0144039X.2023.2275631
8. https://www.revrevd.com/trinidad-and-tobago.html
9. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars
10. https://www.britannica.com/plant/opium-poppy
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Trinidadians_and_Tobagonians
12. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/bengal-opium-a-study-in-continuity/
13. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49404024
14. https://www.ushistory.org/civ/5g.asp
15. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1954-01- 01_3_page002.html
16. https://www.opiateaddictionresource.com/media/images/poppy_drawings/
17. https://uwispace.sta.uwi.edu/collections/13ef424c-f390-48e3-abbe-1c51536c19de
18. https://www.release.org.uk/drugs/opium/history
19. https://www.facebook.com/ToPredictTheFutureWeMustCreateIt/posts/fatel-razackthe-ship-fatel-razack-was-noteuropean-but-likely-indian-built-and-o/3464350570274628/

16-18 August 2024 The WIPSG is at GASS (Great American Stamp Show) in the USA! We are hosting a booth (shared with the Haiti PS) at the Great American Stamp Show in Hartford. There will be a WIPSG meeting on Friday 16 August at 1.00pm in Room 27 hosted by Simon Richards, Susan Taylor and John Seidl. Please bring something along to share if you are attending. There will be a WIPSG Dinner at 6.00pm at the Capital Grille. On Saturday the 17th, a number of us will be attending the GASS Dinner Event. Contact sec@wipsg.org if you have any further queries. All are welcome. 17 September 2024 An informal WIPSG gathering will take place in Witley, Surrey 10.30 am to 3.30 pm. It is an opportunity for members to meet on an informal basis, to share information and advice. Contact sec@wipsg.org for further details if you are interested in being there. 1 October 2024 Susan Taylor, WIPSG Secretary, is presenting 'Anguilla and other West Indian Islands' at the Newcastle Upon Tyne Philatelic Society on Tuesday 1 October at 6.45pm. 11-12 October 2025 Plans are well underway for the 2025 WIPSG Convention and Auction. It will take place on Saturday 11 October 2025 and Sunday 12 October 2025. The venue is Sedgebrook Hall, near Northampton (https://www.sedgebrookhall.co.uk/). At this stage please put the dates in your diary. Further details will follow. (Paul Farrimond's Zoom presentation on Jamaica in WW2 of 24 July is now available on YouTube. Just click on the link that is on the WIPSG website under 'Meeting News'.)

You can see above that we have booked the 2025 Convention. Saturday will be the AGM and Annual Auction with a Society dinner in the evening; Sunday will be formal and informal displays. David Druett, Mike Rego and I manned the WIPSG table at the York Stamp Show event. A number of members called in to say hello and we sold half a dozen Society books. The Society meeting was attended by seven members with displays of West Indies Ship Letters and the Jamaica 1964 definitive issue.

Please keep the articles coming in, both long and short. While approximately one quarter of the journal is advertising and associated Society information, I still need to fill my ambitious 33 pages with your articles. We have a good mix of old and quite modern but a lot less from 75 to 50 years ago. I still think early QEII material is the next growth area and more needs to be written about it, especially as we lived through the time.

AGM Minutes 2024 1) Chairman’s Opening Remarks Steve Jarvis welcomed everyone to the Meeting. There were 22 attendees. 2) Apologies for absence were noted (Kevin Darcy, Alistair Kinnon, W Guy Kilburn, Elmar Dor, David Druett, Jonathan Guy, Daryll Fuller, James Gavin, Richard Stupples, John Seidl). 3) Minutes of Previous Meetings and Matters Arising The notes of the previous AGM were accepted as a true account. Actions arising had been: • The Publishing Manager Vacancy – filled by Paul Farrimond • The appointment of an Accounts Independent Examiner – filled by David Taylor • The establishment of new WIPSG bank accounts (UK and USA) for the merged society – now in place. Ray Stanton was thanked for having progressed the merging and accounting for the society • The actions were all supported 4) Committee Members’ Reports (In the interests of speed these were taken as read, having been available on the website and now at the end of these minutes). There were no questions arising. 5) Election of Officers – Proposed by the Committee: • Not for election: o President for life - Simon Richards o Chairman until 2025 - Steve Jarvis • Secretary - Susan Taylor • Treasurer - Ray Stanton, supported by Geoff Richards • Auction Manager - Simon Richards supported by John Jordan, Charles Kennard and James Podger Some of the participants at the AGM No. 7 – September 2024 West Indies Philately Page 6 • Publications and Book Sales - Paul Farrimond and David Druett • Journal Editor - Darryl Fuller • Awards - James Podger • Americas Representatives - John Seidl and Steven Zirinsky • Webmaster - Steve Jarvis • Social Media - James Gavin & Jonathan Guy (Zoom) • Committee (in addition to the above) - Richard Stupples, Peter Fernbank has resigned. Any volunteers were invited to put their name forward to info@wipsg.org. The above officers were all unanimously accepted as was the election of the Accounts Independent Examiner - David Taylor. 6) Organisational Matters • It was proposed that the 2025 AGM & Auction – be deferred to Autumn 2025 to coincide with the WIPSG Convention, due to Europhilex 2025 in the Spring. Proposals for a venue and date would be made in the near future. 7) There was no further Business Chairman’s Report – Steve Jarvis My thanks to the members of the Society Committee for all their work over the last year. In particular, I would like to thank Peter Fernbank, who is retiring from the Committee at the AGM, for his service to the Society. He has been a committee member since 2006 and has always provided wise counsel. I am also pleased to announce that he has been awarded the Association of British Philatelic Societies ‘Award of Merit’ for 2024. We are always looking for new volunteers and if you think you can contribute in any way, please contact Susan Taylor or myself. I have always found it dangerous to list awards received by members – it is easy to miss someone out and where do you draw a dividing line for notable awards that should be mentioned! However, the following have come to our attention: • James Gavin has been winning awards for his websites, most recently Large Gold + Felicitations for his Bahamas site – 18th NZ National Philatelic Literature Exhibition 2023. • Peter McCann Dominica of the Leeward Islands – a Large Gold and two special prizes at the 2024 Sarasota National Exhibition. • Jazad Ali The Stamp Cancelling Machine Slogan Postmarks of Trinidad and Tobago 1923 - 2023, has won philatelic literature awards around the world: o CHICAGOPEX 2023 Stamp Show - Large Gold Medal o ABPS 2024 Gold Medal o THAILAND 2023 World Stamp Championship - Large Vermeil Medal • Juan Riera - Silver Medal in Literature Competition Sarasota National Stamp Exhibition 2024 for Aviation Rivalry Spurred on by Air Mail. • Susan Taylor, Graham Stockdale and Julian Waldron's Anguilla's Quest For Identity - The Philatelic Story won Large Gold at ABPS 2024 • In addition, at the Perth (Western Australia) National Exhibition: o Pat Capill, Barbados KGV Line Engraved Definitives – Gold medal o Darryl Fuller Leeward Islands Postal Stationery – Large Gold medal o Simon Richards, Grenada Postal Stationery – Large Gold medal • At EXPO FILABRAS 2024, James Gavin won Gold for his Bahamas Philately site (part of his Digital Philately site – https://thedigitalphilatelist.com/about-us/bahamas-philately/). Last year we agreed that the BWISC Library should be wound down. So far, I have transferred about 50% of the items from Ian Jakes’s garage to my custody and I am working through cataloguing and sorting. The RPSL has submitted a wants list and we will donate these to their library, where anyone can consult (by prior appointment). The rest of the material will be offered for sale (in 2025). West Indies Philately No. 7 – September 2024 Page 7 I think the Society is in good health, but we should not be complacent. Please keep the journal articles coming (we recently agreed to increase the standard number of pages to 44) and encourage any other collectors with interests in West Indies philately to join us. At only £8/$10 for paperless membership, it should not break the bank for anyone. Secretary’s Report – Susan Taylor The Secretary’s report has three components: Administration, Membership Secretary and Meetings. Administration -The Secretary responded to the usual range of administrative queries: Members enquiring about data access; members who could not get their password to work; members who were unwell, or sadly had died; and individuals seeking an answer to a philatelic query. Membership – Recent safeguarding has finally stopped scamming and phishing attempts on the website (for now anyway). Once again it was necessary to chase members to pay their dues. It would be appreciated if everyone could make an effort to pay their membership fees for 2025 at the end of 2024, and certainly before the end of January. The WIPSG post-merger had 381 members, plus 18 complimentary members (philatelic organisations) in 2024. Today there are 360 members, 25 complimentary members, and 2 temporary members. The Society plans to offer RPSL members a free one-year trial digital membership in 2025, in an article about Tobago Covers that is being published concurrently in September in the London Philatelist and WIPSG Journal. Past trial membership efforts have brought new members onboard. Please help the Society and encourage philatelic friends to join up. We all have a responsibility to do so. Meetings – The WIPSG Committee met on 14 October, at the Guildford WIPSG Convention. The Convention itself (14-15 October) was well attended and the presentations were all of a high standard. The facility was excellent, the only issue being the fact that there was not accommodation on site. The Secretary additionally attended the following events, representing the Society: The RPSL (Crawford Festival) – ‘Writing articles for Journals’ 27 June 2023. The Axa Public Library, Anguilla 2 December 2023 – Presentation on Anguilla’s Quest for Identity – The Philatelic Story. Treasurer’s Report 2023 – Ray Stanton The Accounts (attached) accompanying the report are the first set for the WIPSG following the merger of the BWISC and the BCPSG on the 1st January 2023. The WIPSG is administered, and the accounts prepared, in sterling with conversion of dollar assets at balance sheet date or for income and expenses at the average rate for the year with any differences arising dealt with through the exchange reserve shown on the balance sheet. The accounts have been prepared on a similar basis to those of the BWISC in previous years, one of the main principles being that no value is shown for the stocks of books and publications on hand on the basis that nearly all sales of new publications take place in the first year of sale and it is therefore difficult to place a value on any remaining stocks. The aim as far as practicable is to match sales of books from previous years with the production costs of new books each year. At the time of the merger in January 2023, the BCPSG had a number of life members. It was agreed that these would be capped at 10 years so that the future liability is covered by funds transferred from BCPSG to WIPSG. Each year the liability will be reduced proportionally with a sum transferred to subscription income to defray the printing and distribution costs of the printed journal sent to life members. Bank accounts are being maintained in both the US and the UK with funds divided between sterling and dollars. The accounts for the year to the 31st December 2023 show a resulting surplus of £609 after covering the costs of the UK convention in October of £1,397 net of recoveries. Subscriptions and advertising income more than covered the costs of producing the journal including distribution, and the donation from the auction team was more than that of the BWISC in the previous year due to the continuing success of the Study Circle auction. No. 7 – September 2024 West Indies Philately Page 8 The accounts leave the WIPSG with a balance in the Accumulated fund following the merger of £22,353, and in a healthy position to progress our activities going forward. I would like to thank David Taylor for being the Independent Accounts Examiner and for the advice and help he has given. WIPSG Editor’s Report – Darryl Fuller The last year has seen a steady flow of articles to the editor and across a useful range of islands and topics. Although, I would note that both Jamaica and Barbados have more than average. However, given their size and/or importance of the two, this is not entirely surprising. I finally emptied the old BWISC email account and now use the WIPSG account plus my personal account. I am catching up on old submissions and try to publish them in the order they arrive, but I also need to balance submissions across the islands. I appreciate all submissions, but authors need to understand that articles should be directly relevant to the West Indies. If the link is only tenuous then the article may wait some time to be published. I have received a few articles that are quite relevant but sometimes lack detail or even have the wrong image attached. Another area that would save me time is references. I need books to have author/s, Book Title, year published and by whom if possible. Another very important area within references is the web. It is better to quote the actual book reference rather than a web address for the book. Also, if you take material from the Web, then give the web address and date accessed. Both these save me time and I don’t have to spend time looking them up. If you are sending in an article please send in Microsoft Word or Apple Pages, at least for now. I am happy to receive a pdf also in case you want to show me the approximate layout. I can never promise to keep it exactly the same. Overall, I feel the journal is going well and at 44 pages has the right balance of articles, news/reports and advertising. Keep the articles rolling in. If you are wondering what to write, then take a look through your collection and see if you can update one of the general aspects of philately, such as postmarks, censor marks or postal rates (particularly airmail). Report on our Annual Auction 2023 – Simon Richards Our 51st annual auction took place on 29 April, the first since our new WIPSG name was adopted. The catalogue was dominated by some 350 lots from Graham Booth’s estate that had somehow not been swept up in all the main auction house sales. This was almost half the lots on offer, and we managed to achieve the targeted probate valuation. There were 26 other vendors and the overall sales percentage hit 80% which is the highest many of us can remember. 69 members bid on the book, there were 18 room bidders and 13 members acquired lots in the aftersale. Overall, some £31,273 was spent; with almost all members getting something. There is no buyer premium, but the 10% commission provides useful income to the WIPSG. The top price achieved was £420 for Lot 217, a British Honduras block of nine including the ‘Bevenue’ variety. 28 overseas buyers were successful and 14 of those were from the USA. Four of the vendors were also US based. Paypal provides the most widely used means of settlement now that we no longer have Bruce Aitken acting as our agent in the US. This year anything ‘Leewards’ seemed to do well as did Jamaica. Barbados was much less strongly supported this year and very few seem to follow Bermuda. The auction couldn’t work without the team effort and my thanks to Charles Kennard for doing the scanning, to John Jordan for checking the condition, to James Podger for conducting the auction and to Steve Jarvis for turning my descriptions and Charles’s scans into a printable catalogue. The work began in August for the 2024 auction. We continue to have a good supply of postal history from our past President Graham Booth, but we are on the look-out for other consignments. Two other estates may be offering West Indies Philately No. 7 – September 2024 Page 9 material, but we always need more. Material needs to arrive by mid-November and earlier is better, in order for us to adequately describe, scan and check to get the catalogue to the printers with the March Bulletin. Please do send a list with your lots and it is a good idea to e-mail me in advance. The full results of our auctions are available on the website. Publications Report – Paul Farrimond a) New books (recent & ongoing) • Dominica by Simon Richards is in preparation • Anguilla by Taylor, Waldron & Stockdale sold out and has been reprinted in softback • Grenada by Tim Pearce sold out and has been reprinted in softback • Lady McLeod by Taylor, Mohammed, Park and Barrow sold out and is being reprinted b) Future projects • Barbados Britannia issues by Fitz Roett may be updated • Grenada: suggestion for a similar book by Joseph Hackmey • Jamaica: additional volumes of the encyclopaedia are planned (Steve Jarvis, Paul Farrimond & others) • Trinidad & Tobago Postcards: proposed by Ed Barrow (maybe other colonies to follow) c) General • We are trying to find the digital files for previous books. Please contact Paul Farrimond if you can help. Awards Committee Report – James Podger As recorded in the minutes of the Committee Meeting held 14 October 2023: It has been decided by the WIPSG committee to withdraw the Collett Award and the two scrolls will be lodged with the Royal Philatelic Society London under their safekeeping in the Museum & Archives. Two new biannual awards have been announced: The ‘Freeland Award’ for the publication in book form, and the ‘Booth Award’ for the best article published in the WIPSG Bulletin. The committee has decided to widen the reach of the publication in book format to include those that are published by other organisations, or self-published, provided that the book is on an area covered under the scope of the WIPSG. The Committee was reformed with James Podger as Chair, and committee members Steve Jarvis, Simon Richards, Michael Medlicott, and Ray Stanton. There is a further vacancy, ideally to be filled by a USA member. Webmaster’s Report – Steve Jarvis The web site has been stable, and content continues to evolve. The Barbados and Trinidad Early Cover Census continues to have items added and a recent exhibit supplied has been Robert Lebow’s fine Barbados collection. We were also delighted when the WIPSG achieved Gold at EXPO FILABRAS 2024. The judges' comments were: "Very impressive site and hard to find anything wrong or missing. Very carefully constructed and obviously the product of many years of painstaking research. This is an important philatelic and historical resource. The "accordion" boxes are very good, and the exhibits galleries are top class." Social Media Report – James Gavin Facebook Group We currently have 119 members of the WIPSG Facebook group, and this number continues to grow as we establish ourselves in the social media space. I encourage members to participate as posts frequently are requests for assistance. YouTube Our YouTube channel now has three videos on it with 9 subscribers and 99 views. We need more content. I recommend that we encourage members to prepare 10-15min presentations with Powerpoint slides to help increase traffic.

Our 52nd annual auction took place on 11 May, the second since our new WIPSG name was adopted. This year we offered 754 lots (2023: 709) as our new auctioneer seems able to get through them at a good speed, but still allowing the room adequate time. The auction received 60 postal bids, down on last year’s 69, but with the same number of room bidders as 2023 – eighteen, and we had one telephone bidder. Only six people bought any unsolds which is only half the number of the previous year. The sale was estimated at a little over £50,000 compared to £35,000 in 2023 and represented the property of 23 vendors compared to 26 in 2023. In 2024 588 lots (78%) found new homes with total realisations before our 10% vendor commission of £40,050, beating the excellent figures for 2023 when 570 lots (80%) sold for a total of £31,273. As ever there is no buyer’s premium. The key to selling successfully is to offer fresh material, two estate sales sold close to 100% of the material. Repackaged and reoffered material from a couple of years previously only sold 40% of the time. This year we were privileged to handle the first section of Paul Hancock’s Jamaica numerals, Mike Roberts Leewards material and some material from Simon Greenwood’s estate. 115 out of 120 of Paul’s Jamaica sold as did 77 out of 86 lots of the Roberts material. This shows that fresh material will sell well. Paul’s material was sold in accordance with a pricing formula he had suggested and clearly the market agrees. Two lots sold for over £1,000: lot 656 the possibly unique TEN POUNDS on St Vincent revenue went for £1,900 as against the £600 estimate; and lot 343 the GB 6d used at Ewarton went for £1,400, twice the £700 estimate suggested by Paul. Generally, the Leeward Islands in all forms and Jamaica sold well, Bermuda is almost unsaleable and Bahamas struggles. Barbados was weaker than normal, and we were unable to find enough material for our St Lucia collectors. The auction tends to struggle to sell material from the non-former British islands, though there are some followers, but limited competition. The auction couldn’t work without the team effort and my thanks to Charles Kennard for doing the scanning, to John Jordan for checking the condition, to James Podger for conducting the auction and to Steve Jarvis for turning my descriptions and Charles scans into a printable catalogue. The work begins in August for the 2025 auction, which will be timed for mid-October to fit in with the convention. This will be part of a new time of year for the auction and I suspect means the catalogue will need to go out with the June Bulletin. So, if you’re thinking of consigning it is not too early to start now and the absolute deadline is 15 March for submissions. It is wise to e-mail in advance about suitability and we continue to aim for an average lot estimate of £50. With a sales percentage at almost 80%, vendor commission of 10% and with no buyer’s premium, if you don’t take part you are missing out. Full results are available on the website.

TWO KINGS and THREE COUNTRIES: No stamps were issued in the British West Indies during the short reign of KEVIII who signed his abdication notices on 10 December 1936 (thereafter titled Duke of Windsor). This cover started life in Jamaica with KGV 1.d pmk’d Mandeville AP 12 37, on arrival at Eastbourne, Sussex a pair of KEVIII .d were added and pmk’d 27 APR 1937 for TAORMINA, Sicily (a beach town at the foothills of Mount Etna), an Italian 25c postage due was affixed dated 4 5 37. NEAR IMPOSSIBLE GASLIGHT COMBINATIONS: These two Trinidad reg. covers dated AP 9 and JU 9 1872 highlight the difficulty of determining denomination by colour in poor lighting, as they are both franked with 4d violet or pale mauve and 1s mauve or lilac-rose. The difficulty was remedied on 13 JY 1872 when 4d grey/bluish grey and 1/- chrome yellow new colours were invoiced from London. The latter cover appears to have a Marriott Type 0.2 obliterator, without numeral, overstriking the red TRINIDAD PAID dbl-arc datestamp. THE TRINIDAD LITHOGRAPHED ISSUES: The first consignments of the Trinidad Britannia design, being 25,000 each (1d) blue and (1d lilac), were invoiced DE 21 1848 but not used. The first adhesive covers were with (1d) purple-brown, invoiced alongside further (1d) blue, 5,500 each, invoiced DE 4 1850 and the (1d purple) does not appear until AU 27 1851 addressed Bristol. The 1st delivery issues were found to be in a deplorable state but some (1d) now turned grey could be salvaged. A Mr. Charles Petit said he could produce 4 or 5,000 stamps from lithographed stone within days and these were progressively used from SP 16 1852 to MY 8 1860. ITALIAN NOBLE FAMILY: Cover with TAORMINA (Sicily) flap posted with Bahamas QV 2.d on MR 28 01 to Prince Colloredo Mannsfeld in Cairo, Egypt. FIRST DAY USE of U.S. 3c SUPPLIED NASSAU, BAHAMAS: As of January 1st 1879, and until Bahamas joined the UPU JY 1 1880, USA 3c green adhesives could be bought in Nassau by those who wished to prepay the USA internal postage on letters thus avoiding Postage Due on arrival. This cover to Boston bears QV Chalon 4d rose in combination with U.S. Washington 3c green tied New York JAN 12 79 duplex, reverse BAHAMAS DE 31 1878 despatch. FIRST DAY COVERS: Post Offices around the world have been able to increase their revenue by printing pictorial covers and affixing new issues neatly pmk’d on day of release. These FDCs have always been popular with the general public and starter collectors, but few have gone up in value astronomically bar those where errors were overlooked, or short supply. MAIL TO SANTA CLAUS: Bahamas local cover to Nassau with QE2 1c, 3c pmk’d Long Cay NO 21 66. FIRST SAILING DATE: The first stamps of Bermuda, QV 1d rose, QV 6d purple, QV 1s green, were placed on sale at the GPO on 25 September 1865. This cover with QV 1/- green is boldly tied ‘’2” obliterator and supported by red Bermuda Paid H/28 SP 65 despatch arriving London OC 21 65. TEDIOUS MANUSCRIPT DATING DATESTAMP: Belize 60c cover tied ST. MARGARET’S VILLAGE with purpose made handwritten 11-5-90 dating. WORLD WAR II CENSORSHIP: This is a vast, and often complex, area with its numerous labels and handstamps, but remains very popular with modern day collectors. CONTRARY TO UPU REGULATIONS: Grenada joined the UPU on February 1st 1881 and the expectation was that it would adhere to the 2.d rate within 300 sea miles, or 4d to other countries within the Union. Instead Grenada added an inland surcharge of 1d for Parish mails; this QV 5d rate cover to Barrington, Nova Scotia is pmk’d St. Andrew’s “D’’ parish d/ring dated AU 27 83 and shows 2-line JAMAICA/TRANSIT. THE “KILLER” OBLITERATORS: These numeral instruments were initially supplied to all GPOs and Post Towns for “killing” the adhesive. This cover to Gorham, Ontario Co., New York with Jamaica QV 6d pmk’d Type H “A79”, used at the Richmond Post Office, and dated FE 2 66 is unique as the instrument was quickly out of circulation as a new format “A79” (Type J) was used on the same correspondence dated AU 7 66 (only five months later). INGOING FORWARDED MAIL: Cover with U.S. 11c rate pmk’d Cincinnati NOV 6 1877 care of American Consul, Kingston, Jamaica forwarded to Havana, Cuba with QV 6d tied “A01” with Kingston NO 21 77 cds. Jamaica entered the UPU on AP 1 1877, Cuba not being a UPU member until OC 4 1902. OUTGOING FORWARDED MAIL: Jamaica entered the UPU on AP 1 1877 but did not become a full member until AP 1 1879 and used an interim rate of 6d to full members. This cover with strip of three QV 2d rose pmk’d “A01” and dated Kingston SP 13 77 to New York is locally forwarded to Kingston, Ulster County with U.S. 1c, 2c on SP 20 1877. BROKEN OBLITERATOR USED ELSEWHERE: The Type H “A79” makes a second appearance in the form of “A 9” (missing 7) when it was supplied by the GPO, Kingston to the newly opened office at Mount Charles, the illustrated cover being dated “Mt Charles 11 Mar 1875” (reverse) with Kingston transit. OBSOLETE OBLITERATOR USED ELSEWHERE: The obsolete Jamaica “A01” (Type E) was given to the GPO London Foreign Section specifically for the duty of “killing” any uncancelled adhesives. POSTMARK REQUEST REPLY CARD: Sent out from Brighton, Sussex with GB QE2 2.d for prepaid return arriving in the wrong country as struck with purple boxed “Missent to Bahamas”, dutifully returned with Staniard Creek 22 APR 71 sample cds. FORGED BERMUDA CENSOR HANDSTAMP: Censored cover from Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia with KG6 3d franking pmk’d 29 JAN 44 with forged red Bermuda “47” handstamp. FRANKLIN PIERCE (14th President of the USA 1853-1857): Wrapper with used abroad GB QV 1d pmk’d “A05” supported with Bahamas MR 17 1860 dblarc to Washington D.C. CARRIED BY SLAVES: Jamaica entires carried to Kingston “by Toney” dated NO 3 1784 and by “Tom Torrans” dated MR 17 1819. UNDERPAID AIR MAIL: Grenada 8c cover pmk’d Victoria */NO 21 61 to Barbados underpaid 2c with double deficiency manuscript ‘T4c’ and Barbados 2c postage due pair added tied Welches Road 15 DE 61. FOUR COLOURS TO AN EXOTIC DESTINATION: Cover with (1d) lake, 4d violet, 6d green, 1s deep mauve pmk’d JY 23 1863 with PAID AT TRINIDAD Crowned Circle to Penang

THE BARBADOS ½D GREEN STAMPS ON BLUE PAPER STEPHEN ROSE Barbados was the first British colony to commission a .d adhesive. Between 1852-1855, Barbados received a total of 180,000 half-pence stamps in four printings from the London firm of Perkins Bacon. The stamps come in two basic colors – yellow green (SG1) and deep green (SG2) (Figures 1 & 2). Fig. 1 SG 1 (Scott 1a) Fig. 2 SG 2 (Scott 1) Despite the large number of .d stamps printed, relatively few have survived for the modern collector. Table 1 shows this scarcity. Table 1 SG1 SG2 Unused none recorded plentiful Used strip of 3 + ≈20 pairs ≈ 12 pairs On Cover none recorded 6 Total Issued 50,000 130,000 including 200—1000 remainders In 2001, Barbados specialist Fitz Roett wrote an excellent article for the BWISC on the imperforate .d stamps, covering both the blue paper (SG1 & 2) and white paper (SG7 & 8) printings. His article (1) focused on assigning colours to various printings and also provides a helpful list of known .d stamps on cover. My article seeks to dig along this same vein of philatelic ore to explain why the numbers in Table 1 are so meagre. As a starting point, it is important to remember that the .d stamps were intended for use on printed matter, per the Barbados Postal Act of 1851. But here the plot thickens. The 1851 Act also stipulated that newspapers published in Barbados would be sent post-free within the island, if mailed within three days of publication. Thus, the only need for .d stamps would have been for belatedly mailed local papers, newspapers published outside Barbados, and other forms of printed matter such as pamphlets, books, etc. As a result, the initial printing of 30,000 .d stamps provided at the beginning of inland postal service on 15 April 1852 was ample to handle the anticipated need for printed matter postage. In June 1853, the editor of a local newspaper published in Bridgetown lamented that the post-free delivery of local newspapers had not (yet) produced a boom in subscriptions: We were very sanguine in our expectation that an Inland Post would confer vast advantages on the inhabitants generally. The difficulties in the way of epistolary communication were great; the transmission of the local Newspapers was so interrupted that many gentlemen, anxious to read the papers, declined to subscribe because they could not receive them regularly without the additional expense of paying a servant to call for them. The [post] office has now been in operation thirteen months; and yet many gentlemen in the rural districts do not avail themselves of the convenience of a regular conveyance of that agreeable addition to domestic comfort – a newspaper. We have no reason to believe that the postmen employed by the Inland Post Master are unfaithful in the performance of their duty, or that Mr. Tinling does not take every precaution to ensure punctual delivery… [The Barbadian, 1 June 1853]. There were occasional murmurings in the local papers that the revenue received from sale of stamps, combined with the ￡1500 annual subsidy provided to support the inland post, was insufficient. Eventually, the 1851 Postal Act was amended to stipulate that as of 1 August 1854 a .d fee would be charged for delivery of each local newspaper. In anticipation of the new postage charge, local newspapers raised their rates. At the beginning of August 1854, for example, The Barbadian made the following announcement: The Subscribers to the Barbadian who receive their newspapers through the Inland Post Office are respectfully informed that by the New Act, a half penny is charged on all newspapers sent through this channel. The subscription to the Barbadian will therefore be at the rate of seven dollars a year from the 1st August inclusive if regularly posted, instead of six dollars—the charge made to those who send for their papers to the Printing Office in High Street. [The Barbadian, 2 August 1854] At this time .d was equal to 1￠, so the rate increase of $1 corresponded to 50d, or approximately 100 newspapers per year at .d postage per issue. Thus, nearly the entire cost of postage was passed along to subscribers via this increase in the subscription rate. It is clear that this new postal fee expanded the need for .d stamps, but by how much? During the period 1854- 1863, three newspapers were active in Barbados, all published in Bridgetown: Barbados Globe & Colonial Advocate (published weekly); The West Indian (published twice a week); and The Barbadian (published twice a week). The population of the island in this period was about 140,000, and Barbados served as a main hub for mercantile and Crown business. It seems plausible to assume that each newspaper had a readership of at least a hundred subscribers via post. With five issues appearing each week, it is likely that 500++ .d stamps would be required weekly just to service the papers. We can envision newspaper clerks sitting with a pair of scissors, cutting up sheets of these stamps and sticking them on, one by one, as each issue was prepared for posting. There is some circumstantial evidence supporting this scenario. More than 95% of used SG1 & 2 single stamps bear the “1” obliterator of Bridgetown, where all local newspapers originated. The master inventory of Britannia stamps compiled by Charles Freeland (4), showing sale results over many decades, and made available on the WIPSG website as a resource, shows a similar pattern. We now come to the issue regarding the vast difference between unused examples of SG1 (of which there are none) and SG2 (of which there are many). In his masterful book (5), The Stamps of Barbados, Edmund Bayley provides the answer. The so-called Great Find of colonial stamps surreptitiously “liberated” from Perkins Bacon files in 1887 included several groups of Barbados Britannia stamps. According to Bayley, one group of these remainders included between 200-1000 green stamps on blued paper (i.e., SG2), including large multiples. Conversely, there were no yellow-green stamps (SG1) in the Great Find. It follows that almost all unused examples of SG2 available to modern collectors come from these remainders. SG1 was printed in a quantity of at least 50,000 stamps, so the lack of even a single unused stamp surviving to modern times suggests that the entire printing of SG1 was used up on contemporary mail, mainly newspapers. A related issue is the scarcity of SG1 and SG2 on cover. None are recorded for SG1 and only six for SG2, as compiled by Fitz Roett in his 2013 book on the Britannia issues (2). It is interesting to note that four of the six SG2 covers are dated during the 45-day period from August-September 1854 when a Fig. 3 Local cover from St Lucy to Bridgetown bearing .d deep green pair (4 August 1854). shortage of 1d stamps forced postal officials to cannibalize their remaining stock of other stamps, either bisecting 2d stamps or using a pair of .d stamps for letter-rate mail. Figure 3 postmarked 4 August 1854, is an example of this usage. The bisected 2d stamps provisionally used during this same period have their own Gibbons catalogue number (SG4b) and are sought-after rarities. There are more than 25 recorded bisects on cover; in comparison, the handful of SG2 covers is far scarcer, and they usually command a price of ￡4000 when available at auction. As a matter of unwritten policy, postal officials generally used the various stamp denominations only for their intended purpose, especially at the main office in Bridgetown. Thus, the .d stamps were reserved for printed matter, which in practice consisted mostly of newspapers. Officials in the outlying parish post offices may have resorted to a more liberal policy of using .d stamps for other franking purposes since little printed matter flowed from such offices. The used pairs of SG1 and SG2 noted in the Roett studies likely originated on letters, some of which show cancels from parish post offices. Only one SG2 cover is dated before 1854 (Figure 4). The distinctive color of the two stamps on this cover prove that the first shipment of .d stamps invoiced on 18 February 1852 was in the deep green shade. According to Roett, the second and third printings, consisting of 66,000 and 35,750 stamps, were printed only days apart (19 & 26 August 1854), in anticipation of the need for more .d stamps to handle the newspaper fee effective 1 August. Roett concludes that these two shipments were also in the deep green color (SG2), leaving the fourth shipment of 50,000 stamps in May 1855 to be yellow green (SG1). The working assumption is that this final shipment was ordered as the stockpile of .d stamps from the previous two consignments began to run low. There is some support for his conjecture that the 1855 shipment was yellow green. Figure 5 shows a fragment of The West Indian newspaper postmarked 20 February 1856 and franked with a yellow-green stamp – but on white paper instead of blue! This philatelic unicorn should not exist, since the first shipment of .d stamps printed completely on white paper did not happen until 18 months later, in August 1857. The explanation for this anomaly is relatively simple. As Roett notes in his 2001 article, part of the fourth consignment on blue paper must have contained stamps printed on paper that showed no blueing. Perkins Bacon had been striving to remove the blueing, but results were achieved only gradually over a period of years between 1854-57. The newspaper fragment in Figure 5 serves as a missing link between the blue-paper printings of 1852-55 and the white-paper printings of 1857-58. In chronological terms, it belongs to the blue-paper printings (SG1); in terms of catalogue nomenclature, it belongs to the white-paper group (SG7). In any case, regardless of the paper color, according to Fitz Roett it is the only surviving example of a .d imperforate Britannia on a newspaper and therefore a consequential item for Barbados postal history. Fig. 4 Local cover from Christchurch to Bridgetown bearing .d deep green pair (23 July 1852). (Courtesy of Seigel Auction Galleries) Fig. 5 Fragment of West Indian newspaper to Speights (20 Feb 1856) cancelled “1” obliterator of Bridgetown. In summary, we can see that three factors combined to reduce the survival rate of .d yellow-green stamps on blue paper (SG1). First and most importantly, most were used on local newspapers, almost all of which were trashed; second, none were included in the remainders of the Great Find; and third, within the consignment of 50,000 SG1 stamps released in 1855, an indeterminate number were printed on white paper. Collectively, this explains how a nominal printing of 50,000 stamps can end up leaving so few examples for modern collectors. References: 1. “Barbados—The .d Stamps of 1852 to 1858,” M. Fitz Roett, BWISC Bulletin, No. 188 (March 2001), pp. 7-14; and No. 191 (December 2001), p 6. 2. Barbados: The Britannia Issues, M. Fitz Roett, published by British West Indies Study Circle, 2013. 3. Early BWI Covers Perkins Bacon Adhesives: Barbados, compiled by Peter Ford, published by British West Indies Study Circle, 2022. 4 Inventory of [Barbados] Britannia stamps sold, compiled by Charles Freeland (2017), available at WIPSG website (www.wipsg.org) under section titled Reference & Galleries→ Information→ Resources List. 5. The Stamps of Barbados, Edmund Bayley, published by Cole’s Printery Limited, Barbados, 1989. 6. The Post Office in Barbados, Herbert Bayley, published by Advocate Press, Barbados, 1933. 7. The Barbadian, newspaper published Wednesdays and Saturdays in Bridgetown, Barbados (1822-1863), digital archive for selected years available at the British Library, www.eap.bl.uk.collection/eap1251-1. 8. Jonathan Guy, Barbados Stamps (online resource for collectors of Barbados stamps), www.barbadosstamps.co.uk. Acknowledgements: Thanks to Jonathan Guy and Michael Hamilton for providing information and insights for this article.

2022 DOMINICA TOWN CANCELS STEVEN ZIRINSKY The table below lists all the post offices that Steve knew about in Dominica. When he received the images of the cancels, he noted there were new ones including postal agencies (which he didn’t know were a thing in Dominica). The ones marked in yellow existed and he doesn’t have them...whether they still exist? He doesn’t know and is trying to find out. Anse-de-Mar Fond St. Jean Mero Soufriere Atkinson Gaulette River Morne Jaune Tan Tan Belle/ Belles Giraudel Morne Prosper Tete Morne Bellevue Chopin Good Hope Morne Ratchette Thibaud Broiche Grand Bay Paix Bouche Trafalgar Boetica Grand Fond Penville Tranto Calihishie Kings Hill Petite Savanne Vieille Case Castle Bruce La Plaine Petite Soufriere Warner Canefield La Roche Pichelin Wesley Clifton Laudat Pointe Michel Wotten Waven Colihaut Layou Portsmouth Woodford Hill Cochrane Londonderry Roger Government HQ Concord Loubiere Rosalie GPO Roseau Philately Section Coulibistrie Lower Penirlle Saint Joseph Cockrane PA Delices Mahaut Salisbury Riviere Cyrique Dos d'Ane Marigot Salybia GPO Roseau Parcel Post Dublanc Massacre San Sauveur Campbell PA Fond Cole Melville Hall Scotts Head GPO Roseau Cashier A (Please note the following postmark images may not be the same size as the originals.)

CARTERET’ PACKET LETTER DATED 26 JANUARY 1787 SUSAN TAYLOR (Ed: This article is being published concurrently in the September issue of the London Philatelist to promote both societies.) Fig. 1 Outer of James Gordon’s letter to Charles Bell. Dated 26 January 1787. Postmarked with a ‘Circled Grenada Crown’ with a letter’s rate of 1s 7d (1s Grenada to London, 6d London to Kelso, 1d Edinburgh local). Lot 4170 in the Spink ’Philatelic Collectors Series Sale’ on 2 May 2023 was attractive; describing a package of entire letters to Edinburgh or London from Tobago dated 1786, 1807, 1808 and 1829 with Fleuron stamps, as well as 1850 and 1853 entires to the Bank of Scotland with Tobago datestamps, plus 1858 and 1864 entires to the Sun Fire Office each bearing a red crowned circle. What was to lose? The contents exceeded expectations, as there was this ‘Carteret’ Packet Ship letter – at the time thought to be the earliest known out of French-occupied Tobago. The outer entire is addressed to Charles Bell Esq. in Kelso (changed to St James Street Edinburgh) from James Gordon & Co in Tobago. It is dated 26 January 1787, and contains a copy letter from Coll Services & Co. The entire package would have been carried from Tobago to Grenada. It left Grenada on 28 January 1787, and called at Dominica, Antigua, Montserrat, St Kitts and Tortola before arriving in Falmouth on 25 March 1787. It was postmarked 28 March at the Edinburgh GPO and its overall rate was 1s 7d paid on delivery (1s Grenada to London, 6d London to Kelso,1d Edinburgh local). At the time of the auction, only 51 ‘Circled Grenada Crown’ letters dated between April 1785 and February 1799 were recorded. James Gordon’s letter reads: Sir, Annexed you will please receive a copy of what we did ourselves the pleasure of writing you the 19 November last. Yesterday we were favoured with your letter of 10th of the same month and the content is noted, in your former letter you certainly wrong stated the different for ...profile of accounts, however we hope the answer will be satisfactory respect to the...sent state of them. The appearances for crops in general are flattering just now and we hope it will continue so. We are respectfully Dear Sir…’ The inner letter from Coll Services & Co is forecasting cotton yields and prices for an order that John Hamilton has given on Captain Miller’s outstanding bill plus interest of ￡624 12s and 11d. The letter also states that Mr Nichols ‘has a fine prospect of making a formidable crop’. It continues, …outlining difficulties in recovering monies against Robert Young’s protested bill of ￡209 5s 11d and the company agrees to remit Charles Bell the ‘outstanding monies themselves if they do not succeed in getting payment from Young early in the crop’. I decided to research ‘the story behind the cover’. Fig. 2 James Gordon’s letter to Charles Bell 26 January 1787. Figs. 3&4 Copy letter of Coll Services & Co. Charles Bell, born 20 October 1718, became the third Laird of Craigfoodie (1) following his brother Andrew’s death. Charles became a member of the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa (2). The Company was engaged in the African Slave Trade. It operated through trading posts such as Fort William, Fort James, Fort Sekondi, Fort Winneba, Fort Apollonia, Fort Tantumquery, Fort Meta Cross, Fort Komenda, and Cape Coast Castle, the last of which was the administrative centre. The company was funded by an annual grant approved by British Parliament, which covered the costs of the London office and the forts. The Company was headed by a Council of nine men (three from London, three from Liverpool and three from Bristol) and reported to the Exchequer, the Admiralty and, from 1782, the Secretary of War. Fig. 5 A certificate confirming the appointment of Charles Bell to the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa. Courtesy of Bristol Archives. Charles Bell was appointed Governor of the Gold Coast Fort in 1752 and later as the Governor of Fort Annamaboe. He was appointed Vice President of the Council in 1770 (3). Bell became involved in the provision of bonds/bills for slaves and supplies to planters largely based in Tobago and Grenada. Planters’ bonds were issued to British slave traders as remittances for slave sales throughout the seventeenth and early eighteenth century but had been supplanted by ‘Bottom Bills’ in the second half of the eighteenth century. Planters’ bonds were, like bills of exchange, drawn at stipulated periods, and had legal standing against the planter’s property following the passage of the Colonial Debts Act of 1732. Slave traders could therefore sue planters who reneged on their debts, and even repossess plantations and slaves, giving the bonds some standing as remittances for slave sales. ‘Bottom Bills’ meant that merchants received bills of exchange for the proceeds of their slave sales in the ship or “bottom” that delivered the captives, in lieu of produce or the planters’ own bonds. These bills were drawn upon and guaranteed by British bankers (4). In either case the Merchant lenders and the Planters all had an obligation to meet time scales in clearing debts. Charles Bell therefore had good reason to be communicating frequently with the planters with whom he had made these arrangements. Since he was largely based in the United Kingdom Bell had appointed two agents: James Gordon in Tobago, and Alexander Fraser in Grenada to monitor the situation on the islands, and to chase payments on his behalf. The National Archive in Bristol held two folders containing 84 documents that looked promising (Folder 30189/2). It appeared that no one had previously researched what the folders contained. In fact, they held a veritable treasure trove of ship letters, as listed in Table 1. There are 34 letters, and 26 copy letters in the folder. Six of the letters are entire Ship letters arriving in Bristol, Southampton, Falmouth, Carlisle, Dover and Plymouth. The letters span from 1776 to 1791 and 22 of them date from the period of Tobago’s occupation by the French (1781 to 1791). It’s not a pretty story. As a slave trader and money-lending merchant the correspondence to and from Charles Bell largely concerns the chasing of payments against Bills and Bonds. Slavery was a terrible chapter in Britain’s history. Items of particular note in the folders include a Ship letter to Charles Bell from Porter, Gordon and Pearson in Barbados dated 17 July 1781 advising ‘Sorry to inform you that on 22 June last the island of Tobago was captured by the French...a severe stroke to those of us who are very deeply engaged in that unfortunate island.’ The letter carries a charge of 1s/2d. There is a 10 September 1782 copy letter from Charles Bell to Porter & Gordon, Tobago commenting on the capture of the two packet ships Speedy & Swift. These packets were taken on 15 July 1782 by the French frigates Resolieux and Friponne,. As an example of Charles Bell’s business dealings there is a sequence of letters concerning the unfortunate planter Mr Kenneth Nicol who in May 1785 eventually sells his lands and slaves to Alexander William Young …‘Since 1785 we have had no crops and have had the death of many good slaves’. Bell is clearly unhappy that his agent, James Gordon, has not claimed rights over Mr Nicol’s slaves as part of the outstanding payment, even though the Parisienne Government forbid this under Le Code Noir (the Black Code) of 1685 (5). Fig. 6 The documents in Bristol Archives 30189/2 Bell, Charles (fl 1780). Fig. 7 Ship letter from Barbados notifying Charles Bell that Tobago has fallen to the French. Courtesy of Bristol Archives 30189/2 Bell, Charles (fl 1780). That brings me to the puzzle that still remains behind this cover, and the documents of the Bristol Archive. The National Records of Scotland (6) clearly record the death of Governor Charles Bell of Fife on 16 August 1785, yet there is continuing correspondence from Charles Bell up until 17 January 1791, and the Bristol Archives contain an Estate Document dated 9 January 1798. The answer may lie in Charles Bell’s Will Testament Testamentary (7) of 10 March 1791 (Wills and Testaments, Reference CC20/4/26 St Andrew’s Commissionary Court) which details one Captain Charles Bell of Riblegate as a witness to the document. It seems likely that there were two Charles Bells involved in this merchant business over the period, but that is yet to be proven. There certainly was a Charles Bell, Master of the Phoenix whom Lloyds (8) record being involved in the slave trade in the 1761 to 1762 period. The addresses on the Will document match some of those used in the correspondence. Hopefully someone who lives close to Bristol and knows more than me about Tobago’s early history will take the challenge up and find answers. Susan Taylor has a further, more detailed spreadsheet that she will gladly share with any interested parties. Table 1 Summary Chart of Findings at Bristol Archive (see pages 27-30) References 1. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/scottishrecords 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Company_of_Merchants 3. Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations Vols 68, 69 and 70 4. Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press. Man. JEH-OA-14 April 0060 R1 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Noir 6. Scotlands People 1785 Bell Charles (Old Parish Registers Deaths 470/ Cupar) 7. Scotlands People 1791 Bell Charles (Wills and Testaments St Andrews Commissionary Court Ref CC20/4/26) 8. Lloyd’s Register of Shipping 1786 to 1771 Acknowledgements • Michael Rego for so generously sharing his knowledge of Ship Letters • Staff at the Bristol Archives for their assistance • Michael Hamilton for so generously sharing his database of Ship Letters • James Podger for advice with regard to Slavery Trade terms.

THE PACKET EXPRESS (PART 3) PAUL WRIGHT, PAUL FARRIMOND, STEVE JARVIS & RAY STANTON Part 1 of this article gave an account of the Packet Express service based on printed sources between 1819 and 1905. Part 2 considered the letters carried by the Packet Express at a 2s 6d Express rate for over 100 miles circa 1787 to 1831. This, Part 3, shows later examples with Express markings up to 1912. PART 3: LATER EXAMPLES WITH EXPRESS MARKINGS, 1849 – 1912 After 1831, even though there are no extra charges to identify letters carried by Express, there are occasional references to the Packet Express on the face of letters, even incoming. Fig. 1 From London to May Hill 1849. Figure 1 shows an incoming packet letter from London bearing a note of when the return express was: “Express bag closes on Friday at 1 P M” (Enlargement). The entire arrived in Kingston on 16 December 1849, a Sunday. It would then have been sent on by the incoming Packet Express, probably reaching May Hill on Monday 17 December, giving Mr Logan until Friday 21 December to put his reply in the Express bag. That outgoing Packet Express was timed to connect with RMSP Severn, sailing from Kingston on 22 December 1849. The Packet Express continued through the introduction of adhesives (1858) and the takeover by the Jamaica Post Office (1860). Inland post was permitted to use the Packet Express. Letters show the Packet Express continued to carry internal mail through the 19th century. Although there are no surviving timetables for the Packet Express before 1882, and none in detail before 1891, knowing the dates of packets and the timings of the normal inland post, it is possible to conjecture why and how a letter used the Packet Express rather than the normal inland post. Fig 2 Savanna La Mar 7 February 1870. Figure 2 shows an internal OHMS wrapper of 1870 from Savanna La Mar to Spanish Town, inscribed Bookpost, and By Express. The adhesive removed may have been a 1d bisect paying the ½d bookpost rate to the Provost Marshall General. The wrapper travelled from Savanna La Mar on 7 February 1870, via Black River and Mandeville arriving at Spanish Town on 8 February 1870. All these towns are on the South Post Road, so such inland post could hitch a ride on the 7 February Packet Express heading towards Kingston for the 9 February packet sailing. Fig. 3 Kingston 4 August 1880. Figure 3 shows a cover from Kingston on 4 August 1880 to Gayle, franked 4d for the inland double rate and inscribed per Packet Express. Gayle was on the north coast, 88 miles from Kingston (1). The packet from Southampton was due to dock at Kingston at 8am on Wednesday 4 August, and this cover could have caught the Packet Express to Gayle that day. The cover is stamped for Gayle arrival the following day, 5 August. The next normal post would not have arrived in Gayle until 8.17am on Friday 6 August. Figure 4 shows a cover from Black River on Tuesday 20 July 1886 to Half Way Tree, franked 2d for the single inland rate and inscribed (though only in pencil) By Packet Express. This plausibly travelled by the Packet Express timed to arrive in Kingston for the RMSP sailing on Wednesday 21 July. The cover was sorted in Kingston on 21 July and delivered onwards to Half Way Tree in the Kingston suburbs that day. There was no ordinary inland post from Black River on Tuesdays, the next ordinary post left on Wednesday 21 July at 7.45pm, not arriving in Kingston until Thursday 22 July. This is a clear-cut saving of a day by using the Packet Express. Figure 5 shows a postcard from Stony Hill posted on 21 August 1891 at Half Way Tree to Plantain Garden River, inscribed Packet Express. At this date Half Way Tree sent posts the 3 miles to Kingston twice daily, taking only 30 minutes, so there would be no gain from using an Express on that first leg of this journey. The post road services onward from Kingston to Plantain Garden River were put out to tender in July 1890 (2), to provide three posts a week and a Packet Express once a fortnight. The ordinary tri-weekly posts left Kingston at 4pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Using the ordinary Saturday post the card would have arrived in Plantain Garden River on Monday at 2.49am, having paused its journey on Sunday. An RMSP packet was due at Kingston at noon on Friday 21 August. This card must have been put into a linked Packet Express leaving Kingston that same Friday so that it arrived in Plantain Garden River on Saturday 22 August. The card has a message dated Stony Hill 21 August 1891: “Not a word from PMG as to my being relieved…M Sharp”. M Sharp was the postmaster of Half Way Tree (3), in a good position to know how best to use the Express. His wait for a relief lasted until 7 March 1892 when his replacement was appointed (4). The Stony Hill post office, transferred from Golden Spring on 8 June 1890, had its own postmaster, A Clark (3). Figure 6 shows an 1897 postcard from Bethel Town to Ramble inscribed Packet Express. It is difficult to see what advantage there was in sending this by Packet Express, indeed, it may not have used it. Bethel Town and Ramble are both branch offices from the S W Trunk. They are only 6 miles apart. On Friday 12 February the ordinary triweekly post from Kingston was timetabled to call at Bethel Town at 6.55pm and Ramble at 8.20pm (5). Ramble probably did not sort and datestamp the post until the morning of 13 February. The Packet Express would have left Fig. 4 Black River 20 January 1886. Fig. 5 Stony Hill 21 August 1891. Kingston on Friday 12 February after the arrival of the packet that day. It would not have reached Bethel Town and then Ramble until the morning of Saturday 13 February. All the preceding examples marked for the Packet Express are internal postal items hitching a ride on the Packet Express within Jamaica. This leaves two outbound covers to the USA, marked Express. One (Fig. 7) is from Lucea, 1904 and the other (Fig. 8) from Plantain Garden River, 1912, the latest known Express marking. There seems no reason why mail should not have used the Packet Express to catch a mail boat to the USA. The starting assumption is that this is the meaning of ‘Express’ on such covers, rather than suggesting special treatment after arriving in the USA. The 1904 cover was certainly labelled in Jamaica, because the home-made label is tied by the oval Kingston registered datestamp. The timings suggest that the use of the Packet Express might have helped. The datestamps are Lucea Saturday 19 November, Kingston registered on Tuesday 22 November, Philadelphia (illegible November) and Jackson arrival 30 November. This route suggests the use of the United Fruit Co. (UFCo) sailing from Kingston (every Tuesday) to New York, Philadelphia and Newport. The normal inland post from Lucea was only tri-weekly, at 3.40 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This letter, posted on Saturday, would have had to wait for the 3.40 pm post on Monday and would have arrived in Kingston at 2.35 pm on Tuesday 22 November, perhaps too late to catch the UFCo sailing that day. The Packet Express from Lucea also left on Monday, but much earlier, timetabled to catch the sailing of the RMSP at noon on Tuesday. This might have allowed the letter to connect with the UFCo sailing that day. Fig. 6 Bethel Town 12 February 1897. Fig. 7 Lucea 19 November 1904. Fig. 8 Plantain Garden River 12 April 1912. The manuscript ‘Express’ on the 12 April 1912 cover from Plantain Garden River to the USA (Figure 8) is much more doubtful. Has it a genuine postal purpose? If genuine, it is the latest known Packet Express letter. There is no mention of a Packet Express in printed sources after 1905, and strong evidence that the Packet Express was withdrawn altogether by 1905. There is nothing in printed sources to suggest that the Jamaica Post Office at any date operated a Packet Express deliberately to meet steamers to and from the USA. If this cover was meant for an Express within Jamaica it can only have been to hitch a ride from Plantain Garden River to Kingston, at a time when there was already a perfectly adequate daily post. An alternative suggestion is that the Express was applied in or intended for the delivery leg in the USA. The USA did operate a system for the expedited handling of both internal and foreign mail, but the usual title was ‘Special Delivery’ not ‘Express’. Moreover, Special Delivery in the USA would have required extra franking for the US Special Delivery fee. This seems an unlikely explanation. [A future article is planned to show genuine examples of mail from Jamaica intended for Special Delivery in the USA]. Alternatively, ‘Express’ may be a posthumous fanciful addition to an ordinary cover. Or the writer may have believed that there was still a Packet Express that would offer a speedier start to his cover; but whether or not there was still such a service in 1912 is at present unproven. Conclusion The Packet Express operated for the convenience of the Post Office and its customers to collect and deliver the post to and from the packets to Great Britain. For the Post Office it streamlined the handling of large volumes of mail that would otherwise have overwhelmed the inland post. For customers it offered timely connections to and from the packets. Once the inland post was frequent and the packet no longer regular, the Packet Express came to an end, though neither its beginning nor its end dates are definitely established. Notes and References (1) Distances quoted in this Part 3 of the article, covering the later period to 1912, are consistent with those recorded by Thomas Foster, The Postal History of Jamaica 1662 – 1860, 1968, page 139, rather than the figures used in in Parts 1 and 2 of the article, which are based on William Beckford, A Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica by William Beckford (Volume 1), 1790, page xxxvii - xxxviii. (2) Mail Services, Invitation to tender, 4 June 1890. Gleaner, 15 July 1890. (3) The Handbook of Jamaica for 1891-92, page 229. (4) Blue Book, 1893, page 22. (5) The Handbook for Jamaica for 1897, page 159. (References 2 to 5, and much other information, are to be found on the website of the Encyclopedia of Jamaican Philately http://jamaicaphilately.info/. under the heading Information Index.)

John Seidl sent a link to this book by Gerhrad Lang-Valchs which can be downloaded free from the Web thanks to the generosity of the author. It is a fascinating book and includes forgeries of several British West Indies islands’ stamps. http://philahistorica.de/Dokumente/Libro_Sellos_Torres.pdf

JAMAICA LOCAL CURRENCY AND THE EFFECT ON JAMAICA INLAND POSTAL RATES TO THE END OF 1840 STEVE JARVIS The GB Post Office controlled postal matters in the island until 1860, and they defined the inland postal rates in sterling: 4d for up to 60 miles, 6d for 60 to 100 miles and 8d for over 100 miles. Rates were increased pro-rata for letters with multiple sheets: 1oz was a quad rate. (Act of 1765; 5 Geo III c 25). However, up to 1841 (1) sterling was not used on the island and postage was paid in ‘local currency’ (LC). In Edward Long’s History of Jamaica Volume 1, published in 1774 (2), there is a series of currency conversion tables which give us: Sterling rate x 1.4 equals the equivalent LC rate. Therefore, arithmetically, the rates in LC pence would be (with sterling in brackets) as shown in Table 1. Table 1 Miles Single Double Treble 1 oz Up To 60 5.6 (4d) 11.2 (8d) 16.8 (12d) 22.4 (16d) 60 to 100 8.4 (6d) 16.8 (12d) 25.2 (18d) 33.6 (24d) Over 100 11.2 (8d) 22.4 (16d) 33.6 (24d) 44.8 (32d) The coins which circulated in Jamaica consisted of a mixture of many denominations struck in widespread areas of the globe by the more important commercial powers and their minting dependencies in the New World. The main coins in circulation were those minted in Spain and the Spanish-American mints in countries such as Mexico and Peru. Because these coins were generally of consistent good quality, readily available and universally acceptable, they became the most important circulating coins in Jamaica. The basic Spanish silver monetary unit was the real. Eight reals made a dollar or ‘piece of eight’ as it was commonly known (3). The denominations which circulated were: 8 reals = 1 dollar; 4 reals = ½ dollar; 2 reals = ¼ dollar; 1 real (a “bit”) = 1/8 dollar; ½ real = 1/16 dollar. One real was 7½d in Local Currency. Postage was physically paid with reals and rates were multiples of one real = 7½d LC. Our understanding of Jamaican rates comes from Volume 2 of the 1774 Long book (2). The inland rates in local currency are shown in Table 2: Table 2 Miles Single Double Treble 1 oz Up to 60 7½d (1) 1s3d (2) 1s3d (2) 1s10½d (3) 60 to 100 7½d (1) 1s3d (2) 1s10½d (3) 2s6d (4) Over 100 1s3d (2) 1s10½d (3) 2s6d (4) 3s9d (6) Figures in brackets are reals. The single letter local currency rates for the lower two distances are the same but in sterling 4d and 6d. The step rates are not pro-rata due to the conversion from sterling needing to be rounded to the bit (or real) which was 7½d LC. If we take the arithmetic LC rate in Table 1 above and convert to reals, we see the equivalent reals and the number in brackets being the postage rate quoted by Long in Table 3: March 1840 cover, from Falmouth, Jamaica (James Podger collection, Ex Foster) Table 3 Single Double Treble 1 oz Miles LC Reals LC Reals LC Reals LC Reals Up To 60 5.6 0.75 (1) 11.2 1.49 (2) 16.8 2.24 (2) 22.4 2.99 (3) 60 to 100 8.4 1.12 (1) 16.8 2.24 (2) 25.2 3.36 (3) 33.6 4.48 (4) Over 100 11.2 1.49 (2) 22.4 2.99 (3) 33.6 4.48 (4) 44.8 5.97 (6) This shows a slight inconsistency in the application of rounding (highlighted) but otherwise explains why the step rates are not pro rata. When calculating rates, one also needs to know the distance from Kingston. On p139 of Foster’s book (4) he gives a useful list of distances of post towns from Kingston. However, these are the distances that applied in 1858 and some routes were different earlier. Beckford’s book of 1790 (5) gives mail routes and distances. The various Jamaica Almanacs provide a list of Post Offices and their post routes (although not 100% complete/accurate). Differences that would cause a distance step change in rate are discussed below. The north-side post road took a different route from Rodney Hall (Linstead) to the north shore. In 1790 direct from Rodney Hall to Salt Gut but in 1858 the route was via Moneague to Ocho Rios. In 1790 the distance from Kingston to Salt Gut was 53 miles (4d) but by 1858 it was 68 miles (6d). The early route to Montego Bay was 145 miles but by 1858 it was reduced to 116 (but both 8d). Falmouth, although not explicitly listed by Beckford (but nearby Martha Brae was) would have been about 120 miles (8d) but by 1858 it was only 93 (6d) (see the March 1840 cover above which implies the longer route applied until at least 1840 – the 1851 Almanac quotes the rate of 6d and hence the shorter route was used before that date). On the south-side post road the main office affected is Black River. In Foster it is 87 miles from Kingston (6d) but in Beckford it is 100 miles (treated on covers as over 100 miles – 8d). In the 1857 Almanac Black River is 110 miles, the 1861 Almanac states 103 miles but contradicts itself saying 6d rate in one place but elsewhere 8d! References 1 Bank of Jamaica Currency History https://boj.org.jm/core-functions/currency/history/ “In 1839, an Act was passed which stated that as of 31 December 1840, the currency of Britain should be that of Jamaica, that is, the lower denomination copper coins, farthing, half penny, penny ha’penny and penny as well as the higher denomination silver coins, three pence, sixpence, shilling, florin, half crown and crown. While the Spanish coins were demonetised, an exception was made in the case of the Spanish doubloon, which remained legal tender at a rate of 3.4.0, until it was demonetised on 01 April 1901.” 2 Long, Edward, The History of Jamaica https://nlj.gov.jm/google-books/ Volume 1 Section VII discusses currency, Volume 2 p233 states postage rates. Confusingly, the packet rates stated in local currency are not a multiple of 7½d (reals). They are simply the arithmetic conversion from sterling to local currency (the double rate should be 4s2½d using Long’s currency conversion chart). At this time, it is unusual for the packet letter / GB inland rate to be prepaid and so real-world examples are scarce. A September 1824 pre-paid letter to London at a 2s2s packet rate is annotated in LC as 3s1½d (37½d = 5 reals), which corresponds to the same logic as for inland rates. 3 Bank of Jamaica Currency History https://boj.org.jm/core-functions/currency/history/ 4 Foster, Tom, Jamaica The Postal History 1662–1860, Robson Lowe 1968 5 Beckford, William, A Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica (Volume 1) https://nlj.gov.jm/google-books/

11 May 2024 The WIPSG Annual General Meeting and Auction takes place at the Royal Philatelic Society, London. Further details on the website. 4 June 2024 Simon Richards, WIPSG President and RPSL VP, is doing a Zoom presentation on 'Numerical Cancels' on 4 June at 3pm. The RPSL will advertise this event on the front page of its website in the fortnight before. It is free and open to all. 19-20 July 2024 The WIPSG is running a sales table with Pennymead Books at the York Stamp and Coin Fair. Additionally, the WIPSG is holding a meeting on 20 July from 13.00-15.00 in a room on the 4th floor. Please bring along informal displays. 16-18 August 2024 The WIPSG is at the Great American Stamp Show, sharing a stand with the Haiti Philatelic Society, and holding a meeting on Friday 16 August at 1pm. A WIPSG dinner will take place that evening (Friday 16 August) – arrangements to be announced shortly. Please contact sec@wipsg.org for further details. 1 October 2024 Susan Taylor, WIPSG Secretary, is presenting 'Anguilla and other West Indian Islands' at the Newcastle Upon Tyne Philatelic Society on Tuesday 1 October at 6.45pm. (Two recent events -the Zoom meetings by Julian Waldron (Leeward Islands) and by Graham Stockdale & Susan Taylor (Anguilla) are now available on YouTube. To view them just click on the links on the main WIPSG website.)

By the time you receive this journal the Society AGM and Auction will have happened – I think the auction team, with the support of member’s contributions, have done another superb job and I hope you found and won lots of items to supplement your collections. Above you see the programme of events coming up. Please support them, a considerable amount of work goes into the organisation and it can be disheartening if there is poor attendance. At the last count we still had circa 25 members who have still not paid their 2024 subscriptions. Please check your status by logging in to the website and viewing your information top right of the screen. Please help to minimise the admin workload by paying promptly. For those that receive the printed journal, the information is also on the address mailing sheet.

A big thank you to all the authors in this issue with articles covering the years from the early 1800s to 2024. Personally, I think it quite important to record modern material when it is issued because it can be a difficult job in ten years’ time. A good example is airmail rates and routes in the 1930s where information can be quite difficult to find, and little was recorded at the time (with the exception of first flights). You will note a couple of articles in this issue that are more general, on the Caribbean Hutia (which I had never heard of) and the Emerald Beach Hotel at a time when tourism was becoming quite important in Bermuda. I hope you find them interesting even if your own interests lie elsewhere. If not, I would encourage you to write your own more general article, as I can always use filler articles of a more general nature. I would also like to see more articles on the smaller islands, if possible. I doubt there will ever be a journal with an article on each of the islands, but it is always nice to have a hard to reach target. The other area I would like to see are questions on particular items. In the past this was much more common and while much knowledge has been published, I am sure that there are questions you have about an item that others may be able to help with and fill that gap in your knowledge. If you have a West Indies example please send it in, and I feel sure someone will be able to help. In late news we have just learned that the WIPSG Website received a gold medal at Filabras 2024.

TRIP TO CASTRIES, ST LUCIA 26 MARCH 2024 – SUSAN TAYLOR The St Lucian sun may have been out, and the Caribbean waters may have looked inviting, but even better was a visit to the Castries post office (Figure 1). Steve Zirinsky had kindly put me in contact with the Castries postal team, and Carl Cerry (Figure 2) made me very welcome. I was keen to get imprints of any old postage cancels they had, and he provided a boxful. Inky fingers ensued, and apologies if the attached record, on some blank envelopes is a bit jumbled. It was year-end and the post office staff were busy, so I had to hurry. Carl also provided a listing of St Lucia’s postal rates. Amongst the postmarks (over page) was one marking the first day issue of ‘International Year of Biodiversity’ stamps on 11 June 2010. It featured a ‘white breasted thrasher’ an endangered bird of the island. Thinking of Steve Strauss, Editor of ‘Flight’, the magazine of the Bird Stamp Society, I asked Carl whether I might purchase some recent bird stamps and post them using this cancel. He kindly found some 1998 Bird stamps (SG 1197 – 1200) that I was able use, making an interesting philatelic cover (Figure 3). In the main post office area Shomella (Figure 2a) kindly stamped, registered and postmarked the bundle of envelopes I had prepared for philatelic friends across the globe. My registered letters (including the bird cover) arrived less than two weeks later. Do think about making a visit to the post office if you are in the Caribbean.

MAIL CARRIED BY LOGGING TRANSPORTER VESSEL: cover marked “Juanito Boat” from Martha Hernandez, Roaring Creek, Cayo District with QE2 15c pmk’d ROARING CREEK JU 3 83 d/ring to the B.E.C. Shipping Dept., Belize City. The “Juanito” hauled a thousand logs at a time from Orange Walk to the Belize Estate Company sawmills and lumber yards in Belize City. Logs were sent to Orange Walk from Hill Bank where they had been delivered by train from Gallon Jug. POSTED ON THE SEA FLOOR: although covers from the Williamson Photosphere are commonly found dated 16 AUG 39 and 6 MAY 40 other dates may be very collectible especially if not addressed to Bahamas, Canada, USA and UK. Coloured inks, autographed (not FDC), commercial, official, mixed frankings, special delivery, are all sought after. MAIL TAKEN TO THE SOUTH POLE: Thomas Aitchison wrote on Hotel Bermudiana letterheaded paper “This letter left Bermuda on 7th November 1934 for the South Pole” and was carried on the Byrd Antarctica Expedition II where it was pmk’d LITTLE AMERICA, ANTARCTICA JAN 30 1935 before it was returned to sender. HAND MADE CORK CANCELLATION: cover from Davidson Colhurst & Co., Kingston, Jamaica dated AP 22 82 with pair QV 2d to Lockeport, Nova Scotia. ARMY OFFICERS 6d PRIVILEGE RATE: although the civilian rate was 1s, serving Officers were allowed a 6d per half ounce rate when letters were countersigned period JU 1 1867 to DE 31 1869. This cover from William Wellesley Waterloo Poole, Staff Surgeon Major bears Barbados 6d orange pmk’d on JY 25 1868 to his wife in New Brompton, Kent "Lumber Camp" WAR EFFORT MAIL: covers from Stann Creek JA 27 1942 to Duns Camp, and from Seine Bight MY 20 1943 to Kirkpatrick, to workers in the British Honduras Forestry Unit (BHFU) in Scotland. Due to enemy attacks on shipping and the fall of Norway in 1940, and the loss of Scandinavian timber, foresters from across the Empire were brought into Britain for felling of local timber. Six camps were set up in Scotland when the first men from the BHFU arrived in August 1941 at Golspie, Kinlochewe, Achnashellach, Trapain Law, Kirkpatrick and Duns. SERIFFED PRE-STAMP BROKEN DOUBLE ARC DATESTAMP with SERIFFED DATE SLUGS: used in most of the islands and found with both serif and sans-serif lettering. This DE 31 1841 example from BERBICE has the earliest known date of use for that colony (having taken over from the BERBICE fleuron) and the unpaid 1/-rate is based on the quarter ounce short period rate in effect JA 1 1840 to DE 31 1841. TAKEN ASHORE FOR POSTING PRIOR DISASTER: this entire from Thomas Bruce, signed “Elgin & Kincardine,” is headed “Off Falmouth Apl.16/42” being written aboard the soon to depart doomed R.M.S. “Medina”. Taken to shore by the pilot the letter was placed in the Falmouth Post Office, on that date, addressed Mrs. Cumming Bruce in Westminster, London. A NIGHT ABOARD A SINKING R.M.S. STEAMER: this letter to Lady Mary Christopher in London is written by Charlotte Bruce, and headed Mail Steamer Packet Tweed, Turk’s Island May 13th 1842. A full transcript is as follows: My dearest Mary – you will, I trust, receive this, before the total loss of the dear old Medina reaches you. Thank God, we are all safe – after a night of anxiety & we are none the worse of it. We struck on a coral reef off Turk’s Island, on the Tuesday night, the 11th at ½ past 12. We remained bumping on the rocks, firing signal guns, and burning blue lights, to attract the attention of the people on shore, till day light, when people came to our assistance. Nothing could be done for the poor vessel which is now fast breaking up but mercifully, we were in most favourable circumstances. The sea was calm, we had scarcely any wind, and the water so shallow that we could not sink, so we remained quiet, all ready to leave the ship till about 9 next morning, when a mail schooner came near us, and we got to her in little boats. As you may imagine, our whole anxiety was about dear Elma – she bore her trying circumstances most beautifully & though she fully expected we might soon be lost, she was as calm and composed as if sitting in Queen Square – the most disagreeable part was the constant thumping and grating of the poor ship on the coral, I do not think anyone can ever forget the feeling. We left the schooner for this steamer in the afternoon and are going on to Jamaica this evening. We hope to reach it on Sunday, or Monday. We may well be filled with thankfulness for our deliverance. We might have been lost; had we not been in such wonderfully favourable circumstances. I write this hurriedly that you may not be anxious. Pray send the news to Paris, to Matty and Lucy – to Moray Place, and to the Drummonds. There is so much confusion, and we are still knocked up, that I can write no more. Elma is not at all the worse, thank God. Her calm & composed disposition has been the greatest blessing, and her badly health has not suffered. Assure her mother of this she has acted nobly -& and all the people here are in raptures about her presence of mind & coolness – Farewell – I shall write on arrival – it is now all plain sailing – Turk’s Island is the most dangerous place in the West Indies – I trust the Company may send no more vessels there …. Charlotte Bruce. PRICES CURRENT: a printed list of commodities for sale used with Trinidad undenominated (1d) lake pmk’d “1” despatched JU 7 1864 with Cuba ½r transit to Mayaguez, Porto Rico. BRASS INTAGLIO MAIL BAG SEALS: examples struck on adhesives or impressed into wax to seal envelopes are infrequently met. Looking at Jamaica a brass mailbag seal was sent to the Little River post office AU 27 1849, and the Montego Bay mailbag seal was oddly struck on a (date unknown but circa 1834) pre-stamp entire to Port Maria; with later strike of the Vere mailbag seal found on GB QV 6d used in the island. The illustrated cover from the Ladyville P.O., British Honduras is dated 16 APR 1961.

BAHAMAS THE EMERALD BEACH HOTEL 1954-1958 JAMES GAVIN Following the end of the Second World War, the Bahamas Government decided it would develop two primary areas of economic activity in an attempt to create a stable economy. One of those primary activities was a yearround tourism industry. In 1949 the Government passed the Hotels Encouragement Act designed to stimulate the construction of hotels by offering refund of custom duties and other similar concessions. While the Bahamas had two grand old dames for hotels, the British Colonial Hotel and the Fort Montagu Hotel, knew they had to build new hotels to generate more business. The first of these new resort-style hotels was The Emerald Beach Hotel (Figure 1). The Emerald Beach Hotel on Cable Beach was opened in 1954 at a cost of $3.5m. The property was owned by Leo F Corrigan with the General Manager, Frank A McNellis (1954-1956). It was the first fully air-conditioned hotel in Nassau. With 300 rooms and New Providence’s first convention centre, the hotel set the pace for tourism development along the Cable Beach strip. Hotel Stationery Below are the two types of envelopes used by the hotel. The hotel used a green typewriter ribbon for addressing outgoing mail. These envelopes appeared to have been used without change until 1967 (Figure 2). Postcards The earliest postcards seen date to 1954 and are unnumbered. It is not clear if both were issued as a set or as two individual releases (Figure 3). The first photographic postcard of the hotel appeared in 1955 (Figure 4). This was printed by Litho in USA, who appears to have also printed the first postcards above as the backing is similar. In 1953, Mardon, Son & Hall Ltd., Bristol, produced a number of postcards showcasing the Bahamas. Two cards in the series showed the Emerald Beach Hotel (No.s 65 & 67). Based on the dates I have recorded for this series, cards from approximately No.53 onwards may have been added to the set later in 1956. No.65 uses the same photograph from the Litho in USA card of 1955 (Figure 5). No.67 shows what appears to be construction of the west wing. The photo may have been taken prior to the completion of the hotel in preparation for its opening in 1954 (Figure 6). In 1956 Curteich produced a set of six C.T. Art-Colortone linen postcards depicting scenes in Nassau. These were distributed by P. M. Lightbourn, Nassau, N.P., Bahamas, who ran a pharmacy. The photograph is credited to author and photographer, Ronald G Lightbourn. No. 6C-H147 depicts the hotel with the American and British flags (Figure 7). These flags were added to postcards to be more appealing to international tourists. The umbrellas have also been tinted a different colour to what they actually were. In the same year, Dexter Press Inc., West Nyack, N.Y. produced a single postcard depicting the hotel (number 92812). The photo is credited to Litho in USA and printed as a Genuine Natural Color card. There are two known types of this postcard. Depicted (Figure 8) is Type A from 1956. Type B is dated to 1958 and shows the same card face but includes a publisher’s name, Meisel Photochrome Corp., Dallas 1., Texas, in the bottom right-hand corner. J Salmon Ltd, Sevenoaks, England produced a number of postcards from the 1930s onwards depicting scenes of the Bahamas. Many of these were replicated well into the 1950s with various different backing styles. The release below I have assigned as Type 1D (Figure 9). It is the last known backing, dated to 1957, and published by City Pharmacy, Nassau. This type can be identified by the squiggly divider. This release also included a number of new images such as No.29 of the Emerald Beach Hotel. In addition to the postcards, a set of four to six lettercards were also produced (Figure 9a). The last postcards produced of the 1950s were by Litho in USA in 1958. These were printed by Koppel Colour Cards. They are numbered 30157 (top) and 30158 (bottom) respectively (Figure 10). During the 1960’s the hotel underwent renovations and in 1967 was renamed the Emerald Beach Plantation and Hotel. References • Bahama Pundit (2010) https://political-bahamas.blogspot.com/2010/10/baha-mar-drama-part-2.html#gsc.tab=0 • Craftman Press Archive https://thecraftsmanpressarchive.com • Personalities Caribbean Vol 4, 1971 • Tourism Today: The History of The Ministry of Tourism https://www.tourismtoday.com/about-us/tourism-history • Tribune: A Look at the History of Tourism (2013) http://m.tribune242.com/news/2013/jul/11/a-look-at-thehistory-of-tourism/

Whilst browsing some old auction catalogues, I came across this Lot (17) in the Robson Lowe Postal History Auction #269 (Alt. Nos. 2119–2120), 24 Jan. 1962. Estimated at £500, realised £620. It throws some light on the origins of some of the De La Rue specimen stamps. ****** 1873, a magnificently decorated leather-bound volume inscribed “SPECIMENS OF STAMPS MANUFACTURED BY THOS. DE LA RUE & CO. LONDON” and with “To Monsieur Chazal, with the compliments of the manufacturers, June 21st. ’73” in manuscript on the fly leaf. In this volume are stuck down die and plate proofs in colour of postage and revenue stamps and of items of postal stationery produced by this firm and still current at this date, a number of the issued stamps overprinted “SPECIMEN” or “CANCELLED” and, surprisingly, some of the unused stamps without any such overprints, nearly all in superb condition. The most interesting sections are described below: postage stamps unless otherwise stated. GREAT BRITAIN. 1867-80 3d. plate 10, 4d. plate 13, 6d. plate 12, 9d. plate 4, 10d. plate 1, 1/-plate 7, 2/-plate 1, 5/-plate 1, all overprinted “CANCELLED” and not previously recorded thus. Postal Fiscal 1867 1d., 3d. and 6d. (Gibbons Types F9a, F17 and F18) similarly overprinted and not recorded thus. Revenue Stamps various (29) including three unappropriated plate proofs and a few Irish, similarly overprinted. Postal Stationery, three unused items. INDIA. 1866-73, various East India issues (10) overprinted “SPECIMEN”. Telegraphs 2a. to 50r. similarly overprinted. Revenues various (30) including one 1,000r. value, similarly overprinted. CEYLON. 1872-80 die proofs of the 8c., 16c., 24c., 48c. and 96c. in the issued colours and with 3 mm. margins; imperf. plate proofs of the 2c. to 96c. values. Revenues, similar die proofs in the issued colours of seven values to the 20r.; the 5c. to 100r. complete unused and the imperforate Warehouse Warrant 1/-stamp. Postal Stationery colour proofs from the 4d., 6d. and 8d., embossing dies; two postcards with “SPECIMEN” perforation. BAHAMAS. 1863-80 1/-imperforate. BELGIUM. 1865 imperforate plate proofs of the 10c., 20c., 30c., 40c. and 1f. in unissued colours. BERMUDA. 1865-73 1d., 2d., 6d. and 1/-unused. BRITISH COLUMBIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND. 1865 perf. 14 5c. and 10c. unused. BRITISH HONDURAS. 1872-79 1d., 3d. (imperforate), 6d. and 1/-unused. CHILE. Postal Stationery, various items (7) perforated “SPECIMEN”. HONG KONG. Postal Fiscal 1874 $2, $3 and $10 rose-carmine unused. ITALY. 1863 cut-down die proofs of the 5c. in dull green, 10c. in yellow, 15c. in blue, 40c. in rose (slightly rubbed) and 60c. in mauve; 1c. to 21c. overprinted “SAGGIO”, some with perfs. clipped or imperforate. Revenues, cut-down die proofs (6) and others imperforate and overprinted “SAGGIO” (17). JAMAICA. Queen Victoria ½d. to 1/-, the 1d. and 4d. imperforate (probably with Pine watermark), only the 1/with “SPECIMEN” overprint. Postal Fiscal, the 1/-, 5/-and 10/-with “SPECIMEN” overprints and the 1d. and 3d. unused. MALTA. 1871 ½d. yellow-orange unused. MAURITIUS. Postal Stationery colour proofs from the 6d., 9d., 10d. and 1/8d. embossing dies. NEW SOUTH WALES. 1862-72 1d. and 2d. unused, 4d. and 10d. imperforate plate proofs, and 6d. superb cut down die proof in green. Revenues 4d. to £1 (18 values), imperforate proofs in various colours on greyish paper—those of the 5/-, 10/-and £1 values may be classed as proofs of postage stamps. PORTUGAL. Revenues, imperforate plate proofs (10). SIERRA LEONE. 1859 perf. 14 6d. dull violet and 1872-73 4d. blue (imperforate), both unused. STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 1867-71 2c. to 96c. and 1872 30c. unused. TASMANIA. 1871-79 5/-purple imperforate, unused. TRINIDAD. 1869 5/-rose-lake, unused. The complete item comprises die proofs of postage stamps (11), die proofs of revenue stamps (13), plate proofs of postage stamps (22), plate proofs of revenue stamps (29), postage stamps overprinted “SPECIMEN” or “CANCELLED” (27), revenue stamps overprinted “SPECIMEN” or “CANCELLED” (93), unused postage stamps (38), unused revenue stamps (36) and other items (21). In all two hundred and ninety items. )Ji Who was “Monsieur Chazal”? An internet search identified a likely candidate: Joseph Antoine Edmond de Chazal, a resident of Mauritius, estate at Belmont, 16 miles from Port Louis. The famous Philatelic Bibliophile Lord Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, visited in 1874 to watch the transit of Venus. https://chazfest.com/portfolio-items/by-pierre-baissac-2/ De La Rue took over the Mauritius contract in 1860.

As a follow-up to my article in the March 2024 edition of the Journal on this matter (pp.16-17), I now need to make some amendments. The first is relating to the nature of the printing plates. Peter Fernbank’s new information now means that the printing plates were probably either steel or copper but NOT electrotyped copper. The curving of such plates would result in an insignificant and unimportant difference in stamp height. The other corrections relate to the timing of the changes from flat-bed to curved plates. The basis for my errors stems from my misunderstanding regarding WHEN the Crown Agents’ Register of Dies, Plates and Formes etc entry for Barbados was made. I had assumed it showed the state of the plates (flat or curved) from when the ‘Badge’ definitive were first issued in 1925, but Peter Fernbank has corrected me by pointing out that the Register captured the state of the plates when this register was opened in 1928 and includes the subsequent period up to mid-1933. Any plate modifications made after that period up to 1935 are not shown. To date, I have evidence from marginal slot and screw marks and ‘fading out’ of marginal lines near the base of the sheets, that, out of the original eleven plates, the ¼d, ½d, 1d, 2½d, 3d, 6d and 1/-were curved for at least SOME of the printings. This now means that four of the eight bullet points in my last article need amending, as follows: First bullet point: Probably NOT ALL of the Barbados 1925-35 plates were curved for printing. MOST were curved at some stage. My slot and screw mark examples show that most of the curving occurred in or by 1931-33, but a few plates probably never were. Second bullet point: Curving of the steel or copper plate caused a negligible increase in stamp height. (These plates were curved from top to bottom). Third bullet point: The Register recorded the 4d, 2/-and 3/-as being flat at that time. I have no evidence YET to show that they were curved at any time. Eighth bullet point: The width of the stamp design – whether smaller or larger, due to wet or dry paper use is still a useful tool in identifying earlier from later printings. This is an ongoing study and requires the emergence of new material. The facts presented here will likely be subject to further amendments over time! Appeal for assistance: Do any members have blocks from the top half of sheets in any of the eleven original 1925-35 denominations including the all-important margins? If so, I would be grateful if you could email me scans to colinpat2525@gmail.com

Frederick sent me scans of the two envelopes shown above which are the 1934 Leeward Island envelopes printed on security lined pelure paper and asked me whether they were the only known mint copies as I have stated elsewhere. They are in fact new discoveries and are the second known mint copies of these envelopes. Despite having printings of 5,325 (1d) and 5,350 (1½d) they are amazingly rare. I have only recorded two used of the 1d and three of the 1½d. However, at the time of writing there is a new copy of the 1d envelope used that I am sure will sell well in the WIPSG auction, as this is now the third recorded used copy. The envelopes appear to have been issued as ‘airmail’ envelopes as they are lighter than the regular envelopes. However, they were obviously not popular and are amongst the rarest items of Leeward Island postal stationery, particularly mint. If anyone else has a copy of either, please let me know.

Many 19th century covers preserved for our collecting enjoyment come from either business archives or family correspondence. In a 2005 BWISC Bulletin article, Charles Freeland and Peter Longmuir examined the Poole correspondence of 24 letters from an Army officer serving in Barbados to his wife in Kent between 1868-70. A different cache of 27 covers, spanning the years 1852-1875, was addressed to the baronets of the Fitzherbert family in Derbyshire from locations in northern Barbados. This span of 23 years coincides with the period of use for Perkins Bacon Barbados adhesives, both imperforate and perforated. The handbook of early Britannia covers compiled by Peter Ford in 2022 shows that 12% of such covers sent from the island to destinations in the United Kingdom were addressed to Fitzherbert. The Fitzherbert surname is a venerable one in British peerage, traceable to a Norman knight listed in honour rolls for the Battle of Hastings. Over the centuries, family members have distinguished themselves as courtiers, high sheriffs, attorneys, military officers, diplomats and members of Parliament. The notorious Maria Fitzherbert, who was a mistress of George, the Prince of Wales, and wed him in an unsanctioned marriage in 1785, does not appear on the main stem of the family tree, but likely she caused some reputational heartburn to the family name for a while. The Fitzherbert family seat was at Tissington Hall in Ashbourne, Derbyshire for more than 300 years. Tissington is an early 17th-century Jacobean mansion house, with a distinctive central hall running from front to back and remains open for public visitation (Figure 1). The first cover in the sequence [FH1] is addressed to Sir Henry Fitzherbert, the 3rd Baronet (Figure 2). This cover, dispatched 13 May 1852, is the earliest use of Barbados adhesives to the United Kingdom (Figure 3). I have only a black-and-white image of this cover, showing a 1d adhesive from the first Britannia issue for internal island postage and a 1s due marking for transatlantic carriage. The cover is also stamped “TOO LATE,” used to denote items handed in after the mails had closed, with the letter being held over for the next outgoing post. The UK arrival date of 7 June 1852 indicates that the letter - was not sent abroad until the late May sailing date of the Royal Mail packet Fig.3 Earliest Barbados cover to UK with Britannia adhesives from Barbados. Another letter to Sir Henry, addressed by a different hand, was sent two weeks later, on 28 May (Figure 4). This is a “busy” cover, with multiple markings, unlike the cover in Figure 3. The envelope is docketed “Per R M…. Steam Packet Co----,” franked with a pair of deep blue 1d adhesives (paying a double rate for the internal fee to port) and cancelled by strikes of the “6” obliterator for St. Joseph Parish. Despite its small size, the letter appears to have been charged a quadruple rate of four shillings for the voyage to England. Readers will note the discrepancy between the double rate charged for internal island postage and the quadruple rate charged for transatlantic passage. Perhaps the postal clerk at St. Joseph parish, where the letter originated, simply estimated the weight of the letter, realizing that it was heavier than an ordinary single-rate letter, but not knowing for sure just how much heavier. The postal clerk at the port in Bridgetown, who probably had more familiarity with multi-rate items being sent beyond Barbados, surely had a scale and computed a more precise quadruple-rate 4s assessment. There is circumstantial evidence that the letter did contain bulky contents. The top and right-side flaps of the cover are loose, either after the letter was originally opened or when subsequently freed by a collector. Significantly, the red London backstamps that cross the side flap are both misaligned (Figure 5). These misalignments can easily be corrected by enclosing multiple sheets of paper to provide a three-dimensional bulge to the cover, suggesting that the envelope flaps had formerly been closed over substantial contents. It appears that the 4/ due was paid on arrival at Ashbourne, signified by a strike-through of the rate charge, before the letter was re-directed to West Farleigh, Kent. When Barbados adhesives first came into use in 1852, it was awkward to send pre-paid letters to the UK with adhesives. Until 1858, the only adhesives available were in denominations of ½d, 1d, 2d and 4d. Since the basic packet rate to the UK was one shilling, this would have required three 4d adhesives. Even if such a triple franking had ever been used, there are no recorded survivors today. The 4d adhesives were mostly reserved to pre-pay the 4d inter-colonial rate to destinations in the West Indies, and also occasionally in partial payment of letters to the United States. For those desiring to pre-pay the one shilling rate to the UK, the expedient used by Barbados post offices was a Crowned Circle “PAID AT BARBADOES” handstamp in red. The Crowned Circle device was phased out when higher denomination adhesives became available in 1858. An example of Crowned Circle use on a letter to the UK occurred in cover FH2a, sent in July 1852. This cover, addressed to Lady Fitzherbert and not to her husband, was prepaid in Barbados, likely as a courtesy so as not to offend by imposing a postage charge on the recipient. During this period, prepayment of postage beyond Barbados was still not obligatory, as demonstrated by the pair of 1852 letters to Sir Henry (FH1 & FH2). Sir Henry died in 1858, and the title passed to his son Sir William Fitzherbert, who succeeded his father at age 50 in title and estates as the 4th Baronet (Figure 6 as youth & Figure 7 as man). The family estates included an array of sugar plantations in Jamaica and Barbados. The plantations in Barbados were at the northern end of the island. By 1915, the family holdings had shrunk to about 500 acres at Swans and Turners Hall plantations. Sir William’s wife, Annie, was born and raised in a prominent Barbados family, providing yet another connection to the island. There is a seven-year gap from 1852-59 in surviving covers of the correspondence with adhesives. The next letter in the sequence (FH3), and the first addressed to Sir William Fitzherbert, was sent 12 January 1859, six months after his father’s death. At this time, Sir William resided at Somersall Herbert Hall, another Fitzherbert family property located near Uttoxeter, about 15 miles from the family seat at Tissington Hall. On 1 August 1854, the packet rate to the UK for letters up to ½ oz. had been reduced from 1s to 6d. This lower rate remained in force until 1 April 1863, when the rate was raised again to 1s, due to revenue shortfalls during previous years. Covers FH3 to FH8 are all properly franked at the 6d rate. After another gap of three years, in 1862-63 there is a flurry of seven letters in the space of a single year (FH4– ~ FH10), followed by a steady flow of correspondence over the next 11 years. Interestingly, almost all covers from FH3 to FH26, are addressed by the same distinctive hand, a continuity of correspondence over more than 15 years. Figure 8 (FH9) shows an example of this elegant penmanship. Letters were sent in every Fig. 8 9 May 1863 cover to Sir William Fitzherbert month of the year, and there is no discernible pattern that might signify periodic reports from a plantation manager. It is more plausible that the correspondence was of a personal rather than business nature. As noted above, both Sir William and his wife Annie had strong ties to Barbados. Annie died in November 1863, and it is possible that the concentrated flow of letters leading up to this month may have been associated with her final illness. As is often the case, there are more mysteries than answers in trying to figure out the nuances of such a correspondence. With access to only covers and not the letters, one can only speculate regarding many issues. Fortunately, from the perspective of philately, preservation of such a large trove of covers is a boon to collectors of early Barbados postal history. Covers to Sir Henry Fitzherbert, 3rd Baronet Ref Despatch Address Cancel Adhesive(s) Note FH1 13 May 1852 Ashbourne Oblit. “6” SG3 earliest cover to UK with adhesives; packet rate 1s FH2 28 May 1852 Ashbourne Oblit. “6” SG3 pair quadruple rate; redirected to Maidstone, Kent FH2a 10 July 1852 Ashbourne GB QV 1d applied in UK for forwarding red Crown Circle paid marking; redirected to Maidstone, Kent Covers to Sir William Fitzherbert, 4th Baronet Ref Despatch Address Cancel Adhesive(s) Note FH3 12 Jan 1859 Uttoxeter Oblit. “10” SG11 packet rate to UK reduced to 6d FH4 9 July 1862 Ashbourne Oblit. “10” SG29 pair double rate cover FH5 9 Sept 1862 Ashbourne Oblit. “1” SG29 FH6 10 Oct 1862 Ashbourne Oblit. “1” SG23 x2; SG25 FH7 8 Nov 1862 Ashbourne Oblit. “10” SG29 mourning cover; originally sent to address in Derby (marked out); redirected to Tissington Hall, Ashbourne FH8 11 Mar 1863 Ashbourne Oblit. “10” SG29 re-directed to Maidstone, Kent FH9 9 May 1863 Ashbourne Indistinct SG12a last day of authorized use for obliterator cancels; replaced on 10 May with bootheel cancels; packet rate raised again to 1s on 1 April 1863 FH10 9 June 1863 Ashbourne Bootheel “10” SG12a early use of bootheel; late use of imperf 1s adhesive; re-directed to Isle of Wight FH11 9 Nov 1863 Ashbourne Boot “10” SG12a FH12 8 July 1864 Maidstone Boot “1” SG34 x 2 FH13 9 Apr 1866 Ashbourne Boot “10” SG34 FH14 10 May 1866 Ashbourne Boot “10” SG35 FH15 10 Oct 1866 Ashbourne Boot “1” SG35 FH16 7 June 1867 Ashbourne Boot “1” SG34 FH17 9 Nov 1867 Ashbourne Boot “10” SG34 FH18 10 Dec 1867 Ashbourne Indistinct bootheel SG34 FH19 10 Feb 1868 Ashbourne Boot “10” SG34 FH20 10 May 1869 Ashbourne Boot “10” SG35 FH21 9 July 1869 Ashbourne ??? SG35 FH22 10 Aug 1869 Ashbourne Boot “10” SG35 strip of four large envelope requiring quadruple rate FH23 10 Jan 1870 Ashbourne Boot “10” SG35 FH24 10 Sep 1872 Ashbourne Boot “11” SG51 FH25 29 Oct 1874 Ashbourne Boot “10” SG61 FH26 29 Jan 1875 Ashbourne ??? SG61 References: 1. Barbados: The Britannia Issues, M. Fitz Roett, published by British West Indies Study Circle, 2013. 2. Early BWI Covers Perkins Bacon Adhesives: Barbados, compiled by Peter Ford, published by British West Indies Study Circle, 2022. 3. “Barbados: Poole Covers,” Charles Freeland and Peter Longmuir, BWISC Bulletin No. 206 (September 2005), pp. 14-17. Acknowledgements: Thanks to Michael Hamilton for providing images, information and insights for this article and also to Stefan Heijtz.

The Hutia (Jutia in Spanish) are moderately large rodents of the family Capromyidae that inhabit Caribbean Islands, with origins in South America from where they island hopped with the help of prevailing currents. Twenty species of Hutia have been identified, although about a third are currently extinct. Taking into account the various species, they vary in length from slightly over 8 inches to 24 inches and weigh between 4.5 and 19 pounds. They generally live in pairs, breed year-round with 1-3 off-spring. For the most part they eat bark and new-growth leaves and occasionally will eat small animals-depending on the species, and have the most complex stomach/digestion of rodents. Hutias are considered clean animals because of their eating habits and they do not burrow – instead they rest in hollows among rocks, trees, and mangroves. Demarest’s hutia is the species native to Cuba and is the largest extant species coming in at about 19 pounds making them very desirable as a food source to be cooked in a large pot with wild nuts and honey, for example. This species lives in various habitats throughout Cuba and since 1968 it has been illegal to hunt hutia. In some parts of Cuba, they are declining, while in the mountainous areas of Oriente province they seem to be increasing in population and the area of Guantanamo Bay Naval Station are overrun with hutia where they are known as banana rats because their faeces is shaped like small bananas. In the most recent issue of Research – a magazine of research taking place by the University of Florida -researchers are looking into hutia-human interaction during the time of the Lucayans (native peoples of the Bahamas). A subspecies of the hutia found in Cuba that is now extinct, was at one time found on Grand Cayman and apparently was described by Francis Drake as “little beastlike cats” and “coneys”. Although I do not know what “coneys” are I get the impression that Drake was not an instantaneous fan. (Ed: A coney is a rabbit or hare.) Hutia are depicted on the stamps of: • The Bahamas (Scott #515) 16-cents, issued in 1982 as part of a nature set that also included a bat and a dolphin. • Jamaica issued a 4-stamp set of endangered species/WWF issue featuring the Jamaican Hutia (AKA Brown’s Hutia & Indian Coney) with 4 values – $2.50, $10, $12.50 and $25 – designed by William Oliver and printed in the Netherlands using offset lithography. Scott # 857-860 issued on September 23, 1996. (See images above.) • Curacao issued mammals stamps on May 19th, 2015 with the hutia being Scott #231. • The Dominican Republic #C315, a 10-cent airmail stamp depicting fauna issued on August 30, 1980. • The Commonwealth of Dominica depicting a Cuban Hutia with a $1.45 face value. • Cuba has issued stamps depicting hutia as follows: (some images below) o Christmas 1962-3 10-cents o December 15th, 1969 4-cents o 1981 Hutia 5-cents o 1982 Prehistoric Animals 20-cents o 1984 Jutia Andaraz 10-cents o 2007 Dwarf Hutia-fauna Cubana Protegida 30-cents o 2010 Dwarf Hutia-Tourism Series-50-cents o 2016 Set of six An interesting little animal that is depicted on the stamps of several Caribbean nations.

Part 1 of this article gave an account of the Packet Express service based on printed sources between 1819 and 1905. (Ed: Correction – The editor made an error and titled part 1 of the article (and index) as The Express Packet instead of the correct term The Packet Express.) This, Part 2, considers letters between 1787 and 1831 carried by the Packet Express at a 2s 6d Express rate for over 100 miles. THE 2S 6D EXPRESS RATE FOR OVER 100 MIILES, 1787 – 1831 Letters Marked for the 2s 6d Express Rate, 1806 – 31. Between 1806 and 1831 there are five known surviving letters explicitly marked for the Express or Packet Express at the rate of 2s 6d local currency. These are listed in Table 1 and four of them are illustrated in Figures 1 to 4. Table 1 Date. Illustrated. Origin,distance to Kingston in 1790 (afterBeckford1). Jamaica inland rate to Kingston if bynormal post, in local currency. Jamaica Express inland rate as marked, paid in local currency. Destination, packetrate chargedincluding GBinland, in sterling. 3 September 1806 See Fig 1. Black River, 100 miles. 1s 10½d is double. Black River was treated as over 100 miles. I P P Express pd. 2/6 A G Glasgow, 4s 8d, double. 13 January 1819 See Fig 2. Savanna La Mar, 124 miles. 1s 3d is single for over 100 miles. January Packet / Express Post. IPP 2/6. Manchester, 2s 3d single. 2 January 1829 See Fig 3. Little River, 134 miles. 1s 10½d is double for over 100 miles. Express Post Paid 2/6 London, 4s 4d double. 13 February 1829 Little River, 134 miles. 1s 3d is single for over 100 miles. Express Postage Paid 2/6 Annan, 2s 3d single. 10 November 1831 See Fig 4. Little River, 134 miles. 1s 3d is single for over 100 miles. Express Paid 2/6 Scotland, 2s 4d single. In 1790 and for several decades thereafter the post office treated several post towns, including Falmouth and Black River, as over 100 miles from Kingston although in 1860 they were reckoned as under 100 miles. Black River at exactly 100 miles distant seems to have been treated as in the over 100 miles rate. Distances here and in Part 1 of this article are based on or consistent with Beckford, 17901. See the boxed ‘A note on distances’ in Part 1 of this article. The earliest known of the five surviving letters marked for the Express is the entire from Black River to Glasgow (Figure 1). It is helpfully inscribed by the Black River Postmaster, Alexander Girdwood: “I PP Express pd. 2/6 A G”. On top of this inland charge, the rate for the packet is 4/8 (2s 2d double packet rate to Falmouth and 2s 6d British inland postage to Glasgow). The other four in the period 1819 to 1831 use various abbreviations but all specify the Express; three of these are illustrated here (Figures 2 to 4). The fifth known letter, not illustrated here, is another from Little River. Dated 13 Feb 1829, "p Packet" to Scotland, it is marked "Express Postage paid" and rated "2/6" for the Express service (deleted) and "2/3" UK inward Packet letter charge including UK inland postage. All five letters are from offices treated as more than 100 miles from Kingston. All five letters are for the inland journey from post towns to Kingston to catch the outbound packet to Great Britain. On all these the sender prepaid an Express post fee to Kingston of 2s 6d, apparently irrespective of the weight rating for later parts of the journey, whether single or double. In all cases the 2s 6d cost was more than would have been the normal over 100 miles inland rate. Although there was an inward Packet Express to distribute post from the packet, this study does not look at pre-1843 incoming packet letters for traces of markings or charges for the Packet Express. Further research on incoming post would be needed. ) Fig. 4 Little River 10 November 1831. Other letters carried at the 2s 6d Express rate for over 100 miles, 1787 to 1827. Other letters were also carried by the Packet Express without any explicit inscription “by Express” but can be identified by the inland rate of 2s 6d paid for over 100 miles. It is helpful that prepayment of the Jamaican inland postage on packet letters was compulsory, and up to 1843 the inland and packet rates charged are separately identified. Local currency and the pound sterling were used in parallel in Jamaica until 1840. Packet rates were marked in sterling. But the Jamaican inland rates were usually paid in local currency, and this local currency charge is expressed on the face of letters. There were separate tariffs for inland rates in the two currencies. Inland rates in local currency were recorded by Long2 in 1774 and were valid until 1840. Inland rates in sterling were fixed by the Act of 17653. As Table 2 shows, the two tariffs did not match. For example, 1s 3d local currency was the rate in two cases where the sterling charge was 1s but in two other cases it was 8d. Letter writers and the Post Office seem to have coped with this surprisingly well. The inland postage rate written on a letter can be safely assumed to be local currency and consistent with the rates in Table 2. Table 2. Inland rates in local currency with sterling in parentheses. Miles Single Double Treble 1 Ounce Up to 60 7½d (4d) 1s 3d (8d) 1s 3d (1s) 1s 10½d (1s 4d) 60 to 100 7½d (6d) 1s 3d (1s) 1s 10½d (1s 6d) 2s 6d (2s) Over 100 1s 3d (8d) 1s 10½d (1s 4d) 2s 6d (2s) 3s 9d (2s 8d) A trawl of the authors’ collections, together with a few items from auction catalogues and the Encyclopaedia of Jamaica Philately census of covers4, has considered 106 letters sent from Jamaican post towns to Kingston for the packet to Great Britain between 1765 and 1843. This does not seek to be a random selection; it includes letters that are most likely to be of interest. Of these 106, 29 had paid 2s 6d inland post in Jamaica. Care is needed with interpreting the rates before assuming that a letter was carried by the Packet Express service. As Table 2 shows, a 2s 6d inland charge to Kingston could be Express but could equally well be a quadruple rate (1 ounce) for 60 to 100 miles or a triple rate for over 100 miles. To decide whether a 2s 6d rate is Express or not starts by taking the distance to Kingston and the packet rate shown on the front (single, double or so on) to put it in the right box in Table 2. That will show whether the normal inland post charge could have been 2s 6d. Another indication could be the day of the week that the mail was carried (if dates on the letter and postmarks are specific enough), to identify whether it was carried on the regular mail days or by a run of the Packet Express. Ambiguous cases remain. An example that might or might not be Express (Figure 5) is a letter of 2 February 1822 from Green Island by the packet to Edinburgh. It is marked for the packet and GB inland post from Falmouth at 7s 3d, which is a triple rate. A triple rate letter from Green Island, 161 miles to Kingston, by normal post would pay the 2s 6d over 100 miles rate, the same as the Express rate. The marking “Pd 2/6” offers no clue which it is. This and four others among the 29 2s 6d letters in the survey have not been counted as probable Express letters. The remaining 24 of the 29 paying 2s 6d do have strong evidence that they paid for the Packet Express. Table 3. The 24 letters that probably paid the over 100 miles 2s 6d rate for the Packet Express. Letter no Date Origin, (distance in miles from Kingston 1790) Inland post indicated onface Rated for packetand GB inland Illustrated 1 26 Sep 1787 Martha Brae (120) 2s6d Single See Fig 14 2 10 Sep 1800 Robins River (111) Inld pd 2/6 Double 3 10 Sep 1800 Falmouth (120) Pd 2/6 (in red) Single 4 17 Oct 1802 Savanna La Mar (124) E.I.P.Pd 2/6 [= Express Inland Post Paid] Double See Fig 7 5 10 Jun 1807 Falmouth (120) Paid 2/6 Single See Fig 12 6 19 Jun 1808 Falmouth (120) Pd 2/6 Single 7 11 Jul 1808 Falmouth (120) Pd 2/6 Single 8 14 Apr 1809 Montego Bay (145) Paid 2/6 Double 9 18 Mar 1810 Montego Bay (145) Paid 2/6 Single 10 24 Nov 1811 Falmouth (120) P 2/6 Single 11 3 May 1812 Falmouth (120) Paid 2/6 (in red). Double 12 26 Jan 1813 Falmouth (120) Paid 2/6 Double 13 17 Mar 1813 Montego Bay (145) Paid 2/6 Single See Fig 6 14 2 Oct 1813 Montego Bay (145) 2/6 (Exact wording not illustrated) Single 15 25 May 1815 Montego Bay (145) Paid 2/6 Double 16 14 Sep 1815 Montego Bay (145) Paid 2/6 Single 17 8 Oct 1815 Montego Bay (145) Pd 2/6 Single 18 15 Nov 1815 Montego Bay (145) Pd 2/6 Single 19 15 Oct 1817 Montego Bay (145) Paid 2/6 Single 20 9 Sept 1822 Montego Bay (145) 2/6 Single 21 19 Apr 1824 Savanna La Mar (124) E I P P 2/6 Single 22 17 May 1824 Savanna La Mar (124) E I P 2/6 Single 23 13 Sep 1824 Montego Bay (145) Paid Inland 2/6 Single 24 31 Jul 1827 Savanna La Mar (124) E I P P 2/6 Single See Fig 8 Typical of the 24 probable Express letters is no. 13 in Table 3 (Figure 6) dated 17 March 1813 from Montego Bay to Somerset. It is rated for the packet 2/(1s 1d single packet rate to Falmouth and 11d British inland postage to Somerset). So, it is a single rate letter, which would have cost only 1s 3d single by normal internal post for the 145 miles from Montego Bay to Kingston. Carried by Express for the packet it is marked “Paid 2/6.” So, the sender must have paid the Express charge. Most of the 24 letters show only the bare “2/6” or “Paid 2/6” but a few have slightly more – “IPP” (= Inland Post Paid) or even “EIPPd 2/6” (= Express Inland Post Paid) in the case of the letter of 17 October 1802 from Savanna La Mar to Edinburgh (Figure 7). l Fig. 8 Montego Bay 13 September 1824. Another example (Figure 8) is helpfully explicit because, unusually, it was prepaid right through from Montego Bay to the destination, London. To produce the total charge to be prepaid meant converting the single packet rate (2s 2d) into local currency (3s 1½d). The total is shown as a little sum: "Paid Inland 2.6 / Packet 3,1½ / 5/7½” which was the sum paid in Jamaica. As this is a single letter the 2s 6d must be the Express rate. It is then marked "2/2" as the sterling sum paid alongside the Jamaica Paid datestamp. A further caution here is the necessary assumption that the rating of letters was consistent for the Jamaica inland post, the packet charge and the GB inland charge – in other words, that a letter rated double on arriving in GB was also double in the Jamaican inland post. A few letters did have the rate altered in transit or were rated differently by the Jamaican and GB post offices – for example the letter of 9 March 1825 (Figure 12 and discussion below). But for most the chain of logic is clear. Some questions about the 2s 6d Express rate. Was the Express used for shorter distances? At what rate? There is only the evidence of the five letters labelled “Express” that the charge for Express service was a flat rate 2s 6d. All those five and the 24 probable 2s 6d letters in the survey list were treated as from over 100 miles from Kingston. The Packet Express presumably continued to gather letters on its journey towards Kingston, as it certainly did in later years. But for shorter distances there is no evidence of any charge either instead of or in addition to the normal inland postage. If there was a lower rate of Express charge for shorter distances it has left no trace yet detected. More examples of the inland rates on packet letters from shorter distances might help. Was there an Express rate higher than a flat rate 2s 6d? At the other end of the scale, there are solid instances of the 2s 6d Express rate applying equally to single and double letters over 100 miles. So, it is easy to assume that the Express never cost more than 2s 6d, but there is no proof of this. Indeed, there are hints that a higher rate might have existed. In the trawl of 106 packet letters from post towns, in addition to the 29 at an inland rate of 2s 6d, there are three inland post-paid at 5s and one at 7s 6d. Shown in Table 4, all those four are for over 100 miles. Table 4. The four higher rated covers, Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12, discussed below. Date Origin (distance) Inland post indicatedon face Rated for packet and GB inland Illustrated 16 October 1800 Falmouth (120) Pd 5/- Triple See Fig 9 12 January 1807 Montego Bay (145) Paid 5/-in red Triple See Fig 10 23 April 1807 Falmouth (120) Paid 5/- Double See Fig 11 9 March 1825 Sav La Mar (124) I P P 7/6 X 7 See Fig 13 The three at 5s are from: • Falmouth, 16 October 1800, shown at Figure 9; • Montego Bay, 12 January 1807, shown at Figure 10; and • Falmouth, 23 April 1807, shown at Figure 11. Fig. 9 Falmouth 16 October 1800. For comparison, Figure 12 shows a single rate letter, 10 June 1807, also from Falmouth, paying 2s 6d inland. These two 1807 letters from Falmouth sharpen the puzzle. One is single rate, one double. If the 2s 6d on the single rate letter of 10 June 1807 in Figure 12 is Express, could the 5s on the double rate letter of 23 April 1807 in Figure 11 from the same office be double rate Express? If 5s is not a double Express rate, what is it? If it is double Express, why are other double letters not charged 5s Express? What happened with heavy, expensive letters? The fourth candidate for a possibly higher Express charge is the letter of 9 March 1825 from Old Hope, Little London (Savanna La Mar) (Figure 13), an example of a heavy, expensive packet letter. The rate is ambiguous. On arrival in GB, the inscription labels this a 1¾oz letter, 7 rates of ¼oz x 2s 2d = 15s 2d to London. In Jamaica, “I PP7/6” is the Inland Post Paid. If Jamaica weighed this as a 2 oz letter, 8 rates, 7s 6d could be the over 100 miles rate x 8. This relies on assuming that the two offices weighed the letter differently, one at 7 rates and the other at 8, which is possible. But it is tempting to wonder if the 7s 6d is a higher Express rate. If the 7s 6d here is not a higher Express rate, but a normal inland post rate, why would the sender not have used a flat rate 2s 6d Express and saved money? Indeed, there must have been many occasions for a heavy letter travelling over 100 miles when it was cheaper to use a flat rate Express than a progressive charge for ordinary post. More examples are needed. What were the start and end dates of the 2s 6d Express rate for over 100 miles? There is evidence of one sort or another that a Packet Express operated from at least 1787 to 1912. But within this span is the much narrower question of when there was a special 2s 6d Express rate for over 100 miles. The earliest example found so far is this of 26 September 1787 from Martha Brae (Figure 14), though this early date is very much an outlier. The latest known proven instance of the 2s 6d Express rate for over 100 miles is that of 10 November 1831 from Little River (Figure 4 above). Part 1 of this article established that the Packet Express service continued beyond 1900. If 1787 to 1831 is the known range for the 2s 6d Express charge, why? On the start date, there could only be a scheduled Packet Express to Kingston to connect with packet sailings once there was a reasonably reliable timetable of packet sailings to connect with. Was there any particular development in the 1780s? Perhaps there are even earlier Express letters yet to be discovered. On the end date for the 2s 6d Express rate, it is plausible that it was dropped in 1843 when the cost of the Jamaican inland leg of a packet letter was wrapped up in a standard packet rate of 1s (from Kingston) or 1s 2d (from the country). However, it is odd that no proven 2s 6d Packet Express letter has survived for the period 1831 to 1843. Even after 1843, it would not have been impossible to continue with a Packet Express rate of 2s 6d for over 100 miles, but again, it seems unlikely that no such letter has yet been seen. Conclusion A rate of 2s 6d was charged for use of the Packet Express from offices further than 100 miles from Kingston. There are still questions to answer about this 2s 6d Express rate, with which more examples would help. Part 3 of this article will show later examples with Express markings up to 1912. References (1) William Beckford, A Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica by William Beckford (Volume 1), 1790, page xxxvii -xxxviii. (2) Edward Long, The History of Jamaica. Or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of That Island: With Reflections on Its Situation, Settlements, Inhabitants, Climate, Products, Commerce, Laws, and Government. in Three Volumes. 1774. (3) Act of 1765 (5 George III, c. 25) quoted in L. E. Britnor, British West Indies Postal Rates up to 1900, 1977. (4) Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Philately website Cover Census listing at http://jamaicaphilately.info/covercensus.

Horst Augustinovic has written a number of well-researched books covering various aspects of Bermudian stamps and postal history. This is the latest, published in 2023. A hard-bound, medium-sized (18.5 × 26cm) volume of 208+ pages, printed on good quality glossy paper, it is profusely illustrated; almost every page has at least one colour picture. As the title suggests, the book covers a wide range of topics relating to Bermudian philately, consisting of well over 100 small “mini-articles” each between one and three pages in length. This format, together with the superb illustrations, makes it a delightful book to flick through and read pieces at random. The topics range from the Perot stamps right up to the 2023 King Charles III Express Mail stamp, with a wonderful selection of interesting and unusual stories along the way to provide a fascinating insight into some of Bermuda’s history. Being picky I should say that there are some typographical errors here and there, although too few to impact the reader’s enjoyment, and there is no index, but it isn’t the kind of book that needs one. It is an interesting, enlightening and most enjoyable read for any philatelist whether they collect Bermuda or not. The book can be purchased directly from the author (horstaugustinovic1@gmail.com) who mails the book world-wide from Bermuda for US$40, including postage.

Introduction Postal (and telegraph and press) censorship in Jamaica commenced prior to the outbreak of World War II under instructions from the Colonial Office received on 25 August 1939 although preparations had begun even before this. A Chief Censor, Deputy Censor and Censor of Telegraphs were appointed to form a Jamaica Censorship Service (1). Local War Regulations including plans for censorship had been notified in the Jamaica Gazette the previous day as Britain and her colonies prepared for war. When full censorship was established in the United Kingdom on 31 August, Jamaica soon followed, and the Jamaica Censorship Service set up an office on the top floor of the General Post Office in Kingston. Postal censorship began on or around 1 September 1939 (2) and was restricted to terminal mail; that is, mail sent to or from Jamaica. Transit mail (that passing through or intercepted in Jamaica) was not censored until a unit of the Imperial Censorship Service was set up in Jamaica at the end of May 1941 (3). Details regarding the staffing of the Jamaica Censorship Service are scarce, but evidence suggests that at least 40 examiners worked there, although probably not all at the same time, and they were aided by additional support staff. Individual examiners were allocated numbers, and eventually issued handstamps to be used on examined mail indicating who had handled it. Three different handstamp types were used during the war, usually although not always struck in purple ink (Fig.1; ref.4). POSTAL Fig. 1 The three types of censor number handstamps used in Jamaica, and the examiner numbers for each. It seems likely that the JCH1 & JCH3 handstamps were used by more senior examiners (4), and these will be considered at another time. This article focuses on the JCH2 handstamps used by thirty examiners, numbered 8 to 37. The JCH2 Censor Number Handstamps These handstamps were not initially available, and examiners simply resealed the envelopes of examined mail with a label which bore no indication of the particular examiner concerned. The JCH2 handstamps were introduced on 12 or 13 April 1940, the examiners generally applying them to the front of the envelope rather than to the resealing label. They were in use until November 1942, by which time the Jamaica Censorship Service had been merged into the Imperial Censorship Unit in Jamaica (which was set up in late May 1941 to examine transit mail). During that period four different types of resealing label were used by the Jamaica Censorship Service (details of which can be found in Farrimond & Murphy (4); two are shown in Fig.2): • JL10 “Opened by Censor” in vermilion on white paper (9 Sept. 1939 to Jan. 1942) • JL12 “Opened by Censor” in vermilion on blue paper (5 Apr. to 22 May 1940) • JL14 “Opened by Censor” in carmine on white paper (Jan. 1942 to 31 Aug. 1942) • JL54 “Opened by Examiner D/” in black on white paper (1 Sept. 1942 to Nov. 1942) The JCH2 censor number handstamps were also applied to postcards to show that the card had been examined. Fig. 2 Examples of the JCH2 censor number handstamps used on covers with two types of resealing label – JL10 (below) and JL12 (above). The Survey For the last ten years I have been collecting details of (dated) covers and postcards censored in Jamaica. Many postmarks used in Jamaica during World War II lack a year plug; such items have not been included in the database unless the year can be reasonably confirmed by other evidence. The survey reported below (Table 1) considers 522 covers with JCH2 handstamps and readable datestamps or other date indications. It includes both outgoing and incoming terminal mail, although the former dominates (~95%). The survey includes covers from several collections, past and present, and many seen on the internet. Censor Table 1 Summary of the number of occurrences of each JCH2 handstamp number with the different label types (shown in approximate colours) and on cards, with overall totals, percentages, and date ranges in the survey of 522 items. Totals & percentages for each number are shaded to indicate higher values (darker). The results clearly show that 11 of the censor numbers (8 to 17 and 27) are significantly more common than the others. These 11 numbers were used for the whole period from April/May 1940 (or August 1940 for number 11) until September-November 1942. Other censor numbers are much more rarely seen, including two (33 & 37) that were not encountered in the survey. However, it should be noted that the survey is far from comprehensive, and some examples missing from the survey have been reported in other works (e.g. number 37 is recorded by Burrows (5)). A report on the costs of the Jamaica Censorship Service published by The Daily Gleaner newspaper in Jamaica on 14 February 1940 (6) stated that there were ten “Terminal Examiners of Letters” (in addition to a Postal Censor and an Assistant Postal Censor), and it is tempting to suggest that these examiners were those with numbers 8 to 10, 12 to 17 and 27; all are common and were in use by April/May 1940. Number 11, although also common, is not seen in the survey until August 1940. Several other numbers are seen in the period April to August 1940, indicating that the number of examiners was soon increased from the ten that were active in February of that year. Examination of Registered Mail In addition to having language specialisations, certain examiners were assigned to different types of mail (personal, business, financial, etc.), allowing them to become more familiar with the correspondence of particular people or organisations. The most evident specialisation that can be seen from available covers is the handling of registered mail by a limited number of examiners. Examiner 27 worked almost exclusively on registered mail (at least 42 of the 48 items in the survey), particularly from November 1940, and Examiner 35, whose mark is scarce, is only found on registered mail in the survey (5 of 5; Fig. 3). Few other examiners worked on registered mail; other numbers found in this survey are 25, 31 & 32. . Fig. 3 Registered cover from Kingston to New York, USA, mailed 1 November 1940. The registered cover shown in Figure 3 shows the practice of the Kingston GPO of applying an oval registered datestamp over the edges of the censor’s resealing label, front and back, effectively tying the label to the envelope. The postmarks on the stamps are dated 1 November 1940 whilst that applied over the resealing label when the GPO received the letter back from the Jamaica Censorship Service is dated 2 November. A rapid turnaround by the censors. The same cover shows a relatively unusual feature of the censor number handstamp being applied in black ink; almost always purple ink was used. Only 15 of the 522 items in the survey show other ink colours (black or shades of red to magenta), and these mostly occur in 1940 (the latest seen is 10 March 1941). Integration with the Imperial Censorship Service A unit of 20 Imperial Censors recruited from Bermuda and Trinidad arrived in Jamaica in late May 1941 to set up a transit mail censorship operation (3), censoring mail passing through Jamaica to other destinations. A Censorin-Charge, a Deputy Assistant Censor and a further 14 examiners arrived from the UK in late July. This unit did not concern itself with terminal mail which was the domain of the Jamaica Censorship Service. However, by the summer of 1942 the Colonial Office and the Imperial Censorship Service agreed for all postal censorship, both transit and terminal, to be conducted by the one organisation. Accordingly, on 1 September 1942 the Censor-in-Charge of the Imperial Censors in Jamaica (Mr W B Devonshire) was appointed Chief Censor of Jamaica, and the operations were integrated. Terminal mail continued to be examined mainly by Jamaican Censors now operating within the newly integrated organisation. They continued to use their JCH2 handstamps, although Imperial-style P.C.90 resealing labels replaced the local types (Fig. 4). These labels (type JL54) were available immediately on 1 September 1942, and include the letter “D”, this being the code for the Jamaican branch of the Imperial Censorship Service. The censor number was not always applied to the label as shown in Figure 4; some examples have the handstamp on the front of the envelope. Fig. 4 An illustrated patriotic cover (“Careless talk… sinks ships!”) from the stamp dealer Barrington Smith mailed in Halfway Tree on 20 November 1942, censored by a Jamaican Censor (no.8). During October and November 1942 the censorship of terminal mail was increasingly performed by Imperial Censors. The cover shown in Figure 4 is the latest known example of the JCH2 handstamp used by the Jamaican Censors (20 November 1942). References (1) The Daily Gleaner, Monday 28 August 1939, p1. (2) Farrimond P. Earliest Jamaican World War II Censored Cover? British Caribbean Philatelic Journal, 53(1), 2013, p15. (3) History of the Postal and Telegraph Censorship Department 1938-1946. National Archives, Kew (extract reproduced in Burrows (5)). (4) Farrimond P. & Murphy R. Military, Censorship & Patriotic Mails. Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Philately, vol.9. British West Indies Study Circle (2015). (5) Burrows P.C. British Empire Civil Censorship Devices, World War II, Section 6: British West Indies & Falkland Islands. Civil Censorship Study Group (2010). (6) The Daily Gleaner, Wednesday 14 February 1940, p1. Acknowledgements Thanks to Paul Wright and Steve Jarvis for providing information and examples from their collections for the survey and for their comments in reviewing a draft of this article.

No. Value Prev. Printer Cartor Year Seen Comments 1 $0.10 A 2 $0.15 B 3 $0.25 C 4 $0.50 D 5 $0.75 E 6 $1.00 F 7 $1.50 G 8 & 11 $2.50 H Q 2014 12 $10.00 P 2014 Black Frame 13 $10.00 L 2023 Rose Frame 14 $20.00 M 2023 9 $25.00 J 10 & 15 $50.00 K S 2014 16 $100.00 Y 2023 17 $250.00 Z 2014 Red Frame 18 $250.00 Z 2023 Black Frame 19 $100 arms 2008 (Ed. A big thank you to Steve for sending in images and listings of modern postmarks and revenues. As a revenue collector and judge I know that if such information is not gathered near the time of issue, information can be very hard to find at a later date. This is in part because such stamps when used on documents are often still relevant to their original purpose and can take years or even decades to come onto the market.)

27 February 2024 Susan Taylor Trinidad and Tobago' at Bookham Stamp Club, KT23 3PQ. Doors open at 1,30pm, the display is at 2.15pm 7 March 2024 Joseph Hackmey 'Barbados and Grenada' at the RPSL EC4N 7BW, Doors open at 1 pm 2 April 2024 Susan Taylor and Graham Stockdale Zoom from the RPSL 'Anguilla's Story', 3pm (open to the public) 11 May 2024 The 2024 AGM & WIPSG Auction will take place on Saturday 11 May at the Royal Philatelic Society London's premises (15 Abchurch Lane, London, EC4N 7BW). Auction viewing from 11am and bidding from 1.30 pm. If there is anything members would like placed on the AGM Agenda, please send the details to Susan Taylor at sec@wipsq.org 19-20 July 2024 Club table (with Pennymead) at the York Stamp & Coin Fair on Saturday 20 July 16-18 August 2024 Susan Taylor, David Taylor, John Seidl, Steve Zirinsky and others at a members meeting location tbc 2.00pm 17 August and for dinner (tbc) that evening at the 'Great American Stamp Show'. Please email sec@wipsq.org if you would like to be included.

2024 activity is now in full swing. Several events have been organised, please see elsewhere in the journal and check the web site for the latest information. Simon Richards and his team have put together another exciting auction with over 750 lots. Please bid early and enthusiastically and we would love to see you in person at the RPSL in May. On the publications front, I am pleased to report that both the Grenada and Anguilla books have sold out, we have now arranged for softback reprints. Paul Farrimond is busy on some other projects and will give an update in his AGM report. On the subscription front, we still have circa 75 members for whom we have not received your 2024 payment. Please check your status by logging in to the website and viewing your information top right of the screen. Please help to minimise the admin workload by paying promptly.

I have finally cleaned out the old BWISC email account for the editor and it no longer exists so please ensure you send emails to editor@wipsq.org or to my personal email account for those who have it. In the process of clearing out the old account I came across Letters (emails) to the editor that I have now published as well as some articles that had not been published. I also have had offers of articles from a few members, but they have not been sent. If you have sent anything more than six months ago and have not seen it then please let me know. I’ll then check to see if I have it and when I expect to publish it. I have added a section on members’ news and would welcome submissions from any member on activities related to the promotion of West Indian philately. I am also happy to publish any Wants should you have specific needs, be it information or material. Please keep the articles coming in, especially from under researched islands.

Our 52nd auction will take place at the premises of the Royal Philatelic Society London on the Saturday 11 May. We have over 750 lots to tempt you with total estimated realisations a tad shy of £48,000, provided by 27 different vendors. Last year we were delighted to sell 80% of the material offered. Lots are available at 80% of estimate. The 70 or so of you who will be successful purchasers have nothing extra to pay in terms of buyer’s premium - just postage and packing if you are not present on the day. The bid book opens from the moment you receive the catalogue and tied bids will go to the first received. The book closes at 14.00 on 10 May. The Society receives a 10% commission on all lots sold but this is payable by the vendor. 27 February 2024 7 March 2024 2 April 2024 11 May 2024 19-20 July 2024 16-18 August 2024. We try to maintain an average estimate per lot of £50 and this year is no exception; estimates range from £8 to £750, with one outlier at £2,000. This year Jamaica is restored to the most offered territory thanks to an outstanding initial offering from Paul Hancock’s collection of the numeral cancels; many of which have strong provenances and Paul had a real eye for quality. Estate sales continue to dominate the proceedings. Besides Paul’s Jamaica, we have over 100 lots from former President Graham Booth’s estate; some lovely material from Antigua and the Leeward Islands from Mike Roberts, British Guiana from Simon Greenwood and items from the estates of Chris May and Simon Goldblatt. This year single lots with an estimate of £30 and above have been scanned. Not all images will be in the printed catalogue, so do look on the website too and more scans will be added between now and the end of March. The deadline for bids is 14.00 on the day before the sale, do please e-mail them to me, they will be acknowledged. If you don’t get an acknowledgement, then check! Simon Richards Auctioneer

I enjoyed reading Pertwee’s article re modern Guyana overprints; it didn’t relieve my frustrations on this topic, but at least I now know there are other souls out there working on the myriad of reprints. Cheers, Dale Wade (23 July 2023)

I was in the process of filing away my Journals of the WIPSG Issue Nos. 1 and 2 and just had a second look and my eye caught the piece by Jonathon Guy on ‘Unrecorded Barbados Tax Marks’, in issue No. 1. I disagree that the marks applied on the two covers illustrated were applied in Barbados. The first cover, charged 70 cents, is from the UK and the Tax mark has been applied at the F.S. (Foreign Section) of the British Post Office and probably applied at the Mount Pleasant London Office, the rate to Barbados by surface mail would have been 191Ap. and since the cover was unpaid the airmail cachet has been cancelled out with the F.S Handstamp. The underpayment would have been doubled to the addressee in Barbados, but since the cover has been redirected to the Bahamas the Barbados Postage Dues should have been cancelled and the charge paid by the addressee in Bahamas, but the lax way things are handled in the West Indies the Postal Staff in Nassau probably thought the charge had been paid in Barbados. An interesting cover, but definitely the tax mark isn’t Barbadian. The second cover, from Port of Spain to Barbados, the tax mark has been applied in Port of Spain and the Air Mail rate in force from 10th January 1985 was 65 cents to 10gms. then 45 cents per additional 10gms. The tax handstamp shows that the letter is 20gms. therefore 10 cents short from Port of Spain. I’m not sure how the 40 cents is worked out perhaps the ‘20g’ has been read by the Post Office at Barbados as the shortfall and doubled to 40 cents but that is only conjecture on my part, but the tax mark is definitely applied in Trinidad. I hope this information is of some use to correct the wrong assumptions about the source of where the Tax marks were applied. I’ve collected Postage Due covers for longer than I care to think! Bruce Walker (23 November 2023) Barbados Marine Life Varieties In the latest WIP (December 2023, pp. 17-8), Lawrence Grech introduces a misperforation variety on Barbados SG345. I think the sheets were perforated vertically from top to bottom, so the top margin should be imperforate, and the bottom margin perforated through. In the case of the three sheets he knows of, they were perforated together with a premature blow of the comb at an angle. I used to have several top feed examples of Hong Kong 1954-62 that received a premature blow but admittedly not at an angle. Nick Halewood

In the latest WIP (December 2023, pp. 17-8), Lawrence Grech introduces a misperforation variety on Barbados SG345. I think the sheets were perforated vertically from top to bottom, so the top margin should be imperforate, and the bottom margin perforated through. In the case of the three sheets he knows of, they were perforated together with a premature blow of the comb at an angle. I used to have several top feed examples of Hong Kong 1954-62 that received a premature blow but admittedly not at an angle. Nick Halewood

In early December, Susan Taylor and I fulfilled a commitment to deliver the Anguilla book to the island and present it formally*. Arriving on Thursday evening 30 November, we set up our display of 100 sheets at the library on Friday and presented on Saturday morning. Marcia Richardson at the Anguilla Valley GPO had been our main point of contact and it was gratifying to have so many people - from customs at Blowing Point to strangers we bumped into at the Bethel Wesleyan church - aware of the book and the event. The three people we would most have wanted to meet on our trip were present (Figure 1) on Saturday - Eustace Brookes, Deputy Postmaster at the time of the 1967 revolution, Postmaster from 1974 and a primary source for the book; Colville Petty who wrote for the BWISC on Anguilla’s stamps and the island’s history; and Don Mitchell who has built Anguilla’s archives from the ground up over the last thirty years. Susan and I spent a good half hour going through the display, then gifted three copies of the book (including one to Postmaster Brookes) and passed a further hour talking to the assembled company - which included a couple of enthusiastic local stamp collectors! The following Monday morning was spent at the Anguilla Valley Post Office (Figure 2). It is well frequented - not with letter writers, but both the parcels service and the money- transfer service had queues. Readers might recall that the Valley Post Office had been upgraded to a money-order office in 1927 and that the need to secure remittances from overseas was one of the reasons why Anguilla introduced the air services to and from Marigot and St Thomas in 1967. This important mission started a century ago remains valuable to the island now. There is also a customs service and the means to pay bills. Following in the footsteps of older and wiser philatelists (Raymond, Durnin, Ramkissoon et al.), we sent letters locally and internationally - with a mixture of stamps brought in and bought over the counter. The local covers arrived within 48 hours, much to the surprise of the hotel where the staff had clearly not seen stamped letters for quite a while. All international letters go air mail - Susan was told that there was no way to send to Trinidad as there was no air service. The registration service is computerized but certainly very rarely used - and very slow as a result - but we duly came away with the receipts properly handstamped. We were not at all sure when the international mail would arrive, but both normal and registered letters have been received in the UK and France over the new year period. According to Marcia, the route to the USA is Anguilla - St Maarten - USA; to the UK, Anguilla - St Maarten - Amsterdam or France (Air France/KLM operate together) - UK. As for instruments in use, there are two “Anguilla Valley PO” datestamps in the office, and a further one marked “cashier”. Each is a steel single circle 29.5mm in diameter, and impressions are in both red and black ink. We have impressions of some of the other instructional stamps - “Missent...”, “On Postal Service” etc. (which might well date from many years back). Registration labels are barcodes now with no other markings, but the registered envelopes were all given a printed label on their reverse. Alas, we found no long-lost 1931 datestamp from a village! The stamps sold over the counter are residual stocks from the many different issues from before 2016. Susan’s pot-pourri of old definitives, old commemoratives and stamp booklets were all accepted without question - Marcia told us that anything with ‘Anguilla’ and the Queen’s head will go through. Last, on a screen in a corner was an advert for Trans-Anguilla airways, celebrating its tenth anniversary, flying to Marigot, St Maarten, St Croix, St Thomas and St Kitts - the latest successor to 1967’s Anguilla Airways. Throughout our trip, we were struck by how close knit is Anguillian society. Everyone had relatives abroad. We met a lady who recalled Gale Raymond preaching and a goddaughter of the 1967 Postmaster Harrigan, who happened to be visiting from Huddersfield. The knowledge of the 1967 Revolution is receding, however, as the ‘elders’ pass on, and the island’s physical heritage is much run-down with the legacy of Hurricane Irma still evident. The geography of the island is also striking: St Maarten/St Martin is so close - the short boat ride offering an easy transit for mail. The island is difficult to transit by road, but the harbours (Crocus Bay, Forest, Road Bay, East End, Rendezvous Bay, Blowing Point) offer evenly spaced access all around. The people we spoke to were expecting Julian Waldron, Eustace Brooks, Susan Taylor and Marcia Richardson at the presentation. a high influx of Americans for the Christmas period - the island and its people are definitely, as was the case in 1967, turned towards the USA. Despite being a British territory, there are no direct flights from the UK and Anguillians find it hard to keep in close touch with their many relatives there. In the short time since the book was published, we have gathered new information on Anguilla and the trip added to our knowledge. One member of our audience was a guest of John Lister at 1980 Stampex and talked about that relationship. Another showed us an example of a QEII St Kitts stamp fiscally cancelled by the signature of Allen Hodge. In the Archives we found transcripts of an exchange of letters (two outgoing and one incoming from Dominica) from 1875. The first letter starts by noting that a previous letter had taken longer to arrive than hoped via St Kitts “... such was the high wind coupled with many disadvantages attendant here in the transportation of letters of importance ...” So, we have new material on which to continue the study of Anguilla’s postal history and it remains our intention to populate the Anguilla section of the Society website with new additions (and inevitably with corrections) in 2024. We would like to record our gratitude for the warmth and friendliness we received from every Anguillian whose path we crossed whilst on the island. *PS - You were much missed, Graham! Julian Waldron

Author and member Jazad Ali appeared in the Trinidad Newsday on 27 December celebrating his new book on Trinidad slogan cancels, with a two-page spread no less. If only philately was celebrated to the same extent worldwide. To read the article online go to https://newsdav.co.tt/2023/12/29/stamps-of-success-2-international- medals-for-iazad-alis-book/ (as at 3 January 2024).

Anguilla Supplied by: Mrs. Marcia Richardson, Deputy Postmaster Commercial/Marketing to Susan Taylor on 29 Jun 2023. International Letter post Letter Post is an easy and affordable mail service used to deliver letters and small packages (up to 2 kg/2000 g) to recipients locally and internationally. Category Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Postcards (3 in x 5.5 in to 4.5 in x 6 in) in excess of 4.5 in x 6 in are classified as letters. $0.50 $0.75 $1.00 $1.25 Letter rates (sealed) per 0.50 0z OR 10g $1.00 $1.50 $1.90 $2.50 Second-class mail (unsealed) per 0.50 0z OR 10g $0.65 $1.00 $1.35 $1.90 Definitions of Zones Zone 1 All places in the Caribbean from Puerto Rico and Trinidad, e.g. Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent, St. Maarten, U.S.V.I., St. Eustatius, Saba, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, and B.V.I. Zone 2 Canada, U.S.A., and all places in the Western Hemisphere not included in Zone 1, e.g. Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, Canary Islands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Turks & Caicos Islands, Venezuela, Jamaica, and Curacao. Zone 3 United Kingdom and Europe excluding Cyprus and U.S.S.R. e.g. Austria, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Mauritius, Monaco, Malta, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and France. Zone 4 Cyprus, U.S.S.R., Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Asia, and the far Eastern Countries e.g. Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Cook Islands, Egypt, Greece, Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, and Hong Kong. Inland Letter Post Other = printed papers, greeting cards, and newspapers – maximum 5kgs Category Weight not over Letters Other Postcards $.015 Letter post up to 20g $0.30 $.015 Over 20g 50g $0.45 $0.25 Over 50g 100g $0.75 $0.30 Over 100g 250g $1.20 $0.45 Over 250g 500g $1.50 $0.60 Over 500g 1000g $2.70 $0.75 Over 1000g 2000g $3.75 $1.20 each additional 1000s or portions thereof Plus $0.70 Inland Parcel Mail Maximum size: • No parcels shall exceed 25lbs/10kg in weight • 3.5 ft in length • 6 ft (length + width) combined Rate $1.50 for the first 500g $1.10 for each additional 500g or part thereof

REGISTERED PRINTED MATTER: hand-made wrapper using an old document, open both ends, with three x 3 CENTS on QV 3d tied “O” obliterators with London 10 MY 91 transit to Dresden, Germany. EXPRESS mail: 1895 reg. cover to London with seven x QV 1d Keyplate (double 2!4d postage plus 2d registration, Express fee to be collected) tied Jamaica registered d/ring ovals dated JU 25 1895. MAIL FROM a PRISON SHIP HULK: entire headed “His Majestys Prison Ship America April 13th 1804” anchored in the harbour to John Griffin Savile, Agent for Prisoners of War, Kingston (Jamaica). OBSOLETE OBLITERATOR IMPRESSED INTO WAX SEAL: Trinidad QV 2d PSRE with added QV 4d to London pmk’d Chaguanas “T.16” duplex dated FE 6 1885, reverse obsolete Type 0.6 “16” impressed into wax seal (courtesy Nigel Mohammed, written up BCPSJ January 2011). DEFICIENT POSTAGE: GB QV 6d underpaid cover from Marlow AP 13 65 (period of 1/- per half ounce) showing boxed DEFICIENT POSTAGE 6 / BRITISH SHARE OF FINE 6 handstamp rated 1/- changed 1/6 with curious BARBADOES dbl-arc arrival for MY 5 1865 with “I” at foot. K.N.S.M. AIR LETTER used for PAQUEBOT mail: full text letter written on board with mixed franking Nederland and Trinidad tied m/s “Oranjestad” paquebot handstamps, off-loaded GPO Port of Spain 28 AP 61. POST PAID PRIVATE SHIP LETTER: entire with red ink POST PAID SHIP/(crown)/30 DE 30/1823/ LONDON to H.M.S. Salisbury changed Argus, Bermuda rated red ink 1/- denoting paid. MAIL FROM A PROLIFIC FORGER: Belize’s French Stores, De THUIN, PAZ & CO. P.O. Box 206, Belize was just one of numerous printed address aliases used by the prolific stamp forger Raoul de Thuin to circumvent the spotting by the U.S. Post Office of his fraudulent activities to particular persons or firms (full details in Around The Caribbean 7). H.M. FORCES OVERSEAS DUTY FREE CONCESSION for gifts sent to the United Kingdom: label affixed reg. package sent by A C 11. James Clarke 22000194 R.A.F. F/LT dated June 9/43 with KG6 2/1½d postage to Ashton-under-Tyne (sic), Lancashire. PRIVATE SHIP LETTER with CHISEL SLITS: 1816 entire written December 11 from Nassau, Bahamas to Glasgow p. Roberts changed to Lord Eldon; landed with step-type PORTSMOUTH/SHIP LETTER & disinfected with chisel slits just under 1½ inches (1 and 3/8th or 34mm) struck from reverse. AIRCRAFT CRASH letter carried to destination by AMBULANCE ENVELOPE: 1954 charred edge back and front of cover pmk'd London 23 XII 54 together with contents addressed Kingston, Jamaica requiring completion of its journey, due to such distressed condition, by Great Britain Post Office O.H.M.S. ambulance cover. Both covers struck with purple boxed "SALVAGED MAIL/AIRCRAFT CRASH/ PRESTWICK 25-12-54". (BOAC Boeing 377 Stratocruiser crashed on landing at Prestwick Airport in the early hours of Christmas Day 1954, 28 of the 36 on board were killed). PRIVATE COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING LABEL: 1930 cover from "MASON THE FLORIST", Bahamas enclosing pressed flora and stuck-down petals addressed to Cambridge, Massachusetts with 2 x 3d Staircase (SG.77) and decorative "WE TELEGRAPH FLOWERS" advertising label, all tied by GRANTS TOWN */FE 10 30 (Type 5) cds. DELAYED DUE GENERAL STRIKE: cover from Canada endorsed on reverse "Posted in Halifax on 9th June, rec'd in Georgetown on 12th July - due to general strike". British Guiana Post Office Workers' Union joined the General Strike on AP 23 1963 which ended July 1963. UNITED STATES CONSULATE mail from Nassau, Bahamas: reg. foolscap cover with QV 1s franking pmk’d C/DE 24 94 to Boston, Massachusetts, wax seal inscribed CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES, NASSAU N.P. (New Providence). ADVERTISING (foreign goods): Bahamas cover with pair QV Chalon 4d tied “A05” and despatched JU 6 1863 to Monroe, New York using New Orleans Trask & Zuberbier advertising cover for Butter, Cheese & Lard. ADVERTISING (promoting tourism): pictorial cover illustrating Bermuda’s coral rocks, royal palms, and Prospect mailed to England with 1d Dock, the date indistinct. FREE REDIRECTION for COMMISSIONED OFFICERS: cover from London with GB QV 6d posted MY 17 1857 to a Lt. J.D. Mackenzie, 1st West India Regiment in Jamaica redirected Nassau without charge; b/stamped JU 6, JU 10, JU 26 1857. ADVERTISING (local services): cover from The Sun Printery, Antigua to Bloomfield, New Jersey with Leeward Islands KGV 1d tied St. John’s C/AP 15 15 cds. Crowned ‘R’ FREE REDIRECTION within London: cover from Dominica with QV 1s tied ‘’A07” posted on OC 28 1874 to London and forwarded to recipient in Bedford Row without charge. A MUCH TRAVELLED COVER FOM JAMAICA: The (79th) Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders were stationed in Cairo when the Boer War broke out in 1900, and due reinforcements urgently needed were ordered to sail from Suez to South Africa where they became part of 21st Infantry Brigade and proceeded to march from Bloemfontein to Johannesburg and Pretoria.

De La Rue’s Early Curved Recess Plates - An Update Peter Fernbank In BWISC Bulletin 241 I outlined the philatelic implications of the change from flat-bed to the curved plates used for rotary printing of De La Rue’s recess printings. The principal changes mentioned were the necessity to curve the existing flat plates to fit the new rotary presses and the benefits of no longer having to dampen the paper prior to printing. The first rotary press was installed by De La Rue in March 1924. In my original article I proposed that thereafter it was no longer necessary to dampen the paper before printing due to the greatly increased pressure generated between plate and paper during the printing operation from the rotary press. However, whilst this was ultimately true it did not occur immediately. In 1971 The Banknote, an in-house booklet published by De La Rue1, contained a brief description of the new rotary press, known in-house as the ‘mangle’. It went on to say “In earlier years the paper had to be damped to make it soft enough to press into the engraving but before and after World War II there had been so much improvement in metal strength and engineering practise that increased pressures between the cylinders made it possible to use dry paper." It continued “The use of dry paper for printing DP (DP = Direct Plate, a later term used for recess printing) was another De La Rue breakthrough. The company’s first efforts to print dry were in the late 1920s and early 1930s on pre-gummed stamp paper." Hence dampened paper continued to be used after the introduction of the rotary press in 1924. Note that dampened paper shrunk slightly when each sheet dried out and therefore when dry printing was used the paper retained its original size i.e. ‘dry’ printed sheets were larger than those from ‘wet’ printings, as were the stamp impressions they contained. It seems an obvious conclusion to draw that, as a result of the curving of the plate, it must stretch its surface along the direction of curvature, by about 1 mm in 20mm (1). Measurements of stamps known to have been printed from both flat and curved plates would seem to confirm this. This dimensional increase from curved plates seems to have been generally accepted within philately. However, further research by the author has raised some questions regarding the stretching of plates made by De La Rue. Much of this is based on observations made by D.R.M. Holley on the recess printed issues of Kedah (2). The surface of plates made of steel would stretch when curved but this was not the case for De La Rue’s recess plates. These were electrotypes comprising a thin copper shell forming the surface but with a solid backing of printer’s metal (an alloy of lead, tin and antimony). It seems that during the curving process the reverse side of the plate compressed rather than the outside stretching. In effect the rear of the plate, being of a softer metal than the surface, takes the path of least resistance to bending compared to the surface and hence it compresses. The dimensions of the plate surface remain virtually unchanged. From extensive measurements taken of both flat and curved plate printings of Kedah stamps for the same value of the 1920s, Holley found that there was minimal difference between the two. In the case of Kedah, he found that it was not until 1933, when ‘dry’ printings became possible, that noticeable differences in dimensions appear. I have similarly found that the two printings made in 1926 and 1929 from the Bahamas Queen’s Staircase 1d frame plate, following the curving of the plate, differ little in size from earlier printings made when the plate was flat. Holley concluded “... the balance of evidence points strongly to De La Rue’s change from ‘wet’ to ‘dry’ printing as the sole cause of the size varieties in the ‘padi-sheaf stamps (of Kedah).” Pat Capill has similarly found that there was no significant size increase on the Barbados 1925 Badge issue until the printings of 1932 when dry printing was introduced. Plate Modification after Curving With the introduction of rotary presses the original flat plates needed to be modified so that they could be mounted on the printing cylinder. Holes were drilled in the margin at one end only of the plate that were then elongated into slots. The slots were countersunk to fit the profile of the securing screws. The screw and slot impressions appear on the printed sheet (where the margin has not been guillotined short). At the opposite end of the plate there are no clues visible on the sheet as to how it was fixed to the cylinder. However, note that the direction of the slots (vertical or 1 The full transcript from the 1971 The Banknote concerning the new rotary presses is contained on p.426 of D.R.M. Holley’s Kedah book (listed as reference 2). horizontal) indicates the direction of curvature of the plate. Examples are shown below of various BWI issues that feature the screw and slot marks. There may well be others and I would welcome any further examples from member’s material. Illustrations of screw and slot sheet impressions on various BWI issues. The plate for New Zealand 1935 2s value. This curved plate has been straightened for museum storage purposes. The mounting holes made at one end of the plate for fixing to the print cylinder. Acknowledgements My sincere thanks to David Cordon, Horst Augustinovic, Pat Capill, Jeffrey Dow, Paul Farrimond, Malcolm Gascoyne, Steve Jarvis and Paul Wright who have contributed helpful scans. The late Dr Patrick Brownsey, curator of the philatelic archives at the Museum of New Zealand, provided high definition photographs of the 1935 2s plate and his help is warmly acknowledged. References 1. L.N. and M. Williams, Fundamentals of Philately, American Philatelic Society, 1971, p173. 2. D.R.M. Holley, Kedah and Perils: Their Stamps and Postal History 1887-1941., Malaya Study Group, 1994, p159.

BARBADOS The 1925-35 Definitives - Flat-Bed and Curved Plates, Damp and Dry Papers A Correction to a Previous Paper Patricia Capill My article in the June 2017 edition of the BWISC Bulletin, pp. 20-21, entitled The transition from flat-bed to curved recess plates during the 1925-35 definitive period, which was prompted by Peter Fernbank’s June 2014 article in the same Journal, is in need of correction. Now, we have both liaised in making corrections to our respective articles. Peter Fernbank’s 2014 article stated that when plates were curved the stamp dimensions would increase in the direction of curvature compared to those printed from a flat plate. However, further research by Peter (see his article in this Journal) has shown that the reason for the wider stamp dimensions, which was a feature of my 2017 article, was NOT due to the curving (and therefore stretching) of the plates, but rather the use of DRY PAPER. The copper-plate printing process up to the late 1920s required the paper to be dampened in order to make it soft enough to press into the engraving. But improvements in engineering methods from the 1930s enabled much greater pressure to be applied between the cylinders that it became possible to use DRY paper which sped up the printing process. In the case of Barbados, this occurred with all printings issued from July 1932 onwards, except for those of the 3d, 4d and 1/-. Dampened paper shrank when dried after printing, resulting in a stamp with slightly smaller dimensions (width of 20.5mm), as was the case until the July 1932 printings onwards on dry paper (which had a width of 21 mm). The height of the dampened paper printings, once dry, were likewise less than those of the dry paper printings, but to a lesser degree. Measuring the width of the stamps is easier and also gives a more reliable result. Enlargement of fixing holes showing the rather crude work in making the slots and countersinking them. Peter Fernbank refers to the screw marks that are sometimes seen in the corner selvedges of sheets printed from plates originally flat-bed before being curved for printing. In the case of these Barbados issues, these marks only appear in the top left and right corners but are often cut off in the guillotining process. The slots containing the screw heads are vertical, indicating that these plates were curved vertically for slotting on to the cylinder. In the 1925 Barbados issue, so far, I have evidence that at least five of the eleven original plates - the 1Ad, 21/4d, 3d and 6d - were curved before printing as they show evidence of screw marks in either or both top left and right margins. Guillotining could remove screw mark signs from many sheets. It is fairly certain, though, that all eleven plates were curved before printing started in February 1925. The Crown Agents Register of Dies, Plates and Formes, etc appears to indicate this. There were some later printings from July 1932 onwards of the and 1d as well as the new VAd denomination, all on new plates in sheets of 120 stamps (in 12 horizontal rows of 10) which were curved from the outset and printed on dry paper. A new 1933 2'Ad plate of 60 stamps (in 6 horizontal rows of 10) and the new 2/6d denomination of 80 stamps (in 8 horizontal rows of 10) were also curved from the outset and printed on dry paper. These printing plates were probably designed NOT to show any selvedge marks indicating how they were affixed to the cylinder and I have not seen any. With reference to my 2017 article, the following is a summary of points and changes: • ALL the Barbados 1925-35 plates were curved for printing - the plates for the ORIGINAL printings were flat-bed plates curved BEFORE printing. • Curving of the plates did NOT cause an increase in stamp size. • There were NO denominations printed from flat-bed plates. • Dampened paper resulted in a stamp with a smaller dimension when it dried than one printed on dry paper. • Dry paper was used for the 'Ad, 1d, 2'Ad, 6d and new and 2/6d printings issued from July 1932 onwards. • Printings issued after July 1932 of the 3d, 4d and 1/-were STILL printed on dampened paper. (Why? Maybe the dry paper printing presses were not available at those times?). • Four denominations - 'Ad, 2d, 2/- and 3/— had NO printings issued after July 1932 and were ONLY printed on dampened paper. • The size of the design - whether smaller or larger - is still a useful tool in identifying earlier from References Patricia Capill: The transition from flat-bed to curved recess plates during the 1925-35 definitive period, BWISC Bulletin, June 2017, pp 20-21. later printings.

ST VINCENT AND GRENADINES Revenue Usage Steve Zirinsky Here is some eye candy... I was rummaging through my stock of St. Vincent revenues, as one does, and rediscovered this. Sometimes it pays to go shopping in your own stock.

BRITISH HONDURAS New Early Date for the 1893 Belize Double-Circle Postmark John M Swales Proud (p.179) lists the dates for this short-lived cancellation as being from 10 February to 14 April 1893. Below is illustrated a three cents local cover from Belize to Corozal, the stamp obliterated with the killer “O” and also bearing D8 for 2 January 1893, a use extension of about 50%. Confirmation that this date is not an error is provided by a Corozal datestamp on the reverse for 3 January 1893. The letter is addressed to a gentleman apparently working at a branch undertaking of the Cuthbert Brothers. The Cuthbert Brothers are, of course, well known for the provisional stamps used a couple of years later for mail carriage on their steam yacht from St Georges Cay (where the brothers lived) to Belize. Reference Edward B Proud, The Postal History of British Honduras, Proud-Bailey Co. Ltd, 1999

BELIZE Covid Cover Belize to Canada Maj. Anthony Fulmes (Ret’d) On 4 August 2021, I posted the illustrated registered cover (Figures 1a & 1 b) to Canada. It contained jewelry as a gift to a friend which is why it was registered. At an unidentified time in 2021 soon after that date (at least early July 2021 based on previous mail sent), Canada cut postal relations to Belize as a means of stopping the spread of Covid 19! This resulted in the mail being stored at the Belize City post office for many months. Finally, sometime around October 2022, postal relations were restored by Canada and all the mail that built up in Belize City was sent off. Note that during this time, mail continued to be received from Canada as it routes through the United States as per normal. As this particular cover was registered, it remained at the Belize City office until late 2021 when it was returned with the attached paper (Figure 2 next page) and returned to me at my local office in Placencia.

Exclusions in the 1951 Inauguration of the University College of the West Indies Susan Taylor Some years ago, whilst putting together a presentation, I noticed something unusual about an Omnibus issue. In 1951 (some 51 years after Trinidad and Tobago had become one country and some 39 years after the islands began to produce Trinidad and Tobago’ stamps) the country’s stamps in the University of the West Indies Omnibus were labelled Trinidad only. A recent share by the Trinidad and Tobago Philatelic Society has cast some light on this omission. ‘Fram’, F.R.A.Montes De Oca (the Society’s Hon Sec 1951, Treasurer 1957 and Librarian for many years) wrote an article in the Trinidad Philatelic Review 1951 recounting what had happened (Figures 3 & 4). On 16 February 1951 the Crown Agents released an omnibus set of two stamps (Figure 1) to mark the inauguration of the University College of the West Indies. The stamps were released in the following 14 countries - Antigua, Barbados, British Guiana, British Honduras, The British Virgin Isles, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Montserrat, St Kitts Nevis and Anguilla, St Lucia, St Vincent, and Trinidad and Tobago. Most of the stamps were valued at 3 cents and 12 cents (Jamaica still used pounds shillings and pence). The 3-cent stamp featured the university’s new coat of arms, atop of which stood a pelican (since this bird was found all over the Caribbean and symbolised piety). The 12-cent stamp featured HRH Princess Alice, the University Chancellor. Today the university boasts a medical school of world renown and is attended by persons from across the 17 English speaking territories of the Caribbean. In July 1950 Mr Wm. Boyd, the then President of Trinidad’s Philatelic Society, announced plans for the omnibus. In December the Crown Agents Bulletin stated that ‘Trinidad’ would be one of the countries involved and some collectors began to wonder whether Trinidad’s partner island Tobago would be excluded. When it became evident that this would be the case many philatelists assumed that the missing ‘and Tobago’ would be overprinted. The press became aware and the Hon. Member of Tobago’s Island Ward argued that the island should have had its name included on the stamp. It was explained that the mistake was on the part of the Colonial Office, and whilst no offence was intended to Tobago, the stamp could not be changed at that stage. The Hon. Minister of Communications and Works wrote apologising to the people of Tobago. It was decided that there was not sufficient space on the stamps to allow for overprinting. On the day of the release savvy collectors ensured that they obtained First Day Covers from Tobago, ideally with the Tobago postmark above the Trinidad title. There are not many of them around (Figure 2). However, another island was also excluded in the 1951 University Omnibus. In 1825 Anguilla had been put under the control of St Christopher/Kitts, and in 1882 St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla were made a joint constituent part of the Leeward Island Federation. By 1903 the ‘joint body’ of St Kitts Nevis and Anguilla had stamps, but they were only labelled ‘St Kitts Nevis’. Anguilla finally made an appearance on a postage stamp when an overprint marked its Tercentenary...however it was excluded from the 1951 the University of the West Indies Omnibus, only properly being acknowledged on stamps in 1952 definitives. I cannot find a record of apologies being made to the Anguillans for the Omnibus omission, but clearly it grated and was another factor in the island’s eventual decision to declare independence on 4 September 1967

JAMAICA The Express Packet (Part 1) Paul Wright, Paul Farrimond, Steve Jarvis & Ray Stanton There is no previous published account of the Jamaica Packet Express. These articles are to fill this gap: Part 1, this article, gives an account of the Packet Express service based on printed sources between 1819 and 1905. Part 2 will consider letters between 1787 and 1831 carried by the Packet Express at a 2s 6d Express rate for over 100 miles. Part 3 will show later examples with Express markings up to 1912. The Packet Express is not to be confused with the Express Delivery service for inland post introduced to Jamaica in 1957, about which Reg Lant wrote in 19841. The research for these articles has been a collaborative effort of the four authors. Examples of letters are drawn mainly from the authors’ collections, together with a few items from auction catalogues and in the Encyclopedia of Jamaican Philately census of covers2. The subject is starting from scratch. So, there is even more than usual need for others to weigh in with corrections and evidence, especially further instances of use. Please send information and abuse to paul.wriqhtsw19@btinternet.com. PART 1, THE 19th CENTURY PACKET EXPRESS SERVICE In the 19th century the Jamaica Post Office operated a dedicated service on each main post road to connect to and from the sailing packet to England. Incoming mail from the incoming packet was sorted and sent by a Packet Express to post offices outside Kingston for delivery. Outbound mail was gathered up by return Express services to Kingston for the outbound packet. A word of caution applies to any account of what the Packet Express did. Evidence of the Packet Express is lopsided and fragmentary. There are surviving letters for the early period 1787 - 1831 showing the special over 100 miles rate charged on outbound Expresses (2s 6d in local currency), but there is little information on the nature of the service being paid for at that time. For the later 19th century the reverse is the case; there is no indication on letters of any special rate charged but there is printed evidence of what the Packet Express service was. It is tempting to assume that the main features of the service observed in the better documented later 19th century were much the same throughout, but in fact the service did alter over time - for example in whether every packet had a connecting Express and in the use of extra Special Expresses. The earliest published mention of the Express was in the Jamaica Royal Gazette, 9 January 1819 General Post-Office, Jan 1, 1819. In addition to the Reward offered by the Justices and Vestry of the Parish of Trelawny, for the discovery of the Perpetrator or Perpetrators of the ROBBERY of the EXPRESS LETTERS from Montego Bay for this Department I do her by [sic] offer a further Reward of One Hundred Pounds to any Person or Persons, who shall prove to conviction the Offender or Offenders therein. J. M. MARSH D.P.M.S. December 31, 1818 In 1834 R. Montgomery Martin’s book4, unusually, mentions only the inbound Packet Express. It is also the only suggestion that at this early date not every packet was served by an Express, but only alternate packets, at least inbound: “ The first packet is expected from Great Britain about the 20th of every month, and, if she arrives between Saturday and Tuesday inclusive, the mails for the country are forwarded by express. The second packet may be looked for about a week after the former, in consequence of her not having to call at the Windward Islands in her route. There is no express post for the second packet. ” Jamaica by Senior Bernard Martin, 1835s has the first reference to an outbound Packet Express: “...the regular packets remain only four or five days in the island, merely to await the return of an express post from the West End. ” The Jamaica Almanac for 18576 summarises the service, with the first mention of inland post also using the Packet Express: “When the Mails from England arrive and are sorted they are sent off to all parts of the Island per Express Post and Island Letters are also taken by this Express if posted in time. The Packet return Mails are conveyed to Kingston in the same manner.” Outgoing post for overseas sailed by Post Office packets, naval vessels or by merchant ships (ship letters). Of these, the Packet Express handled only packet letters from country offices. Post originating from Kingston could be put directly into the packet system or vessels there. Post for named vessels by ship letter would usually be carried privately to the port of sailing to be entrusted to the vessel. But letters for the packet from the country, especially from the furthest offices, often used the inland post to reach Kingston. The 19th century inland post for long-distance delivery used four main post roads radiating from Kingston. In 1790 these were the Leeward, or South Side Road, 149 miles to Lucea; the North Side Road, 145 miles to Montego Bay; the North East Road, 45 miles to Port Maria; and the Windward, or South East Road, 71 miles to Portland. A note on distances. Jamaica postal historians often use the distances between the post towns and Kingston tabulated by Foster7 Those may be valid to explain the rates for the use of GB stamps in the late 1850s, but they are demonstrably not those used by the Post Office to rate letters at the beginning of the 19th century. Different printed sources at different dates record different mileages between offices. Some of these differences may have been imprecise measurement but some were real differences in the routes. The Post Office tariff charged for the mileage covered by the postal route, including any loops and detours. The overall effect for the purposes of the Packet Express was that in 1790 the Post Office treated several post towns, including Falmouth and Black River, as over 100 miles from Kingston although in 1860 they were reckoned as under 100 miles. Distances here and in Part 2 of this article are based on or consistent with Beckford, 17908. Black River is shown by Beckford as exactly 100 miles from Kingston, nevertheless the Post Office treated letters from there as requiring the over 100 miles rate. Offices not listed in Beckford have been estimated by interpolation, adding or subtracting figures from Foster or Potter9 for the distance from the nearest office that is listed in Beckford. The details changed, and feeder services linked the post roads to other offices, but the post roads remained the skeleton of the services. At first, the inland post ran once a week. In 1790 services on the four post road services left Kingston for the country every Saturday. More frequent services served places closer to Kingston, especially Spanish Town. Through the 19th century the frequency of the main post road services increased: in 1847 to twice a week, in 1867 to three times a week and from 1905 to daily. Both normal inland post and Packet Expresses were provided under contract. The long post roads were divided into lengths and tenders invited to carry the post over specified stretches at set days and times. Some of the advertised invitations to tender have survived - the oldest surviving is from 184610. They are for only some routes and some tenders and they lack many details of the services, but these records provide information about the post at a time when Post Office notices did not. Sending letters from the country for the packet depended on making a connection between the dates of the inland post and the sailing dates of the packet. The timetable for packet sailings, like the inland post, became more frequent and reliable over time, but in the early part of the 19th century there were just two packets a month, and the actual dates of arrival and sailing were unreliable. These connections with the inland post were not enough for users concerned with rapid correspondence with Britain. Users wanted a dedicated inland service timetabled to link with packet sailings. The Post Office also had reason to operate a separate Packet Express. A lump of mail, twice a month, would have swamped the inland post. The mail arriving and departing by the packet was more than any ordinary inland mail. It was enough to warrant special journeys. There are figures for this. The invitation to tender in 187311 for carrying mail on the stretch of post road between Kingston and Spanish Town expected contractors to provide three deliveries of ordinary mail a week and also bi-monthly Expresses of Packet Mail. The load was at its heaviest leaving Kingston, necessarily including all the packet mail for post road destinations beyond Spanish Town: “The Ordinary Mails, and the Packet Mails, must be Tendered for separately. (In addition to the North-Western Mails, those for the South-Western District will also have to be carried.) “Weight.—As despatched from Kingston—Ordinary Mail (maximum,) 300 lbs. Packet Mail (average) 750 lbs. Rate of Speed. - Ordinary Mails at 7, Packet Mails at 6 Miles an hour.” This last piece of information might seem surprising for a service called ‘Express’. But the truth is that the Packet Express was not fast over the ground. As a heavier load it was expected to be slower. (To be fair, contracts for sections of post roads further from Kingston, where the loads would have been lightened, allowed for more equal speeds). The time saving was achieved not by galloping steeds but by the Packet Express connecting with the packet rather than waiting for the infrequent timetabled inland posts. In this later period (though not in 18344) there was a Packet Express on each post road for each arrival and departure of the packet. The contractors for both the ordinary inland post and the Packet Express used much the same means - through most of the 19th century that meant mules and horses, with branch services by foot messenger. The two services operated together. T he Postmaster’s Mail Conveyance Delay Report12 for 1871 included this entry for 24 Feb 1871 on the St Ann’s Bay to Annotto Bay journey: ’’Delay 1 hr 30 minutes. Packet Express. Mule fell down precipice. Courier in charge of regular Post on Route stopped to help.” The running of Packet Expresses was completely tied to the packet timetable. For example, the Postmaster’s Report for the year 1871-7213 noted that when the RMSP altered their circuit “the first Steamer in each month having to touch at Barbadoes, is due at Kingston, Jamaica, on the 5th (or 6th, if the previous month had thirty days), and the departure of the second Steamer, which has to touch at Barbadoes, is fixed at 4 P.M. on the 24th. The Return Packet expresses from the country have had to be regulated accordingly.” There is no printed source of any date setting out a detailed timetable for the inbound Packet Express. A timetable of dates and times may have been written into the detailed contracts for each mail route, but these documents do not survive. The inbound Packet Express depended on the exact docking time of a packet at Kingston, which would vary, and the post was then simply taken off, sorted and sent out on the post roads as soon as possible. What the public needed to know was when to post letters at each district post office so as to catch the outbound Packet Express. These outbound Packet Expresses could be and were timetabled. Printed sources from 1882 advised when they left the far ends of the post roads (also known as Terminal Post Offices). The principles of the timetable for turning round the packet mail were explained in the Handbook of Jamaica for 1886-714. Note the freely admitted variability in whether the packet would arrive on Sunday or Monday, which made a published timetable for the inbound Packet Express impracticable: “Under the new contract with the R. M. S. P. Company which came into operation on 1st July, 1885, the steamers are timed to arrive at Jamaica from Southampton, via Barbados and Jacmel, on every alternate Monday at 8 a.m. and to leave Jamaica, via Barbados and Jacmel, for Southampton on every alternate Wednesday at 4 p.m., ie., the homeward bound steamer leaves Jamaica two day and eight hours after the arrival of the outward bound if she arrives on Monday, the contract time; but she generally comes in on Sundays. The return packet expresses leave the Terminal Post Office for Kingston on each alternate Tuesday and are due in Kingston on the morning of Wednesday-the day of the departure of the steamer.” More detailed timetables for the outbound Packet Express were published in the annual Handbook of Jamaica from the 1891-92 edition15 to 1901. These show the departure days and times of the Packet Express to Kingston from each post office on the main post roads, and the times for connections from each branch office. In the 1891-92 timetable, for example, the last times of posting for a Packet Express to reach Kingston for the Tuesday packet sailing stretched from 3 p.m. on Sunday at Green Island in the far west to 8 a.m. on Tuesday from Port Royal. A knowledge of packet sailing dates and times and, where they are available, these detailed timetables, can help trace the course of individual letters. This will be attempted in Part 3 of this article for some of the letters marked for the Packet Express. Special Expresses Special Expresses were those run as additional journeys outside the normal Packet Express timetable. Under mid-19th century contracts, on each section of route the Post Office paid contractors a tendered price to convey both normal inland post and a specified number of Packet Expresses. Because the two services were wrapped together in one contract there is no picture of the separate costs of the Packet Express. But there is information about and some costs of Special Expresses. Special Expresses might be needed to catch up on delays. The most frequent cause was a delay in the packet. Some other causes are recorded. Proud16 reports that: “on the 22 July 1850 the mail from Falmouth to Kingston was being carried by mule but was delayed by the mule escaping between Lucea and Flint River and had to be sent by express (Cost £8.85) (sic,) to catch the regular packet.” [Assume that it was the mail, not the mule, that was sent onwards by Express]. If such an additional Express fell outside the terms of a contract it had to be paid for separately by the Post Office, £8.85 (sic) in that 1850 incident. However, sometimes the contractor was found to be at fault for a delay and was made to meet the costs of a remedy, not always involving an additional Special Express. The Postmaster’s Mail Conveyance Delay Report17 for 1871 included this entry for 4 August 1871 on the Kingston to Plantain Garden River journey: ’’Delay at Kingston 3hr 30 minutes. No conveyance in readiness for Packet Express. Contractor, being first offence, censured, and charged with cost of Express Messenger, 6s. to notify him that mails were ready for despatch.” That example shows one of the difficulties of the inward Packet Express; in spite of the variable arrival time of the packet, a contractor was expected to hold his conveyance at Kingston in instant readiness to run a Packet Express. The Post Office did their best to minimise the costs of Special Expresses, making contractors bear the costs of unforeseen events and delays. In 1869 the Post Office reported a list of economies made to balance extra costs when a third weekly post was introduced in July 1868:18 “A further economy was effected in the matter of Special Expenses [sic] for the conveyance of overdue Packet Mails &c. (a fruitful source of annoyance and expense), by the insertion, in the Conditions of Agreement, of an undertaking to perform such extra services without extra charge beyond the aggregate amount stated in the Bond...” “It is believed that the total Expenditure for 1868-69 for Special Services, which will include all cases of Extraordinary Mail Conveyance not under Contract, will not exceed £50.” The new firm line was repeated in subsequent tender invitations:19 “Any Extra Expresses that may be conveyed, consequent on the late Arrivals or Detention of the Mail Steamers, will not be paid for as a Special Service, but must be included in the Sum charged for the Packet Expresses. ” A s Table 1 shows, the costs of Special Expresses began at least in 1860 and varied erratically but persisted as a line in Post Office accounts in spite of the attempt to economise in 1868. Table 1. Annual cost of Special Expresses (£ s d.)20 1860-61 1861-62 1862-63 1863-64 1864-65 1865-66 1866-67 1867-68 1868-69 projected 1870- 7121 1871- 7222 139 8 0 1190 5 56 13 0 163 11 10 36 15 0 94 10 6 18694 174 17 6 <5000 63 15 0 62 7 0 To put this in proportion, in this period total payments to contractors for mail conveyance under their contracts were about £4,000 to £5,000 annually. Special Mail Trains for Packet Expresses Another extra service was the intriguingly named ‘Special Mail Trains for Packet Expresses’. The Post Office first used the railway for mail conveyance in 1869. At first, only the ordinary inland post was entrusted to trains, presumably because the network was not extensive enough to take over from a through Packet Express. In 1869 the Post Office invited tenders in the usual way for conveyance by road on a series of sections23, on all of which there was to be both normal inland mail and a Packet Express, except that the Kingston to Spanish Town section was for the Packet Express only, because: “Note.—At Spanish Town and Old Harbour the Contractor for the Ordinary Posts will Receive and Deliver his Mails at the Railway Station.’’ By the end of the century the railway carried a major share of both normal inland post and the Packet Express. In 190324 the cost of all Inland Mail Conveyance was 44% by contractors and 29% by railway. The postal timetable made connections with the railway timetable. Where these were missed, Special Expresses might be needed, just as for contractors’ road transport. The extra Expresses might be sent by road or, amazingly, by special extra trains just to carry the mail of the Packet Express. An example where a road Express, paid by the contractor, substituted for a train occurred on 18 March 1871, as reported in the Postmaster’s Mail Conveyance Delay Report for 1871:25 “Delay between Moneague and Spanish Town. 3hr 25 minutes. Mail Arrived late in Spanish Town to be forwarded by Train. Contractor paid Express by road, viz 16s.” There are no postal markings for mail trains carrying packet letters, special or otherwise, and little narrative account. The issue surfaced in the 1903 Postmaster’s Report26. A change to the RMSP’s steamer timetable in 1902 reduced the turn round time between the arrival and departure of packets in Jamaica: It became my duty to point out to the Government the additional expenditure for special mail trains.. .from the change in arrival at Jamaica of the steamers, namely, on Friday at noon instead of at 8 a.m. and by the departure at noon instead of at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.... ” 30. The effect of the altered Time Table on the Inland Packet Express Mail Service is that the mails have to be despatched on the preceding Mondays from the District Post Offices on the North Western Main Line between Green Island and Lucea, Lucea and Montego Bay, and Montego Bay and Ewarton, and from all Branch Post Offices on that line of Post an hour or two earlier to admit of their arriving in Kingston by train from Ewarton on Tuesday morning in time for despatch. ” This requirement to run more Special Mail Trains could be timetabled and budgeted for, but the tighter timetable may also have increased the number of missed connections that required last minute additional trains. As the 1903 Postmaster’s Report27 explained under the Inland Mail Conveyance heading: The item of Inland Mail Conveyance has relation to the higher rate of payments to Mail Contractors and to the need for Special Mail Trains arising out of the late arrival of steamers...” The accounts showed In 1902-0324 Special Mail Trains for Packet Expresses £167 10s In 1903-0428 Special mail trains for Packet Expresses £278 1s 6d In 1904-0529 Special mail trains for Packet Expresses £94 13s 6d The fading away of the Packet Express Although the Post Office was running special trains for the Packet Express as late as 1904-05, the distinctness and the rationale for the Packet Express were fast disappearing. The last published timetable of the “Departure of packet express mails from each district post office for Kingston” was in 190130. The Packet Express was justified while the arrival and departure of the packets was regular, and the ordinary inland posts were infrequent. The first decade of the 20th century saw changes to both the steam packets and the inland post. The Elder Dempster Direct Line Jamaica to Bristol service introduced in 1900 carried mail. The Postmaster’s Report for 190131 explained that, as a consequence: “...the Government has decided that the Packet Express Mail Service which used to be despatched to the interior of the Island as soon as possible after the arrival at the General Post Office, Kingston, of the Mails by the Royal Mail steamer, shall be discontinued, and instead be made to connect with the arrival of the Steamers of the Direct Line from Bristol. The present resources of the Island do not justify the expenditure for an additional Packet Express to the interior of the Island on the arrival of the Royal Mail Steamers. The department however has done its best to utilise the ordinary Mail Services at its disposal to distribute the mail matter arriving by the Royal Mail steamers on each alternate Friday.” By this date the inland post had become a complicated web of foot messengers, mules, horses, mail carts, mail coaches, tram cars, trains and even RMSP coastal steamers, operated variously by contractors, the Public Works Department and the Government Railway. The Post Office’s quest for economy and efficiency often led to the packet mails being carried together with the ordinary inland post where there was no gain from a separate Packet Express service. The extemporised flavour of this is captured in the Postmaster’s Report for 190132: “39. Every advantage is taken of the existing ordinary mail services to forward the packet mail matter into the interior; for instance, the mail coach which previously left Ewarton for the northside at 9.30 a.m. is now detained until 4 p.m. on each alternate Friday, and if the Royal Mail steamer arrives in time, the packet letters, and if possible the second class matter, are despatched to Ewarton by the 2 p.m. train, while the mails for the east and north-eastern post offices between Kingston and Port Antonio, via Annotto Bay and Port Antonio and Bull Bay are sent by the train leaving Kingston for Port Antonio at 2 p.m. and connects with the mail coach which ordinarily leaves Port Antonio at 4 p.m., but is detained on each alternate Friday until after the arrival of the mails by train. Arrangements are also made, when necessary, for conveyance of the packet mail matter from offices on the main lines to branch post offices. “ 40. At the request of correspondents in Mandeville a Special Packet Express Mail Service was established between Williamsfield in the month of September, 1900, on the understanding that the relative increased expenditure was re-imbursed, but with the alteration in the Railway Time Table the necessity for this has ceased to exist. ” The RMSP packet mail contract ended in 1905, and the Direct service to Bristol in 1911, after which mail arrived in Jamaica by various routes and at various times rather than only on a fortnightly packet. Without any single regular packet to Britain it is difficult to see how a Packet Express could have been designed to connect. Meanwhile, the inland post increased in frequency to a universal daily post throughout the island so that a Packet Express offered no advantage in speed. Searching for a definitive date for the end of the Packet Express yields the following in the Postmaster’s Report for 1904-0533. Not for the first time, a change in the timetable of the packet was responsible: “A change was effected in the itinerary of the Royal Mail Company in December last under which the homeward bound steamer left Kingston at 5 p.m. on each alternate Monday instead of at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. The effect of this change was to cut off a great many of the District Offices from the privilege of replying to correspondence by return mail and this brought to the front a proposal for a daily inland mail service which had been previously mooted and set aside with the result that the appropriation for special Packet Expresses was diverted to the purposes of a daily service to every office which has been carried through without further burdening the estimates. ” This is a specific transfer of funds from the Packet Express to the improvement of the inland post. Without naming an actual date, it appears to nail the end of the Packet Express to 1904-05. There is only one slight caution to making 1904-05 the definite end date. The report refers to “the appropriation for special Packet Expresses”. As discussed above, the Post Office used ‘Special Expresses’ as a term for extra runs outside normal contracts. Special Expresses had their own line in Post Office accounts, and the Post Office had a history of trying to reduce the cost of Special Expresses. There must be a slim possibility that only Special Expresses expenditure is being referred to here, and that normal Packet Expresses under contract continued. There also exists a cover labelled Express as late as 1912, which might seem to cast doubt on a 1905 end date. The status of that cover will be discussed in Part 3 of this article. On the other hand, in support of a 1904-05 end date, the Special Expresses line in the accounts (Table 1) looks insufficient money to fund the extension of the inland post to a daily service throughout the island. The sudden reduction in the cost of Special Mail Trains from £278 1s 6d in 1903-04 to £94 13s 6d during 1904-05 is consistent with them being ended part-way through that year as part of the complete ending of the Packet Express. Whatever the exact date of its demise, the Packet Express left no documentary trace after 1905. Conclusion Printed sources from 1819 onwards show that a Packet Express service operated in Jamaica until the early years of the 20th century to connect post offices outside Kingston with the arrival and departure of the packet. Part 2 of this article will consider letters between 1787 and 1831 carried by the Packet Express at a 2s 6d Express rate for over 100 miles. Part 3 will show later examples with Express markings up to 1912. Notes and References (1) Reg H Lant, Jamaica Express Delivery Service, British Caribbean Philatelic Journal, volume 24 No 3, whole no 131 (1984 July) pages 68 to 81. (2) Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Philately website Cover Census listing at httpY/iamaicaphilatelv.Info/cover-census. (3) Jamaica Royal Gazette, 1 January 1819. (4) R. Montgomery Martin, History of the British Colonies. Volume II Possessions in the West Indies, 1834. (5) Senior Bernard Martin, Jamaica, 1835. (6) Jamaica Almanac for 1857. (7) Thomas Foster, The Postal History of Jamaica 1662- 1860, 1968, page 139. (8) William Beckford, A Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica by William Beckford (Volume 1), 1790, page xxxvii to xxxviii. (9) Ian A. Potter, The Postal Markings of Jamaica, 1996. (10) Edward B Proud, The Postal History of Jamaica, 2004, page 54. In May 1846 mail contracts were accepted for contractors to convey mails between Kingston and Moneague; Kingston and Porus; Kingston and Port Antonio; and Kingston and Port Morant. In each case a separate charge was made for “conveyance of mails” and for “Expresses”. (11) Jamaica Post Office Notices, 22 April 1873; Mail Conveyance, North Western Districts [Jamaica Gazette page 179, 24 Apr 1873]. (12) Returns of Delays in Conveyance of the Mails, 23 October 1871 [Jamaica Gazette page 433, 2 November 1871]. (13) Postmaster’s Report for the year 1871-72, 28 February 1873 [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 70, 24 April 1873]. (14) The Handbook for Jamaica for 1886-87, page 127. (15) The Handbook for Jamaica for 1891-92, pages 209 to 210. (16) Edward B Proud, The Postal History of Jamaica, 2004, page 63. (17) Returns of Delays in Conveyance of the Mails, 23 October 1871 [Jamaica Gazette page 438, 2 November 1871]. (18) Postmaster’s Report, 3 December 1869. [Jamaica Gazette, new series, vol 1 No 29, page 5, 16 December 1869]. (19) Jamaica Post Office Notices, 1 June 1869; Mail Service between Lucea and Montego Bay. Invitation to tender. [Jamaica Gazette page 4, 3 June 1869]. (20) Report on the Post Office Department for year 1867-68. 3 December 1869. [Jamaica Gazette Supplement page 4, 16 December 1869]. (21) Fourth Annual Report on the Post Office Department, being that for the Financial Year 1870-71. 13 February 1872. [Jamaica Gazette Supplement page 64, 7 March 1872]. (22) Postmaster’s Report for the year ended 30 September 1872, 28 February1873. [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 72, 24 April 1873]. (23) Jamaica Post Office Notices, 25 October 1869. Mail Services. Invitation to tender. [Jamaica Gazette page 5, 28 October 1869]. (24) Postmaster’s Report for the year 1903, 28 August 1903. [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 19, 7 January 1904]. (25) Returns of Delays in Conveyance of the Mails, 23 October 1871 [Jamaica Gazette page 434, 2 November 1871]. (26) Postmaster’s Report for the year 1903, 28 August 1903. [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 5, 7 January 1904]. (27) Postmaster’s Report for the year 1903, 28 August 1903. [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 10, 7 January 1904]. (28) Postmaster’s Report for the financial year to 31 March 1904, 18 July 1904. [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 595, 8 December 1904]. (29) Postmaster’s Report for the financial year 1904-05,17 August 1905. [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 13, 31 March 1906]. (30) The Handbook for Jamaica for 1901, page 157. (31) Postmaster’s Report for the financial year ending 31st March, 1901, 17 July 1901. [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 318, 5 December 1901]. (32) Postmaster’s Report for the financial year ending 31st March,1901, 17 July 1901. [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 319, 5 December 1901]. (33) Postmaster’s Report for the financial year 1904-05, 17 August 1905. [Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, page 7, 31 March 1906]. References 2 to 6, 8 and 11 to 33, and much other information, are to be found on the website of the Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Philately http://iamaicaDhilatelv.info/. under the heading Information Index. [end-read-more]

JAMAICA Wrong Time, Wrong Place: September 1939 Paul Farrimond Introduction On 3 September 1939 when Britain declared war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland, Jamaica as a British Colony also entered the war. The very same day all German and Austrian men resident in Jamaica were arrested and interned in the Detention Barracks at Up Park Camp, a military compound on the outskirts of Kingston. They initially numbered 24 Germans and two Austrians (1), although a few additional arrests in the following days resulted in around 30 internees in total. A number of these were Jews who had fled Europe to escape the increasing oppression (2), bringing wives and children with them (who were not initially interned). The Detention Barracks were made reasonably comfortable, but it was obvious that a larger facility would be needed so a dedicated internment camp was rapidly built on the north side of Up Park Camp (3). The internees were moved there at the end of October 1939 (4). The compound was surrounded by tall fences with watch towers and guarded initially by British forces stationed in Jamaica, and later by Canadian troops stationed there. Ulrich Hild Ulrich Hild, a 45 year old German and Manager of the African Fruit Company in Cameroon, found himself caught up in these events when he arrived in Jamaica on 1 September for a 12-day visit to meet with the managers of the Jamaica Banana Producers’ Association and inspect banana cultivation on the island (5). It was bad timing - he was unable to leave Jamaica at short notice, and upon the declaration of war on 3 September he was arrested and interned (internee number 23) along with the resident Germans and Austrians. An Aliens Advisory Committee was set up to hear the appeals of the internees on several dates in October 1939. Many of the internees were considered by the committee to be of no threat to security and were subsequently released in November 1939. Ulrich Hild, who wished to be allowed to return to Cameroon, was not released. This is shown by the cover in Figure 1, one of the earliest examples of internee mail in Jamaica, sent by Hild from the Internment Camp on 12 January 1940. Outgoing correspondence from internees was dealt with in two stages: first within the Camp Orderly Room for examination where it received any censorship marks and indications of origin, and subsequently at the post office in Kingston where postal matters were dealt with and it entered the normal mails. The envelope had to bear the name of the sender and their serial number. On the back of the cover is written: “Sender: Ulrich Hild (Nr.23), Kingston, Jamaica, B.W.I., Internment Camp, Up Park Camp”. The front bears a strike of the boxed “From Internment Camp” handstamp in red-pink ink (type POW3; ref.6). This is one of only four recorded examples as this handstamp was only used for a short period early in the war when there were few internees. The letter was passed by Postal Censor No.1 (type PC1 handstamp), who possibly also initialled the cover in the lower right corner. Fig. 1 12 January 1940 airmail cover “From Internment Camp” to Roehampton, London. The letter is franked to a value of two shillings and two pence for the Transatlantic Airmail letter rate, the stamps being cancelled at the Kingston GPO. Although surface mail for Prisoners of War was free, any letters sent by air mail had to be paid for. Stamps were only used on airmail from the camp for a very short period, later mail had “Postage Paid” handstamps instead. The cover is addressed to William Martin-Hurst in Roehampton, London, who was Managing Editor of the Exclusive News Agency. He may have been a friend or a contact with possibilities for publicising Hild’s case for release. Reference to a further cover from Ulrich Hild dated April 1941 (7) suggests that he was still in the Internment Camp in Jamaica at that time. However, an extract from a report to the Secretary of State for the Colonies dated 15th October 1941 (8) states that he had been released and left the island. Ulrich Hild’s stay in Jamaica proved to be significantly longer than the 12 days that he originally planned, although not as long as it might have been. After the war around 300 German and Italian internees left internment in Jamaica destined for Europe onboard the S.S. Bergensfjord on 26 May 1946, and just over 500 more followed on the S.S. Esperance Bay on 23 November 1946. References (1) The Daily Gleaner, Monday 4 September 1939, p.10. (2) Francis-Brown S. World War II Camps in Jamaica: Evacuees, Refugees, Internees, Prisoners of War. University of the West Indies Press (2022), 316pp. (3) The Daily Gleaner, Tuesday 5 September 1939, p.6. (4) The Daily Gleaner, Monday 30 October 1939, p.6. (5) The Daily Gleaner, Saturday 2 September 1939, p.9. (6) Farrimond P. & Murphy R. Military, Censorship & Patriotic Mails. Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Philately, vol.9. British West Indies Study Circle (2015). (7) Maddocks B. WWII POWPost from a German Resident of French Cameroun interned in Nigeria. Cameo vol.8 (2004), p.168. (8) CO 968/35/13. Treatment of Enemy Aliens: Jamaica. The National Archives, Kew. Acknowledgments Thanks to Paul Wright and Steve Jarvis for reading and providing feedback on a draft of this article.

TRINIDAD A Clandestine Censor label - an attempt to evade British Censors in Trinidad Edward Barrow Mail that has been transit censored in Trinidad is fairly common, and those with type 3 censor labels (1) arguably the most common. Perhaps seeing so many of these labels made this one stand out as different. Ordinary type 3 censor labels are clearly typeset printed and uniform. They saw use in other Caribbean islands, especially Bermuda and were thought to be produced in either Trinidad or Bermuda. When used in Trinidad, more often than not, they were stamped with an IE/- handstamp (usually purple or blue ink), before being attached to the envelope. The IE/- handstamp was a code which indicated that the examiner was working out of the Trinidad censorship office. The label on the cover below (Figure 1) is purportedly one of Examiner 6029’s, who is recorded operating in Trinidad during the 1941-43 period. (The cover in Figure 2 confirms Examiner 6029 was in Trinidad in January 1943). Fig. 1a The cover in question Fig. 2 1943 registered cover from Trinidad to Panama Canal Zone, censored with a type 4 label of Examiner 6029 Fig. 3 1941 surface mail from China to Brazil, censored and detained in Trinidad with a type 3 label and remnant of pink PC 93 form. There is no arrival cancel. Fig. 4 1942 surface mail from Germany (30/?/1942) to Argentina (16/11/1942), censored in Germany and Trinidad with a type 2c label with IE/- handstamp. Fig. 5 1942 surface mail from Mexico (21/3/1942) to Argentina (2/6/1942), again with a type 2c label applied in Trinidad. Observations about the label The most striking difference is the lettering size is reduced by about 20%. Also, the typeface is not uniform throughout (the “OPENED BY” text is much thinner than the “EXAMINER 6029”, and is re-touched, especially visible on the E’s). When compared to normal type 3 labels the P.C.90 is printed in a different type face; notably the 9 lacks the serif and is spaced differently, and similarly the Form 167 is also different and somewhat damaged. Overall the quality of the printing is very poor when compared to ordinary type 3 labels and type 2C labels (the latter thought to be locally produced as they are not known to have been used outside of Trinidad). Our questionable cover was cancelled in Berlin (13/3/42), censored by the Nazi authorities and travelled via surface mail to Argentina. There is an arrival machine cancel (16/7/42) making the journey to Argentina a 4-month affair, which is fairly typical for surface mail from Germany at this time. In the absence of any transit markings we can only intuit the route it took. This would likely be overland to Spain or Portugal and on board a neutral ship to Argentina. By mid-1942, the American and British authorities had combined their efforts with regards to censorship in the region, with Trinidad retaining its position as the hub for censoring surface mail travelling to and from South America. So neutral ships would have either voluntarily called at Trinidad or were compelled to do so if intercepted by an Allied warship. There any mail would have been examined. Figures 3, 4 and 5 show examples of South America bound surface mail transit censored in Trinidad. Critically the IE/- is also reduced by 20% and printed in the same ink as the other text. Ordinarily the IE/- would have been applied as a handstamp after the label was printed and in coloured ink (usually purple or blue). Also, because of this it is usually found at an odd angle, not perfectly in line with the text. The fact that the IE/- was printed on the label is a red flag. No other Trinidad labels are known with the IE printed in the same style as the handstamp. This suggests that it was not produced or used in the normal way Trinidad labels were. Fig. 6 Side by side comparison with a regular type 3 label. Fig. 7 Side by side comparison with a typical IE/- handstamp. The cover is addressed to Antonio Magaz, the Spanish ambassador to Argentina. Before his appointment to Argentina in 1940 he was the Spanish ambassador to Germany, an eminent position during WWII. The letter is not addressed to his official address or his official title and is adorned as a mourning cover. The sender is a Mr Zošch, Berlin W. 15, Kurfürstendamm 220. This address housed the German-Brazilian Trade Association (Deutsch-Brasilianischer Handelsver) which is the likely sender. Thoughts on its origin There is the possibility that this is a just a locally produced label but given the aggregate number of anomalies and the status of the people involved in the correspondence, I think this unlikely. It seems an effort was made to replicate the type 3 label design, but elements of the label are reduced uniformly by about 20%. To me this looks like it was made using a photographic copy of a used type 3 label, but the original label was not present to ensure the scaling was correct. The different coloured ink of the IE/- also would not show on a photograph and so it would not be accurately reproduced. Some retouching and the use of elements taken from other labels may have been necessary (the different PC90, the malformed imprint of the Form 167) to complete the design. The overarching question is why would the Trinidad censorship authorities go through this process? They were adept at having higher quality labels printed locally or fashioning ad hoc solutions from materials on hand. There is another possibility: that this label was an attempt to evade censorship by giving the impression that the letter was already censored by Allied censors in Trinidad. An insurance policy if the ship carrying the letter was stopped by Allied warships and its mail inspected. Given the status of the recipient of this letter, I would suspect such correspondence would have at least been detained and possibly condemned by British censors. It should also be remembered that after the LATI air service from Rome to South America was terminated in December 1941, there was no viable route for mail from Germany to evade Allied censors; the surface route via neutral shipping was the best bet. Given that the label was applied • German authorities. German Operation Bolívar, (the codename for the German espionage program in Latin America during World War II), is documented as using Spanish merchant vessels for transmitting paper intelligence and it is possible that the use of fake censor labels was part of their operations. However, having shown the cover to a number of specialists, the consensus was that the label was too poorly executed to be of official German origin. • Spanish authorities and/or the captain of ship carrying the mail. This is also a possibility especially given the addressee is a Spanish official and more likely given the ad hoc quality of its production. I would be interested to hear from anyone with additional information about the workings of Operation Bolivar, and if anyone has an example of a cover with this unrecorded label type. Please email: edwardbarrow@protonmail.com Reference: (1) Peter C Burrows (Ed.), British Empire Civil Censorship Devices, World War II Section 6, British West Indies & Falkland Islands, 2010, The Civil Censorship Group

TRINIDAD The Stacey Wise Watermarked Trinidad Purple-Brown, Block of 12 (SG 2) Nigel Mohammed Trinidad’s first consignment of stamps was sent to the colony in 1849 aboard the R.M.S. Severn (1) (Figure 4). These early stamps had no value expressed and were printed on blued paper of which there were many colour varieties (this changed in 1859 when values were expressed). For collectors unfamiliar with Trinidad’s early stamps, there were four separate colour varieties which included those of brown, blue, grey, and red. In the early days of trying to prevent counterfeiting and reuse of stamps, security techniques were implemented. This was a shared responsibility of all parties, i.e., the Postal Agency, the Printer, and the Papermaker. Use of watermarked paper was one of these security techniques to aid in minimizing forgeries. But it was not until some 12 years after the first printing, that in 1863 the Crown CC watermark was commissioned for Trinidad stamps. The papermaker supplying paper for these early Perkins Bacon printed stamps was Stacey Wise. He owned Rush Mills which was located in the small village Hardingstone, close in proximity to Northampton. Stacey worked extensively with the printers Perkins, Bacon and Petch, and with the famous Rowland Hill and his brother Edwin Hill in the 1840’s to supply paper used in the production of the Penny Black stamps of England (2). Fig. 2 : Block 12, SG 2 back enlarged, shown sideways, and image processed to highlight the WISE watermark. In the early days of commercial papermaking, it was typical that the papermaker imposed their name or the company’s name in the form of a watermark. It was used to distinguish their paper products. During these early days of papermaking, watermarks were produced from handmade brass wire in which the pulp was pressed through a wire mesh. As it became commercialized, the dandy roll came into use to accelerate the watermarking process. This brings us to a very special and perhaps unique block of Trinidad stamps, the imperforated Perkins Bacon SG 2, purple-brown, block of 12, watermarked. Not immediately noticeable, and like most watermarks, it is difficult to see in natural form as shown in Figure 1. Using watermark detection techniques such as fluids and high intensity light aided in identifying the watermark. This coupled with computer imaging and manipulating the parameters such as brightness, exposure, and contrast, etc., we extracted a good image of the watermark. In Figure 2, the WISE portion of the watermark is prominently visible on the top right section of the paper. It is indeed a very desirable block and even Sir John Marriott and Reuben Ramkissoon did not have this in their collections. This example has been expertised and has RPS certificate No. 187070. The modern Stanley Gibbons catalogue of Commonwealth stamps notes: No.2 is known on paper bearing the sheet watermark “STACEY WISE/RUSH MILLS” {4) A used example of this stamp can be found on Trinidad’s early mail. It is on cover with a date of 27th August 1851 (3), cancelled with a Type 0.1b, numeral 1, indicating it was posted from the capital, Port of Spain. This cover (Figure 3) is a mere 13 days after the Inland Post commenced on Aug 14, 1851 and is actually the earliest known usage for a Trinidad imperforate Britannia stamp. It was mailed to Lucy R. Wilson in Bristol, England. Fig. 3 This cover to Bristol, England, is the earliest known use of any of Trinidad’s Britannia stamps, with a SG 2 paying the local Inland rate (Provenance Kanai, Addiss). There are still some full surviving sheets of 110 stamps (11 x 10) of these early Trinidad imperforated Britannia stamps known to the author (SG2, SG 3, SG 9 to name a few). It may be time to get your magnifying glasses and watermark skills put to test. So be sure to look closer and see if you are able to locate this papermaker watermark. It may just add more value and jealousy to your collection!!! If you are successful or if you do have examples of this watermark, the author would be interested in learning of this and getting copies of yours. I can be contacted at nmohammed72@qmail.com References: 1. R.M.S. Severn from https://artuk.orq/discover/artworks/rms-severn-in-the-bristol-channel-134330 2. Sir E.D. Bacon, The Line Engraved Stamps of Great Britain printed by Perkins, Bacon & Co. a History of Their Production during the forty years 1840- 1880, 1920, C. Nissen, London. 3. Peter Ford, Early BWICovers Perkins Bacon Adhesives, Trinidad, BWISC, 2019. 4. Stanley Gibbons, Commonwealth Stamp Catalog, Belize, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, 2009. London.

JAMAICA 1935 Silver Jubilee Booklet This rare KGV Silver Jubilee booklet sold on eBay on 31 December for £990 as a buy it now purchase. It is an exploded booklet of four panes of six 1d Silver Jubilee stamps catalogued at £1,500. It was sold by Bridger & Kay Ltd so has a good provenance. All of the early Jamaican booklets up to this issue have four figure catalogue values and are seldom seen.

Your editor (r) receiving his medal from the jury chair Malcolm Groom RDP. Australia has a habit of running exhibit challenges amongst various nations. At the national exhibition in Perth (Western Australia) a postal stationery challenge was run, but only Australia and the United Kingdom participated. The end result was a tie with the four exhibits from each nation totalling the same number of points. Our member James Podger was the UK commissioner/judge and your editor (Leeward Islands) and member Simon Richards (Grenada) were on opposing exhibiting teams. Also present at the exhibition were members Patricia Capill from New Zealand and Ricardo Verra representing David Feldman.

The Thailand FIP exhibition held in Bangkok had two members of the WIPSG on the jury - your editor, who cross accredited into Aerophilately and Simon Richards who judged in Postal History. The exhibition was celebrating 140 years of the first Thailand stamps and postal service. It was held in the Grand Postal Building which made fitting in the exhibits a slight issue but overall it was a well-run exhibition. The one disappointing aspect of the exhibits was that there were NO West Indian exhibits in any class. The closest was a postal history exhibit of maritime mail from Cuba in the 19th century. Hopefully there will be some at EFIRO in Bucharest.

Season’s greetings to everyone. Darryl has produced another excellent journal. It is good to see articles on adhesive stamps, classic and modern, as well as postal history. I am delighted to announce that Paul Farrimond has volunteered to become our new Publications Manager. He has big boots to fill, taking over from Peter Ford, but I am confident that he will rise to the occasion. Paul lives in the same small town as me and co-wrote the Jamaica Military (etc) mails book. On the subject of books, there are two new publications – Trinidad Slogan Postmarks by Jazad N Ali (details later in the journal) and Anguilla's Quest for Identity - the Philatelic Story by Susan Taylor, Julian Waldron and Graham Stockdale (available from Pennymead). Why not add them to your Christmas lists? For those who receive the printed journal, please pay attention to the address sheet. On the reverse are your details as recorded in our database, please check and let us know of any changes. You can update these directly on the web site (top right once logged in) or tell Susan (sec@wipsg.org). Your subscription status is shown on the front and reverse of the sheet (it also shows on the website). Please check and if necessary, pay your subscription promptly. Please note the revised subscription rates (see page 37) and our new WIPSG bank account. The old BWISC bank account will continue for some time to receive payments but please use the new account. Susan has listed forthcoming events elsewhere and I hope you can attend some of them; there is so much gained from chatting face-to-face. The recent Convention was superbly organised by Susan Taylor and we all enjoyed meeting old friends and first-time visitors.

I had not planned an editorial but given the space was available I would like to thank all the authors for their efforts in our first year as the West Indies Philatelic Study Group. The articles are coming in at a useful rate but please don’t stop sending them, as it makes my job easier to have a stock on hand. The approach I am taking is to try and get a good spread of the islands/countries in each issue. Some authors are more prolific and occasionally you will see more than one article by an author. This is often due to timing and what I have on hand when I start an issue. In this issue we have 10 different authors and if I can achieve that each time, I will be happy. I will also try to put like articles together, where possible, as with Michael Medlicott’s and Julian Waldron’s articles on manuscript cancels. Both of which had me looking at my own material, with me now thinking that not all those cancels I assumed were fiscal actually are fiscal. We currently have a majority of authors from the ‘BWISC’ side and I would implore those authors in the United States to send me in articles. I have already received a promise of more articles from one well known ‘BCPSG’ member, but I would like to hear from more. The reason I was a member of both societies was due to the difference in articles. Yes, there was overlap but the different approaches and interests complimented each other. The ideal journal would pick up those differences and I feel we are not there yet.

Members of the WIPSG had travelled from Jamaica, France, and all across the UK to attend the first WIPSG Biennial Convention (following the merger of the BWISC and the BCPSG societies), which was held at Weybourne House in Guildford. Many members welcomed the opportunity to catch up with one another at the dinner and in the bar area over the two days. Julian Waldron won the Collett Award for his article ‘St Christopher, Village Manuscripts and SG24b’ as the best contribution to the BWISC Bulletin in the 2021-2022 period and a full report follows. There was plenty of business on the Traders’ tables, and the presentations were all of the highest standard: • Andrew Fowles, keynote speaker, enthralled his audience with his ‘Postal History of Jamaica to 1920’. Andrew’s display included Dummer correspondence and packets of the 1700’s, early local post from offices across the island, the ‘Kingston Keyhole’, transits via South American countries, GB used abroad cancels, varieties of Kingston marks (including red), temporary date stamps and early registered post. • Peter Tribe began his talk about Montserrat philately by describing a visit in 2005 to the island and the devastation that the volcanic eruption of 1995 had caused. His exhibit included early packet letters, straight-line postal markings, the Montserrat fleuron, the introduction of British, then overprinted Antiguan stamps in the 1800’s followed by Montserrat’s own stamps, the 1897 Queen Victoria Sexagenary overprint stamps, use of the Leeward Islands definitives, and the commemoratives where he reminded the audience of the key role that Philatelists had taken in creating postal history for the island. Andrew Fowles keynote speaker • Ed Barrow shared an interesting review of the Red Cross labels, stamps and overprints of Trinidad and Tobago. • James Podger took the audience through an impressive range of early Virgin Isles stamps and proofs. • Julian Waldron and Graham Stockdale launched the WIPSG’s first book: ‘Anguilla’s Quest for Identity – the Philatelic Story’ with a captivating account of how the island’s stamps tell the story of its struggle for recognition and independence. • John Jordan presented two of his recent ‘finds’: an Antigua ‘HMS Alfred’ Warship Cover of May 1798 and an English Harbour A18 cancel of 1862; entertaining members with the social history stories behind both items. • Kevin Darcy closed the day presenting a range of Cayman Islands history on rare philatelic items – East End and farthing postage cards. • There were additionally some excellent ‘silent displays’ mounted throughout the event: Lawrence Grech provided a 16-page display of Barbados Errors from the reign of Queen Elizabeth II comprising all major printing, perforation, design and overprinting errors along with a number of unlisted varieties. Richard Capon provided a comprehensive 70-sheet display on Farthings. Alistair Kinnon gave a St Lucia display. Susan Taylor showed exibits of Trinidad and Tobago Slogans, and The People on Trinidad & Tobago Stamps. Paul Wright showed his Jamaica Red Cross and War Stamps. Steve Jarvis showed a comprehensive display of the 1969 decimal currency overprints of Jamaica. Selected scans of the exhibits will appear on the WIPSG website in due course.

This was the last time that the Collett Award was presented: The eligible publications and articles were those from two years prior to the BWISC merger with the BCPSG to form the WIPSG. The awards committee, led by James Podger FRPSL, discussed the two publications produced by the BWISC under the late Peter Ford. Mike Rego’s latest publication ‘Grenada Postal & Social History’ is a very interesting read but unfortunately ineligible as Mike is a previous winner. The other publication ‘Early BWI Covers Bearing Perkins Bacon Adhesives – Barbados’, by Peter Ford was deemed to be unsuitable for the award being a list of covers, although very useful to collectors. There were several high-quality articles to consider, and commendations are due to Wayne Menuz for his article on ‘St Lucia Statehood Stamps & Aerogrammes’, and the three articles by Lawrence Grech and Jonathan Guy relating to Barbados. The committee decided that the two articles by Julian Waldron ‘St Christopher Village Cancellations and SG 24b’ and ‘Saint Christopher Postmarks 1870 –1890’ both provided original research and were well written. The Collett Award was announced by our President, Simon Richards FRPSL, at the WIPSG convention dinner on Saturday evening. Unfortunately, Julian was unable to be with us at the dinner but attended the convention on Sunday and was invited to sign the Collett Award scroll, which he did to much applause. the Royal Philatelic Society London under their safekeeping in the Museum & Archives. Two new awards have been announced: The ‘Freeland Award’ for the publication in book form, and the ‘Booth Award’ for the best article published in the WIPSG Bulletin. The committee has decided to widen the reach of the publication in book format to include those that are published by other organisations, or self-published, provided that the book is on an area covered under the scope of the WIPSG.

What an eye-opener! If ever a monograph on a potentially dull subject has succeeded in shining a brilliant light on the philatelic and social history of the Islands, this is it. Ali’s brand-new book, well researched and lavishly illustrated, achieves a level of interest to anyone interested in Trinidad & Tobago that is totally unexpected. The culmination of more than 25 years’ study and the assembly of a fine collection, this book should become an inspiration to other writers on postmarks. A hard-bound volume of 332+ pages, very well produced on glossy paper, it encompasses a brief history of the development of the postal system in the Islands. The manner in which slogan postmarks were used to deliver social messages both to domestic and to international recipients of mail, their use as advertising medium and as propaganda are a revelation. Among thirteen tables, the scarcity scale will send every reader to interrogate their holding of machine postmarks in search of the few real rarities. More than 680 photographs provide a fascinating record of the life and people, from the simple roundsman to the great and good. The author, Jazad Ali, is to be congratulated on a significant addition to the canon of Caribbean philatelic history.

NAMED FORWARDING AGENT IN JAMAICA FOR CAYMAN ISLANDS MAIL: QV 1d Keyplate pmk’d SHOOTERS HILL NO 14 90 to James S. Webster, Bodden Town, Grand Cayman addressed c/o W.H.B. Hitchins, 2 Lower George Lane, Kingston, marked for inter-island carriage by ‘Schr Electra”. ST LUCIA POST CARD USED IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY: St Lucia ppc with Suriname 2½c tied Paramaribo 2 12 1903 sqc to Paris with handstruck SURINAME/OVER/ST. NAZAIRE. RED INK JUSQU’A BARS DELETING AIR MAIL: Trinidad censored cover with KG6 12c, 60c pmk’d PORT OF SPAIN NO 1 44 to El Biar, Algeria forwarded to Vichy, France. UNACCEPTED MIXED FRANKING with AUDIT OFFICE cachet: combination U.S. 2c Washington x 2 plus rejected by blue crayon donut Bahamas KE7 1d tied Miami MR 18 1908 machine to the Post Office, Nassau, taxed T1/10, and with AUDIT OFFICE, BAHAMAS dated 16 APR 1908. FIRST SAILING OF STEAMER TWEED MOVING INTO POSITION FOR THE RETURN MAILS BY THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED ROYAL MAIL STEAM PACKET COMPANY: entire written London DE 17 1841 initially marked “p. packet” changed ‘’By Ship” Steamer Tweed marked Paid and rated ‘8’ to May Hill, Jamaica with red ink PAID SHIP LETTER/ (crown)/17 DE 17 1841/LONDON, landed with KINGSTON SHIP LETTER JA 17 1842 broken dbl-arc. (Last old sailing packet “Seagull” arrived Falmouth with the mail MR 3 1842, the first RMSPCo steamer “Thames” arrived back at Falmouth MR 10 1842, and the “Tweed”, the 10th steamer to return, arrived back at Falmouth JY 26 1842). THE 6d SHIP LETTER RATE (introduced MR 23 1854 for both ½ ounce packet or ship letters): cover with GB QV 6d pmk’d Glasgow NO 22 62 to Nassau showing sea post ‘4” and handstruck red ‘1d’ due Colony, identified by BAHAMAS/SHIP LETTER with manuscript ‘Unclaimed’. FIRST SAILING WITH NEW 1/-PER HALF OUNCE RATE: entire written and pmk’d London AP 1 1863 franked GB QV 1/-green to Jamaica backstamped Kingston AP 20 63 arrival. (New rates were set from London and the rate to the B.W.I. was increased from 6d to 1/-per half ounce on AP 1 1863, RMSP "La Plata" departed from Southampton AP 2 1863). REBATE SHIP LETTER OFFICE: entire written Berbice marked p. ‘’Abeona” to London landed with MARGATE/SHIP LETTER, endorsed “This letter contained no enclosure 3 Nov/39” and rate rebate made by deleting 2/8 in black unpaid and added 1/4 credit in red with REBATE/(crown)/3 NO 3 1839/ SHIP LETTER OFFICE handstamp applied London. LOOSE LETTER LANDED with JAMAICA F: entire placed in the COMMERCIAL ROOMS/KINGSTON JAMAICA and carried on the packet as a “loose” letter in the captain’s bag to Ashbourne, Derbyshire rated 6/9, identified on landing at Falmouth with green ink JAMAICA F dated FE 23 1823. LOOSE LETTER CARRIED BY WARSHIP LANDED WITH LEEWARD ISLAND F: entire headed “H.M.S. Cleopatra Barbadoes” DE 10 1840 to Vice Admiral Sir David Milne G.C.B., Musselburgh, North Britain rated 1/-, landed at Falmouth and origin identified as being from the Leeward Islands group by green ink undated LEEWARD ISLAND F handstamp. ROYAL MAIL STAGECOACH DROPS OFF MAIL AT KINGSTON (Surrey) FOR JAMES MacQUEEN (cofounder RMSPCo): entire with TOBAGO dbl-arc dated AU 19 1842 to James MacQueen, Kensington, London rated 1/making a most unusual courtesy stop on the Falmouth-London stagecoach at KINGSTON on OC 6 1842. FALMOUTH BOXED SCOTTISH ‘½’ TO JAMES MacQUEEN (co-founder Royal Mail Steam Packet Company): entire posted GRENADA dbl-arc dated JA 6 1832 rated 2/5½ carried as a ‘loose’ packet letter to Falmouth where green ink boxed ‘½’ applied to either confirm Scottish wheel tax for mail crossing into Glasgow, or applied due poor despatch dbl-arc.

I am hoping WIPSG members may be able to assist me. Stanley Gibbons (1) lists thirteen printings of the Bahamas 1954 definitive series. I am trying to work out printings based on the sheet (accounting) numbers vs. date recorded by Gibbons, and to do a stocktake on the highest sheet number recorded to give an indication of the total possible number of stamps for each release. The total number of stamps quoted is based on 60 per pane, with both panes allocated a number. While this may not be completely accurate, it may provide an indication about quantities produced. 5d Modern Dairying The 5d value only had one printing in its life -1 January 1954 (1st printing). The sheet number is appx 5.25 -5.75mm high. The highest number I have seen is 13833 (829,980 stamps). 10s Modern Salt Production The 10s had two printings, one for 1 January 1954 (1st printing) and the other for 14 January 1959 (8th printing). The highest number I have recorded for 1954 is 0321 (19,260 stamps). I currently do not own a copy of this type to measure the height against the 5d. The 1959 printing had a new font used which appears to have been introduced with this printing. It should also be noted that later printings used a similar but different font (in particular the numbers 3 & 7). The highest sheet number I have seen is 4131 (247,860 stamps). The height of this sheet number is approximately 4mm. £1 – Parliament Buildings – Representative Government since 1729 The £1 had three printings. The first for 1 January 1954 (1st printing), the second for 19 October 1955 (3rd printing), and the third for 14 January 1959 (8th printing). For the 1954/55 printings, the highest sheet number I have seen in the three-digit version is 514 (30,840 stamps). I have only one recorded example of the four-digit version which 0148 (8,880 stamps) but the four digits indicate this would have been much higher (at least 1000 sheets or 60,000 stamps). The highest number seen for the 1959 printing is 5055 (or 303,300 stamps). . At this stage, I have not been able to determine which sheet number belongs to either the 1954 or 1955 printing. I am hoping some member may have a sheet number on a First Day Cover or at least cancelled prior to 19 October 1955, which may help solve the mystery. I am currently working on the 2/-and 2/6d values (which have five and four printings, respectively). If any member can add to this information, you can contact me at thedigitalphilatelist@outlook.com.

The Christopher Columbus Memorial Foundation was founded by “prominent members of American nations” to commemorate a “dramatic moment history of the Americas” and to develop San Salvador as a cultural centre. An ‘Instituto de las Americas’ was established and was intended to be a seat of high learning dedicated to activities that would contribute to the knowledge of American governmental and business relations, history, geography, language, literature and the arts. The dedication ceremony was held on Sunday, 12 October 1965 (see Figure 1). Guests arrived at San Salvador on the Grace Line’s S.S. Santa Paula (see Figure 2) on 12 October 1965 at 9.30 a.m. and departed for New York at 3.00 p.m. The Grace Line provided guests aboard the Santa Paula with First Day Covers and stationery (Figures 3 and 4) to commemorate the dedication ceremony. Guests were required to hand the covers into the purser’s office or to a Grace Line’s member of staff prior to noon on 12 October 1965 to receive the FDC postmark. Page 14 Fig. 2 The S.S. Santa Paula Fig. 4 While I have not been lucky enough to obtain copies of the stationery, I was fortunate to secure a First Day Cover (Figure 5). Fig. 5 The 25mm postmark (Figure 6) applied to the cover does not appear to be listed by Luddington & Raymond (1968) or Proud (2000). Luddington lists a reissue of the Type 7 (59-AUG66). However, the A, M and S of Bahamas type are different to the example in their book. Proud lists a similar version as D6 (unseen from 31 DEC 59–1 AUG 66). Again, the fonts of the date, the position of the date, and the lettering is different to the example shown. I am not sure if other members have more information on this postmark type.

Stanley Gibbons lists several varieties for the first, 1965 Marine Life issue of Barbados with upright watermark. These include the 4c ‘Sea Urchin’ Imperforate and 12c ‘Balloon Fish’ Grey Printing Double along with various watermark varieties. The misspelling of Hippocampus on the 3c ‘Sea Horse’ value is also noted. The 12c ‘Balloon Fish’ Grey Printing Double error is dealt with in some detail on page 51 of The Stamps of Barbados Volume II, by Mr E.A. Bayley, in which he informs us that: There were only two sheets of the 12c with grey printing double which were […..] purchased by the author from the General Post Office. He goes on to say: The second impression of the whole area of the Balloon Fish appears 15mm to the right of the normal position and projects beyond the borders of the stamp and is clearly visible on the white border of the stamp. Figure 1 illustrates an example of this error with the second grey printing extending into the margin where the fish’s eye is clearly visible. With this in mind, I was intrigued to come across the item illustrated in Figure 2 at a recent stamp fair. This clearly shows a similar ‘shadow’ Grey Printing, in this case offset horizontally by 2mm and vertically by 3mm, extending into the upper margin where the spines of the fish are visible. My first thought was that it must be a variation of the double overprint, influenced in part, by the dealer listing it as such and by its similarity to the Double Printing illustrated in Figure 1. However, with the assistance of the RPSL expert committee, I now understand this to be a case of the Grey Printing being offset, due to movement of the paper during the printing process, rather than a double overprint. Indeed, if one compares the underbelly of the fish on the two illustrated examples it is evident that the grey ink is absent from the example in Figure 2 whereas it is present in Figure 1. Not as significant a variety as a double print then, but an interesting example of another mishap during the printing process. 4c “Sea Urchin” Deep Blue & Olive-Green – Mis-Perf -SG345var Clearly Harrisons & Sons had some difficulties with the printing of the Marine Life issues. It seems they also had some challenges with the perforating process. The examples below emanate from the second, 1966 Marine Life issue with sideways watermark. The item illustrated in Figure 3 first appeared in the “A Case for Independent Barbados” article co-authored with Jonathon Guy (See BWISC Bulletin #272). Following the publication of the article I came across a top left corner block of the same issue displaying an identical mis-perf, see Figure 4. Using this block one can place the original marginal pair at position 3 of rows 1 and 2. More recently still, I acquired the full sheet illustrated in Figure 5, again displaying the same mis-perf. (the perforation holes aligning perfectly with the earlier examples). Evidently there were at least three sheets affected with the same perforation error. Fig. 4 Top Left Corner Block Looking more closely at the full sheet, whereas the top margin is normally imperforate the lower margin is perforated through to the lower edge of the sheet. It appears to be the pins from this lower edge which have created the misperforation at the top of the sheet in the above examples. As to how this error might have occurred, knowing little about perforating machines and processes, I would speculate that the affected sheets were not moved fully clear of the perforating machine prior to the subsequent sheet being perforated. If anyone can shed any further light on how this error might have occurred, I would be delighted to hear from them. Similarly, it would be interesting to know if anyone has seen further examples of this mis-perforation.

These notes are prompted by the appearance in the Victoria Stamp Company’s public auction of April 15-16, 2023, of a previously unrecorded manuscript cancellation. This “discovery copy” is of SG1, the 1874 Queen Victoria One Penny lilac, watermark Crown CC, perf 12.5, cancelled in manuscript “Roseau/12/5/76”, nothing from Roseau having been recorded before. Approached with all due caution (and with a practised eye), the stamp and its cancellation can be considered above suspicion (see Figure 1). The extension of Dominica’s Postal Service inland was proposed on 9 March 1875, to be based on the Police Station at Fort Young on the outskirts of Roseau. The Inspector of Police was in charge of the service, and policemen sold stamps and delivered letters to houses on the road. Dominica’s mountainous terrain and the condition of her roads made serving the villages a formidable task, and a coastal steamer soon replaced the quadrupeds. St Joseph, Colihaut, Portsmouth and La Saye (Wesley) were the original villages served; Rosalie and Castle Bruce were added later in the year and Vieille Case in 1878. To these Receiving Offices were added Dubuc (Grand Bay), Pointe Michel, Felicite (La Plaine) and Soufriere in September 1884 or later. This period, lasting until 1886, when a reduction in the Police Force from 26 to 16 men was made, is known as the “Police Period”, during which all mail was cancelled by hand in manuscript for despatch from the Receiving Offices with the name of the village and (usually) the date. Proud (1) reproduces random examples of most of the manuscript cancellations but makes no mention of Fort Young (Roseau) Police Station. Robert Wynstra and Charles E. Cwiakala (2), leading lights in the BCPSG, now our US partner, were the important source of research and did not report Roseau either. From this so-called Police Period (1875-1886) manuscript cancellations are all very hard to acquire and sometimes are in the great rarity class. Some villages are known only through a single surviving example and none are known on more than a handful of stamps, usually SG1. At auction, most often Victoria, they have each realised up to US$1,200; the sole recorded example on cover, Grand Bay, made US$8,000 in 2010. Most British Caribbean Colonies resorted to pen and ink to cancel stamps used in outlying Postal Agencies before dedicated handstamps were available, and occasionally in main Offices when the appropriate date stamp was destroyed or mislaid. These manuscript cancels are always at least scarce, with St Christopher being the most plentiful source. In the case of St Christopher, it is important to note that examples identifying the Office of origin by adding its name to the date (eg “Dieppe Bay” or simply D.B.) are a tiny proportion of the total and command a hefty price premium (see Figure 2). In the writer’s collection the only exception to classification of scarcity is the Northern Nigeria Office of Jebba, which provides some thirty examples (see Figure 3). The newly appointed High Commissioner, Sir Frederick Lugard, formerly Commandant of the West Africa Frontier Force, moved to establish control over the lawless tribal areas of the North. Before the arrival of Northern Nigeria cancellers, Jebba began generating quantities of mail in January 1900, cancelling stamps in scarlet ink until August 1901. In April 1886, the Dominica Inland Postal Service passed into civilian control and, on May 8 1886, sub-Postmasters were appointed at Soufriere, Grand Bay, La Plaine, Wesley, Vieille Case, Portsmouth, St Joseph and Colihaut. Rosalie was added on 1 January 1887, and Pointe Michel was closed. The Postmasters were authorised to sell Halfpenny and One Penny stamps, and outgoing mail continued to be cancelled in manuscript as before until the general introduction of circular date stamps in August 1900. The horizontal A07 obliterator had been transferred to Portsmouth in 1887. The appearance at auction of the explicit Roseau manuscript cancel at Figure 1 caused this writer to re-examine his manuscript dated examples of SG1 with no Office expressed and to unearth the stamp shown in Figure 4, hitherto a sleeper among non-attributable manuscript cancels. The handwriting of the dates in Figure 1 and Figure 4 is an excellent match, leaving little room for doubt that both emanated from Roseau. If the Police Inspector in charge of Postal matters at Fort Young, Roseau, adopted the practice of cancelling adhesives with the date alone at an early date in 1876, it is unsurprising that explicit examples showing “Roseau” are so rare. Figure 1 is so far believed unique. In passing, it is to be noted that all Dominica Halfpenny and One Penny Postage stamps with manuscript cancellations dated after 19 May 1877, when they were withdrawn from Revenue use, are well worth examining.

I have noticed in recent years that some auction houses and others are again wrongly describing printer samples as colour trials. A colour trial would have been produced prior to the design and the colours being finalised, whereas printer samples would have been produced later and used by representatives of the printer to show prospective customers what can be done. Specifically, these samples were produced by De La Rue in the 1920s; they had been especially authorised by the Crown Agents. The samples were produced for at least 26 countries, including for the West Indies: Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Honduras, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts Nevis, St Vincent, Turks & Caicos islands. Marcus Samuel wrote an article in The London Philatelist, November 1973; Vol: 82 Issue 971. These sample proofs have frequently been misdescribed as 'colour trials'. They were certainly not made for colour selection and their status is that of reprints. But they are most attractive, having been very clearly printed in colours which often appear superior to those used for the issued stamps. … JAMAICA 1919-22 1½d indigo, 2d purple and indigo, 2½d myrtle and orange-brown, 3d sepia and bluegreen, 4d orange-brown and sepia, 6d (unissued Abolition of Slavery) blue-green and purple, 6d (issued Port Royal) sepia and maroon, 1s lake and myrtle, 2s blue-green and sepia, 3s carmine and blue-green, 5s blue-green and ultramarine, 10s carmine. All except the unissued 6d also exist without 'Specimen'. [6d slavery subsequently recorded] In May 1922 DLR wrote to the Crown Agents: We are anxious to obtain your kind permission to print specimen proofs from some of the original Stamp and Bank Note plates which we have engraved for your Department in the past. These specimen single stamps and notes would be printed in colours entirely different from the genuine issues and would be cancelled by the words "De la Rue & Co., Specimen” and gummed into Specimen Books when used by our Travellers. … We enclose a list of the plates which we should like to use for the purpose stated above. The Crown Agents responded: In reply to your letter of the 24th May, I have to inform you that we have no objection to your proposal to print specimens of some of the stamps and currency notes which you have engraved for us in the past provided they are printed in different colours from the original issues and cancelled by the words "De la Rue & Co., Specimen”. Please furnish us with a set of these specimens for reference in this Office. Our Inspector has been instructed to issue to you the necessary plates. These Printer Samples are all imperforate on thick paper. They are described and listed in Marcus Samuel’s Specimen Stamps of the Crown Colonies 1857–1948. For Jamaica, three variations of the ‘SPECIMEN’ overprint are noted DS1, DS2, DS3. The overprinting is often very untidy. The need for inclusion of “De la Rue & Co.” seems to have been lost somewhere along the way, as was the word “SPECIMEN” in some cases. The following pages show images of the issued stamps and printer samples, plus proof material in colour that I have recorded. This proof material is a mixture of items described as Die Proofs, Colour Trials and Imprimaturs (often inconsistently). In several cases the images below are cropped to exclude surrounding guidelines and information. There are no samples of the halfpenny and penny values as these were typographed rather than recess printed. No record of printings has been discovered. Images from various sources, in particular, the author’s collection, Spink Dubois, Corinphila Besancon. ½d & 1d No Samples 1½d Proof Issued Sample Proof Proof Proof Proof Proof 2d Proof Proof Issued Sample 2½d Proof Issued Sample 3d Proof Proof Proof Issued Sample 4d Proof Issued Sample 6d Slavery Proof Prepared for issue Sample 6d Port Royal Proof Issued Sample 1s Proof Proof Issued Sample 2s Proof Issued Sample 3s 5s Proof Issued Sample 10s Proof Issued Sample Samples Numbered on Brown Card In recent years these printer’s samples have appeared affixed to brown card with a number underneath (in varying fonts). The purpose is uncertain, perhaps these were those cut up and glued into the specimen books used by their travellers referred to in the correspondence. The 4d example to the right and below shows that the same number was not used for a particular denomination. Bottom right below shows an example from Bermuda.

In BWISC Bulletin No. 269 of June 2021, Mike Rego mentioned the need to find a Post Office Notice or an official statement to establish the start date for the Leeward Islands 2½d inter-island letter rate. I found it for Mike in the Leeward Islands Gazette of 23 March 1882 and volunteered to write it up. When the Leeward Islands joined the UPU on 1 July 1879, postage rates became subject to the Paris UPU Convention of 1878. The basic Union rates were equivalent to 2½d for a letter and 1d for a postcard. However, a UPU member had the right (not the obligation) to impose a sea surtax if the maritime conveyance exceeded 300 miles. The UK opted for the full sea surtax in such cases, raising the letter rate to 4d and postcard rate to 1½d. Unfortunately, when it came time for the GPO London to notify the Colony, it failed to grasp that the 300 sea miles qualification had created a new inter-island rate class. London notified the Postmaster at St John’s that the new basic postage rates would be 4d for letters and 1½d for postcards. Period. Whether the destination was London or nearby St Kitts was irrelevant. As a result, for nearly three years, inter-island postage rates included an invalid sea surtax and therefore contravened the Paris Convention. In early 1882, the GPO London belatedly discovered the error and sent the following Notice to the Colony. Transcription from Royal Gazette of the Leeward Islands, Thursday, March 23, 1882 Colonial Secretary’s Office. March 23, 1882. The Governor directs the publication of the following letter from the Secretary of the General Post Office to the Postmaster of Antigua. No. 9737 General Post Office London 8 February 1882 Sir, It has just been discovered that in preparing the instructions which were sent to you from this office for your guidance in carrying into effect the alterations in the Postal Union rates and regulations prescribed by the Paris Convention, no special reference was made, as it should have been, to correspondence transmitted by one Union Country to another Union Country when the distance by sea does not exceed 300 miles; and it is believed that such correspondence has been improperly subjected to a surcharge for Sea conveyance in addition to the Union rate. By the terms of Article IV, Section 3 of the Paris Convention, every Sea conveyance not exceeding 300 nautical miles is, under certain circumstances, gratuitous, while in other circumstances payment is made at the reduced rate of 2 Francs per kilogramme of letters and 25 centimes of other articles. In the case of your office, the latter arrangement prevails; and for correspondence carried between Antigua and Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Tortola (the Sea Conveyance being less than 300 miles) your office should account for the reduced Sea rates above referred to instead of the rates at present in force. Letters etc. carried for this reduced rate are not liable to any charge beyond the primary Union rate, viz. Letters … … … 2½d Postcards … … 1d Newspapers, Printed Papers, Books, etc. Per 2oz. … … ½d Commercial Papers Same as printed papers except that the lowest charge for each packet is 2½d Patterns Same as printed papers except that the lowest charge For each packet is 1d If, therefore, you have been led into the error of requiring from the senders of such correspondence the full rates, as to England, I request that you cease to do so in future, taking the necessary measures for notifying the alteration to the public. . . . It will be convenient to adopt the new rates of accounting on and from the 1st of April next, and I shall be glad if you will arrange accordingly. I am, Sir, Your Obedient Servant (Signed Edward H. Rey) THE POSTMASTER, ANTIGUA Such was the genesis of inter-island postage rates for the Leeward Islands. They should have applied from July 1879. The 1 April 1882 effective date is the same that Mike Rego found for the Windward Islands. The inter-island rates for the Leeward Islands were valid for destinations extending from Tortola in the north to St Lucia in the Windward Islands in the south. Franking for the new 2½d inter-island letter rate should not have been difficult, since each of the islands had issued a 2½d stamp in 1879. (Did the GPO London wonder why?). Figure 1 shows a July 1891 example of the 2½d letter UNION rate to St Croix in the DWI. (Britain did not abolish the last sea surtaxes to foreign destinations until 1 January 1893.) Finding early examples of the rate seems to be difficult. The new 1d inter-island postcard rate created more of a problem. The only postal stationery available was the 1879 1½d postcard. It had to continue in interisland use after 1 April 1882, despite overpaying ½d. Figure 2 shows an example used to St Kitts in 1885. Antigua had no 1d PSC until 1886. I’m not sure about the other islands. Fig. 2

This (Figure 1) St Christopher postcard sent to the Reverend Uh in St Thomas appeared in a recent auction in France. It is of some relevance to the island’s late nineteenth century postal history because; 1) its date ties into a period of stamp shortage, and 2) it bears a manuscript date and was probably sent from one of the four island villages (Dieppe Bay, Sandy Point, Cayon and Old Road), via the main post office in Basseterre. The standard 1d card was valid for inter-island postage under 300 miles. It left the St Kitts village on 9 January 1890 (manuscript at bottom left) and Basseterre a day later (10 January). The card is cancelled using a combination of the A12 barred canceller and a circular datestamp off to the left. A St Thomas arrival stamp is dated 11 January. The card’s message is in German. UNION Fig.1 1d St Christopher postcard dated 9 January 1890 to St Thomas. Concerning the Date of the Postal Card and the Stamp Shortage on St Kitts There was a shortage of stamps on St Christopher at the end of 1889. The previous invoices were: ½d and 1d duties 21 January 1889; 2½d duty 16 May 1887; and 4d duty 12 May 1888. The long delay before re-ordering might have been due to the proposal to adopt a single ‘Leeward Islands’ issue replacing the presidential stamps, to proposed colour changes, or because (according to De La Rue) the key plate was wearing out. We know that some duties were still available until well into the Autumn. The 2½d (SG16) is found on a cover dated 24 October (with three ½d (SG11) stamps to make up the 4d rate – was the 4d already exhausted?). However, this duty probably ran out shortly thereafter – a cover dated 15 November to the Virgin Islands (Brookes/Spink lot #315) uses five ½ds to make up the reduced inter-island rate. This cover is the latest known usage, prior to the shortage. From 21 November 1889, the postmaster used a “St Kitts PAID” handstamp – probably adapted from one used on the island from 1866 to 1870. The last known use of this handstamp is on a cover to Antigua dated 12 December 1889. New ½d, 1d, 2½d and 4d stamps were invoiced on 29 November 1889 but it is not known exactly when they arrived. The pre-Christmas mail boat left St Kitts on 19 December. A registered cover survives dated 19 December 1889 (Brookes/Spink lot#265), but this is franked with a 6d Green SG9, one of the large quantity of leftover stock of this stamp last ordered in 1879 – it was not one of the exhausted duties. Otherwise, the newly ordered stamps first appear on a cover to Germany dated 29 January 1890 (ex-Brookes, ex-Spink 16017 lot#1280) franked with a 4d Grey SG18 – of which more anon. The gap in the record at Basseterre (the 6d cover aside) thus lasts some nine weeks. However, four items with village manuscript cancellations survive from this blank period. The first is our postcard to Germany (note that postal stationery is not known at villages before this date – but is known on Anguilla from at least 1885). Second, a single loose ½d (SG11) dated 16 December is the earliest example after the “PAID” period (Figure 2). Third, a loose 1d (SG13) survives dated 2 January 1890 (Figure 3). Last, Michael Medlicott’s WIPSG display shows a loose manuscript cancellation stamp dated 3 January 1890 (Figure 4). The handwriting is not the same as Figure 3 – 1d stamps were available in more than one village. The loose stamps could be from the new order or equally from residual stock at a village (even if stocks at Basseterre had run out). 1d stamps were in short supply in any case at Basseterre, where the postmaster started to use the Antigua 1d stamp as a provisional on or before 23 January 1890 (the practice was officialised later). Fig. 2 ½d Green SG11 Fig. 3 1d Carmine Rose SG13 Fig. 4 1d Carmine Rose SG13 16 December 1889 2 January 1890 3 January 1890 We can conclude that, despite the disruption at Basseterre, the postal services at villages were maintained. This was achieved either thanks to residual local stock, and/or some new supply, the use of postal stationery or (later) the Antigua 1d provisionals (confirmed by a surviving cover sent from Dieppe Bay on 18 March 1890). Identifying the Manuscript Cancellation on the Postal Card Our postcard was sent from Bethesda on St Kitts according to the message on the reverse. Bethesda is one of the island’s Moravian chapels and this allows us to trace from which village the cover was sent – Cayon. The Moravian Church has a long history in the West Indies generally and was present on St Kitts in the late 1700s. The St Kitts Blue Books record the Moravian population on the island sedulously. The 29 January cover referred to earlier (Figure 5) was addressed to Hernnhut, Germany, the home of the Moravian Church. The sender’s handwriting is identical to our postcard and this cover was also sent from the Moravian chapel at Cayon. Fig. 5 Cover dated 29 January 1890 to Herrnhut, Germany There is an earlier letter to the same addressee, dated 5 July 1889: same manuscript style, so same origins – a third cover from Cayon. Correspondence was regular -a Leeward Islands 1d postcard to Hernnhut from Bethesda is cancelled 14 November 1893: but has no manuscript date: by this time, village postmasters were no longer routinely dating mail. Attributing the Known Covers with Manuscript Dates to Villages At the latest count, there are eighteen cards and covers with manuscript cancellations dating from 1896 or before – fourteen from before 1890 when all of the loose stamps originate. Twelve of these were in the Brookes/Spink auction and two postcards (including that featured in this article) have appeared since. I have kindly been sent four scans from Michael Hamilton and Darryl Fuller of covers and postcards from between 1892 and 1896. I would attribute as follows (with date, auction provenance where known and addressee): Cayon – either because the origin is given on the cover/card or based on addressee, handwriting and/or date style. Date Auction Provenance Addressee 26/09/88 Brookes/Spink 395 Wesleyan Mission, Cheshire 05/07/89 Brookes/Spink 396 Herrnhut, Germany 09/01/90 Lugdunum 2022 Rev Uh, St Thomas 29/01/90 Brookes/Spink 397 Herrnhut, Germany 11/01/92 n/a George Calff, Surrey, England 20/09/95 n/a The "American Storekeeper", USA 29/10/95 Brookes/Spink 399 Stanley Gibbons, England 15/09/96 n/a Eagle Pencil Company, New York Dieppe Bay – as the origin is given on the cover/card. 18/03/90 n/a George Pearce, Postmaster, Basseterre 07/05/90 Brookes/Spink 398 Wesleyan Minister, Barbados 03/11/90 n/a George Calff, Surrey, England In addition, two can tentatively be tied to the same village – possibly Cayon, (i) the local “Adamson” cover dated 30 April 1885 - Adamson’s Lodge Estate is in Cayon parish – (Brookes/Spink lot #392) and (ii) the Bernardy cover dated 25 August 1885 (Brookes/Spink lot #394) as the handwriting on the manuscript cancellation is very similar to the Adamson cover. That would make possibly eleven in total from Cayon – a coincidence as it was not the largest village parish on St Christopher at the time. None (as yet) from Old Road nor Sandy Point! There are four more items to be assessed from 1897/8 (three to Myerscough) which Michael Medlicott ascribes to Cayon too! An additional point on the handwriting styles on the covers: that on the 1885 covers is markedly different from the 1888/90 series which is different again from the 1892/5/6/7 examples (two were sent by Skerritt). One of the difficulties in ascribing manuscript cancellations to particular villages is not knowing how often the sub-postmasters changed job. At Cayon, based on the above analysis, I would argue three changes of village postmaster over this seven-year period. Handwriting attribution remains a contentious point: I hope to bring some forensic clarity to this subject soon. Who was Catherine Muir of the Dispensary, Demerara? We still have (at least) five earlier covers to nail down. Three are to Catherine Muir at the Dispensary in Demerara (Brookes/Spink lots #387-389): she is recorded as a druggist on the High Street, Charleston in 1880. Someone, for some reason, somewhere in a village on St Christopher was writing to her at least every two months in the 1879 - 1880 period. She was probably writing back – if someone knows more about her or could check their outgoing Guyana covers from this period, I would be grateful.

The New York, Rio and Buenos Aires (NYRBA) airline was a short-lived company which competed with Pan American Airways to fly airmail, freight and passengers in and to South America from the United States. One of its calling points was Saint Lucia. The first airmail flight to the USA left Buenos Aires on 19 February 1929 but so far, no covers addressed to Saint Lucia from Argentina have been recorded. However, covers from this flight originating in British Guiana (Figure 1) and Trinidad (Figure 2) are known. St Lucia. Fig. 2 NYRBA First Flight from Trinidad to St Lucia. These covers arrived at Castries on February 25th after a journey from Buenos Aires which involved the use of four different aircraft due to accidents. The Trinidad cover bears a specially produced local label. Mail was collected at the stop in Castries for destinations further north (Figures 3 and 4). Fig. 3 NYRBA First Flight from St Lucia to Puerto Rico. Fig. 4 NYRBA First Flight from St Lucia to New York. A few covers bear the mark of the handstamp produced by the airline. Because NYRBA did not have a contract from the United States Postmaster General such airmail was impounded on arrival and forwarded by overland means. These covers are known as “outlaw covers”. The cover in Figure 5, from Brazil, is date-stamped at Recife on 26 February 1930 and again on 7 March but was not received at Castries until 11 April. It would appear that perhaps the earlier flight(s) did not take place. It shows one of the handstamps used by the airline. The first southbound NYRBA airmail via Castries originated from Dominica on 27 February. The cover shown (Figure 6) is addressed to Barbados and was put on a boat to Barbados at Castries on 27 February. The next southbound flight was from Haiti on 7 March (Figure 7) and called to Castries on its way to Buenos Aires. Mail to other Caribbean destinations was offloaded at Castries. Mail from Port au Prince bore a large circular cachet “Premier Vol / NYRBA”. There seems to be some confusion about the correct rate as covers are known with 25 cent, 75 cent or 1 Gourde franking (Figures 7 & 8). Mail was loaded at Saint Lucia for destinations further south. Covers destined for Port of Spain, Trinidad show one of the handstamps produced by the airline (Figure 9). On 8 April the seaplane “Cuba” left Port of Spain for Barbados and collected mail (Figure 10) there for Saint Lucia and other destinations northwards to Miami. These covers are the first airmail from Barbados to Saint Lucia. Fig. 8 NYRBA Flights from Haiti to Montserrat, St Vincent and Grenada, all via St Lucia. Fig. 9 NYRBA Flight from St Lucia to Trinidad. Fig. 10 NYRBA Flight from Barbados to St Lucia. Although there had been earlier flights from Castries to Trinidad, the first covers to Tobago are not known until 29 May and are marked in manuscript “First Air Mail, St Lucia – Tobago”. Fig 11 is a registered cover to a wellknown aerophilatelist of the time. A NYRBA flight left Grenada on 20 July with mail for Trinidad. A few pieces were sent on to Castries and became the first airmail from Grenada to Saint Lucia (Figure 12). About one month later, in August 1930, the New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Airline was taken over by Pan American Airways and ceased to exist. There is however a postscript. Fig. 12 NYRBA Flight from Grenada to St Lucia. Fig. 11 NYRBA Flight from St Lucia to Tobago. On 6 June 1930 covers (Figure 13) were prepared in Montserrat for a NYRBA flight which was postponed due to bad weather. These covers were held at the Post Office in Plymouth. On 23 February 1931, HMS Dorsetshire visited Montserrat and the Captain was persuaded to allow this mail to be carried by his seaplane to his next port of call at St Kitts. Some were sent to Castries, becoming the first airmail from Montserrat to Saint Lucia arriving on February 27th.

Graham’s fine collection of this material was sold by Spink on 25 October 2022. There was plenty of pre-sale interest, but the thoughts were would all the material from the Codrington and Tudway correspondence find buyers. As it turned out, no problem with this as almost all the lots were strongly competed for, selling for well above estimate. Lot 1026, the entire put on the Dummer packet ‘Prince’ sparked interest eventually selling for five times upper estimate at £2000. Only one lot of Bahamas remained unsold. There was strong competition from a telephone bidder who was active throughout the sale but particularly for the Barbados section where this bidder secured a good proportion of the lots, including lot 1132 the envelope ex the Poole correspondence which sold for £1400 well above upper estimate. Bermuda bidding was less spirited with the majority of the lots selling midestimate or below. The British Guiana section was a sell-out, where once again the telephone bidder was very active with lots generally selling for estimate or above. The Cuba section was disappointing with eighteen of the lots unsold, although lot 1278 the ‘Paid at Havana’ crown circle sold for £900, more than double upper estimate. There were further examples of Codrington and Tudway correspondence in the Danish West Indies section with the St Thomas large fleuron, lot 1304, selling for £950; and lot 1306 the straight-line St Thomas making £500. The small section of Dominica all sold with two examples of the Type PS6 marking making £580 and £650. Apart from lot 1330 which made £900, almost double upper estimate, the Grenada section was weak although all the lots found new homes. The Jamaica section started off with a Dummer Packet entire which sold for the lower estimate, £3000. The 18th and 19th century Ship Letters all sold with the majority above estimate. Lot 1361 made £1300 which was £600 less than Graham paid in the Dubois sale in July 2021, but conversely lot 1368 which was £650 in the Dubois sale made £750. The Falmouth Ship Letter (Proud Type SL 2 and unrecorded by Foster) made £1900 which was £400 more than at Dubois, and the Montego Bay Ship Letter (Proud Type SL 2) made £1200 again £400 more than at Dubois (November 2020 sale). The Port Maria Ship Letter (Proud Type SL 2) sold for £700 which was £400 less than Dubois (November 2020 sale). These seem to have balanced themselves out. The same internet buyer bought the five lots incoming to Cayman from Jamaica, all at below lower estimate. One of the auction agents managed to secure seven of the Martinique lots for a client with realisations being mixed. Montserrat started with the telephone bidder securing the first three lots: Lot 1425 which had a superb strike of the ‘Montserrat’ double-arc date stamp sold for mid estimate £550. In Nevis the telephone bidder bought the first two lots also the first lot of St Christopher. The two envelopes to St Thomas and Antigua with the undated ‘St Kitts Paid’ in red both sold above upper estimate. Realisations for the rest of the St Christopher section were comparable to the Brookes sale of January 2018 with lot 1456 bearing a ½d strip of four and single making £1300 on a £600 upper estimate. The telephone bidder again won the first three lots of St Lucia and four of the first five lots of St Vincent with the 1772 letter, ex Jaffe, making £950 and lot 1469 more than doubling the upper estimate. The one Tobago lot sold to the telephone bidder for £600 on a £250 upper estimate. The small Trinidad selection had mixed results although lot 1480 which consisted of eight entires sold to the internet for £850 which was more than double upper estimate. Turks and Caicos Islands lots all sold. The three Virgin Islands lots all sold for above upper estimate. In the Shipping Lines section lot 1507 which was a collection of thirty-one entires sold for £1300 on a £600-£800 estimate. The manuscript cancels for the ‘Eden’, ‘Esk’ and ‘Solent’ had mixed results with lot 1512 ‘Eden’ on envelope from Dominica to St Lucia making £800 on a £600 upper estimate; lots 1514 and 1515 were unsold and lot 1516 ‘Solent’ on envelope from Dominica to London made £750 which was half lower estimate. Lot 1520 the Quebec Steamship Co. made £3500 beating the upper estimate of £2500. The section of Ship Letters of the British Isles included several which originated from the Caribbean and competition was strong between the telephone and the internet bidders. The majority sold for above estimate, including lot 1569 from St Croix with ‘Ship Letter / Crown / Lancaster’ (Robertson Type S.4) ex Stone selling at the £1200 upper estimate. One of the highest realisations was lot 1578 a selection of fifteen entires / entire letters which made £3800 on a £300 -£400 estimate. I counted sixty-five different bidders for the West Indies and Transatlantic lots, of which the telephone bidder won by far the most lots (eighty-six if my math is correct). There were two bidders who purchased over twenty lots each and nine who purchased between ten and twenty lots. Internet bidders made the vast majority but there were several book bidders and several bidders had left bids on the Spink website. In the Ship Letters section there were thirty-seven different bidders across the bidding platforms, many of which had already bid on the West Indies and Transatlantic Mail section. Four of these bidders bought more than ten lots, including the telephone bidder. Spink did not stop for any breaks and the sale lasted almost eight hours. Based on the sale it does look like collecting West Indies postal history is still ‘hot’ as there are plenty of buyers out there. Your reporter managed to acquire eighteen lots to add to his collection. No doubt there will be after-sale activity with some of the unsolds finding new homes. Spink produced a nice catalogue recording this part of Graham’s collections, which provides a good paper record for the future. Graham would be very pleased to see the catalogue in printed form! Lot 1304: 1809 entire from Parnham House, Antigua to Somerset, ex Tudway correspondence, sent privately to St Thomas where it was struck with the large fleuron for DEC 6 1809. One of the lots purchased by your reporter.

I am pleased to report that the AGM went smoothly, and the Constitution was approved by an overwhelming majority. You will note from the minutes that after a long period without change, we need to increase our membership subscription slightly to off-set the effect of inflation on our printing and postage costs. The digital membership is still only £8 and we would encourage you to consider converting to this option. When the two societies merged, I undertook to investigate printing and distributing from North America to American members. Unfortunately, much to my surprise, it turned out that the overall costs were greater than continuing with our current UK printers; therefore, the subscription cost for Americas members remains at $30 (which is the same as paid to BCPSG). The auction was also a success with nearly 70% of lots sold on the day achieving over £28,000. Congratulations to Simon Richards and the auction team for all their hard work. Looking forward, we have our convention in October at Guildford. Please try to attend, it will be an opportunity to meet your fellow collectors and see their material, especially Andrew Fowles’ Jamaica. Finally, a reminder to ensure you have paid your 2023 subscription, you can confirm on the web site.

It is impossible to overstate the contribution that Peter made to the British West Indies Study Circle over the last more than 30 years. He was Chairman of the Society for 14 years from 2003 before passing on the baton to Graham Booth in 2017, and in that role oversaw conventions, representation at exhibitions including London 2010, the Diamond Jubilee 2014, and the 2004 Golden Jubilee of the Study Circle and events to celebrate it. Peter had always gone out of his way to encourage new members for which he will be remembered by many. Over many years, his leadership and drive brought to publication many scholarly books and his editorial demands for perfection were sometimes the bane of dilatory authors. His enthusiasm for collecting British Guiana was also infectious. He was the friendly face of the society, the one who encouraged members to research and write, and a person who was well known and greatly respected in the wider philatelic community. He will be hugely missed. Peter started on the BWISC committee as Public Relations officer in 1991. His tireless efforts over nearly 30 years as Publications Officer from 1997 will be a permanent legacy to subsequent generations of philatelists. From starting out in 1994 producing Victor Toeg's book on Dominica, to embracing more recently the latest 'print on demand' technology for short runs of books that otherwise would never have seen the light of day, Peter produced a series of books and study papers second to none. Currently the list runs to over 40 publications; each and every one enhanced the prestige of the Study Circle. Included in that list are those that he either wrote or co-wrote centred on Trinidad and Tobago and also those on the early Perkins Bacon issues. Of particular note historically is his involvement in the updating of the original Marriott book on Trinidad, particularly because of his early family history with that country. Peter was born in Aylesbury, Kent, but lived in South Africa and Trinidad with his family during his early childhood. On leaving education he joined the RAF and travelled the world flying Vulcan and Canberra bombers. He served his country in the Falklands war. Then Peter joined Dan Air and later Monarch Airlines flying around Europe and the world. In 2002, he and Pat relocated to Spain, where they spent many happy years. A visit to him and his wife Pat at their home there, following his move there in retirement, was always something to look forward to, as were occasions as his guest at the RAF club in Piccadilly, when partaking of a few beers was always near the top of the agenda. A family man, Peter spoke frequently and with great affection about his son Andrew, daughter Antonia (‘Toni’), his wife Pat, and his dogs. Larger than life, forceful and genial, the passing of Peter Ford leaves the BWISC and the wider philatelic world poorer. He will perhaps be best remembered by his fellow collectors for his conviviality and warmth.

Our 51st annual auction took place on 29 April, the first since our new WIPSG name was adopted. The catalogue was dominated by some 350 lots from Graham Booths estate that had somehow not been swept up in all the main auction house sales. This was almost half the lots on offer, and we managed to achieve the targeted probate valuation. There were 26 other vendors and the overall sales percentage hit 80% which is the highest many of us can remember. Some 69 members bid on the book, there were 18 room bidders and 13 members acquired lots after the sale. Overall some £31,273 was spent and almost all members got something. There is no buyer premium, but the 10% commission provides useful income to the WIPSG. The top price achieved was £420 for Lot 217, a British Honduras block of nine including the ‘Bevenue’ variety. 28 overseas buyers were successful and 14 of those were from the USA. Four vendors were also US LATIN based. PayPal providing the most widely used means of settlement now that we no longer have Bruce Aitken acting as our agent in the US. This year anything ‘Leewards’ seemed to do well as did Jamaica. Barbados was much less strongly supported this year and very few seem to follow Bermuda. The auction couldn’t work without the team effort and my thanks to Charles Kennard for doing the scanning, to John Jordan for checking the condition, to James Podger for conducting the auction and to Steve Jarvis for turning my descriptions and Charles’ scans into a printable catalogue. The work begins in August for the 2024 auction. We continue to have a good supply of postal history from our past President Graham Booth, but we are on the lookout for other consignments. Two other estates may be offering material, but we need some more. Material is needed really by mid-November and earlier is better, in order for us to adequately describe, scan and check to get the catalogue to the printers with the March Bulletin. Please do send a list with your lots and it is a good idea to e-mail me in advance. Full results are available on the website.

1. Chairman’s Welcome and Opening Remarks (Steve Jarvis) A minute’s silence was held in memory of Peter Ford, Chris May, David Horry and other past members lost over the past 12 months. 2. Apologies for Absence Malcolm Lacey, Dave Tetley, Kevin Darcy, John Seidl, Steve Zirinsky, Darryl Fuller, David Druett, James Gavin, Tim Pearce and Richard Capon all conveyed their apologies. 23 members of the society were present. 3. Minutes of Previous Meeting and Matters Arising There were no matters arising and the record of the 2022 meeting was accepted as written. 4. Chairman’s Report (Steve Jarvis) 2022 was a difficult year following the demise of our President and Chairman, Graham Booth and our long-term Vice-President Simon Goldblatt. My first year as Chairman has been a baptism of fire, dealing with the merger of the BWISC and BCPSG societies. We now seem to have regrouped and are moving forward. The BWISC membership at the end of 2022 was 298 and our combined membership is now 380, which is a very solid base. I wish to thank all Committee members for their support throughout the year. The main challenge for the next year is filling gaps on the Committee to replace retirees (Publications Manager, Advertising Manager and Accounts Independent Examiner). I wish to thank Terry Harrison and John Davis for their many years of service to the Society. Many of you will know that Peter Ford has died. Peter was a former Editor of the journal and Chairman of the Society and has made a substantial contribution to the BWISC over many years. His work as Publications Manager has been prolific and as a result, I think it makes the society stand out from the crowd. If anyone would like to join the Committee to fill these vacant roles, we would like to hear from them. Our other challenge is to revitalise the Society by becoming more inclusive for members on both sides of the pond and further afield. We intend to introduce Zoom meetings and Susan Taylor and John Jordan have offered to fly over for a 2024 meeting in the USA, provided there is sufficient interest from North American members. The UK Convention (Guildford) is scheduled for October 2023, a different format to previously, driven by the very high prices being charged by hotels. I look forward to seeing lots of members there. 5. Secretary’s Report (Susan Taylor) The Secretary’s role has three components: Membership -New members are processed by me. I check they are real, not scammers, and that they’ve paid and completed the necessary documentation before joining. Then I send a welcome message and their password. In 2022 we’ve had 21 leavers and 18 joiners (excluding the effects of the merger). Today the WIPSG, post-merger has 380 members, plus 20 complimentary members (philatelic organisations). Administration -The Secretary responds to a range of administrative queries: Librarians enquiring about data access, members who cannot get their password to work, members who are unwell, or individuals seeking an answer to a philatelic query. I also write (agree with the Chair) and issue the quarterly newsletters. It’s the Secretary’s unenviable task to chase up on folks who don’t pay their dues or fail to respond to vote requests. Meetings – The Secretary attends, notes and produces minutes of any meetings the Society holds (AGM 7 May 2022 and Stampex 1 Oct 2022). These notes, along with any announcements, are posted in the quarterly journal. The Secretary additionally attends philatelic events, representing the Society. Last year there were two days at the Royal (Crawford Festival 28/29 June 2022), and the Philatelic Congress in Birmingham – on 9 September 2022 (where a group of us made a series of presentations). I take a selection of the Society’s books to these events and try to sell them and to attract new members. The Secretary organises the biennial October Convention (due to be held in Guildford 14/15 October). This entailed getting quotes from various venues and getting the Committee to agree a choice of location (not too expensive, near a main station, with free parking, near hotels, with a bar and catering facilities, big enough for exhibits and dealers too). Looking ahead – On 27 June I am representing the Society and presenting on ‘Writing and encouraging writing for Philatelic Journals’ at the Crawford Festival at the RPSL. The Society plans a meeting at the York Stamp and Coin Fair 21-22 July 2024, which I shall attend. Hopefully I shall be going to the USA next year to co-host a Society meeting at the ’Great Annual Stamp Show 1518 August 2024 with John Jordan and John Seidl. It was originally envisaged that I’d arrange and coordinate Zoom meetings, but this hasn’t happened. However, the good news is that James Gavin and Jonathan Guy have kindly offered to help with this responsibility. Arrangements to be agreed. There has been and still remains a lot of administration to do given the merger, but hopefully things will settle down soon. BWI 6. Report by the Editor (Darryl Fuller) The merger of the two societies and relatively small change to the journal, from A4 to US Letter size has gone quite smoothly in the two issues I have prepared in 2023. The June issue is almost ready for the printer as I write this. Once again, I would like to thank Steve Jarvis, Susan Taylor, Terry Harrison, Peter Ford and my new proofreader Paul Farrimond. Peter Ford’s contribution will be greatly missed. I would also like to thank all the authors for their submissions over the last year. I am still in need of someone to write an auction report, so if you follow the auctions closely this would be much appreciated. (Michael Hamilton offered to report on the 29 April 2023 WIPSG Auction, and James Podger reported that he had submitted a report on the Graham Booth Spink Auction.) I would like to see more articles by former members of the BCPSG, so please start writing. I need articles both long and short, and since the BCPSG Journal is no longer being printed, this is your opportunity to keep the articles flowing. In my report last year, I mentioned that I was receiving a number of shorter articles but needed more longer ones. Well it now seems that the opposite is true. I am receiving good length articles from four to 20+ pages, but few single-pages, or less, articles. I need both because in the June issue after I had largely completed the issue, I had one less advertisement than anticipated and was forced to write an article to fill the space. So please, write up those interesting items you have and send them in. 7. Report by the Treasurer (Ray Stanton) The accounts for the year to the 31 December 2022 (see later) show a surplus of £2,350 compared to £822 in 2021. The main reason for the increased surplus was that sales of publications, after commission paid, totalled £3,721. Whilst that was less than 2021, it exceeded the cost of new books printed by £1,286, given that fewer books were produced in 2022. As in previous years, book stocks are written off each year but are expected to produce a steady stream of future income to be used for new publications in subsequent years. Subscriptions and advertising income once again covered the bulletin costs including distribution, and the donation from the auction team was more than the previous year due to the continuing success of the 2022 Study Circle auction. Expenses were similar to last year except that there was no convention in 2022 whereas in 2021 that was an overall cost to the Study Circle of £787. The accounts leave the Study Circle with a balance in the Accumulated fund of £22,350, and in a healthy position to take forward the agreed merger with the British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group. I would like to thank John Davis once again for being our auditor and for the advice and help he has given, not just this year but over many years. John however has decided that it is time to put away his quill pen and we will be appointing a new independent examiner in due course. Once the new WIPSG Bank Account is established there will be a $12,700 transfer from the BCPSG, to cover the financial liability of life members in the merged society who are posted Journals. This money will be transferred into the annual accounts over the coming 10 years. Annual Membership fees need to take account of escalating postage costs. As a result, it is necessary to raise annual membership fees in 2024 to £18 for the UK, £21 for Europe, and £25 for the Rest of the World. However, the American $30 fee already covers these increases so will not need to go up. The cost of annual Digital Membership will remain at £8 and we hope this will be an incentive for others to join. These new Membership Charges were unanimously voted in by the attendees and it was noted that the costs remain modest compared to those of many other societies. 8. Americas Report (John Seidl) We've gained more members than we've lost over the merger. We are planning for the following meetings: • The Great American Stamp Show in 2023, Aug 10-13, in Cleveland, Ohio • The Great American Stamp Show in 2024, Aug 15-18, in Hartford, Connecticut • It has also been suggested we have one at the Boston World Stamp Show in 2026, May 23-30, in Boston, Massachusetts. We are looking for volunteers to help organise / participate in these meetings. We are in the process of consolidating the North American finances for the BCPSG and the BWISC. I would also encourage people to volunteer for the Committee, as well as submitting articles for the journal. 9. Publications Report (Ray Stanton, supported by David Druett) The total sales figure after commission paid was £3,721. This was less than the record year in 2021 due to the fact there were only two new books printed, Barbados Covers by Peter Ford, of which 29 were sold, and Mike Rego's book on Grenada. 41 copies of the Lady Macleod book by Susan Taylor printed late in 2021 were sold, and there were a few copies of many of the back publications. Of particular note there were sales in double figures of both of Peter Fernbank's books. There were reprints of further copies of Mike Rego's Steamships #2 book plus Peter Fernbank's book on King Edward VII. Nevertheless, the total spent on the preparation and printing of books was well down on 2021 which meant that overall there was a surplus on Publications of £1286. There are also good stocks of many of the back-catalogue books which as policy we do not value in the accounts but should produce continuing income for the new merged WIPSG. It was now important to identify a new Publications Manager and anyone interested in taking the role up should contact Steve Jarvis for further details. 10. Report by the Auction Team (Simon Richards supported by John Jordan, Charles Kennard and James Podger) The report on the 2022 auction appeared in the September 2022 BWISC Bulletin. The 2023 auction starts in an hour! We have some 710 lots and I hope we sell 60% as usual, and to reach £15-20,000 in total sales. Bidder numbers are slightly down, maybe because they are all in the room, but the number of bids is up. I am grateful to all our vendors, and we aim to have a similar size auction in 2024. Please do send in your consignments. I am to despatch all successful bids before going to Essen on 20th May and will then consider offers on the unsolds which will run for about a month to end June, and then settle up with vendors early July. I am grateful to the team for their help. Unless the Committee has decided otherwise the catalogue for 2024 goes out with the March Bulletin and so it is essential all consignments are received by 15 January and earlier is very much to be desired; we start describing and lotting in August. The auction continues to trade under the old name and we will open discussion with the bank after the 2023 auction vendors have been paid. Postscript – the 2023 Auction went very well and takings were in the region of £28,000. 11. Report by BWISC WebMaster (Steve Jarvis) The web site for www.bwisc.org was revamped in the middle of last year. The merger required the transfer of our web site to the new domain, www.wipsg.org, and encountered the inevitable teething problems but these seem to have largely been overcome. The two membership databases were merged onto the new site and Susan Taylor has been very busy facilitating members’ access to the site. The design for www.wipsg.org has been adapted to incorporate content transferred from the BCPSG site, particularly all the journals. Further work is required to include more history of the BCPSG. James Gavin has agreed to manage the Society’s social platforms. Facebook is up and running and we also have a Twitter account. Both of these can be accessed from our web site home page. 12. Election of Officers -the following appointments were confirmed for 2023/2024: President Simon Richards Chairman Steve Jarvis Secretary Treasurer Susan Taylor Ray Stanton. There is a vacancy for an Independent Accounts Examiner (non-Committee role) American Representatives John Seidl and Steve Zirinsky. There is a vacancy for an American events organiser. Auction Manager Simon Richards (supported by John Jordan, Charles Kennard, and James Podger) Publications and Book Sales Manager Vacant – supported by David Druett Journal Editor Darryl Fuller. There is a vacancy for the Advertising Co-ordinator – Peter Fernbank is considering. Society Awards James Podger, supported by Michael Medlicott and Ray Stanton. There is a vacancy for a fourth person on this team. Webmaster Steve Jarvis Social Media James Gavin and Jonathan Guy (Zoom) Committee members who lend support to the above activities Peter Fernbank and Richard Stupples. If any member is interested in volunteering for any of the vacancies please contact Steve Jarvis or Susan Taylor on info@wipsg.org or sec@wipsg.org The society needs a new Independent Accounts Examiner, it was agreed by members that the Committee has authority to appoint one. Richard Stupples expressed an interest and Ray Stanton would discuss with him. The Secretary brought to the attention of attendees a concern that has been raised by a small number of ex BCPSG members that the WIPSG Committee is over dominated by British personnel. She pointed out that currently the Committee comprised 16 volunteers and 4 vacancies. 6 of the current volunteers have international nationality (three Americans, two Australians, one Trinidad and Tobagian). The Committee would be delighted if persons from across the club’s international membership volunteered to help with running the Society. This was particularly important as a lack of persons willing to volunteer for roles in the BCPSG had been the reason why it had found itself in difficulty and had needed to merge with the BWISC. 13. The WIPSG Constitution The Secretary explained that following the merger a new WIPSG Account was needed for which the bank required a Constitution. This needed to be agreed by a majority of members. Unfortunately, only 35 members responded to the request to vote, so it became necessary to chase members for votes. She explained that whilst a nuisance it was important and necessary to do so. As at the AGM 242 members had voted for the new constitution. Three had objected and one person had raised some queries. The new Constitution was therefore passed, however some small changes to wording had been made as a result of the points raised (the removal/explanation of pseudonyms). These did not in any way change the overall meaning of the Constitution, which was available for viewing on the website. 14. Any Other Business The BWISC Library had become dormant, due to digital access to other databases and the soaring cost of postage. It was agreed that where possible key documents would be digitalised (Steve Jarvis would investigate this proposal), some books would be donated to the Royal Philatelic Society London, remainders would be made available to members including at the 2025 UK Convention. A decision had already been taken that the BCPSG Library would be donated to the American Philatelic Library. A vote of thanks was expressed to Steve Jarvis for his considerable efforts on behalf of the Society and for all of his work on the new website.

MISSENT TO A STEAMPSHIP COMPANY: cover intended for Captain E. W. Hensen on the S/S Alcoa Roamer care of the Alcoa Steamship Company in Mobile, Alabama with KG6 11d rate pmk'd GPO Grenada 10 DE 48, presumed no longer working for the company as purple "Missent to ......." TORTOLA PRE-STAMP STRAIGHT LINE WITH STARS: entire written JU 21 1787 to Soho, London readdressed Miles Coffee House with TORTOLA** handstamp. (The unusual addition of stars, and the proximity of Tortola to Basseterre being only 238km, might suggest that both the 1784 ST. KITTS and 1787 TORTOLA handstamps were from the same supplier). GREENOCK and LONDON PRIVATE SHIP LETTER combination: 1873 cover from British Guiana marked Per Private Steamer “Trinidad’’ to London with 6c tied ‘A03’ with red crayon ‘1½’ (half share 3d rate) landed with boxed GREENOCK SHIP LETTER. Unusually the letter was enclosed in the sealed bag, for onward transmission by overnight train to the Ship Letter Office, London arriving FE 20 73. GB QV PENNY FARTHING FOREIGN POST CARD: designed for half the 2½d rate to U.P.U. member countries, this card with additional pair GB QV 1d red, making an overpaid 3¼d rate, being the closest to the newly established half of the 6d half ounce letter rate, as Jamaica became an interim U.P.U. member period AP 1 1877 to MR 31 1879. Pmk’d SALTCOATS ‘302’ duplex dated A/AP 1 77, first day use of the new rate. FLORIATE BORDER POST CARD CARRIED BY FRENCH LINE MAIL: Jamaica 3d denominated card (second issue, printed by Government Printer) with both KINGSTON A/AP 26 77 cds and octagonal KINGSTON PAQ. FR.-D No.1 dated 27 AVRIL 77 to Nisky, Germany. (A first provisional card with similar ½d, 1d or 3d red circular PAID handstamps, but with Lozenge borders, was printed in the Kingston General Penitentiary). BRITISH HONDURAS CAYE SERVICE LOCAL ADHESIVE: a wealthy Belize merchant named Cuthbert built a fine house on St George's Cay (or Island) and bought a steam yacht which sailed to and from Belize. The service was abused by those who did not contribute to the expense but expected their letters to be delivered free of charge. In about 1894 a 3 cents label was produced to defray the costs to be added to letters carried each way, being tied and dated with ‘CUTHBERT BROS., handstamps. BRITISH HONDURAS CAYE SERVICE LOCAL ADHESIVE ONWARD TRANSIT COMBINATION: an exceptional undated piece showing Cuthbert Bros label affixed at St George’s Cay and QV 5c pmk’d ‘’K.65’’ at Belize for onward transit to probably the UK or USA. No full covers, as such, are known to exist. MAIL ABOARD the PORT MARIA ABANDONED AT SEA: entire written Jamaica OC 31 1772 to London endorsed ‘By the Port Maria Capt. Atkins’ finally landed with DOVER/SHIP LRE handstamp and dated 17/FE Bishop mark at London. The Port Maria from Jamaica lost her rudder at sea, and otherwise was so leaky, that the captain and crew were obliged to leave her in Lat.49, Long.17-36 on the 30th January, and board the “Woodbridge”, Capt Thomas bound England from Virginia. REBATE ON A PRIVATE SHIP LETTER CHARGED AS A PACKET LETTER: entire marked “p. Roseann” from Berbice dated AP 6 1832 with printed Monthly Return of Pln. Hope & Experiment addressed Belfast and landed with MARGATE/SHIP LRE handstamp. Rated 2/8 changed 4/2 with latter deleted in red and marked “2/1 Allowed” in red manuscript. THE LIVERPOOL WEST INDIA AND PACIFIC STEAMSHIP Company 1/-RATE INSUFFICIENTLY PREPAID (adopted same rates as steamers by RMSPCo as of NO 12 1868): cover from London FE 15 69 “by Liverpool Steamer” to Kingston, Jamaica intended at Private Ship Letter rate of 3d, initially rated 1/3 changed 1/9 due (possibly fined double 1/-postage less 3d = 1/9), JAMAICA/SHIP LETTER applied to confirm arrival by non-contract RMSPCo.

Preface Following our article on the WWI Barbados Relief Fund Labels in the Sep. 2022 BWISC Bulletin (#274), we thought it would be interesting to examine the ‘Tourism’ & ‘Red Cross’ labels of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Or, to give them their proper name, the ‘Barbados Publicity Committee Seals’ and their subsequent re-purposing as ‘Voluntary War Workers Association Seals’. Unlike the Belgium Relief Fund label, these more recent labels are readily available on cover and as such make a colourful and interesting addition to a postal history collection. And, whilst somewhat rarer than the covers, a set or more, of the mint labels would also make a pleasing addition to the ‘back of book’ section of any Barbados collection. Introduction E. A. Bayley devotes two pages to these issues in the Stamps of Barbados (Volume 1) describing the labels and the circumstances of their use. In summary, the labels in their first incarnation were distributed by the Barbados Publicity Committee to be affixed to overseas letters to promote tourism on the island. The labels comprise of six designs, each with a vignette printed in black depicting local scenes and an outer frame which was printed in one of three colours; red, yellow or blue. In November of 1940 the Barbados Publicity Committee donated the remaining stocks of the labels in blue and yellow (the red had apparently ‘sold out’) to the Voluntary War Workers Association of Barbados. A red cross was added to the central vignette, and they were sold on behalf of the British Red Cross. Mr Bayley surmises that the labels were probably printed locally with the red cross likely applied by the Advocate Company Limited. The labels were printed se-tenant on shiny, unwatermarked paper in sheets of 24 and perforated gauge 11. No assertion is made as to the sale price of the Tourism labels and he speculates that the Red Cross labels were likely sold on a donation basis. Figure 1 illustrates the five combinations of colour (red, yellow or blue) and type (Tourism or Red Cross). Fig. 1 Examples of the five Label Type & Colour Combinations depicting the ‘Old Sugar Mill’ scene. (Each label measuring 51 x 32¼ mm to the edge of the frame) The following half sheet of red Tourism Labels (see Figure 2) shows the full set of six designs, the order they appear within the sheet and the imprint in the margin which reads: “Visit BARBADOS, BRITISH WEST INDIES, for all-year-round, SUNSHINE and SEA-BATHING / See the Barbados Booklet, issued by the Barbados Publicity Committee, free from leading Travel Agencies” The Scene Descriptions (as taken from The Stamps of Barbados) are as follows: a. A beach scene from Freshwater Bay as it is still sometimes called. This is now part of the Paradise Beach Hotel complex b. Inter-island schooners anchored in the careenage c. An old sugar mill, used in the early days for grinding sugar cane d. A Star Class yacht sailing in Carlisle Bay e. A fishing scene from Tent Bay, Bathsheba, St. Joseph f. Cabbage palm trees, taken from Bathsheba, St. Joseph It is also worth noting that the frame of the horizontal design differs from label to label with the decoration pertinent to the image displayed in the vignette, as follows: a. Palm Trees for Fresh Water Bay b. Anchors for the Careenage Schooners c. Sugar Cane for the Sugar Mill d. Seagulls for the Carlisle Bay Yacht e. Fish for the Tent Bay Fishermen The vertical Cabbage Palms design follows a different format which leaves no room for such decoration. Fig. 2 Half sheet of the red Tourism labels with imprint (Chris Rainey) Through further research and study, the authors have sought to address the gaps in the knowledge of these labels and to verify the more speculative aspects in Mr Bayley’s narrative. We have also begun the work of compiling an inventory of covers which is included later in the article, see Table 1 and Table 2, respectively for the Tourism and Red Cross labels. Barbados Publicity Committee Labels: As stated above, the labels, or seals as they were originally known, were initially devised and issued by the Barbados Publicity Committee to promote tourism to Barbados. Established in 1932 the Barbados Publicity Committee was the forerunner of the Board of Tourism which in turn became the Barbados Tourism Authority and is now the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. It is interesting to note that in the 1930s sugar was still by far the primary source of income for the island with only c. 10,000 tourists visiting the island each year. Nevertheless, it was recognised that tourism had potential as a supplementary revenue source, hence the formation of the Barbados Publicity Committee. In an article published in the Barbados Advocate on 17 November 2016, the Al Fig. 3 Barbados Publicity Committee Brochure 1933 (Pennymead.com) Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy stated that in the 1930s “…although sugar was still ‘king’ of the island, it was thought that tourism would be a good way to earn foreign exchange to buy parts for the machinery in the sugar factories.” Unfortunately, we have thus far been unable to verify the date the Tourism labels were originally made available nor if they were sold or given away in some manner. Bayley speculates it was some time in 1939 with the earliest usage we have seen to date being on a cover with a Bermuda arrival mark dated 24 February 1939 – see Figure 4. Identification of the printer responsible for the labels has also proved elusive. Bayley speculates that the labels were likely printed locally, and this may well be the case. However, the Barbados Publicity Committee also used the services of overseas printers around this time. For example, Lisso & Hartig, of N.Y., USA and Robert Maclehose & Co Ltd of Glasgow, Scotland undertook the printing of various Barbados Publicity Committee guides and postcards, leaving open the possibility that an overseas supplier was used to print the labels. Whoever took on the task, they would have needed to be able to work with gummed paper and have the facility to perforate the labels. In researching the labels, we have also sought out other uses of the images depicted in the vignettes. Partly motivated by the desire to track down the printer, we have found two of the six images used for postcards. The postcard in Figure 5 depicts the Freshwater Bay Scene and, whilst the label image has been cropped to omit the somewhat over-dressed gentlemen to the left of the scene, this is undoubtedly the same image. In this example the postcard omits any notes as to the name of the publisher and/or printer. The postcard in Figure 6 depicting a “Sugar Cane Mill and Yard (old style)”, whilst a more ubiquitous image, also appears to be an identical match. The rear of this postcard bears the legend “Published by Knight’s Ltd Barbados”1 and in small font “Printed in Saxony”. The reader may also have noticed that the front cover of the illustrated brochure (Figure 3) depicts a part the ‘Old Sugar Mill’ image and within the brochure the ‘Careenage Schooners’ and ‘Carlisle Bay Yacht’ may be found implying the images were not produced for the labels but were instead taken from stock images. Acknowledging that the publisher, printer and the copyright owner of the images are not necessarily the same, there is perhaps little that can be concluded from these examples, though if nothing else, they do help to bring the labels ‘to life’. 1 Knight’s Ltd, now Knights Ltd (Rainbow Paper Products) still exist today, operating from their premises in Bridgetown, Barbados. Fig. 6 Postcard depicting Old Sugar Mill as used for the Tourism & Red Cross labels Volunteer War Workers Association of Barbados – Red Cross Labels As noted in the West India Committee Circular of 1942; The Voluntary War Workers Association of Barbados was founded at the outbreak of the war and gave the women of Barbados the opportunity to join together to aid the war effort. The following excerpt from the Christmas Mirror of December 1940 details news of the donation of the labels from the Barbados Publicity Committee to the Voluntary War Workers Association, the date they were put on sale and notes the sale price of the labels (in cents), see Figure 7. Fig. 7 Newspaper clipping from the Christmas Mirror Dec 1940 In addition to the labels being donated, it seems there was also some cross-over of personnel between the Barbados Publicity Committee and the Voluntary War Workers Association of Barbados as this extract from The West India Committee Circular of May 1942 attests: “Owing to more urgent demands on her time, Miss B M Hutchinson has been obliged to resign from the posts of Secretary of the Barbados Publicity Committee and Secretary of the Barbados Voluntary War Workers Association.” Bayley states that the amount collected and handed over to the British Red Cross from the sale of the labels was £44.16.1. Owing to the difference in currencies stated in the article and by Mr Bayley, and the variance in pricing structure it is not possible to calculate the number of labels sold. West Indies Philately No. 3 – September 2023 Inventory of Covers: The following tables (Tables 1 & 2) list the labels used on the covers found to date. In addition to the authors’ own collections, Chris Rainey provided a large quantity of covers over and above those shown on his website (www.chrisrainey.com). Additional examples were found on the website of Steve Drewett (www.stevedrewett.com), along with one cover recently offered for sale by Grupsyl Coleccionables of Barcelona, Spain. In total 63 covers are listed, including one postcard. This is not, by any means, intended to represent a comprehensive list of covers, but rather to give an initial view of the relative popularity and pattern of usage, including position on the cover, whether the label is tied by a postmark, the destination and date of usage. Table 1: Inventory of Covers Bearing Tourism Labels Type Colour Design Nature of Usage Date Sent (dd/mm/yyyy) Destination Franking Reference Additional Notes Tourism Blue Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Back Untied 10/04/1940 Santa Rosa, USA 1938-47 1/-Olive Green with 4d Black & 3d Brown Tercentenarary Authors American Republics Line envelope airmail letter Tourism Blue Careenage Schooners Back Untied - Buenos Aires, Argentina 1938-47 2 x 1/-Olive Green, 4d Black & 2½d Blue Tercentenarary Chris Rainey Airmail cover, cancels unclear Tourism Blue Careenage Schooners Back Untied 17/07/1940 Chicago, Illinois, USA 1938-47 1/-Olive Green with 3d Brown & 1d Red Tercentenarary Authors American Republics Line envelope airmail letter Tourism Blue Sugar Mill Back Untied 19/03/1941 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA 1938-47 3d Brown Authors S.S.Argentina envelope Tourism Red Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Front Untied 28/08/1939 Zurich, Switzerland 1938-47 4d Black & 1½d Orange Tercentenarary Chris Rainey Two labels affixed, Palms on front and Sugar Mill on reverse -neither tied -Arrival mark for 16/09/1939 Tourism Red Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Back Untied - Winona, Minnesota, USA 1938-47 2½d Blue Authors Advertising Postmark -??/??/1939 Tourism Red Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Back Untied 11/08/1939 Pennsylvania, USA 1938-47 1/-Olive Green with 2 x 2½d Blue Tercentenarary Authors Clyde Mallory lines envelope, sealed with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines adhesive airmail label Tourism Red Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Back Tied 20/07/1939 Trinidad 1938-47 ½d Green, 1d Scarlet, 1½d Orange, 2½d Blue & 3d Brown Chris Rainey Label tied on rear with Barbados Registration CDS -Arrival mark for 23/7/1939 Tourism Red Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Front Untied 23/03/1939 London, UK 1938-47 1½d Orange Chris Rainey Per S.S.Inkosi marked in top left of cover Tourism Red Careenage Schooners Back Untied - St. Petersburgh, Florida, USA 1938-47 ½d Green Authors Indistinct postmark -possibly ??/??/1939 Tourism Red Careenage Schooners Back Tied 17/02/1939 Bermuda F/C Not provided Chris Rainey Label tied on rear with St GeorgeBermuda CDS & slogan cancel "Come to Bermuda, the Isles of Rest" Arrival 24/02/1939 Earliest Use Tourism Label Tourism Red Careenage Schooners Back Untied 25/04/1939 Ontario, Canada 1938-47 1d Scarlet Chris Rainey Postcard with Label on written side of postcard -partly over hanging bottom edge Card is dated 19/04/1939 but postmark looks like 25/4/1939 Tourism Red Careenage Schooners Back Untied 03/08/1939 Halifax, Canada 1938-47 2 x 1/-Olive Green with 1d & 2½d Blue Tercentenarary Steve Drewett Canadian National Steamships Stationery Tourism Red Freshwater Bay Front Untied - Boston, Massachusettes 1938-47 2½d Blue Authors Illegible postmark -Marine Hotel Stationary Tourism Red Freshwater Bay Front Untied - New York, USA 1938-47 2½d Blue & 1d Scarlet Authors Tourism Red Freshwater Bay Back Untied - San Francisco, USA 1939 2½d Blue Tercentenarary Chris Rainey Blue Star Line cover marked ON HIS MAJESTY'S SERVICE, opened by Censor, forwarded and cachet applied "Notify publisher and correspondents of your correct address" on both front and rear. Tourism Red Freshwater Bay Front Tied - London, UK 1938-47 1½d Orange Chris Rainey Postmark date possibly: ??-Apr-1939 Tourism Red Sugar Mill Front Tied 24/03/1940 Long Island, New York, USA 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Stamp and label tied on front with red St Lawrence CDS Tourism Red Tent Bay Fishermen Back Untied - Berlin Germany 1938-47 2½d Blue Authors Indistinct postmark, possibly 21 Mar 1939 Tourism Yellow Sugar Mill Back Untied 25/06/1941 New York ,USA 1938-47 1/-Olive Green, 6d Violet & 1d Scarlet Authors American Republics Line envelope airmail letter -Latest Usage Tourism Label Tourism Yellow Tent Bay Fishermen Back Untied - Los Angeles, California, USA 1938-47 1/-Olive Green, 6d Violet Authors American Republics Line envelope airmail letter -10/3/1941 possibly, making the latest use Page 19 No. 3 – September 2023 West Indies Philately Table 2: Inventory of Covers Bearing Red Cross Labels Type Colour Design Nature of Usage Date Sent (dd/mm/yyyy) Destination Franking Reference Additional Notes Red Cross Blue Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Front Untied 16/12/1940 New York, USA 1938-47 ½d Green, 1½d Orange & 1d Scarlet Chris Rainey Red Cross Blue Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Front Untied 08/01/1942 Bloomfield, New Jersey, USA 1938-47 2 x 1½d Orange Chris Rainey Cancelled by Barbados Machine Cancel -Cover opened and resealed with Censor tape L4 Red Cross Blue Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Front Tied 15/12/1940 Montreal, Canada 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Full set of six labels on six separate covers, all addressed to A.S. Bayley in Montreal, all tied with clear St Lawrence S.O. Cancels 10:45am Red Cross Blue Careenage Schooners Back Untied 19/11/1940 St Louis, MO USA 1938-47 2 x 1d Scarlet Chris Rainey W S Monroe & Co Stationery -slogan postmark First Usage Red Cross Label post the date of issue given in the Christmas Mirror article of Dec 1940 Red Cross Blue Careenage Schooners Front Tied 14/01/1942 California, USA 1938-47 ½d Green and 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Opened by Censor, resealed with type L4 label Red Cross Blue Careenage Schooners Front Tied 15/12/1940 Montreal, Canada 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Full set of six labels on six separate covers, all addressed to A.S. Bayley in Montreal, all tied with clear St Lawrence S.O. Cancels 10:45am Red Cross Blue Carlise Bay Yacht Front Tied 09/04/1940 Long Island, New York, USA 1938-47 2½d Blue Steve Drewett Red St.Lawrence CDS -Early Use Red Cross Label* Red Cross Blue Carlisle Bay Yacht Front Untied 29/07/1942 Georgetown, British Guiana 1938-47 2 x 2d Carmine Chris Rainey Backstamped GPO Port-of-Spain, back stamped with Trinidad CDS with arrival date of 30/07/1942 Red Cross Blue Carlisle Bay Yacht Front Tied 15/12/1940 Montreal, Canada 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Full set of six labels on six separate covers, all addressed to A.S. Bayley in Montreal, all tied with clear St Lawrence S.O. Cancels 10:45am Red Cross Blue Freshwater Bay Front Tied 01/10/1941 Saba 1938-47 2 x 1½d Orange Chris Rainey Label partly obscured by Curacao censor label Red Cross Blue Freshwater Bay Back Tied 29/03/1945 Barquisimeto, Venezuela 1938-47 1s Olive-Green, ½d Bistre & 3d Brown Grupsyl Censored cover with arrival marks for 09-Apr-1945, one of which ties the label Red Cross Blue Freshwater Bay Back Tied 02/09/1941 London UK 1938-47 2d Carmine Chris Rainey Letter to serving soldier addressed to London then forwarded with arrival mark for 22/10/1941 Red Cross Blue Freshwater Bay Front Tied 15/12/1940 Montreal, Canada 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Full set of six labels on six separate covers, all addressed to A.S. Bayley in Montreal, all tied with clear St Lawrence S.O. Cancels 10:45am Red Cross Blue Sugar Mill Front Tied 27/06/1939 Bridgetown 1939 3d Brown Tercentenary Chris Rainey FDI for Tercentenary issue, both label and stamp tied with St George cancels of front on envelope Earliest Use Red Cross Label* Red Cross Blue Sugar Mill Front Tied 07/08/1941 Long Island, New York, USA 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Label tied by rare "TOO LATE" mark used by St. Thomas Post Office Red Cross Blue Sugar Mill Back Untied 07/03/1941 Memphis, Tennessee, USA 3d Meter Mark Authors Metered on 7/3/41 but then cancelled 10/3/41 with slogan cancel "Spend the winter in Sunny Barbados" Red Cross Blue Sugar Mill Back Untied 30/12/1940 New York, USA 1938-47 1/-Olive Green, 3d Brown & 1d Scarlet Authors Red Cross Blue Sugar Mill Back Untied - New York, USA 1938-47 1/-Olive Green, 6d Violet Authors Red Cross Blue Sugar Mill Front Tied 15/12/1940 Montreal, Canada 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Full set of six labels on six separate covers, all addressed to A.S. Bayley in Montreal, all tied with clear St Lawrence S.O. Cancels 10:45am Red Cross Blue Tent Bay Fishermen Front Tied 15/12/1940 Montreal, Canada 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Full set of six labels on six separate covers, all addressed to A.S. Bayley in Montreal, all tied with clear St Lawrence S.O. Cancels 10:45am Red Cross Blue Tent Bay Fishermen Front Tied 28/11/1940 Long Island, New York, USA 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Stamp and label tied on front with black St Lawrence CDS 10:30am Red Cross Blue Tent Bay Fishermen Back Untied 17/12/1942 Trinidad F/C Not provided Chris Rainey Backstamped GPO Port-of-Spain, Trinidad CDS, Censor opened and resealed with Tape type L8a -Arrival mark for 19/12/1942 Red Cross Blue Tent Bay Fishermen Back Untied 25/01/1941 Ontario, Canada 1938-47 2 x 1d Scarlet Steve Drewett James A Lynch & Co Stationery Red Cross Blue Tent Bay Fishermen Back Untied 03/10/1944 New York, USA 1938-47 3d Brown Authors From Alex Bayley to Saturn Stamp Co, Buffalo, opened by censor. Resealed with censor label H/3631 Opened by PC 90 Red Cross Blue Tent Bay Fishermen Front Tied 09/04/1940 Long Island, New York, USA 1938-47 2½d Blue Chris Rainey Stamp and label tied on front with red St Lawrence CDS, second identical label on reverse untied Early Use Red Cross Label* Red Cross Blue Tent Bay Fishermen Back Tied 09/02/1945 Texas, USA F/C Not provided Chris Rainey Rear only, unusual large Red Cross out of position, 2 x Barbados RLO cancels, 2 x Miami USA receiving cancels 16/2/1945 and one Abeline Texas receiving cancel tying label 22/2/1945 Red Cross Yellow Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Back Untied 18/12/1940 - 1938-47 2 x 1d Scarlet Chris Rainey Royal Bank of Canada window envelope, no addressee, label on reverse, slogan cancel "Post Early for Christmas" Red Cross Yellow Bathsheba Cabbage Palms Front Tied 20/01/1941 New York, USA 1938-47 3d Brown Chris Rainey Label tied to cover with same cancel as 3d adhesive. Cover opened and resealed by Barbados Postal Censor and separate cachet for Import, Export & Currency Control Board of Barbados Red Cross Yellow Careenage Schooners Back Tied 21/11/1940 Buenos Aises, Argentina 1938-47 6 x 6d Violet & 1d Scarlet Authors Label tied with Buenos Aries, Argentina airmail arrival machine cancel No 30 18-19 1940 Red Cross Yellow Careenage Schooners Back Untied 22/12/1941 Indiana, USA 1938-47 2x 3d Brown & 1/-Olive Green Chris Rainey Airmail cover opened and resealed with Censor tape Red Cross Yellow Careenage Schooners Front Untied - Halifax, Canada 1938-47 ½d Green & 1½d Orange Chris Rainey C F Harrison and Co Stationery Red Cross Yellow Careenage Schooners Front Untied 09/12/1940 Radio City, New York, USA 1938-47 3d Brown Chris Rainey Red Cross Yellow Freshwater Bay Back Tied 16/08/1941 London, UK 1938-47 2/6 Purple, 6d Violet & 1d Scarlet Authors Tie is a private cancel from R & G Challenor Ltd with R Challenor signature Red Cross Yellow Freshwater Bay Back Tied 09/05/1942 British Guiana F/C Not provided Chris Rainey British Guiana Arrival Mark for 09/05/1942 Red Cross Yellow Freshwater Bay Back Untied 13/01/1941 Ontario, Canada 1938-47 ½d Green, 1½d Orange & 1/-Olive Green Chris Rainey James A Lynch & Co Airmail Stationery Red Cross Yellow Sugar Mill Back Tied 18/09/1946 Bournemouth, UK 1938-47 ½d Bistre with 1946 Victory Issue Authors Victory Issue First Day of Issue -Arrival mark: 19/09/1946 Latest Usage Red Cross Label Red Cross Yellow Sugar Mill Front Untied - Toronto, Canada 1938-47 2 x 1d Scarlet Authors Manning & Co Ltd Barbados envelope -Postmarked ??/??/1940 Red Cross Yellow Sugar Mill Back Untied - New Jersey, USA 1938-47 3d Brown Steve Drewett C F Harrison and Co Stationery -Postmarked 10/??/1941 Red Cross Yellow Tent Bay Fishermen Back Untied 21/12/1940 - 1938-47 3d Brown Authors Date based on Mailed Date Stamp on Rear of Bank of Canada window envelope Red Cross Yellow Tent Bay Fishermen Back Untied 20/12/1940 Fremantle, W. Australia 1938-47 ½d Green Authors Post Early for Christmas slogan cancel Red Cross Yellow Tent Bay Fishermen Front Untied - Newark, New Jersey, USA 1938-47 3d Brown Authors Red Cross Yellow Tent Bay Fishermen Front Untied 22/03/1942 Southfields, UK 1938-47 2 x 1d Scarlet Steve Drewett Label partly obscured by censor label -London Arrival mark: 20/04/1942 (Ed: Apologies for the font size in these tables but it came originally as an image and I left insufficient space to expand.) Page 20 Number of covers 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Of the 63 covers, 21 bear Tourism labels and 42 Red Cross labels. With uncertainty around the duration for which each was available it is difficult to know if this was a factor in the disparity in quantities. Was it perhaps the case that the quantities of mail from the island during the 30s was less than the 40s? Or was it simply the case that the good people of Barbados rallied to the Red Cross cause in greater numbers than those who were keen to promote more tourism? Whatever the reason it seems the Tourism labels are, overall scarcer than those with the Red Cross, the yellow and blue tourism labels particularly so. The popularity of the red Tourism labels is plain to see with 4 blue, 15 red and just 2 yellow, in line with the earlier statement that the red Tourism labels were exhausted by the time of the donation to the Volunteer War Workers Association, The earliest usage date for a Tourism label is 17 February 1939 and the latest the 25 June 1941, some months after the repurposing of the labels – see Figure 8. Of the two colours available as Red Cross labels, the blue looks to be the more popular at first glance, 26 v 16 yellow, however analysis of the addressees shows that of the blue framed Red Cross labels, 11 were sent to just two recipients. In the case of one recipient, a set of 6 covers (between them bearing a complete set of designs) were all sent at 10:45am on the 15th December 1940 from the St Lawrence Post Office. These two addressees aside, the number of blue and yellow framed Red Cross labels are almost identical. The earliest dated usage of a Red Cross label is 27 of June 1939. It is curious to note that this and two other covers postmarked 19 April 1940, pre-date the information provided in the Christmas Mirror article by some margin – see Figure 9. The earliest usage that post-dates that given in the article, is 19 November 1940. The latest usage is on a cover, somewhat poignantly, bearing the Victory Issue on its 1st day of issue of 18 September 1946 – see Figure 10. Fig. 8 Latest Usage of a Tourist Label (Authors) Issue Date 14/11/1940 Label Usage Timeline per Christmas Mirror Article (per calendar month) 14 Jan-39 Mar-39 May-39 Jul-39 Sep-39 Nov-39 Jan-40 Mar-40 May-40 Jul-40 Sep-40 Nov-40 Jan-41 Mar-41 May-41 Jul-41 Sep-41 Nov-41 Jan-42 Mar-42 May-42 Jul-42 Sep-42 Nov-42 Jan-43 Mar-43 May-43 Jul-43 Sep-43 Nov-43 Jan-44 Mar-44 May-44 Jul-44 Sep-44 Nov-44 Jan-45 Mar-45 May-45 Jul-45 Sep-45 Nov-45 Jan-46 Mar-46 May-46 Jul-46 Sep-46 Nov-46 Tourism Red Cross Fig. 9 Timeline of Usage As to the position of the labels on the covers, a little more than half (35 of 63) are to be found on the back of the cover, often used to seal the envelope, no doubt why they were originally known as ‘seals’. Of these, approximately 25% are tied in some manner. Those which appear to have been sent to collectors all have the labels on the front and are always nicely tied, suggesting they have perhaps been cancelled to order. Again, setting these apart tips the balance much more noticeably in favour of the label appearing on the back of the cover. Current market prices provide an indicator as to the desirability of the covers, with a tied label on the front commanding the highest prices and those untied on the rear the lowest. Other aspects of the covers including franking and destination also lend to their appeal. Further Research: The following questions are yet to be answered, and the authors would be grateful for any insights other members are able to share on these topics: • Which printer was responsible for printing the labels? • How many labels were printed? • On what date were the Tourism labels put on sale? • Were the Tourism labels sold and if so at what price, or were they given away and if the latter, in what manner? • Any further information on the issue date of the Red Cross labels and their sale price would also be useful in helping to verify the information in the Christmas Article of Dec 1940 and to resolve the inconsistencies with the earliest usage dates seen. We would of course also welcome any additions to the inventory of covers. (The authors’ contact details are available in the membership list or via the editor.) In addition to the points above, the cover shown in Figure 11 caught our attention. This cover appears to have a tourist label with a manually applied red cross. Is this a one-off example or can anyone provide further insight?

Other Subjects Worth Examining The 2010-2013 series of $20 hand-stamped overprints (SG G6717-6777) Apart from the Guyana Independence overprints by De La Rue in 1966 and then by local printers in 1967 on the final British Guiana definitive set (Figure 59) and a couple of revaluations on stamps of the 1971 Flowering Plants set (Figures 60 & 60a) it was not until 1981 and the Royal Wedding of that year that Guyana’s overprints gathered pace. Dozens of commemorative overprints and revaluation surcharges continued up to the end of 1989 and then began to peter out in the first two or three years of the 1990s. With the odd exception there were then no overprints for nearly twenty years, though there was no lack of stamps issued. Quite the contrary, their absence was more than made up for by glossy special issues, some showing local fauna and flora, but mostly with more of an international than a local flavour – they take up page after page of any catalogue. Fig. 60a Postmark enlarged showing Fig. 59 De La Rue overprints on Caracaburi with date cover to England from Georgetown 22.7.76 written in by hand. with 2 x SG379 or 386 and 3 x SG382 Fig. 60 From Caracaburi to Holland dated or 390 or 401 depending on the 22 July 1976 with 5 x SG601. watermark, dated 15 August 1966. Then came the long 2010-13 series of $20 hand-stamped provisionals, listed in SG as G6717-6777. This is just the list, as SG tells us in a footnote, of the stamps seen when the sectional catalogue went to press in 2013, with others already reported. A letter to me from the Philatelic Bureau has four of these unlisted provisionals for instance (Figures 61-65). Some other examples of these $20 overprints are: This is an intriguing group of stamps which would whet any appetite. Hand-stamped overprints are unusual at the best of times. As SG notes, others have been reported and will be listed as appropriate. A number that have not yet been listed are seen here. The $20 overprint shifts from bottom to top between stamps three and four in this strip of five. If this was a printed overprint it could be regarded as an interesting variety if the two stamps were separated. As it is it was probably just due to the person using the $20 stamper getting a sore wrist and switching from one hand to the other. Fig. 70a Intriguing they may be, but it is not entirely clear why they came into being. The prosaic reason is that there was a shortage of stamps at $20 which was the internal postage rate until – one assumes – November 2018. Using information from the Post Office notices shown on Steven Zirinsky’s website, a local letter up to 20g did indeed cost $20, but this notice is dated 13 April 2007. Many a local letter I have seen, often to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue or the Personnel Manager at Berbice Mining, was sent at this rate, frequently using SG2635a but I do not have a complete enough run of material to know if all the years between 2007 and 2010 were covered by this rate. There are some grounds for assuming that they were given the sheer number of overprinted stamps at $20, and this volume in turn shows that the vaults were scoured for unsold stamps with face values that were no longer relevant, to use as the base stamps. In this sense the operation was probably similar to the one carried out in Benin in 2008-2010 when ages-old stamps were retrieved from obscurity and revived for current use by adding a new value. The internal rate in Guyana then changed to $80 up to 20g with effect from 18 November 2013, a rate for which any $20 overprinted stamps that were left would have been suited in combination. The Reichenbachia Orchids The impressive Reichenbachia series deserves special note. Sander’s Reichenbachia Orchids Illustrated and Described was a 4-volume 19th Century book produced between 1888 and 1892 with life-size illustrations – 255 plates in all and descriptions of nearly 200 orchids – the creation of the German-born orchidologist Frederich Sander. Born Heinrich Friedrich Konrad Sander in Bremen in 1847 he anglicised his name to Henry Frederick Conrad Sander when he moved to England and set up his nursery and market garden business in St Albans, which was very successful. His target was orchids and he used a widespread team of agents to find orchids for him, mainly in South America and parts of Asia, to add to the huge and constantly growing collection he needed to satisfy the tastes of the time. Such was the demand for orchids that many species were over-collected and died out in their native habitats. Henry George Moon (1857-1905), an English landscape and botanical artist, who was later to become Sander’s son-in-law, was commissioned to produce the illustrations, a task he applied himself to so assiduously that it affected his health and no doubt hastened his death at the age of only 48 in 1905. The plates were published monthly and the whole work was named Reichenbachia in honour of the celebrated, but controversial and selfopinionated, German orchidologist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (1823-1889), the foremost German exponent in his field of the 19th Century. Sander died in Bruges in 1920. The task the Guyana Post Office set itself to reproduce these plates was no doubt no less arduous than that undertaken by Sander and Moon, a huge drain on the wealth of the former and the health of the latter. Just the index to this series in the Stanley Gibbons sectional catalogue takes up nearly two full pages (pp.66/68) and the stamps depicting these orchids number 273 in 35 issues plus 374 overprints and surcharges, all issued between 1985 and 1996. (Series 1) SG3293 (Series 1) SG n/a and seems not to be listed anywhere else either. Fig. 77 (Left) Plate No. 49 (Series 1) SG1554 (Right) Plate No. 64 (Series 1) SG1555 The Reichenbachia stamps attracted a whole host of revaluation surcharges and commemorative overprints. They were readily available from the Guyana philatelic bureau at a time when I was corresponding with them, and they sent me a long list of what was still to be had, but strangely and uncharacteristically I could not summon up much enthusiasm for them and later, by chance, I came across the few representative examples shown above (Figures 71-77). Again, one sees that they were available for normal postal use. Vertical Gutters The Reichenbachia sheets are divided vertically and horizontally by stamp-sized gutters which have the Arms of Guyana on them and a value of 25c. These were detached and used as stamps as intended. They have not always retained their original sizes but as long as the design and the value remained, they could be cut and resized. Some examples of postal use are shown here (Figures 78 to 82). Fig. 78a Stamps enlarged Fig. 80a SG1535 p.13½ on three sides with the fourth probably just cut and not imperf. Fig. 81b SG2184-type Type B, longtailed bird, top right-stamp with coat of arms enlarged, within frame, without 19661986 dates, imperf. (or more likely just cut) x 13½. Fig. 81c SG1535-type Type A, short-tailed bird, bottom-right stamp with coat of arms enlarged, with 1966-1986 dates, p.13½ x 13½ (all-round perforation). Horizontal Gutter These gutters were also surcharged $20 by hand in the long 2010-13 series SG G6717 -G6777. Fig. 83a Hand-stamped $20 in blue on Type A, short-tailed bird. P.13 ½ x imperf. SG1535. Essequibo SG771 SG940 SG943 SG945 SG946 SG947 SG775 SG967 Fig. 84 To say that this is a thorny problem is a rank understatement but to cut to the heart of the matter, in a dispute that has been simmering since the 1830s, it is all about natural resources. Though it is of course dressed up as a matter of national pride (see Figure 84). In terms of the size of the Essequibo region, as a proportion of total area, it is much more important for Guyana as the disputed territory accounts for nearly 60% of the modern country, consisting of all its territory west of the Essequibo River, the third-largest river in South America at 1010km in length, while for Venezuela it is a less but still a sizeable chunk at round about 20%. The land areas concerned are: Essequibo 159,500 km2 -61,600 mi2 / Guyana 214,969 km2 – 83,000 mi2 / Venezuela 916,445 km2 – 353,841 mi2. Various agreements and protocols have been signed over the years including one that gave Venezuela control over the part that lies at the mouth of the Orinoco, and Britain control of the rest, which accounted for some 90% of the whole. But all of these have been rejected over time with Venezuela maintaining that the border between it and what was then British Guiana was defined against its interests and by foreign meddling, so that the matter now rests essentially in the hands of the UN. One source concludes: “The Guyana-Venezuela border dispute has been a recurring problem for the region for almost 200 years; although an escalation is unlikely, a solution seems far away.” Fig. 84a More colourful and perhaps more likely to raise awareness by using the Defence of Guyana theme is SG913, a similar savings stamp to SG894. Category Classification There are various types of overprints that might very well be set apart as individual collecting fields or separate categories for catalogue listing. I have singled out the following as I do not remember having seen them used in that form as overprints on other countries’ stamps, apart from some isolated instances from Central or South America, but not to the extent that I have enough examples to put alongside them to justify an Americas connection. It should be stressed that these are just examples taken at random. Numerous alternative selections could be made all of which would consist of different stamps. Revalidating Obsolete Stamps by Date Guyana has made frequent use of this with dates from 1981 to 1987 known. 1981 SG813 SG778 SG775 1986 1987 Stamps Overprinted Just with Figures but No Currency Sign SG874 SG1590 SG831 SG830 SG870 SG867 SG872 SG1278 SG873 SG1406 on SG1196 on SG840 Fig. 85aFig. 85 SG870 here, was used on registered cover to Barbados but missed the canceller. The back of the cover tells the story though (Figs 85 & 85a). New Value in Words Rather Than Figures SG1058 on SG981 Conclusion I think I have covered most things in enough detail above, but I will just add a few words. Any attempt to make sense of Guyana’s overprints might very well be included among the Labours of Hercules for the task of identification can make one’s head spin, but they occupy a legitimate place in philatelic research and should not be dismissed as fanciful creations. Maybe it would not be an entire lifetime’s work to get fully to grips with them, but it might not be far short. Even then it would be almost impossible to put together a complete collection of all the permutations and combinations. Just in researching the contents of this article I have in a sense been making it up as I go along for once one has come across one thing, another pops up, like the ‘-il’ shift in Brasil in the GAC overprint at the top of the article, which I only put there at the last minute as it suddenly occurred to me that I had another stamp that showed an overprint similar to the Georgetown – Toronto one on SG1385, but perhaps easier to make out; up to a point it is at least. No one catalogue makes the task of identification simple and I have mentioned one or two of the disadvantages that I think each of the three majors has built in. I have not, by the way, consulted Yvert at any stage of my studies and so I do not know what method of listing they use. There is no particular reason for my not having done that, other than that I do not have a copy of Yvert’s Guyana entry to hand. In many ways, for me, the Stanley Gibbons sectional catalogue is better than either Scott or Michel but there are certain features that make it harder than it need be to find a stamp. I feel that the addition of a cross-referencing system as used already by Scott and Michel would be of great benefit. With so many overprints and surcharges involved it might also be useful for SG to have an overprint subject or features index, along the lines of the Design Index one sees in the sectional catalogues for Germany or France, in the same sort of way as has already been done on the extensive Reichenbachia series. As a parting shot then, Guyana’s overprints should, in my opinion, be regarded as a fruitful field for research by philatelists of any age or at any level of experience and expertise.

Susan Taylor and Julian Waldron will be in Anguilla in early December, retracing the footsteps of those well-known philatelists of the late 1960s – Gale Raymond, Stanley Durnin, Ben Ramkissoon and Urch Harris – to name a few. They have spent a year researching and writing ‘Anguilla’s Quest For Identity – The Philatelic Story’. The book is out in September and will be launched at the October Convention. Julian and Susan are in Anguilla presenting an exhibition of the island’s philatelic history, and if anyone is interested in being there, they should contact Susan on sec@wipsg.org for details. Here is a taster of the book’s range and content. For many, Anguilla’s history starts and finishes with the revolution of 1967 and its overprints – still the most soughtafter set of stamps of the QEII era. However, this doesn’t do justice to the richness of Anguillian philatelic material since or before, nor to the central role that stamps and communications have played throughout the island’s recorded history, as well as during and after the 1967 revolution. ‘Anguilla’s Quest for Identity – The Philatelic Story’ delves into all these aspects. A relatively small island, off the beaten track, and a neglected northerly part of the Leeward Islands colony through the eighteenth century, Anguilla was placed under the control of the Governor of St Kitts in 1825. Nevis was added to this group in 1882. Nevis has always attracted interest from philatelists, St Kitts much less and Anguilla almost none – until 1967. There is plenty of evidence of early communication, both with empire and with the other surrounding islands. In 1702 a British Packet Service commenced to the Leeward Islands, but Anguilla had no direct service and, in any case, traffic was notoriously susceptible to shipwrecks, piracy, and breaks in service. We have Wills, Deeds and other records from this period, but the earliest ship letter is an 1837 letter written by the pastor’s wife – itself full of comments about letters received and written. The earliest postmarked mail from Anguilla so far recorded is dated 27 November 1885 – on a St Kitts postcard. From 1900, the island had its own datestamps but used the postage stamps of the Leeward Islands and St Kitts Nevis. Its name does not appear until 10 November 1950 -as an overprint marking its Tercentenary on St Kitts Nevis stamps. Anguilla finally appeared formally on stamps in 1952 when the colony’s name was changed to St Christopher Nevis Anguilla. Anguilla appealed on a number of occasions from 1700 to 1967 for a direct association with Britain. This was rejected in 1822, following a long drought and a devastating hurricane and the Secretary of State proposed that the island be managed by the Governor of St Kitts as a tidy administrative arrangement. Anguilla tried again in 1873, after the British determined that St Kitts and Anguilla would be a single Presidency. The Anguillians again protested stating “(The Kittitians) are utter strangers to us” and “this legislative union, it has operated and has continued to operate most injuriously against us and is mutually disliked.” This communication was also ignored. St Christopher issued its first postage stamps in 1870 but there is no hard evidence that they were used in Anguilla. Indeed, material before 1900 is incredibly scarce – abnormally so given the size of the island and its international connections. In 1881 Nevis was added to the Presidency. The revised Presidency was entitled ‘St Christopher Nevis’ with no reference to Anguilla’s inclusion. The same in 1903 when the first St Kitts Nevis postage stamps were issued. The local postal service slowly grew to full branch status in 1928 and there starts to be more material to study from this time, using both St Kitts Nevis and Leeward Islands stamps. As a result, the book is also an encouragement to search for more material. It will contain a census of key covers and stamps from the early period, a catalogue of datestamps and other postal markings and an analysis of the stamps probably used in Anguilla. The evidence of Anguilla’s history shows that there is likely to be more material out there. The story of the 1967 revolution and its philatelic aftermath is covered in extensive detail – it is a stand-out example of the importance of the postal system and of postage stamps to an island’s economy and self-standing. The Leeward Island Federation ended in 1958 (Leeward stamps had been withdrawn in 1956) and Britain formed the West Indies Federation – a packaging together of ten island colonies. Anguilla, which had continued to be discontented with its subordinate role in the St Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla relationship, formally petitioned for a "dissolution of the present political and administrative association of Anguilla with St Kitts." However, Anguilla remained part of the St Kitts/Nevis grouping, and together with that unit formed a part of the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1961, reverting with St Kitts Nevis to Crown Colony status in 1962. The Federation had been short-lived, and as it broke up individual colonies began to seek independence. This development was of serious concern for the Anguillians, who did not wish to be part of an independent body that would be governed by St Kitts. The British proposed in 1966 that St Kitts Nevis and Anguilla become an ‘Associated State’, handling all of its own internal affairs. Anguillian requests for direct administration by Britain made in June and October 1966 were ignored, as had the accumulated evidence that islanders had been unhappy about being governed from St Kitts for 144 years. Representations made to the British and St Kitts Governments were overridden. The islanders were unhappy, and there was a disruption at a Beauty Queen Show on 4 February 1967 which the St Kitts police responded to with tear gas and gunshots. Ten days later HMS Salisbury landed more St Kitts Police and a detachment of Marines on the island. The Marines did not stay long. Statehood Day for St Kitts and Nevis went ahead on 27 February 1967. The postal material for Statehood was issued to Anguilla but very rarely used. On 30 May 1967 Anguillians forced the 13 St Kitts policemen (a symbol and power of State authority) off their land and Anguilla seceded from the St Kitts Nevis Anguilla Associated Statehood. The airport runway was blockaded. Peter Adams, the Anguillian’s Leader flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico to announce the island’s declaration of independence as there were no communications channels on Anguilla itself. This announcement was seemingly ignored, as was a cable sent to the Secretary General of the United Nations. The authorities in St Kitts thereafter impounded all mail destined for the island and halted all banking channels. An emergency arrangement was established three weeks later on 1 June 1967 whereby mail to and from Anguilla could travel via post office boxes at Marigot, St Martin and Philipsburg, St Maarten. Anguillian post office worker Eustace Brooks travelled to St Martin by fishing boat twice weekly to carry and collect mail. The Valley Post Office did have a few current St Christopher Nevis Anguilla stamps that were used for a short period in July 1967. It was recognised that ‘postage stamps, postal stationery, security and official mailing services, as well as dated and undated cancellation and instructional handstamps’ were an immediate necessity. An emergency Postage Paid Postmark was put into general use on 11 July 1967. Other arrangements took shape, primarily as a result of small local airlines ‘Anguilla Airways’ (and later ‘Valley Air Services’) that carried mail to the Virgin Islands w.e.f. 4 August 1967, from where it was forwarded. John Lister Ltd, UK represented by John King, was appointed as the island’s philatelic agency. A supply of the then current St Christopher Nevis Anguilla stamps was removed from the Anguillian Magistrate’s safe. These stamps were supplemented by supplies that John King obtained from the Crown Office. They had the St Christopher Nevis Anguilla inscription blocked out in black and were overprinted ‘Independent Anguilla’ before being released on 4 September 1967. Only 100 full sets of this issue can possibly exist, and they are highly sought after. It is thought that less than 10 full mint sets exist. These stamps are rare on cover, especially the higher values. 5c and 15c Airmail Letter sheets were also overprinted ‘Independent Anguilla’. The British, USA and other international mail systems eventually accepted the validity of these stamps, as did the Universal Postal Union. The only country that did not accept them was St Kitts Nevis. Anguilla then moved to issue its own stamps. The first definitive stamps were released on 27 November 1967. These were followed by five further series in 1968 and Anguilla became renowned for their design quality and attractive colourful themes. Stanley Gibbons and most other catalogues listed the original ‘Independent Anguilla’ overprint issue. Postage revenue made an important contribution to the island’s struggling economy, allowing remittances to flow in and demonstrating the island’s independence was sustainable. Meanwhile, there arose a political impasse, as the problems posed by Anguilla's "Declaration of Independence" were discussed by all concerned. At the end of 1967 agreement was reached whereby a Senior British Official (Tony Lee) would be permitted to work with and to advise Anguillian authorities with a view to reaching some possible agreement. Following this, on 4 January 1968 St Kitts released all the Anguillian mail they had been holding. However, all air traffic between the two islands remained prohibited, as was the holding or use of any of the St Christopher Nevis Anguilla Overprints by St Kitts citizens. Despite the presence of the British Official in Anguilla through 1968, no agreement to the main problem could be found, and he was withdrawn at the end of the year. It would seem the British hope had been for the matter to ‘blow over’ and that the originally envisaged arrangement would eventually come about. After the standstill ended, Anguilla reaffirmed itself an independent state, issuing a set of the 1967 first definitive stamps overprinted ‘Independence January 1969’ and hand stamped envelopes with ‘1967-1969 Anguilla’s Independence from St Kitts’. Talks had broken down conclusively and the British (over-)reacted: on 19 March 1969 Anguilla was invaded by British Paratroopers, Marines, and a British Police Force. A British Commissioner was installed on the island with wide-ranging powers to maintain public safety and order. These events attracted worldwide publicity on press and radio. The said issue of law and order was restored within a day, but the ‘Separation Movement’ and determination to seek independence from St Kitts continued. Anguilla’s Post office was temporarily closed. It was initially suggested that future mail services would be handled by the Crown Office, however this did not happen. The 1969 Definitive Overprints were withdrawn although the 1967-68 un-overprinted issue was allowed to remain in use, together with the five commemorative sets that had been so far issued. It was decided that Anguilla's stamps should continue to be designed and produced by John Lister Ltd. The Forces established their own Camp Alamo Field Post Office FPO 1046, and there was also Forces Mail from HMS Minerva (the ship that landed the forces and that ferried supplies from Antigua). Anguillian stamps remained popular and were contributing to the island’s economy. Six series of stamps were issued in 1969. Many philatelists contacted the Postmaster Harrigan at the Valley post office, and there were a number of advertisements placed in Anguilla’s ‘Beacon’ Newsletter by persons from around the world seeking philatelic penfriends and wishing to purchase stamps. LAND The role of the Forces in Anguilla changed from that of control to one of construction and the creation of infrastructure. An early positive step was the introduction of a radio station for the islanders and the announcement that mail services would be restored. Fig. 3 Camp Alamo Mail Landforces Green Ink The St Kitts Government finally released all of the mail it was holding, and the RAF established a three times weekly postal link to the UK in July 1969. When, on 15 September 1971, the Royal Engineers began to leave the island ‘The Beacon’ applauded them for tidying up 300 years of neglect. The Paratroopers left on 27 December 1970 and were replaced by Royal Engineers. BFPO 643 became the military address of Land Force Anguilla and FPO 701 replaced the original Camp Alamo FPO 1046 on 28 December 1970. There are some interesting covers as a result of the British Forces occupation. It would seem that a number of the soldiers were also keen philatelists. The Anguilla Act came into effect on 27th July 1971, enabling H. M. The Queen to make detailed provision for the administration of Anguilla through a legally appointed Commissioner. Anguilla was re-established as a colony of Britain, however St Kitts remained silently in charge, ‘subject to good behaviour’. The 1971 Christmas Issue and future Anguilla stamps carried the words’ H. M. COMMISSIONER IN ANGUILLA’, together with the Royal Cypher ER -a unique inscription indicating Anguilla's special status, and one which has appeared on Anguilla stamps since then. On 12th February 1976 a new Constitution came into operation giving authority to Anguilla's elected representatives. It fell short of formal separation from St. Kitts but did give Anguilla a degree of separate Page 36 administration as if it had been legally separated. General elections were held in March, and a Ministerial system was then introduced. To commemorate the event the 15 stamps of the 1972 definitive set were overprinted NEW CONSTITUTION 1976. On 20 October 1976 the new constitution was signed arranging for Anguilla’s separation from St Kitts, however it was only on 19 December 1980 that the Anguilla Act 1980 finally ended the island’s membership of the St Kitts Nevis Anguilla Associated State and it was eventually 1 April 1982 when the new Constitution took effect granting Anguilla autonomy, nearly 15 years after the islanders had originally seceded from the St Kitts Nevis Anguilla arrangement. Anguilla last issued new postage stamps ‘National Symbols of Anguilla’ on 10 October 2016 (SG12861293/Scott1240-1247). This issue brought the number of stamps that Anguilla itself has issued to 1293. There are additionally all of those pre-1967 stamps posted from the island. Postal revenue is no longer a key contributor to the island’s economy. Today there are active tourism and banking sectors (…however some would still argue that their fishermen play a vital role in delivering the finest Caribbean lobsters to restaurant tables!). The world of postage stamps has changed. Meter postal franking was introduced in 1985 and the Internet has overtaken much of the need for posted letters worldwide. Against this background Anguilla’s stamps continue to provide a vital insight to an island’s quest for identity and a fascinating subject for philatelists. Anguillians are justly proud of the role their stamps have played in recording the historical and constitutional events of the island and its economy. That is the story in summary...but the book gives the full account, detailing all of the issues, overprints, forgeries and postmarks/hand stamps for a philatelist to collect.

The Charles Freeland collection of British Virgin Islands was auctioned by Spink on 29 March 2023 at the premises of the Royal Philatelic Society London. This was a substantial collection consisting of 153 lots with postal history, die proofs, essays, specimens, adhesives, errors, colour trials and postal stationery. It was the most comprehensive Virgin Islands collection to come on the market for a number of years and included items from the De La Rue and Waterlow archives as well as items ex Yardley, Frazer, Frederick, Ursula, Cartier, Charlton Henry, Bessemer, Conrad Latto, Chartwell, Dale Lichtenstein and Vestey, so a sale with material of excellent provenance. I was the only room bidder but there was plenty of action on the internet, telephone and bids left on the book. The pre-stamp entires all found new homes with five sold to the book, one to the internet and two in the room. The die proof material was well contested with the two unique Waterlow die proofs knocked down for £2600 and £2500 amongst several exceeding their estimates. Charles did not have a copy of the famous ‘missing Virgin’ but the sale did include an Essay with no Virgin and this sold for less than it realised in the Vestey sale. There were several multiples of the issued stamps and in general these sold well, showing that early Virgin Islands stamps are difficult to find in multiples. The 1879-84 issue hand-stamped with the Type D8 specimen sold for four times the lower estimate at £1000. The 192228 issue die proofs all sold around estimate with the colour trials doing better. The postal stationery all sold to the same bidder, with the exception being an 1887 Postcard Master die proof which was out of place in the sale as it does not belong to the Virgin Islands. A surprise was an example of the Paid at Tortola crown circle used on a 1904 postcard from the Commissioner’s Office with his violet cachet selling for 4 times lower estimate at £1000. A very interesting lot was 1591 which included a Russia 3k reply paid stationery card uprated 4k sent from Odessa in 1890 and addressed to Anegada with St Kitts and Tortola transit cancels: This unusual item sold for £420, just above upper estimate. There were very few lots that did not sell on the day. One buyer who is new to collecting Virgin Islands was the successful bidder of several of the big items including the 1888 issued 4D on 1/-double surcharge which sold for the upper estimate at £3000, the QV 1898 Appendix Sheet and both the KEVII Appendix Sheets. The room accounted for 45% of the number of lots sold, with the internet 36%. The results show encouragement for Virgin Islands and for the society with a new collector on the scene.

I have been trying to work out what to do with this space as the Committee would prefer it not to be an advertisement and to be frank it is an odd size in any case. I have decided to use it as an editorial space for the time being although the cynical out there may just say it is the Editor having the last word. From my view as editor, the transition to the joint society has gone well, with a reasonable number of articles coming in, allowing me to get ahead of the production schedule. This is very convenient when you are editor of three journals. However, I would greatly appreciate small filler articles as otherwise I sometimes need to write a quite short filler in order to fill that annoying space left at the end of a long article. While I can run the whole gamut of the Caribbean in terms of covers, they are all likely to be air mail related, and I would prefer not to have to do this. If you have an interesting cover or item, then send a scan and some text and I will use them when appropriate. Alternatively, if you have an idea for a better use for this space then let me know. I went to Essen for the International exhibition at the end of May and had a great time. I was very impressed with the sheer number of collectors at the dealer stands over the whole show. Philately seems strong in Germany. I spent a long term going through dealer boxes and it is clear that postal history is king at present, compared with stamps. I was a little disappointed, however, with the lack of good Caribbean material, with the exception of Michael Pugh. The most important item I have purchased recently was actually in New Zealand in May, at a FIAP exhibition. It was a Dominican Republic item, however, so is unlikely to feature in this journal. On the other hand, I was at a very small show in Perth (Western Australia) recently and bought an interesting Jamaican item that will appear some time. Stay in touch and please keep the articles (long and short) coming in.

After a lot of huffing and puffing, the first stage of the societies’ merger is completed. The biggest challenge has been dealing with avoiding email bounces due to enhanced SPAM detection processes implemented by internet service providers. This has not only affected newsletters but also password resets and I am grateful for your patience and the work undertaken by Susan Taylor who has fielded the problems. By the time you receive the journal, our AGM and auction will have taken place and hopefully we can proceed with renaming our bank accounts to the new society name. There will be other outstanding matters to address once the dust has settled; more about that in the next issue of the journal. Enclosed with the journal is an invitation to attend our convention in October at Guildford; it would be good to see a large turnout and see each other face-to-face. The keynote speaker is Andrew Fowles who is coming over from Jamaica to show us some of his goodies.

I hope you enjoyed the first issue of the merged journal, and that the members of the BCPSG who had not seen it before enjoyed the read. If there are items that were in the BCPSG Journal that you feel would be useful in the new journal, then send me an email and I can raise it with the other Committee members. I have always liked the listing of new members as I feel it is small way of welcoming you. Articles are coming in at a reasonable rate, but I could definitely use more, both long and particularly short articles of less than a page. Indeed, I needed to write the Antigua Flight Cover article to fill an unexpected space so it would be good to obtain some smaller articles to have on hand. I would also like to get more articles from our newly joined BCPSG members. One of the issues for an editor is balancing the variety of material in an issue. One doesn’t want all articles on one country, but sometimes they may dominate an issue simply because that is what is on hand. I hope you are finding the article on Guyana overprints interesting. I needed to edit this article a little more than usual because it was originally targeted at a different audience. However, I found it fascinating and it gave me a new appreciation for an area I thought was purely philatelic. I hope you enjoy part 2 and the other articles in this issue.

I enjoyed reading Pertwee’s article re modern Guyana overprints; it didn’t relieve my frustrations on this topic, but at least I now know there are other souls out there working on the myriad of reprints. Cheers Dale Wade

PRIVATE SHIP LETTER rate: Cover marked per private ship “Demerara” to Stenhousemuir, Scotland with British Guiana 6c blue tied “W 4 C” code cancel dated FE 24 1873, landed with boxed GREENOCK SHIP LETTER handstamp and rated half share red 1½. The private ship letter being 3d whilst letters carried by the RMSP Co being 1/-per half ounce (AP 1 1863 to full UPU membership, thereafter both at 4d rate to other UPU members). PRIVATE SHIP LETTER by CARGO BOAT: Cover from Trinidad to Godalming, Surrey unusually marked per “Cargo boat” 17.6.85 instead of specified named vessel with QV 4d pmk’d A/JU 17 85 being the post UPU rate. ADHESIVES USED IN ANOTHER COUNTRY: Entire with TRINIDAD (1d) Britannia tied ‘D22’ used Ciudad Bolivar A/DE 27 73 addressed Fritz Zurcher & Co., Trinidad with handstruck red SHIP-LETTER. At least 12 covers are known as such suggesting that such an arrangement with nearby neighbour Venezuela was permitted. CENSORED TWO COUNTRIES and DAMAGED BY FIRE: Reg. cover to Otrabanda, Curaçao with KG6 2/1d rate pmk’d Kingstown C/3 MY 41 and b/stamped Willemstad 8.5.41, showing both despatch and arrival censor handstamps and label and two strikes “Damaged by Fire” (one on reverse). The location of the fire not yet established. NEWSPAPER rate: 18th April 1969 edition of THE LABOUR SPOKESMAN mailed with St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla 48c franking at Basseterre to Brian Brookes, Halesowen, Worcestershire. TRIPLEX ACCOUNTANCY HANDSTAMP: Cover from British Guiana to New York with 2c, 8c with the latter tied Georgetown “A03” duplex dated MY 8 1871 with PA4ID, a second strike could not be applied so the 2c was ‘killed’ by the black ‘A03’ obliterator. SOLDIER’S PRESTAMP LETTER with HAND PAINTED PORTRAIT OF SENDER to his father: Entire from Jamaica with Kingston FE 25 1842 dbl-arc to Woolbridge, Wareham, Dorset with full length RE-ADDRESSED AND DELAYED BY POSTING IN A watercolour of sender Corporal Joseph Northover in LONDON LETTER BOX: British Guiana KG6 5c rate cover his black uniform of the 2nd Battalion, 60th Rifle pmk’d Georgetown 7 JA 52 to the Philaletic (sic) Traders Brigade. Society, London variously re-addressed. PHILATELIC GOSSIP: Reg. cover to The Gossip Printery (Publishers of Philatelic Gossip) in Holton, Kansas with both British Guiana KG6 3c, 6c Peace issues and press release clipping for the issue tied Airmail 2 NO 41 and New York transit 11-9-1941. METER FRANKING: Cover from Barbados with 38c airmail rate Bridgetown 26 IV 55 Seal of Colony meter cancel to Liverpool, England. POSTAL STATIONERY OVERPRINTED FOR USE ELSEWHERE used ‘elsewhere’: St Vincent UPU Post Card overprinted for use in GIBRALTAR written from Mogador, Morocco 5/4 87 addressed to Stuttgart, Germany with handstruck blue ink per “EMPUSA’’ pmk’d Gibraltar ‘A26’ duplex dated A/AP 10 87. REGISTERED SURFACE MAIL: St Vincent cover to Toronto, Canada with QE2 23c rate pmk’d Sandy Bay */15 AP 70 with village circled “R”. Sandy Bay at the northernmost tip of the island is the only village comprised mainly of the surviving indigenous Carib people. MAIL TO CELEBRITIES OF THE MOVIE WORLD: Cover to Bud Abbott and Lou Costello at the M.G.M. Studios, Culva City, California with Barbados 3d Badge franking pmk’d GPO 28 FE 50 showing red 2-line UNCALLED FOR AT/METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER. This duo worked in radio, film, and television and were the most popular comedy team of the 1940’s and early 1950’s, and the highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II. The TWO VERSIONS OF THE MONTSERRAT 3-LINE FORMAT: The DEC 9 99 entire, unique with two T’s, is addressed to John Thomas Batt, London rated 1/8 and forwarded to Salisbury with ‘6’ charge due; the JUL 25 1801 entire with single T is more in line with other British West Indies group 2-LINES as it shows the year in full and is addressed to Thomas Gordon in London and rated 1/10.

The cover at right is from the well-known Bessie Harper whose mail has appeared on the market in the last few years. It is franked 8d which is almost certainly the correct air mail rate from Antigua to Trinidad in December 1942, but no postal rate source I can find covers this month. The 1941 rate from Proud (1) is 6d which is the same as in The West Indies Year Book (2). The censor label, applied in Antigua, is Miller L3 (3) and is known from 23 April 1942 to 5 January 1943. What is interesting about this cover is the endorsement “First English Air Mail / Antigua – Trinidad” which is in the same handwriting as the rest of the envelope. This means that Bessie Harper almost certainly wrote it. A quick check of Wike (4) shows no first flight to Trinidad on 17 December 1942, a Thursday. The backstamp shows DE 18 42 at 10am. I couldn’t find a Pan American Airways (PAA) timetable that covered this month but a 1943 timetable on the site www.timetableimages.com (5) indicates there was no connection between Antigua and Trinidad on a Thursday. It would seem that it was most likely NOT flown by PAA. The only other airlines flying in the Caribbean at this time were KLM and BWIA. KLM wasn’t flying to Antigua. The original KLM agreement was that it was allowed to fly to the islands unless an ‘English’ carrier started, which in this case was British West Indies Airways (BWIA) in 1940. It was the ‘English Carrier’ but wouldn’t start services between Trinidad and Antigua until March 1943. However, it was doing some flights in 1942 for the US Government between bases and both Antigua and Trinidad had such bases. Therefore, there is a very real possibility that this cover was flown by BWIA on one of its US Government flights between Antigua and Trinidad. Bessie Harper appears to have had good philatelic contacts and may have managed to get a letter on one such (unrecorded) flight. Further research is needed and if anyone has any ideas please let me know.

As a collector of early Barbados, I am always on the lookout for unusual material. A few years back, I was fortunate to acquire some interesting covers from Canadian collector, M. Fitz Roett, who specialized in the Britannia issues of Barbados. In 2013, in collaboration with Charles Freeland and Peter Longmuir, Roett published a detailed study of these issues (1). Two of the covers listed in this handbook are addressed to a military officer by the name of “Luard” at St Lucia. Thanks to the excellent British archives pertaining to 19th Century gentry, it was a relatively simple matter to determine that the officer in question was Henry Reynolds Luard (Figure 1), born in 1828 in Warwickshire to a substantial land-owning family. In 1845, he attended the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich as a “Gentleman Cadet.” Cadets who completed their two-year studies in the top half of their class became Royal Engineers and the rest became Royal Artillery. Cadet Luard did well and graduated from ‘The Shop’ in 1847 as a Royal Engineer with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. After various postings at Chatham and Woolwich, he was promoted to Lieutenant in 1851 and in 1853 began a four-year tour of duty in the British colonies of the West Indies. While serving as Commanding Officer of the Royal Engineer contingent on St Lucia, he received a letter from a fellow officer posted at Barbados. This cover (Figure 2) has a number of distinctive characteristics. Dated 11 August 1856, it is the earliest recorded use of the imperforate 4d brownish red stamp (SG 5). In addition, the envelope features the imprint “ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE.” In his handbook, Roett explains use of the 4d stamp thus: “OHMS cover to St Lucia franked with the [4d] stamp prepaying the inter-island packet rate. The manuscript figures are accounting markings as official mail was not liable to inland postal charges.” (2) This explanation is a bit puzzling, and Roett offers no references to support his interpretation. A typical interisland letter during this period cost 6d – 1d to pay the postage to port, 4d for the island-to-island packet service and 1d for delivery at destination. A sender did not have to pre-pay these latter two fees, and many inter-island letters from Barbados are franked only with 1d in postage, with the recipient paying the remainder. Roett’s explanation of the franking in Figure 2 assumes that the 4d stamp paid the inter-island fee, but there is no manuscript “4” in red to acknowledge such a credit. A simpler explanation is to view Figure 2 as a quadruplerate cover, with the 4d stamp paying the 1d x 4 fee to port, and the black manuscript marking denotes 1s 4d for interisland service to be paid by the addressee Luard. The cover illustrated in Figure 3, written by the same hand that prepared the cover in Figure 2, supports this explanation. It is a double-rate letter sent one month after the first one to newly promoted Captain Luard, with the sender electing again to pay the rate to port (2d), but not the inter-island rate (8d). There appears to have been some confusion regarding the inter-island rate, with an initial manuscript “4” crossed out and amended to “6”, which in turn was corrected to “8”. Thus, overall franking treatment of the two covers is consistent, but it appears that the printed OMHS cachet had no bearing on the amount required. I have been unable to find anything in the BWI literature that discusses exemptions and limitations of OHMS mail during the early period when adhesives were first used. In theory, certain departments such as the island Post Offices should have been entitled to free internal post, but there is nothing to indicate that any such exemption would extend to “official” mail between military officers. If the envelopes had been used as a matter of convenience for private correspondence, one would expect the OHMS wording to have been crossed out. To the contrary, in Figure 3 the sender reinforced the perceived “official” status of the cover by annotating his initials in the lower left corner, “Captain J.F.M. RO [Royal Ordnance].” A B.P.A. certificate pronounces this cover as genuine but does not offer any insight into the collateral question of OHMS franking requirements. One possible explanation, although speculative, stems from the separate authority that existed on Barbados until 1858 between the Inland Post Office and the Packet Agent. As author Edmund Bayley explains (3), these two agencies co-existed in parallel but with separate functions. Perhaps the sender of the covers to Lieutenant/Captain Luard believed he had an obligation to pay the local rate to port for an OHMS letter, but not the inter-island rate. Or perhaps the Barbados Post Office tacitly acknowledged the OHMS nature of the letters by itself applying adhesives out of existing stock to pay the local rate to port. Or perhaps…. No support in regulations or law can be found for any of these conjectures. To my knowledge, no other OHMS covers are recorded from Barbados during the period of the imperforate Britannia issues (1852-60). Theoretically, Captain Luard might have sent reply letters to his compadre on Barbados, and a collector of early St. Lucia postal history may have such a cover. This is unlikely, however; the postal history that we have today for enjoyment and study is the barest fraction of the mail volume from that era, typically resurrected from family or business archives. According to modern compilations of Barbados postal history (4), fewer than 275 covers are recorded with imperforate Britannia adhesives. Of these, 17% are local uses within Barbados, 50% went to West Indies destinations, 16% to the United Kingdom, 12% to the United States, 3% to Canada, and 2% to Europe and the rest of the world. An interesting sidelight to both covers illustrated above is red embossing on the reverse side of each envelope. Depicted is a shield topped with a crown and an extended arm holding a fistful of lightning bolts (see Figure 4). This accords with the motto inscribed below, “SUA TELA TONANTI”, which translates literally as “his missiles to the one [Zeus] who is thundering,” and figuratively as “to the warrior his arms,” a motto historically used by the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. In summary, I remain somewhat confused by the treatment of these two related covers. Fitz Roett’s conclusion that they were partially official (i.e., exempt from local post, but not inter-island fees) is an interesting proposal, but based on what authority? I have written this article with the hope that someone with greater insight and expertise can assist in reconciling these various loose ends and conjure up a more coherent explanation for the covers illustrated above. I would appreciate receiving correspondence on any aspect of this article at rosesa47@outlook.com.

This seems an opportune time, with Graham Booth's recent auction of Cayman Islands Postal History, to update the 2001 article by John Byl in BCPSG journal (1) on the Manuscript Provisionals of the Cayman Islands. The first reference to the Manuscript Provisional covers is in the 1910 Armstrong Stamp Lover Booklet on the Cayman Islands (2). In the 1962 Cayman Island handbook (3), by Aguilar and Saunders, we see a rudimentary classification of the Provisionals. John Byl started collecting Cayman Manuscript Provisional covers in the late 1960s. From the late 1970s onwards, he was writing articles on the subject. This culminated in their inclusion in the Stanley Gibbons Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue and his definitive article in BCPSG journal July 2001. My own interest in the subject started after I purchased a cover in 1992 which was substantially different from the others I had seen (Figure 1). It, like the scarce manuscript provisionals, had G.C. in the address rather than the more normal Grand Cayman seen in standard MP2s (Figure 2). Fig. 1 Fig. 2 The endorsement (Pd ¼d WG McC) was in mauve rather than the pink/red ink seen on MP2s. It was clearly dated 6 October compared to 14 October or 16 October frequently seen on MP2. In discussion with John, he explained it was one of the variants of MP2 which later became MP2b in the SG Commonwealth catalogue. In looking closer at the manuscript provisionals, two things bothered me. Why would one start with the ordinary MP2 on 4 October then have the variant on 6 October, followed by scarce varieties on 7 October and 8 October, for the ordinary MP2 to return on the 14 October? Why did I never see a manuscript cover of 4 October? I had come across a couple of examples stated to be 4 October. One had a remnant of the 1 in 14, the other the impression of the 1. Following discussion with John over the years he decided to review his records of photocopies of MP2s. By this stage he had a record of 76 MP2s. This included 22 covers in Graham Booth's collection, of which 20 were dated 14 or 16 October. The other two were 6 & 10 October. Graham had come to the same conclusion as I that 6 October was the earliest date of these covers. On closer inspection of the photocopies John had of his listing of 76 MP2 covers, in four the date was illegible, in four of the six he thought were dated 4 October there was evidence of a partial 1 thus they were dated the 14th. Of the other two he had no copy of one and the other he was unsure. Of the 70 covers with a date in his list, 64 were 14 or 16 October, three were dated 6 October, one the 10th, one the 27th and the last 15 October, but that was a MP5. In John's 2001 article he stated at the time of the 60 MP2 covers he had recorded, 42 were dated 14 or 16 October. This was strange as the number of other dates had fallen from 18 to eight or 12 if he included the incorrectly dated covers by the time, he produced his list of 76 some years later. The other area of confusion in John's 2001 article is in the table at the end of the article where he records: SG No. Description Numbers Known Date MP2 Endorsement in two lines in red ink 52 10-27 October MP2b Endorsement in one or two lines in 5 4 & 6 October mauve ink There are, in our records, five MP2bs known in one or two lines in mauve ink but all dated 6 October. There are no MP2bs known dated 4 October. There is evidence of an intermediate stage between the 6 October MP2b (Figure 1) and the 14 & 16 October MP2 (Figure 2). In the Graham Booth auction at Stanley Gibbons June 2022, lot 47 (4) shows a cover written in the style of Figure 1 but having postage and value endorsement as seen in Figure 2, dated 12 October. A similar example of this hybrid is shown in Figure 3 dated 10 October; again, being addressed in MP2b format with G.C. but with the endorsement in pink by postmaster McCausland as the normal MP2. The only difference being the endorsement is in one line rather than the normal two on both covers. Fig. 3 With regard to the earlier G.A.P. (Miss Gwendoline Parsons) manuscript provisionals of May 1908, due to a lack of ½d and 1d stamps, no new examples have come to light – the total remains 11 recorded examples, six examples with (Postage Paid/G.A.P.) from MY 13 08 to MY 18 08, all to overseas destinations. With the appearance of a local inter island cover on MY 18 08 rates of 1/2d and 1d were added outside of the bracket. This differentiated local from overseas mail between MY 18 08 and JU 01 08 on the other five covers. This is not made clear in the SG Commonwealth Catalogue. Chronological Table of Manuscript Provisional ¼d Covers. SG No. Description Numbers Known Date Notes MP2b Pd ¼d WGMcC in one or 5 6 October In mauve ink two lines MP3 PAID in blue pencil 1 7 October MP4 Pd ¼d in blue pencil 5 8 October Intermediate Envelope pink ink one line 2* 10 & 12 October Figure 3 MP2b MP2 Pd ¼d WGMcC 80+ 14 & 16 October MP2a ¼d/ Pd WGMcC 2 16 October MP2 (var.) to Cayman Brac as MP2 9 16 October MP2 (var.) to Boddentown as MP2 2 16 October MP5 Paid ¼d / GAP / asst 2 15 October In pink ink * Another cover is recorded 10 October but not seen to know if intermediate type. With regard to the nine covers to Cayman Brac, eight are written in one hand all to different people, the other in another hand to the doctor's wife on the island. Neither handwriting is seen on other examples of MP2. The two covers to Boddentown are written in the same hand to different recipients. This handwriting is not seen on other mail. It would appear the covers to Boddentown and Cayman Brac are non-philatelic. Page 14 With regard to the MP3 PAID mark, it is on a foreign PPC sent by a Mr Charles Eden. It is one of two or possibly three cards all sent on 7 October to different young ladies, all endorsed “for your collection”. The others have single farthing stamps on them. He did not have enough stamps to put on all the cards. The classification in Gibbons Commonwealth catalogue could be changed to maintain chronological sequencing by substituting MP2b for MP2 leaving MP3, MP4 and MP5 as they are with MP2 becoming MP6. Then MP6 and MP7 would become MP7a and MP7b.

Barbados has an interesting history when it comes to air mail. Barbados sits somewhat further out in the Atlantic than the rest of the Caribbean islands. This made it an important port for steamers but delayed it getting an early airmail service. In 1929 it was far easier for Pan American Airways (PAA) to island hop down through the islands on Foreign Air Mail (FAM) route 6 (on the way to South America), than fly out to Barbados. Indeed, there was steady shipping traffic between Barbados and Trinidad in any case. It was not until late 1938, when KLM began flying between Trinidad and Barbados, that it received a regular air mail service. What is interesting is what happened between September 1929 and late 1938, for Barbados airmail. It had access to airmail by sending the mail by ship to another port where it could join an airmail service. One assumes that this occurred immediately on the start of FAM 6 at the end of September 1929, however, Bayley (1) is not clear on this. In his book he mentions that there is a Barbados Post Office Notice of 13 February 1930 stating the rates for air mail via London. Air mail could be forwarded by steamer to London and then sent by airmail from London. It is very difficult seeing the advantage of this at the time, for most countries. The list includes the Bahamas at 7d per ounce. This would have meant (the way I read it) that a letter was sent by ship to London, then by ship to New York, then by internal airmail to Florida and then flown on FAM 7 to the Bahamas. For Australia the cost was 3d per ounce which means that it went by ship to London, then ship to Perth, then it was flown across Australia. I very much doubt that this service was much used, and indeed according to Bayley there were 25 letters which utilised this service in 1931! If you own one, then you have a true rarity. On 28 April 1930, Bayley notes that PAA has informed the Colonial Postmaster that the following chart gives the Air Mail Rates for using their service. These rates superceded any earlier rates. The rates shown are the airmail component with the normal postage rate added on top. There were more Post Office Notices giving details of how the system operated as the airmail was shipped to St Lucia as follows: “Air mail letters sent by ordinary mail to St. Lucia where the Air Mail for the north closes at 4 p.m. each Friday, and for the south at 11 a.m. each Tuesday. It is impossible to guarantee mail connection with St. Lucia as the service is carried on mainly by means of sailing schooners as opportunity offers, except once a fortnight when the “Lady Boats” sail; …” Why the mail went to St Lucia instead of Trinidad is not clear, as there would have been more regular shipping between Barbados and Trinidad. However, I think it was because St Lucia was closer to the USA, but this is purely supposition. However, the use of this service was not high and in January 1932, Barbados changed to transferring the mail to Trinidad to join the air mail service. You could still request that your mail go via St Lucia, but this was more expensive – for the USA the cost per half ounce was 1s5d via Trinidad, versus 1s9d via St Lucia. I doubt it was much used. Bayley actually records the number of letters sent by air mail for each year up to 1939: Table 1 Year Number of Air Mail Letters Posted from Barbados Average Numberper Week Via St Lucia 1930 unknown ? 1931 364 (plus 25 via London) 7 Via Trinidad 1932 854 16 1933 1,393 27 1934 2,604 50 1935 3,586 69 1936 6,281 121 1937 10,594 204 KLM Direct 1938 14,429 277 1939 49,164 945 It is easy to see the impact that the direct KLM service had in 1939, when air mail usage went up 340%. Recently, I have been reworking my exhibit of the Development of Commercial Air Mail in the Caribbean. This excludes first flight covers while focussing on air mail between the islands and with Central and South America. I realised that the earliest air mail cover I had from Barbados seemed to be a 1933 cover to Argentina, and indeed air mail covers in the period before 1939 were quite scarce for anything other than to the USA. Strangely, Argentina seemed to be a more common destination. I then started hunting for pre-1933 covers and found a nice 1932 cover to the USA, where I think a large majority of air mail was sent. Survival rates of covers is always tricky but assuming 1% survive, then there should be about 8 or 9 covers from 1932 sent by air mail from Barbados in collectors’ hands. This does not seem unrealistic. My quest, however, was for a 1931 or even a 1930 cover sent by air mail from Barbados. So, I started googling and found an article that mentioned a March 1930 air mail cover. It was slightly amusing to click on the link, only to realise that the article had been written by me. I wrote an article some years ago for Capital Philately, the journal of the Philatelic Society of Canberra. The article was about the letter within the envelope rather than the air mail. The reason that this cover was not in my list of Caribbean air mail covers was because it was in a different exhibit on part-paid by air covers. It is illustrated in Figure 1. As a part paid by air cover it is of minor importance and I originally purchased it because March 1930 is very early for commercial air mail in the West indies. Over the years I have found that even covers from islands that were directly on an air mail route are hard to find in the first year of FAM 6. This cover is endorsed Via St. Lucia, as it should be, and the postage comprises 1d surface mail plus 1s4d for the air mail surcharge. Neither Bayley nor Proud (2) has rates listed for March 1930 but this rate is similar to later rates listed. The cover is postmarked BARBADOS G.P.O. 3 MR 30 and is backstamped CASTRIES ST LUCIA 4 MR 30. The letter appears to have travelled overnight to St Lucia (see below) and connected with FAM 6. The added bonus with this cover is, not just the early date of use of the air mail, but the included letter. It reads in part; Have you got it – this letter – in the air mail? Hope so. I am now sitting in our front gallery and on my left out at sea is the tourist boat “Veendam” coming in, while on my right is the “Western Ocean” which is the boat that is to carry this to St. Lucia where it will connect up with the air mail. Then at the end of the letter it reads; I am going to write John a letter and send it “up” by the same boat as an ordinary letter so you all can see the difference in saving of time. Then (Posting letter now – 10. a.m.) (same as the postmark) This cover and letter were a very lucky find and an important piece of Barbados air mail postal history. If you extrapolate back from the 1931 figures in Table 1, then it is likely that only 150-200 letters were sent by air mail in 1930. Assuming the same 1% survival rate means that there may only be 1 or 2 surviving letters from that year. The letter also had the following piece of social history in it: The TALKIES opened last night (Sunday 2nd March) at the Empire with “Broadway Scandals” – a Columbia all talking – singing –dancing revue – GREAT!! –Wonderful! – Thrilling !! etc, etc: etc: … For other members who collect this period of Barbados I suggest you check to see what you have in the period 1930-32, as any air mail covers from this period are potentially rare survivors. If you happen to have a cover sent by ship to London for onward air mail transmission in 1930-32 then you have a great rarity. Similarly, if you have a cover sent via St Lucia after 1 January 1932 this too is rare. I would be happy to get any scans of air mail covers in this period.

This article follows on from that in the previous journal that looked at the registration at the GPO in Roseau. Here we will be looking at what happened in the villages to meet the UPU, Washington Conference (1897) requirement that in addition to the ‘R’ the name of the office and an identifying number be placed on the registered item. Prior to the introduction of labels, registration from the villages was possible. Figure 1 shows a cover from Grand Bay to Montgomery Ward where the boxed ‘REGISTERED’ hand stamp (D10R) has been applied in Grand Bay as the JU 19 29 pmk is on top of the h/stamp and a manuscript number of ‘R232 G’ Bay’ is evident. The stamps are on the back as is a GPO postmark of JU 20 29 and a red manuscript allocation of R74/3 was presumably made there. (Three 1½d stamps on the reverse make up the correct franking). In 1930, Portsmouth, by far the largest office outside the capital, received a printed registration label in the standard British format; these were in sheets, probably of 50. This is Oliver’s D19R which I have redesignated DV1R and is the only label used in the villages which he lists. The style is ‘DOMINICA/(Portsmouth)’ and was probably ordered at the same time as D15R (DOMINICA/(G.P.O.). However, five other types of printed label are known to the author to have been used before 1952, all produced in the strip format (perforated on 2 sides only). All are illustrated below. DV1R DV2R DV3R DV4R DV5R DV6R These were followed by two series of temporary rubber hand stamps – rectangular (1946) and lozenge (1951), mostly illustrated by Proud, and it seems to the author that a separate numbering system would be more helpful –see Table 1. Only the Salybia Lozenge (DV24R) is not illustrated in Proud, so only that (Figure 2) and DV18R (Figure 3) are illustrated in this article. Table 1 Registration Markings from the Villages to 1952 Fig. 2 No Style Size (mm) EKD LKD Printed Labels DV1R DOMINICA/(Portsmouth) 40 x 15.5 25 Mar 30 DV2R PORTSMOUTH,/DOMINICA 39 x 15.5 2 Aug 35 5 Sep 47 DV3R GRAND BAY,/DOMINICA 39 x15.5 1 Jun 39 6 Jun 47 DV4R MARIGOT,/DOMINICA 38 x 15.5 12 Jan 47 DV5R MARIGOT,/DOMINICA BR W I 39 x 15.5 3 Jun 51 DV6R WESLEY,/DOMINICA BR W I 39 x 15 15 Jun 47 Rectangular Rubber Stamps DV10R Castle Bruce, D/Ca 54 x 16 13 Dec 46 6 Jul 70 DV11R Colihaut, D/Ca 56 x 16 27 Dec 46 12 Jan 52 DV12R Delices, D/Ca 55 x 16 12 Dec 46 DV13R La Plaine, D/Ca 55 x 16 11 Dec 46 14 May 51 DV14R Mahaut D/Ca 54 x 16 16 Dec 46 3 Jan 52 DV15R Pointe Michel D/Ca 55 x 16 12 Dec 46 10 May 51 DV16R Rosalie, D/Ca 56 x 16 19 Dec 46 1 Apr 55 DV17R St Joseph, D/Ca 55 x 16 9 Jun 47 16 May 57 DV18R Soufriere, D/Ca 56 x 16 12 Dec 46 20 Dec 51 DV19R Vieille Case, D/Ca 54 x 16 24 Dec 46 20 Jan 52 Lozenge Rubber Stamps DV20R Calibishie, D/ca 53 x 12 10 May 51 7 Aug 56 DV21R Coulibistrie, D/ca 53 x 12 10 May 51 DV22R Dublanc, D/ca 53 x 11 10 May 51 DV23R Petite Savanne D/ca 51 x 10 28 Sep 58 DV24R Salybia, D/ca 51 x 10 5 Feb 70 DV25R San Sauveur, D/ca 52 x 11 6 May 51 10 Oct 63 After this a few printed labels were ordered, all illustrated (next page), but in general when the rubber hand stamps wore out, they were replaced by cruder and simpler local hand stamps. Some attempt to list these is made in Table 2 but others undoubtedly await discovery. These too can be broken down in to two general types: firstly VILLAGE D/Ca./ R.No. generally from the 1960’s; secondly a simple VILLAGE / R generally from the early 1970’s. Some of these can be found illustrated in Proud and the two shown with this article are DV40R (Figure 4) and DV53R (Figure 5). Table 2 Registration Markings from the Villages post 1952 No Style Size (mm) Earliest seen Latest seen-if different Printed Labels DV30R WESLEY,/DOMINICA 38 x 16 20 Apr 61 DV31R Portsmouth,/Dominica 39 x 16 28 Nov 62 DV32R Marigot, Dominica 39 x 15 3 May 65 2 Mar 66 DV33R PORTSMOUTH/DOMINICA 38 x 16 19 Mar 68 Rectangular Rubber Stamps DV40R CALIBISHIE, D/CA. / R.NO. 38 x 11 17 Oct 66 DV41R COLIHAUT D/Ca / R No 44 x 15 2 Jun 64 DV42R DOS D’ANE D/ca / R Nos 43 x 17 28 Mar 66 DV43R GRAND FOND D / CA. /R NO. 55 x 14 26 Sep 63 DV45R VIEILLE CASE D/CA / R No 43 x 15 30 Aug 65 Rectangular Rubber Stamps DV50R ATKINSON / R 31 x 16 9 Nov 71 DV51R DOS D’ANE 35 x 15 29 Aug 75 DV52R MARIGOT / R 36 x 17 9 Sep 70 10 May 80 DV53R PETITE SAVANNE / R 47 x 16 27 Aug 75 DV54R PORTSMOUTH/ R 41 x 21 30 Jan 73 DV55R Soufriere / R 27 x 16 28 Nov 66 DV56R Wesley / R 28 x 17 11 Oct 74 3 Aug 77 Fig. 5 Fig. 4 The dates shown are generally those from examples in the author’s collection and the author would be pleased to hear from members who may be able to extend the data. The suggested numbering sequence makes some allowance for future discoveries, the first digit refers to the type, the second digit is allocated alphabetically. After this period postmasters appear to have reverted to manuscript markings, sometimes fancifully to denote registration, see illustration from Coulibistrie (Figure 6).

Case No. One The picture postcard in Figure 1, “Cable Hut Turks Island”, is unusual and its significance perhaps not fully recognised. In the early days of global telecommunications, the submarine cable networks provided telegraphy (dots and dashes) to all parts of the world during the 1800s and thereafter. The main difficulty was in the long submarine sections, where the signals became weaker and distorted. Advantage was always taken to keep sections as short as possible. In this case, a submarine cable from the UK made its landfall on the beach at Grand Turk where a “Cable Hut” announced its arrival before going to the local relay/regeneration station. Relay normally meant amplifying the very weak, and distorted, signal before sending it onwards. Regeneration meant restoring the signal to its proper robust shape before sending it onwards. So, Turks Islands became the main submarine cable transit link between the UK and the Caribbean area. Regeneration was only possible by precise synchronisation of all electro-mechanical equipment under a strict clock control system. The UK synchronome clock being dominant for controlling most of the world networks, including the Turks Islands synchronome clock, which could never be at exactly the same time (normally within a second a day was just not good enough!) so synchronisers were inserted that could sense the exact speed of incoming signals which then minutely speeded up or slowed down the Turks Islands receiving equipment. Selection of each dot or dash for regeneration was then made on a timing basis and a brand-new robust dot or dash inserted in its place. Very clever! Another major difficulty was, for some reason the Caribbean network was under the control of a different synchronome clock (probably Jamaica). So, Turks Islands electro-mechanical equipment was in the middle of a dilemma. It was solved by inserting a very rare piece of telegraph equipment called a ‘Capacitor Storage Unit’ (one of very few ever in existence) which I think today would be called a ‘Buffer Store’. In this case, TIME was very important in the Turks Islands! Case No. Two The Queen Elizabeth 5/-definitive stamp of 1957 (Figure 2) shows the Cable Office, perhaps recognising the importance of telecommunication there. I was posted by Cable and Wireless to the Turks Islands in the mid 1970s where they were responsible for all the telecommunications of that nation. Because the company had been there since the first submarine telegraph cable landed there, it was still known as Turks Islands, despite the Country changing its name to include the Caicos Islands in 1900. I pointed this out to The Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and he was as amused as I was – so it was changed accordingly by Cable and Wireless, be it some 75 years late! Fig. 2 Cable Office In this case, it appears TIME was NOT important in the Turks Islands! Case No Three The special issue set of stamps dated 1972 (Figure 3), marked the successful “splash down” of Colonel Glen just off the Turks Islands. By the late 1960s, telecommunications were well established and the American NASA (National Aeronautical Space Administration) had its satellite tracking systems well in place. Turks Islands were critical, as it was the first tracking station ‘down range’ from Cape Kennedy which was able to detect if each launch was correctly on track. If not, it had the power to destroy the spacecraft. In this case, TIME was very important in the Turks Islands. Case No Four The George VI 4d definitive stamp of 1950 (Figure 4) boldly shows the surrounding geography. The main shipping lane in this area joining the Caribbean with the Atlantic Ocean is the Turks Islands Passage which flows between the two groups of Turks and Caicos Islands which if appropriate has yet to carry the Caicos name. In this case, Time is NOT important in the Turks Islands!

How Would a Cross-referencing System Benefit the User of the Stanley Gibbons’ Sectional Catalogue? Overprints on the Flowering Plants Series Just one example of how this might work in the SG catalogue, so that the user would not have to go through each page with an eye out for a particular number, is where the Flowering Plants set of 1971-76 (SG 542-556) is concerned, as its stamps have been extensively used for overprinting. It is enough for our purposes here to look at just the 5c value (Figure 26), the Annatto Tree (SG545) to which, by my count in SG, 46 overprints have been applied, sometimes with two or three overlapping on the same stamp. So, one has to look at the ‘progressions’ as well, as shown earlier in this article. Without cross-referencing footnotes, each page of the catalogue after p.44 has to be scanned for references to 545 and its derivatives, derivatives in the sense that the base stamp 545 becomes in one case 781b which then turns into 844. This is the method I used to draw up Table 2 to capture all the main details and provide a ready source of reference. This approach can be used for all the stamps in this set, some of which have been overprinted many more times than others, but such a method would not be quite so laborious with cross-references or might not even be necessary at all. Though it would still be useful, I think, to be able to have itemised listings, especially when actual examples can be added to the factual details. Table 2 GUYANA 1971-1976 Flowering Plants and their Overprints SG542-556 5c Annatto Tree – SG545 SG No. Face Values Dates of Issue Type of Overprint F3 5c (545) 1975 1 Nov Revenue Only p.163 780 75c/5c (545) 1981 Figure 7 added before 5c T184 p.50 781b 220c/5c (545) 1981 1 July 220 and X obliterator – heading suggests this is T185 with X at bottom, as for preceding, but has to be different as the X is not at the bottom 794 50c/5c (545) 1981 1 July 50c with X obliterator above T190 – would match with stamp 844 220c/5c 781b (545) 1981 22 July Additionally, with T208 Espana 82 vertical at left World Cup 1st issue 900 110c/5c (545) 1982 22 Feb T231 Baden Powell 901 110c/5c (545) 1982 15 Feb Optd with Scout Movement 1907-1982 902 110c/5c (545) 1982 22 Feb Optd with 1907-1982 903 110c/5c (545) 1982 22 Feb Optd 1857-1982 904 110c/5c (545) 1982 22 Feb Optd with 1982 979 110c/5c (545) 1982 25 June 21 Birthday Princess of Wales T241 O34 110c/5c (979-545) 1982 15 Sept Optd OPS T O8 1003 170c/110c/5c (110c/5c 979) 1982 15 Sept Additionally, with T228 solid bar 1057 $1/220c/5c (220c/5c 844) 1983 7 Mar Additionally, with T259, ONE DOLLAR in words, (B.) = blue? Thin bars cancel previous surcharges. O43 25c/110c/5c O34 (545) 1984 25 June Addtl surcharge T O10 O44 30c/110c/5c O34 (545) 1984 25 June Addtl surcharge T294 O46 55c/110c/5c O34 (545) 1984 25 June Addtl surcharge T294 1265 75c/110c/5c (904) 1984 2 May T 294 Row of Xs with heavy figures 1266 90c/110c/5c (900) 1984 2 May T 294 Row of Xs with heavy figures 1267 90c/110c/5c (901) 1984 2 May T 294 Row of Xs with heavy figures 1291 75c/110c/5c (979) 1984 30 June T294 additional 1292 120c/170c/110c/5c (1003) 1984 30 June T294 additional 1318 25c/110c/5c (900) 1984 15 Aug Girl Guides T304 1318a 1319 25c/110c/5c (901) 1984 15 Aug Girl Guides T304 1320 25c/110c/5c (902) 1984 15 Aug Girl Guides T304 1321 25c/110c/5c (903) 1984 15 Aug Girl Guides T304 1322 25c/110c/5c (904) 1984 15 Aug Girl Guides T304 1414 25c/5c (545) 1984 1 Nov Deepavali Festival T315 1540 25c/110c/5c (900) 1985 18 July International Youth Year T334 1540a 1541 25c/110c/5c (901) 1985 18 July International Youth Year T334 1542 25c/110c/5c (902) 1985 18 July International Youth Year T334 1543 25c/110c/5c (903) 1985 18 July International Youth Year T334 1544 25c/110c/5c (904) 1985 18 July International Youth Year T334 1758 130c/5c (545) 1986 19 Aug Regional Pharmacy Conference T365 2075 25c/5c (545) 1987 17 Feb Post Office Corporation 2nd Issue T385 2229 $3/5c (545) 1987 2 Nov Deepavali 1987 and new value T400 2272 25c/5c (545) 1988 23 Feb Republic day 1988 and new value blue T410 2319 25c/5c (545) 1988 15 June Caricom day 1988 and new value T412 2631 $2.55/5c (545) 1989 15 June T448 with short obliterating bars 2635a $20/5c (545) 1993 T448 with short obliterating bars 2641 $2.55/5c (545) 1989 15 June T450 X over original value 2641a $2.55/5c (545) 1989 T450 X over original value, but no $ sign and different figures 2671 $8/90/5c (545) 1989 22 Nov Ahmadiyya Centenary T456 G6731 $20/5c (545) 2010-13 Handstamped with T745d Examples of Derivatives of the 5c Annatto Tree N/A (Mi 3023 V) SG O34 SG979 SG1003 SG780 SG2641 SG844 SG2641a SG904 SG1057 SG2075 SG794 SG1291 SG2671 SG1267 SG2229 SG1266 SG1541 SG2635a SG2272 This Flowering Plants issue (SG542-556) is just one of three sets of definitive stamps that should be selected for special mention as they have come in for particularly extensive surcharging and overprinting and, crucially, used for postal purposes, which is why I have tried to show used stamps wherever possible in this article. The other two sets are (1) the Fish, Birds and Animals set of 1968 (SG448-462 non-watermarked and 485-499 with watermark) and (2) the 1978-80 large- and small-format Butterflies set (SG698-708a). The Fauna set has been referred to earlier in relation to the 6c Patua stamp so only a word about the Butterflies set need be added. Overprints on the 1978-80 Set of Butterflies As can be seen from Table 3 below all the stamps in this Butterfly set with the single exception of the 50c (SG705) have been overprinted or surcharged, the small-format cent values more than the larger portrait-format dollar values. The 10c value, SG699, Archonias bellona, which equates to 280 in the Scott catalogue and 543 in Michel, is the most often used. The much more liberal editorial policy of Scott and Michel accounts for the difference in numbers listed particularly where the 10c is concerned as that value has featured prominently on a whole slew of Page 24 sets issued in April 1989. None of these are listed by SG but they are worth mentioning if only for the large numbers of extra overprints they provide and the extraordinary detail – especially in Scott – in which they are described. Whether they belong perhaps in the ‘prepared for use but not issued’ category, or were ever provided over the counter at post offices for members of the public to use on their letters in the normal course of things, is something that more serious collectors of Guyana might be able to answer. Whether an issue that might be regarded as unnecessary acquires legitimacy by being listed in a major catalogue, or else should not be listed at all, is another interesting question. Suffice it to say that SG has listed some of these overprinted sheetlets but not others. It has There were three other such issues for this 125th Anniversary: • 1st Issue SG1461-1485 on SG699 (10c) • 2nd Issue SG1694-1717 on SG702a • 3rd Issue SG2140-2164 on SG699 listed, for instance, the ones that mark the 125th Anniversary of the postal service in Guyana (Figure 27). Stamps are found postally used detached from their sheets (Figures 28 – 30). CABACABURI from P S from the 4th issue. KITTY from the 4th issue the 3rd issue. Fig. 32 SG1375 / SG1160 ICAO / KTO R4/1 Fig. 33 SG1833 / SG1371 / SG1158 120 / ICAO / KTO R3/5 Figures 36-39 illustrate examples from the 60c sheetlet. Fig. 39 SG1232-1234 Note – These 60c stamps were used on the cover from Nigg illustrated earlier in this article (Fig. 4) to show the widespread use of overprinted stamps postally. Note also my comments about the differences in overprints as applied to different stamps not always being made clear in the Stanley Gibbons sectional catalogue Though there are 25 overprints on this sheet of the 60c value, there are in fact only two different ones, with 24 having just 1988 and one central one with WHO 19481988. So, this would only add two to the total number of Guyana overprints, not twenty-five, if one was counting. This overprint for the 40th Birthday of Prince Charles on the 10c Butterfly (SG699) is one of the numerous April 1989 issues not listed by SG but is Sc2081a-e and Mi2572-2576 A small random selection of other Butterfly overprints is shown below (Figures 42-57). These three all come from the Bicentenary of Manned Flight and 20th Anniversary of Guyana Airways overprinted sheetlet of 25 (5 September 1983) SG1134-1139 detached and used independently. SG2633a below (Figures 53-55) exists with varying degrees of intensity of the $6 value overprint, though the masking bars remain uniformly dark. In addition, there are two widths of masking bars, 2½ mm and 3½ mm. Shades are also apparent. 2½mm bars 3½mm bars 3½mm bars Overall, fewer of the large-format Butterflies ($1, $2, $5 & $10 -SG706-708a) were used for overprinting than the smaller Cent values (Figures 56 & 57). Fig. 57 SG O40 on 912 George Washington. Table 3 here has been drawn up in an attempt to demonstrate how the number of overprints made on a particular set, in this case the 1978-80 Butterflies, varies according to which catalogue one consults. Editorial policy also plays a part in determining how many overprints are listed. TABLE 3 GUYANA 1978-80 Butterflies (SG698-705a T166 small-format horizontal, SG706-708a T167 large-format vertical) Overprints according to major catalogues (SG – Stanley Gibbons, Sc – Scott, Mi – Michel) Value SG Derivatives Sc Derivatives Mi Derivatives 5c 698 T 166 876, 880c, 2633a (3) 279 436-436A, 2051 (3) 542 711, 723, 1834, A1834, A3015, B3015 (6) 10c 699 1461-1485, 21402164, 2634, 2635b, 280 944 a-y (25), 1786 a-y (25), 2053, 2057B, 2081 a-e 543 1318-1342 (24), 17871811 (25), 3016, 25602565 (5), 2572-2576 (4), 2637, 2642a, G6734 (55) (5), 2082/2083 a-s (19), 2084/2085 a-p (16), 2086/2087 a-s (19), 2090/2091 a-d (4), 2092-2095 a-e G, S, R, Bk (5/20), 2104/2105 a-e (5/10), 2106/2107 a-y (25/50), 2108/2109 a-g (7/14), 4188 (125/157) 2577-2595 (19), 26032606 (3), 2607-2611 (4), 2622-2626 (4), 2627-2651 (24), 2652-2658 (6), 2668-2686 (18), B3018 (137) 15c 700 808 (1) 281 391, 2088/2089 a-g (7), 2096-2099 a-e G, S, R, Gr (5/20), 2110/2111 a-i (9) (22) 544 650, 2566-2571 (6), 25962602 (6), 2612-2616 (5), 2659-2667 (8) (25) 20c 701 1134-1139, O27 (7) 282 668 a-e, f (6), O16 (7) 545 986-991, Dienst. 25 (7) 25c 702 1140-1147, G6737 (8) 283 669 a, b, c-e, f, g-h (8), 2100-2103 a-e G, S, R, Gr (5/20), 4189 (14) 546 992-999 (8), 2617-2621 (5) (13) 30c 702a 1148-1168 (20), 1361-1384 (24), 1486-1510 (10), 1694-1717 (24), 2278-2301 (24) (102) 283A 670 a-e, f, g-u (21), 871 a-k, l, m-x (24), 969 a-y (25), 1418 a-k, l, m-x (24), 1873 a-k, l, m-x (24) (118) 573 1000-1020 (21), 1182-1205 (24), 1343-1367 (11), 1566-1589 (24), 1656-1679 (24), 2118-2141 (24) (128) 35c 703 918, 1224-1231, 2635c, 2637a, 2642b, G6745a (13) 284 486, 733-740, 2054C, 2057C (11) 547 763, 1073-1080, A3016, C3018 (11) 40c 704 2166, 2638 (2) 285 1812, 2055 (2) 548 1832, 3017 (2) 50c 705 Nil 286 Nil 549 Nil 60c 705a 1232-1234, 1728, 2326/27, 2635, 2639 (8) 286A 741-743, 1455, 1901 (2),2057, 2057a (8) 574 1600, 2167-2168, 3018 I, II, III (6) $1 706 T 167 1016, 1870/71, 2179, 2214/15, 2354/55 (8) 287 554, 936, 1814, 1832, 1833, 1912, 1913, C5-C6 (9) 550 868, 1686, 1687, 1833, 1927-1928, 2226-2227 (8) $2 707 1515, 1599, 2549, 2643, 2644 (5) 288 1373, 1986, 2058, 2059 (4) 551 1373, 1465, 2405, 30193020 (5) $5 708 912, 2539-2543 & 2550 , G6755 (8) 289 481, 937-939, 1984, 1987, O23O29 (on 481) (13) 552 745, 2395-2399, 2406 (7) $10 708a 2165, 2544-2548 & 2551 (7) 289A 1985, 1988, O15 (3) 575 1827, 2400-2404, 2407, Dienst. 18 (8) 227 339 363 NOTE The difference in numbers between Stanley Gibbons and Scott / Michel comes mainly from the 10c and because SG does not list the April 1989 overprints, which consist of ten sets listed by Scott and twelve by Michel. Even then only one colour has been taken into account in the Sc and Mi totals. These sets are for subjects like Gold Medal Winners in the 1988 Summer and Winter Olympics, the death of the Japanese Emperor Hirohito and the Enthronement of his successor, Halley’s Comet and Space Achievements such as the Moon Landing and the Space Shuttle programme. All of them exist in more than one colour, though the underlying number of different overprints on each remains the same. So, if one looks just at Sc’s 2092-2095 (10c), 2096-2099 (15c) and 21002103 (25c) there are only five different overprints though they exist in four different colours so strictly speaking there are twenty and not five. Nor does this take into account sheets overprinted Specimen, which adds an extra dimension, but not one covered here. Much reduced in size this is Scott’s 2100-2103 / Michel’s 26172621 overprinted Specimen which is not listed by either in that form. SG does not list either version. (to be continued)

The image of the cover above was sent in by Tony with a query as to the handstamp. It is listed in the Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Philately, Volume 9 Military Mails which states, “a label and a handstamp (often applied to a blank resealing label) which is sometimes seen on WW1 mail… Many collectors thought these were censorship labels or handstamps used by the Treasury in their attempt to prevent currency being sent out of Jamaica.” If you can add to the story, please send an email to the editor. On the reverse there is a machine cancel KINGSTON / FEB 29 -16 / JAMAICA.

My thanks to Anthony Wilkinson for responding to my article on the above in the March 2023 journal. He was able to supply two of the missing rates: $40 x2 plus $40 – 2 Jul 2001 until 2 Aug 2004 $60 – 3 Aug 2004 until 7 Mar 2010 13 Aug 2003 – Anthony Wilkinson 13 Jan 2007 – Anthony Wilkinson However, the registration item for the period 1 Apr 1996 until 31 May 1998 raises a query. I had stated that the rate was $10 postage plus $10 registration. All Anthony’s examples (3) had a rate of $22 which implies a registration fee of $12. My only source was the BWISC Bulletin #170 and #171 which states inland registration at $10 with each additional $60 compensation at $2; it does not explicitly state the rate for overseas but historically the rate between inland and overseas was the same. However, the subsequent rate announcement (1998) stated an overseas registration rate of $25 and an inland rate of $20 for compensation up to $60. Therefore, it seems likely the overseas registration rate was $12 (rather than $10). $10 plus $10 $12 – 1 Apr 1996 until 31 May 1998 2 Jun 1997 – Anthony Wilkinson Anthony was also able to provide several missing examples of covers to Europe. So, I am now only looking for examples of the following registered envelopes: Anthony also asked about internal rates and other classes. It is my intention to work on them progressively but there is a limit to how many balls I can juggle at the same time. Having said that, Anthony’s letter spurred me to work on internal letter rates where I seem to be missing registered examples of: 1 May 1979 until 31 May 1980 15c plus 60c 1 Jul 1979 until 31 May 1980 15c plus 60c 1 Jun 1980 until 24 Apr 1984 20c plus 75c 2 Jul 2001 until 2 Aug 2004 $15 plus $40 3 Aug 2004 until 7 Mar 2010 $30 plus $60 8 Mar 2010 @ $60 plus $120 Plus non-registered after 8 Mar 2010 @ $60

It has been said that “Trinidad is very oily. Everything that can hold oil does so and the overflow leaks to the surface”. The Pitch Lake originates from the intersection of two underground faults which allow oil from a deep deposit to be forced up to the surface. Over many years the lighter hydrocarbons evaporate under the Tropical sun, leaving heavier asphalt behind. This oil themed miniature sheet (SG550) was produced to mark the 4th Latin American Geological Congress in 1979 (Figure 1). In 1594 Sir Walter Raleigh heard of a “City of Gold” and sailed to South America via Trinidad, landing there in 1595. Trinidad was only a stoppingpoint for Raleigh. The native Amerindians told him of the Pitch lake’s location and Raleigh found an immediate use for the asphalt to caulk his ship. He referred to the pitch as “most excellent...It melteth not with the sun as the pitch of Norway”. In 1851 Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, who knew something about how bitumen deposits could be used to make lamp oil, gained a patent to extract asphalt from the Lake. He was joined by Conrad Frederick Stollmeyer, who managed the field. Cochrane’s second son (Admiral Sir Arthur Aukland Leopold Pedro Cochrane) was also an investor and it was likely that much of his correspondence with Trinidad concerned this, as per this cover to the HMS Repulse at Chile (Figure 2). It is postmarked ‘paid’ in red from Trinidad on 24 April 1874 and carries two Britannia 1d reds and two 1/chromes cancelled with black double arc handstamps. The Cochrane rights eventually voided because mineral rights were under the ownership of the colonial government, so subsequently these rights were leased, and the Trinidad Asphalt Company was born. In 1916 The Limmer and Trinidad Lake Asphalt Company was formed by a merger with Limmer Asphalt, with the intention of using the pitch to surface London’s roads (Figure 4 – next page). Tarmac acquired the company in 1971. In 1935 Trinidad and Tobago stamp issues went decimal in line with the Currency Interpretation Ordinance of 1934. It was decided to issue new definitive stamps and that the stamps would advertise locations and activities of note in the colony. Leslie E. Gill (employee of the Land and Surveys Dept of the Colonial Govt) won a competition to design the frame for the stamps. He was then asked to “redraft the frame design in order to emphasize the oil production” (Figure 3 – previous page). The final design included oil derricks, coconut trees, cocoa and tropical fruits. The 6 cent stamp in the definitive series featured the Pitch Lake printed on Multiple Script CA sideways watermarked paper, initially perf 12 but later 13X12.5. The series was issued on 1 February 1935. How this image came to be used on the stamp is detailed in the attached letter from a Mr Earle of Limmer & Trinidad Lake Asphalt Company Limited to a George Hedges (Figure 5). It would seem that the original painting (Figure 6) was obtained by the company’s publicity department in 1929. I have tracked the image to a company called Neuchatel in New Zealand but have not had a response to date.

Joe Chin Aleong Member Peter Elias sent in a report that well-known West Indian philatelist Joe Chin Aleong passed away last year. Joe was an excellent philatelist, well-known to many. He published his own multipage newsletter called “West Indies Stamps & Postal History Review”. There were 36 issues (some 327 pages) from 1980 to 1994. A great resource for anyone collecting West Indies stamps and postal history. He also published a reference book about St Vincent postcards. I am sure he will be missed by all those philatelists who corresponded with him over the years. Further information is available at: https://clarkandbattoo.com/obituaries/joseph-chin-aleong/. David Horry Well known member and author David Horry passed away on 2 February 2023, aged 73. He was an excellent philatelist who enriched (and sometimes irritated) the hobby the loved. He was also a leading creative adman who delighted in practical jokes. Even if you didn’t always agree with his articles you had to admire his knowledge of postmarks of the West Indies, and we are lucky to have had his dedication to this area. For those who would like to know more of his life there is a full page write-up in The Times of Friday 17 February 2023. Sergio Sismondo Sergio Sismondo, an esteemed postal historian and philatelic dealer died March 13 in Syracuse, N.Y., at the age of 80. Mr. Sismondo helped launch the Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940, first published in 1994. See https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps-postal-history/sergio-sismondo-1943-2023

The BCPSG was formed in early 1961 by seven enthusiastic collectors including Bob Topaz, Reg Lant and Al Johnson, under the name ‘British West Indies Federation Study Group.’ The dissolution of the Federation a few months later, and the broadening of the Group's membership and scope (due, among other factors, to a merger with the Bahamas Postal History Study Circle) led the Group to change its name to ‘British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group’ in 1962. In 1988, members of the U.K.-based Roses Caribbean Philatelic Society voted to merge with the BCPSG. The main goal of the British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group is to promote interest in, and research into, the stamps and postal history of the British Caribbean area. In the 60 years of its existence the BCPSG has produced 286 issues of its journal (to January 2023) replete with philatelic articles covering all of the British Caribbean. In addition, it has assisted in the publication of a number of books. The British West Indies Study Circle was founded by Philip Thomas Saunders in January 1954. He was the editor of the Bulletin for the first 21 issues. As with the BCPSG, the Bulletin has a long and proud history with 275 issues over 68 years and won the ABPS Specialist Society journal award in 2004. It too has a significant record of publishing definitive handbooks, monographs and study papers with over 20 books or study papers published in the last 12 years (to 2022). Some of these have won prestigious awards. The Circle’s first auction was held in 1974 and has been both a valuable source of material to members and an important source of funding to maintain the Society. Website: www.wipsg.org

Happy New year to all BWISC and BCPSG members. Top of my agenda at the moment is the merger of the BCPSG and BWISC. BWISC voting closed on 31 December 2022 and the result for merging and changing name was – in favour 158, against 3. The BCPSG vote was: 112 in favour with only 2 opposed. Those in favour represents over 50% of each BWISC and BCPSG membership. I am pleased that we have an emphatic decision. Members’ approval is only the first step on the road to merger. Amongst other things, the BCPSG must formally close their society and transfer member records and funds to the WIPSG. You'll have noticed that our journal has been rebranded and the paper size changed to US letter. There are two reasons for the change. It standardises to one size for the Americas and the rest of the world. The wider format is also more convenient for articles and books. The change to the society name will require us to change the names on our bank accounts. These days, financial institutions usually require to view the constitution of the organisation. The BWISC has never had a constitution. We have a proposed wording and the plan is to present this to the 2023 AGM for approval. I hope the document will be enclosed with this journal and will be put on the web site in advance. Changing bank accounts can take some time and in the interim our banking name will remain BWISC. With regard to the website www.bwisc.org this will be migrated to www.wipsg.org together with e-mail addresses. The change-over will take place after the consolidation of membership records for the two societies. At that point www.wipsg.org will become the main site but both domain names and email addresses will run in parallel for a while. By the time you receive the printed journal the web site transfer may have taken place. Printing and distribution of the journal is done by Joshua Horgan Print & Design in the UK. We hope to find a printer in the Americas to enable us to reduce the postage costs to members from that region and hence reduce their membership subscription from 2024. For 2023 subscriptions will be no higher than previously but we will need to assess the impact of inflation on our costs. Both societies had study group leaders for each country. I am keen for this to continue and perhaps revitalised. The names in the frame can be seen at https://wipsg.org/study-groups and I would be pleased to hear from those listed whether they wish to continue. Also, if anybody else would like to be considered please let me know so that the list can be consolidated.

Welcome to the first issue of the combined journal for the BCPSG and BWISC. When I agreed to take over as editor of the BWISC Bulletin, I had no idea this merger was in the wind. I hope to maintain the standard of both journals in the new one. My fellow editor, Dr Parker, has raised a number of concerns in his last editorial for the BCPSG Journal that I feel need to be addressed. I have been a member of both societies for many years, but only ever published in the BCPSG Journal (until very recently). However, most of my articles were written many years ago with only the odd short article in more recent times. The quality of the articles may be seen to have fallen on both sides of the Atlantic, but in some ways, it is the number of articles that have fallen and caused problems for both editors. It is hoped that the merger will go some way to rectifying this situation. A lot has been written about West Indian philately in the last 60-70 years, so it is only natural that there is a perception that both ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ have fallen. Personally, I don’t think that quality has fallen as much as depth, but in all fairness the early editions of both journals had many shorter articles. Depth takes time and research. While Dr Parker finds it hard to understand the drop-off in membership, I do not. As he states, “We see declining memberships in many societies.” It is a worldwide phenomenon (in all arenas) and one not easily solved. The alternative to the merger is for both societies to lose members and run funds down until neither can function. It is most likely that this will happen first at the BCPSG unfortunately. Dr Everett is concerned about a number of issues for the new generic publication. As editor I have no concerns as to its size and the move to US Letter size has not been an issue, as tweaking the margins gives a similar page area to the British A4 size journal. The change was seen, in part, as a gesture to make the merger as inclusive as possible. The new society (WIPSG) WILL NOT cover the entire Caribbean, although this was my personal preference. It covers the English-speaking islands and countries. However, it will include articles that cover issues relating to English involvement in the French, Spanish and Dutch colonies (think 17th, 18th and 19th century). Also, generic articles such as airmail development, where it is difficult to leave these islands out of the story. As to the two editions of the journal, this is not the case. There will only be one journal, but it will be printed in the UK and hopefully in the USA. This is to save postage costs and ensure timely delivery. It will not be edited in the United Kingdom; it is in fact edited in Tasmania and proofed by an Englishman in Spain. Yes, I use British English because if I used the Australian vernacular no-one would understand it. It is neither here nor there if you use colour or color in a sentence, you will understand its meaning. The beauty of the English language is that it continues to evolve. As to metric versus imperial measurements I would point out that the USA is one of only three countries in the world that still use imperial measurements, the others being Liberia and Myanmar. Many of us are old enough to have used both systems in our lifetimes. We like to think of philately as the scientific study of stamps, and all science is metric. The above comments are not meant as a criticism of Dr Parker’s editorial, as he raised a number of genuine issues that needed to be addressed. I hope the above has addressed the main issues and I will do my best to ensure that the new journal remains of high quality. As to being of high interest – this is up to the authors. We need articles long and short. The BCPSG has always had a little more focus on more modern philately than the BWISC. My hope is that the merger creates a journal of interest to collectors of all eras. After all, there are 70 years of Elizabethan philately to address, so start researching and writing.

Our 51st, (or should we be renumbering and calling it our 1st auction) will take place at the premises of the Royal Philatelic Society London on the Saturday before the Coronation. We have over 700 lots to tempt you with total estimated realisations a tad shy of £36,000, provided by 23 different vendors. In a typical year we will sell around 60% of the material and some 70 or so of you will be successful purchasers and with nothing extra to pay in terms of buyer’s premium – just postage and packing if you are not present on the day. The bid book opens from the moment you receive the catalogue and tied bids will go to the first received. The book closes at 15.00 on 28 April. The Society receives a 10% commission on all lots sold but this is payable by the vendor. We try to maintain an average estimate per lot of £50 and this year is no exception, estimates range from £6 to £500. Once again Barbados is the most popular country with 75 lots and a total estimate of £4,700 but there are strong sections too of Jamaica, Leeward Islands and St Vincent, but there should be a decent amount available from all territories. The largest offering, of almost half the sale, is from the estate of our sadly missed Past President, Graham Booth. Graham was one of the members keenest to expand our horizons beyond the English-speaking areas to embrace the entire littoral. So those with a taste for postal history will find attractive offerings from Guadeloupe, Martinique, the Danish, Dutch and even Swedish West Indies. Do spread the word to your collecting friends with interests in each area – you do need to be a member to bid, but at £8 for an on-line membership that should not deter. Elsewhere there are some attractive and scarce single stamps, particularly those showing listed flaws. A fair range of scarce stationery items, including a George V Leeward Islands Size K envelope mint – no used seem to have survived. The sale ends with a number of literature items, including some scarce catalogues from the estate of my predecessor as auctioneer.

Graham had left a few pages of notes covering thoughts and suggestions on what and where his philatelic collections should be placed for sale. This not only covered where he thought items should be placed but where they should not be placed. It made for interesting reading on his insight into the current state of auction houses. We know that he was very much an advocate of paper auction catalogues and was against sales where no catalogue is produced. Graham had stated in his notes that I was to be contacted to assist the family with the placement and disposal. There was also the added complication that Graham had entries listed for London 2022 and was due to give a 1pm display to the Royal Philatelic Society London, and that I was away at sea at the time. I asked the family for permission to contact Simon Richards so that he could go to Graham’s flat, meet up with Simon Booth and see whether both, or either, could be found intact and thus could go ahead. Unfortunately, neither the RPSL display of the London 2022 entries were in a position to progress, as Graham had still been working on both. Having returned from sea I met up with Simon Booth and we spend a weekend at Graham’s flat trying as best we could to sort out the collections. There were plenty of albums but also masses of material in boxes, loose on pages and piled on various surfaces. There was a time constraint to sort it all out due to the insurers and the flat then being empty during the working week. Simon Booth and I managed to get the collections mostly sorted out and I now know that I made a few errors with some material going on the wrong pile. Simon Booth and I then contacted various auction houses to ask whether they would be interested in auctioning the various collections and whether they could collect, or we would have to deliver. This was not as straight forward as one would think. Having discussed Graham’s large gold medal display with Dieter Michelsen it was agreed to send this to Heinrich Kohler for auction. This should have been straightforward, but the courier chosen managed to misplace some of the boxes used to ship the collection to Germany. After several anxious weeks all finally arrived. There was also a question of the missing last two pages of the exhibit. They finally turned up inside a large brown envelope, as a double page. How had we missed them earlier! The family have been very kind in allowing the BWISC to auction some of Graham’s material, where the buyer’s premium will help the society’s finances: Simon Richards has been very busy with this, in lotting and estimating. In Monaco last November, Edition d’Or 64: American Trans-Atlantic Mail Carriers 1800-1870, The Graham Booth Collection was presented. Simon Richards attended and accepted a copy of the book on behalf of Graham’s family. This book is a fitting tribute to our friend and late President. There have now been eight sales of Graham’s collections and there are still three to come: 18 May 2022: Cavendish Philatelic Auctions – Philatelic Literature etc. featuring the Graham Booth FRPSL library. 15 June 2022: Stanley Gibbons – The Graham Booth Collection of Cayman Islands Postal History. 21 – 23 June 2022: Cavendish Philatelic Auctions – Worldwide & Great Britain featuring the Graham Booth FRPSL collections of Cumberland, Lancashire, Sussex & Westmorland postal history. 19 – 24 September: Heinrich Kohler – All World with a selection of Graham’s Transatlantic Mail 4 – 5 October 2022: Grosvenor Philatelic Auctions – British Empire and Foreign Countries with fascinating collections of the 1914 battle of the Falklands, 1939 Battle of the River Plate, 1982 Conflict and the Expeditions of Admiral Richard E. Byrd, all formed by the late Graham Booth FRPSL. 11 – 13 October 2022: Cavendish Philatelic Auctions – Worldwide & Great Britain featuring the Graham Booth FRPSL Collection of Sussex Parcel Post Labels. 25 October 2022: Spink – The Graham Booth FRPSL collection of West Indies, Transatlantic Mail and British Ship Letters. 26 – 27 October 2022: H.R. Harmer -Selections from the Graham Booth FRPSL collection of Transatlantic Mails. 27 – 28 October 2022: Argyll Etkin Limited – Worldwide Stamps & Postal History featuring Maritime Mail from the Graham Booth Collection. The above list is important for auction catalogue collectors, so that they have a record of where all the parts of Graham’s collections have been auctioned. The three further auctions of Graham’s material are to be held in 2023: 20 – 25 March 2023 – Heinrich Kohler – The Graham Booth Large Gold Medal Collection of American Trans-Atlantic Mail Carriers 1800-1870. 29 April 2023 – BWISC Auction to include items from the French, Dutch and Danish islands, often with a connection to the Royal Mail Steam Packet. Date TBA -H.R. Harmer: Further material from the Graham Booth collection of transatlantic mail. I had great enjoyment assisting Simon Booth and looking through Graham’s material. As I told Simon, it would have taken a lot longer to sort out had I been allowed the time to feast my eyes as there was plenty that I had not seen before! I think that this goes to show the importance of ensuring that one leaves instructions and if required the name of a philatelic advisor.

My recent polling of over 50 serious BWI collectors had limited results and hopes of seeing the Royal Coat-of-Arms as printed on the reverse of QV period OHMS covers used in the smaller BWI islands, like Bahamas, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Christopher, Tobago, and Virgin Islands, have faded. As a consequence I am more in awe of this spectacular four colour printed flap on AP 18 1870 1s reddish lilac franked cover postmarked Colombo to Calcutta, India, as it was posted by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the first member of the British Royal Family to visit Ceylon. The steam frigate H.M.S. Galatea carrying the sailor Prince, Alfred and his crew, reached Colombo on 30 March 1870 and were welcomed by thousands of chiefs, headsman and ordinary people who flocked to Colombo. On the day after arrival a grand reception was hosted by Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, and thereafter the Prince made excursions to elephant kraals with gatherings of 10,000 people or more, went elk hunting, elephant shooting, and was lavishly dined throughout, even with gold plates and gold cutlery encrusted with rubies, emeralds and pearls. This Royal Coat-of-Arms, or similar version, might have been seen on cover from the British West Indies had it not been for an assassin’s bullet in New South Wales which abruptly ended an around the world tour. On 24 January 1867 HRH Prince Alfred sailed from Plymouth on his around the world voyage in command of the Galatea. With stops at Gibraltar, the Cape of Good Hope, Hawaii, South Australia and Tasmania, the Galatea arrived in Sydney, NSW on 21 January 1868. February started well with the Prince going on a Special Train to Queensland, for the opening ceremony of the railway line reaching Jondaryan, but after that things quickly went downhill. At Melbourne religious groups competed with each other, and Irish Catholics rioted outside the Protestant Hall and a boy was killed. Public attention was distracted by a feast organised for 10,000 people on the banks of the Yarra, but 40,000 people arrived before the food was ready and the Prince cancelled his appearance for fear of being trampled. This disappointment upset the crowd which stormed the barriers and fell upon the food and wine. Tents collapsed, wine buckets were snatched, and mayhem ensued. The Sydney press gloated over the disaster. At Geelong there was free food in its Botanic Gardens, a massive crowd gathered, and the organisers panicked and fled the scene. In Bendigo a large model of Alfred’s ship Galatea, the centrepiece for a fireworks display, caught fire when three boys were climbing on it. They were trapped under the sails and burned to death. Alfred cancelled his activities and went into mourning. On 12 March 1868 Prince Alfred, on his second visit to Sydney, was invited by Sir William Manning, President of the Sydney Sailors’ Home, to picnic at the beachfront suburb of Clontarf to raise funds for the home. At the function he was shot in the back by a revolver fired by Fenian sympathiser Henry James O’Farrell. The Duke fell forwards on his hands and knees exclaiming "Good God! I am shot; my back is broken". Alfred was tended for the next two weeks by six nurses, trained by Florence Nightingale and led by Matron Lucy Osburn, who had just arrived in Australia in February 1868. In early April, recovered from his injury Alfred decided to abandon the remainder of his world cruise, and resumed command of his ship to return home. After an absence of 17 months the Galatea arrived at Spithead, an area in the Solent. On 28 April 1868 O’Farrell was hanged at Darlington goal, Sydney, NSW. Prince Alfred (second son of Queen Victoria) was the first serious stamp collector in the royal family. He sold his collection to King Edward VII who shared his enthusiasm, who in turn gave it to his son King George V. Keenly expanded by the latter, the two collections became the basis of what is now the Royal Philatelic Collection. Little attention has been given to our own early Royal Coat-of-Arms which seem decidedly scarce, and over time one can only hope that the inventory listing, started below, can grow. JU 9 1859 British Honduras FE 14 1864 1910 DE 19 1912 British Honduras DE - 1879 British Honduras AU 17 1918 JA 29 1878 Cayman Is. JU 17 1902 JY 22 1880 St Lucia JA 26 1862 St Vincent AP 27 1889 MR 22 1873 JU 6 1866 QV Reign, undated FE 25 1884 The two white on red-orange background come from a fresh unused envelope and possibly worn used. Only side by side comparison can say whether the background colouring is slightly different, but the OHMS underlining is clearly different. BARBADOS: The engraver’s tool mark shows prominently below the ‘R’ of ‘BARBADOS’ on this mint block of six (previous page) 1855 (4d) brownish red (SG.5) and the position has been established as Row 4/1 from viewing a Plate II full sheet (guidelines top and bottom) of the undenominated (½d) green. An unrecorded variety on Row 5/3 has been previously overlooked – in the form of a large birthmark on Britannia’s arm which can be confirmed as a constant plate flaw by the illustrated later 1861 (1d) blue (SG.23). BRITISH GUIANA: This cover was previously written-up for ATC-8 (Bulletin No.271, December 2021) but it is now known that it originated ‘Demerary 9 Feb 60’ and was smuggled, due to no BG post office markings, to Barbados during the GB used abroad period in British Guiana (MY 10 1858 to MY 1 1860). Having arrived on 12 February a vertical scissor-cut separation pair of imperforate 6d rose-red was added and cancelled by light but distinct BARBADOES double-arc at the Bridgetown Post Office. Only two covers bear pairs of the 6d paying the 1-ounce double rate, and this is the only Barbados imperforate adhesive cover starting life in a different territory. Conway sailed on the 12th and arrived in St Thomas on the 15th. La Plata departed very late after waiting for Trent from the Spanish main. She left on the 20th of February without making the connection and arrived in Southampton on 6 May. The cover is backstamped ST. THOMAS FE 15 1860 and LONDON MR 6 60. BRITISH HONDURAS: This KGV 2c Postage + 3c Registration PSRE with added KGV 5c to Edinburgh, is cancelled by purple strikes of the GUINEA GRASS temporary rubber datestamp (TSC-1) dated 24 APR 1930. A third strike has the date portion removed and struck as registration etiquette appended #333 in bold manuscript. BRITISH HONDURAS: This previously unseen Belize’s French Stores, DE THUIN, PAZ & CO. cover dated 2 FE 39 shows that the prolific stamp forger Raoul De Thuin had set up his business from P.O. Box 206 eleven months earlier than reported in ‘Around The Caribbean 7’ (ATC-7), which gives the full story of De Thuin’s activities. Most interestingly the cover is addressed to Monsieur T. Allen and knowledgeable members of our group have confirmed that the famous philatelist Tommy Allen did in fact live at both Wanstead and Frinton-on-Sea. ALLEN, Thomas 1895-1984. Originally dealer in British Colonial rarities, who with Charles Nissen purchased, in 1936, the Perkins Bacon stock and records; most of the records were afterwards acquired by RPSL. He was Council Member RPSL, Curator of its forgery collection, 1954-67, and member of the Expert Committee, for whom he reorganised their vast quantity of reference photographs. A philatelist of wide experience, he was a member of the Executive Committee for the London International Exhibition 1960, and served on the jury at FIPEX, New York 1956. NO31866 JA8 1867 JU 27 1856 TRINIDAD: The elusive third type of PAID AT TRINIDAD Crowned Circle was introduced early 1867. For the currently recorded final day of use, MY 9 1867, four items are recorded – 1d rate printed circular to Leacock & Co., Barbados (illustrated), 4d bright violet pair on cover to Vinet & Cie, Paris, 1/-lilac-rose on piece showing London MY 25 67 arrival, and 1/-lilac-rose to G.S. Weedon, Money Order Office, London. ST. CHRISTOPHER: I found the Julian Waldron article in the BWISC Bulletin No. 275 December 2022 both an excellent study, and a refreshing approach for distinguishing the various datestamps which has always proved a difficult subject to convey clearly to interested readers. Keeping track of the dates, usually on QV 1d and 6d, period May 1870 to end 1886 is made easy as one can pick up the detail from eBay illustrations, arrange into chronological sequence, and only buy dated items of particular interest! One can apply this to most BWI islands where dated copies are plentiful. I keep track of dated STC, but my main interest has always been dated St. Vincent, where the chronological listing has been refined as I bring in the sailing dates to the UK from the Parsons R.M.S.P. handbook. This allows me, when I do not have dated copies, to know what cancelling device to expect on each sailing. Refined even further, and although not in the dated STC period, one can bring in delightful information such as in August 1864 R.M.S. Shannon arrived Southampton with gold/silver in 2207 packages which was transferred to the Bank of England in 41 wagons. Find the dated ‘loose’ stamp and write it up as wonderful postal history!!

Clarke, Radford & Cave list the known Post Office markings to 1981, however, other than an occasional mention in the pages of this journal, few new marks have been recorded. I have in my possession, the following covers, both of which contain a tax mark unrecorded in Clarke et al. Both markings are post publication of their book, being dated 1982 and 1985 and it is assumed, as the Postage Due stamps are from Barbados, that the markings also originate there. The first cover is an incoming airmail letter sent to Diesel Sales & Repairs Ltd, White Park Road, Bridgetown, with a R.L.O. 1 (K4) cancel over the affixed postage due stamps, dated 19th May 1982. Charged 70c Postage Due comprising 2 x 10c (SGD17) and 2 x 25c (SGD18), both in pairs. The cover was subsequently forwarded to Nassau, Bahamas. The tax mark cancel is a rectangle split into four quarters by a cross, bearing the initial T in the top lefthand corner, the initials F.S. in the bottom left and the corresponding quarters on the other side left blank. In this case, both have been completed in pen to show a tax of 19½ (presumably centimes). The second cover is an incoming underpaid airmail cover sent from Port of Spain Trinidad, 24th January 1985 with a meter mark to the value of $1. The cover is addressed to Bailey & Gittens, Broad St, Bridgetown, with an R.L.O. 1 (K4) cancel over the postage due stamps, dated 1st February 1985. There is a black rectangular tax mark cancel showing for 20g letter calculated at 40c. Postage Dues are 4 x 10c (SGD17). The tax mark in this case is split into five sections, with a double height box on the left bearing a large letter T, the lower of the two wide middle boxes containing the weight of the letter, written in pen and the two boxes on the right hand side also completed in pen showing the number 10 at the top and what appears to be 1.10 at the bottom. I wondered if any other members have examples of either of these or other, as yet unrecorded, Barbados Postage Due tax marks.

The second edition of Oliver’s book ‘The Leeward Islands, Notes for Philatelists’, which the Study Circle published in 2000, contained a new chapter on registration marks written by Robert Wynstra. This is quite comprehensive in terms of the marks and labels used at Roseau until 1945. For the villages reference should also be made to the Proud work on the postal history of the Leeward Islands. This article seeks to consolidate and expand this knowledge as a forerunner to a book on Dominica’s stamps and postal history. Please do contact the author with any additional information. In this article we will be reviewing the labels used at Roseau and then in the next Bulletin the labels and hand stamps used outside the capital. Wynstra used a referencing system which included registration labels and hand stamps in one numerical listing which was more or less chronological with a prefix to denote the Presidency (‘D’ in the case of Dominica) and an ‘R’ suffix to denote a registration mark. The writer considers it slightly unfortunate that one village label (D19R) is included in the list and that these would best have been listed separately, with a suggested pre-fix of ‘DV’ if one wishes to preserve a system that works across the Leeward Islands. Additional Printed labels used at Roseau The author has examined over 150 covers registered at Roseau and this has helped clarify the dates that labels were used at Roseau – (Table1) lists improved EKD and LKD dates and introduces five new types of label used in the period between 1945 and 1967 when Dominica achieved Associated Statehood D20R-D24R, which are also illustrated. D22R D20R D21R D25R D23R Table 1 Registration labels used at GPO Roseau No Style Size EKD LKD (mm) D12R DOMINICA 40 x 16 3 Apr 12 29 Dec 13 D13R DOMINICA 40 x 15 10 Jan 14 2 Sep 21 D14R DOMINICA 40 x 16 20 Jun 23 29 Jun 29 D15R DOMINICA/(G.P.O.) 40 x 15.5 27 Dec 29 19 Aug 30 D16R G.P.O./DOMINICA 37 x 15 28 Sep 30 22 Nov 35 D17R G.P.O. DOMINICA 38 x 15 20 Dec 35 2 Feb 45 D18R DOMINICA, BR. W. I. 38 x 15.5 5 Oct 46 4 Jul 47 D17R G.P.O. DOMINICA (2nd use) 38 x 15 15 Oct 47 16 Feb 51 D20R G.P.O. Dominica/BR. W. I. 39 x 15 6 Sep 51 23 Nov 51 D21R DOMINICA B W I 39 x 15 20 Jan 54 30 May 56 D22R G.P.O. DOMINICA 39 x 15 11 Mar 57 14 Oct 57 D23R G.P.O. Dominica 38 x 15 2 May 59 26 Mar 66 D24R G.P.O./DOMINICA 38 x 15 21 Aug 68 7 Apr 70 D25?R GPO ROSEAU 38 x 15 29 May 90 26 Jun 92 The registered mail seen by the author post-independence is much more limited, but examples of mail from the GPO in 1982, with a locally made rubber hand stamp, suggest that these were not re-ordered until the late 1980’s when a new style, tentatively ascribed as D25R was introduced, see the illustrated cover below. Steve Zirinsky also illustrates this label type on his site and a number of other labels that followed up to 2005 when Special Services succeeded Registration. The author would be glad to hear from readers with their own examples.

(Author’s Note: My remarks in this article, about the problems of identifying Guyana’s overprints from the catalogues mentioned, but particularly as they relate to the Stanley Gibbons sectional catalogue, are wholly subjective and entirely of my own making. This also applies to my estimates of numbers which seem to change every time I look at them. More eagle-eyed or numerate collectors than me will probably have no such difficulties.) Setting the Scene – Not just a Flash in the Pan Surely even the crustiest of old-school philatelists could not fail to be intrigued by the concoction shown in Figure 1. Postally used at Georgetown General Post Office, postmarked G.P.O. Counter Relief 4. The original $2 stamp from the 1971 Flowering Plants set is SG555 which becomes SG981 (25/6/82) with the 330 Air / Princess of Wales / 1961 -1982 overprint in blue. This then becomes SG1385 (6/9/84) with the addition of the ICAO overprint, also in blue. Stanley Gibbons tells us that this 1385 “also carries an otherwise unissued surcharge ‘G.A.C. Inaug. Flight Georgetown – Toronto 200’ in black”. That the 200 belongs to this overprint can be confirmed by the way in which it and the other elements heavily indent the paper – it is a letterpress overprint in other words. But where does the six-line obliterator of the original $2 value come in? It is also in black but does not have the letterpress indentation feature of the G.A.C. overprint. So, it is worth putting two examples of this stamp side-by-side (Fig 2), for they show that while the G.A.C. overprint is similarly positioned on both, the six bars are not; neither in relation to the $2 original value, nor to the G.A.C. overprint itself. Michel’s number progression of this stamp is 408/831/1207 and a note about the unissued G.A.C. overprint appears in its heading to the ICAO set, which starts at 1182. Scott lists this as its 896 and has a note about it after its ICAO group consisting of 871/895/896. Perhaps other collectors of Guyana have examples of this stamp and might be able to shed some light on whether the masking bars were added in connection with the G.A.C. overprint or separately. Anyway, it shows some of the complexities encountered when studying Guyana’s numerous overprints. The G.A.C. overprint on SG1385 is hard to see under the other overprints but a similar one for an inaugural flight, though to a different destination, can be better seen on SG1017 (Fig.3 & 3a). Fig. 2 2 NO84 9 NO84 Fig. 3a As an aside, in the course of just two stamps the G.A.C. overprint differs, with the ‘-il’ of Brasil dropped on the right hand stamp. Fig. 3 SG1017 with overprint for G.A.C. inaugural flight to Boa Vista, Brazil Background Overprints are always an interesting area of philately and there are probably very few countries in any part of the world that have not used them for one purpose or another on their stamps. In Africa I have studied overprints extensively in Ghana and Benin. An in-depth survey of Ghana’s 1988 provisional issue (SG1245-1264) with its different typefaces and positioning of overprints led me to think that with the 75-odd stamps thus produced, Ghana had issued a respectable total, especially if one included later surcharged series such as SG1291-1340 from 1989, SG3574-3605 from 2006 and SG3736a-3736s from 2008-2010 which accounted for another, say, 110 in total. (I added to the total with my discovery of a single 80c Fort Sebastian Shama stamp (SG1642) on cover surcharged GC1.20. So far this is the only one to have been found.) I changed my mind about Ghana’s position in this league table when I looked at Benin, with something like 950 it far outstripped it and I thought it would hold the record – notwithstanding other candidates like Zaire or Mozambique, but I was sorely mistaken: Guyana has more than twice that number. Exactly what the grand total is for Guyana has proved very difficult to determine as the three major catalogues I referenced use different methods in their listings, which also vary in complexity and completeness. I look at this aspect in more detail below but the best total I have been able to come up with is 2232 from the Michel catalogue, errors and omissions excepted. Scott’s total will probably be similar while Stanley Gibbons will be rather less due to its different editorial policy. British Guiana / Guyana (The Co-operative Republic of Guyana) Officially the country is called The Co-operative Republic of Guyana though on all its stamps the name just appears as Guyana, with South America sometimes added. It is already an odd country where stamps are concerned. At one end of the scale, if one includes the stamps issued when it was still pre-Independence British Guiana, it is responsible for what has often been called the world’s rarest stamp, the celebrated 1 Cent black/magenta postmaster’s provisional of 1856 (SG23) of which only one example exists, while not forgetting the 1850 ‘cottonreels’. At the other extreme it bids fair to be another record-breaker with issue after issue of stamps that are, shall we say, not necessarily of direct relevance to the country. In this context the Stanley Gibbons sectional Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue for Belize, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago (2nd Edition, 2013) tells an interesting tale, for 130 (pp.33-163) of its 195 pages are taken up by Guyana and the main-section listing had reached MS6853 up to 29 April 2013. Even then 6853 is not the total number of stamps as many of the miniature sheets, that modern stamp administrations take a delight in producing, contain more than one stamp. Miniature sheets are a key part of Guyana’s stamp-issuing programme and numbers are frequently assigned to a sheet as a whole and not to its individual components, though the designs themselves are spelt out and often occupy much column-space. This pattern has continued apace since then and Stamps of the World for 2018, for instance, lists up to MS6932 though this is only up to 2014 and the issue for the First Birthday of Prince George. The last single stamps listed are for Christmas 2014. These figures include overprinted and surcharged stamps of course. Poor Reputation – Exaggerated? For this reason, Guyana has a poor reputation among philatelists for its sheer output and joins St. Vincent / St. Vincent & the Grenadines or Grenada, for instance, as a place in the region that collectors look askance at, as its stamps and their designs are now largely influenced from outside. But for many countries philatelic sales are an important source of revenue closely linked to the tourist trade, and stamps featuring figures from the world of entertainment or sport are just as valid for postage as dedicated definitive sets. As long as that remains the case and there is nothing like the practice of blocking certain issues like the Sperrwerten of the former DDR then critics should not be too harsh. For even among modern issues – as I found in researching West African countries – there are always by-ways down which even the most conservative of philatelists would not be ashamed to wander. Commercial considerations might very well influence what proportion of an issue goes to the ‘country of origin’ and how much will go direct to the philatelic trade, but whether that should influence the way in which it is listed, or maybe not at all, on the grounds that it has not been made available in sufficient quantities for use by members of the public, is open to debate. Here we are talking, of course, of stamps that have been approved as valid for postage by the country whose name appears on them, and not labels purporting to be their stamps, or stamps at all, that are produced and sold by unconnected third parties. The latter have often been the subject of official complaints by countries who consider that their reputation has been tarnished and advertised as spurious in UPU circulars. But where Guyana’s overprinted and surcharged stamps are concerned, there is no shortage of covers to both local and international addresses using them, often in interesting combinations. The point to note here is that this is evidence of a wide variety of overprinted and surcharged stamps being; (a) freely available to members of the public, and (b) being provided as a matter of course for conventional postal use by counter staff. This is further backed up by such letters emanating from post offices other than Georgetown, showing that such stamps were not restricted to the capital but circulated throughout the postal system. Some examples are shown in Figures 4 to 9. Fig. 9 Registered cover from Georgetown to England dated 20 March 1987 with 5 x SG780 and 4 x SG207. My Interest in Guyana’s Overprints Coupled with my general interest in overprints no matter what country they come from — which goes back in fact to the 1960s and Sierra Leone’s surprise issues — I suppose it was the sheer number and range of Guyana’s offerings that I thought deserved special attention. Looking back through my records I see that my ‘association’ with them and, in the process, with Stanley Gibbons, goes back to at least September 2000 when I visited the offices at Parkside to assemble data for a different project. Former editor, David Aggersberg, was kind enough to afford me every facility and shortly afterwards I exchanged correspondence with him about Guyana and its overprints and was able to provide him with a number of examples that he had not seen before. These are recorded under SG2636a and 2639a-d. My understanding is that it was Mr. Aggersberg who put the Guyana overprints into a suitable form for listing in the catalogue. This task involved a huge amount of work to sift through not just their sheer number but also to simplify the task of distinguishing between, for instance, revaluation surcharges with the same new face values but different typefaces or settings of figures, the use or otherwise of currency signs and a whole variety of ways of obliterating the old value, e.g. one or more Xs, solid blocks or parallel bars. He must have had a very good relationship with officials at Guyana Post, and with printing houses in Georgetown too, to be able to obtain the very clear illustrations of overprints that appear in the specialised catalogue. I think that even with the most modern techniques it would be hard to separate overprints from an underlying stamp as precisely and free of background clutter as one sees there. This close contact with Guyana Post also enabled him to give the names of the various printing firms involved in the overprinting processes, a feature that is not included in other major catalogues. The fact that certain commemorative overprints on, particularly, the small-format Butterflies from the 1978-80 set (SG698-708a) are missing, while others are present, suggests that he was told by Guyana Post which ones were directly authorised by them and which were, perhaps, proofs made by the printers for Guyana Post’s consideration. For one has to admit that there are, shall we say, some ‘exotics’, though they still achieve catalogue status elsewhere. Types of Overprints Made by Guyana and its Mind-set So rather than being overly critical of the sheer number and variety of overprints from Guyana one might also consider the possibility that there is a South or Central American mind-set in play here. Though separated from every other country south of the US-Mexico border by language, being the only English-speaking country apart from Belize in the Americas, Guyana, at the very top of the South American continent, sits neatly between its Central and South American neighbours, many of which have used overprints for years to re-jig their stamps. So, we find overprints changing regular postage stamps to airmail, or the reverse, altering fiscal or official stamps to postage or air stamps, or commemorating notable personalities or events national and international in wording or by way of abbreviations. Overprints can also appear in several colours, though it does sometimes happen that no matter what the colour, the background design of the stamp is too dark or too dense for the overprint to show up. All of these can be found reflected in the way in which Guyana remodels its own stamps and indeed all of these could form separate areas for collecting, or different categories for cataloguing. ‘Obscurity’ Postage Stamps Re-designated to Airmail SG1192 As the note to the SG listing says, this stamp also has an unissued 375 surcharge, much of which is obliterated by two groups of six thin horizontal lines. Mi1045 includes the 375 in the face value progression 50 / 375 / $3 and regards this stamp as not having been issued Even when enlarged, it is far from obvious that the 375 is there at all and a black overprint on a dark violet background does not help. Why an overprint that showed up better was not used, red for instance, is not clear. without the 375 surcharge. Sc714 takes the same approach. Many countries have re-designated surface mail stamps to specific airmail stamps with overprints, while some have done the reverse with an overprint. Guyana has ‘responded’ simply with a bold AIR overprint (Figure 10). The Changed Functions Category Changing the basic function of a stamp with an overprint is also quite a common use of overprints. Guyana’s examples include a Postage Due stamp converted to postal use (Figure 11), or a Revenue Only stamp altered to a postage stamp by the simple expedient of adding the word Postage in capital letters (Figure 12). The SG1221 shown here is used on a registered local cover to the Inland Revenue, dated 13 February 1984 with postmark G.P.O. Counter Relief 3, with the stamps on the back (Figure 14). The rosette does not appear on the original stamp (Figure 13). Again, collectors may have other examples of this stamp to confirm whether this is a common feature or simply some sort of postal marking that was attached during the mail transit process. rosette on basic How the Major Catalogues Treat Guyana’s Overprints stamp. The Stanley Gibbons sectional catalogue mentioned earlier, like all such SG publications, is attractively presented and its size makes it easy to handle. It is printed on high-quality paper and has durable soft covers with stout binding and the illustrations are of high quality. The pictures of the overprints, uncluttered by the underlying stamp, are particularly useful. Nevertheless, given the variety of the overprints especially when stamps have been revalued in several different formats, it can still be hard to determine exactly which one is meant, and there are also occasions when an overprint type only applies to one particular stamp but the implication is that it also applies unchanged to others, when in fact there are differences. A case in point is where the 1984 Republic Day set is concerned (see the front of the cover from Nigg in Figure 4) and SG1232 is said to have overprint T288. In fact, what it has is just ALL OUR HERITAGE and no circular masking block or the figure 25. By heading that entry ‘60c’ the editor has clearly expected the reader to use his intelligence and work out that a 25c surcharge would not apply, but for me, at any rate, it could be made clearer. It is true that this would entail many more illustrations of overprints being included in the different forms they take, when applied to stamps in the same grouping, but with different design layouts. This would remove any doubts the user might have about whether he has identified the right stamp. Subsequent overprints on a stamp that has already been overprinted can also be tucked away and hard to find. Look for instance at the Figure 15. The progression is SG339 – 392 or 403 – 987 – 1290 but it is hard to relate 1290 to this stamp without a good deal of searching, given that neither the T272 nor the T298 overprint seems to be relevant in itself. And the $1.20 revaluation part of the Prince William overprint is indistinct under the large 200 – no fault of SG – but this raises some doubts. Having said that though, once one knows which stamp it is, then overprint T243 and the heading to 1287-1290 (especially when it states, “but without the decimal point”) makes sense. But that is the wrong way around. I believe that what I personally see as the SG catalogue’s weak points would be ironed out if a cross-referencing system was used, adding a footnote with the numbers of any overprinted stamps that derive from a set or an individual stamp. It is true that SG has already done this occasionally, for instance in the case of the Reichenbachia series (for comments on which see later) and in the reference note after SG887-889, but these are exceptions. The two other major catalogues I have consulted, Michel and Scott, both use this footnote system though in slightly different ways. Both are attractively produced but as Guyana is included in a wider regional grouping, they are bulkier and heavier than SG and in hard covers. Their way of showing overprints also differs. Going by my experience of Michel with Benin I had thought that it had the most user-friendly cross-reference system and up to a point it has, for in its footnotes it gives the number of the basic stamp followed by the numbers of any overprints on it. But even so one cannot always go straight to the right page as in some cases a ‘new’ stamp is created by having had a first overprint applied and this in turn, can have its own derivatives. In other words, not all the overprints on a base-stamp are listed directly under that stamp’s first listing number. My preference would be for that to be the case or, better, to have both methods used. I believe that Michel might have taken this approach with Guyana but not with Benin because in Benin’s case there are few stamps that have been overprinted more than once, whereas Guyana shows many such examples. In its illustrations Michel does not often show an overprint isolated from its stamp. Instead its practice is more often to use reduced-size illustrations of the overprinted stamps themselves which generally works quite well on stamps with a light background, but not so well when their colour is darker. The small-format Butterflies can be particularly affected by this approach. Making a small stamp even smaller when, for instance, a two-letter overprint in black needs to be identified is not overly helpful. Scott is one step down from Michel in the sense that, though it also has footnotes to its listings where applicable, the numbers it gives for overprints and surcharges are not linked to any one basic stamp. Instead they are just a succession of reference numbers and so the user has to leaf back and forth through subsequent pages to find what refers to what, and this can be particularly time-consuming if he just wants to find which overprints have been applied to a particular stamp. It is only after going through this process at some length that it emerges that referring just to these numbers to determine how many overprints there are on a stamp or a set, without – and this is important – taking the trouble to track each number down, does not tell the whole story. For instance, the number sequence after the 1978 Butterflies set (Sc279-289A) suggests that there are 98 overprints on the set as a whole but this is misleading for, as my Table 3 below shows, there are nearer 400 – mainly because the group 2081-2111 (i.e. the cluster of April 1989 sets) adds up not just to 31 but to 131, or perhaps even to 204 when taking account of different-coloured overprints. Scott, it is true, narrows down the search parameters by using bold headings for each entry of overprinted stamps, providing their base numbers, but though this is of assistance a degree of cross-referencing is still needed. Scott’s illustrations of overprints, however, are life-size and clear, for though they are shown on the stamp, the background has been faded out nicely to make them stand out. Derivatives and Sub-derivatives I mentioned how an overprinted stamp can re-emerge under a different number if it is overprinted more than once. Table 1 is an illustration of how this works in practice in the three catalogues by looking at the numbering system for the 6c stamp in the 1968 Fish, Birds and Animals set, which shows a fish known as the Patua (on the stamp) or the Black Acara (as it is also called in SG) (Figure 16). TABLE 1 Fish, Birds and Animals Set of 1968 The 6c Black Acara ‘Patua’ – SG452/489 Main # Derivatives Sub-derivatives SG Method: scanning the pages for 452/489, or the name Patua 452 With wmk 847, 848, 849, 850, 851, 861, 862, 863, 1511a, 1655, 1888, 2628, 2230, 2628, 2636, 2639c, G6732 (Total 17) (847) 1421 (861) 1220 (863) G6752 (Total 3. Grand total 20) 489 No wmk 861b, 862b, 863b, 1032, 1033, 1088, 1099, 1102, 1220a, 1656, 1755, 2533 (Total 12) (861b) 1422, 1511 (1099) 1423 (1102) 1424 (Total 4, Grand total 16, Cumulative total 36) Michel Method: following footnotes for main and sub-derivatives 305 With wmk 701, 703, 705, 1707 (Total 4) (701) 1368, 8398, (705) 8401, (1707) 8400 (Total 4, Grand total 8) 342 No wmk 682-686, 702, 704, 706, 883, 884, 941a, 941b, 952, 1069, 1625, 2373, 3015I,II,III, 8394a,b (Total 21) (682) 1263, 1524, (702) 1369, 1525, (941a) 8382, (941b) 1265, (1625) 8399 (Total 7, Grand total 28, Cumulative total 36) Scott Method: following footnotes for main and sub-derivatives 43 With wmk 410, 411a,b, 412a,b, 413a,b,c, 1463, 1501, 1839, 2045, 2045a (Total 13) (413a) 728, 994, (410) 914, 1400 (Total 4, Grand total 17) 72 No wmk 413De,f,g, 565, 566, 633, 635, 635a, 1981, 4187 (Total10) (413De) 728a, 915, 994a, 1401, (413Dg) 4174, (633) 916, (635a) 916A (Total 7. Grand total 17, Cumulative total 34) Examples of the 6c Patua with different overprints and surcharges Figures 17-24 illustrate the significant difficulties there are, or rather I have, in trying to identify them from the catalogues. Looking in particular for the 60c overprint, which does not seem to be listed on this stamp, I came across at least a dozen more numbers I had missed from Table 1 during a first and then a second ‘complete’ run-through of their pages, due partly to not having paid enough attention to the sub-derivative listings, but probably also due to deficient eyesight which failed to pick up the headings. Fig. 17 SG1099 on Fig. 18 SG2533 on 489 Fig. 19 SG1888 on Fig. 20 SG G6732 SG489 (Christmas 1988) SG452 (Christmas 1986) on SG452 Fig. 25 This is neither SG1088 nor SG1102, both of which have a $ sign before the new value indicator (see T263 / 266); otherwise n/a (to be continued)

Prior to 1948 airmail rates were very complicated but in 1948 they were simplified to be on a much more regional basis: The West Indies was into the Caymans, BWI A & BWI B; USA & Canada; The Americas & Bermuda; UK & Europe; Other. Other classes of airmail were also introduced: 2nd class (from 1953) and aerogrammes (from 1944), not to mention Forces rates (which are outside the scope of this article). Although rating bands were simplified, collation of the information has proven challenging as rates changed frequently due to inflation and official Post Office guides and notices were published less frequently. However, from a mixture of sources (PO Guides, Jamaica Gazette and the Jamaica Gleaner) I believe I have collated most rates. If anyone can identify additional information, or fill in missing examples, I would be pleased to hear from them (info@Jamaicaphilately.info). As before, registration rates need to be stated to understand the rating on some covers. 1947-Jun-16 1949-Oct-17 1950-Oct-02 1963-Jul-01 1968-Jul-01 1969-Sep-08 1971-Sep-01 1972-Oct-01 1975-May-01 Std 0s6d 0s8d 1s0d 10c 20c Reg 0s3d 0s4d 0s6d 0s9d 8c 10c 20c 40c 1979-Jul-01 1980-Jun-01 1984-Apr-25 1990-Oct-01 1996-Apr-01 1998-Jun-01 2001-Jul-02 2004-Aug-03 2010-Mar-08 Std 35c 45c 55c $1.10 $10 $25 $40 $60 $120 Reg 60c 75c $1.50 $3 $10 $25 $30 $60 $120 Rates have not changed since 2010 (according to the Jamaica Post web site). Up to 31 March 1996 rates are per ½oz, thereafter 15gms. Standard Registered 6d – 16 Jun 1947 to 16 Oct 1949 6d plus 3d 4 Sep 1947 7 Sep 1948 8d – 17 Oct 1949 until 1 Oct 1950 8d plus 3d 1 Apr 1950 6 Jul 1950 Standard Registered 8d – 2 Oct 1950 until 30 Jun 1963 8d plus 4d 26 Mar 1957 21 May 1958 1s – 1 Jul 1963 until 30 Jun 1968 1s plus 6d 23 Dec 1964 6 Nov 1965 1s – 1 Jul 1968 until 7 Sep 1969 1s plus 9d 7 Oct 1968 13 Jul 1968 10c – 8 Sep 1969 until 31 Aug 1971 10c plus 8c 8 Mar 1971 11 Mar 1970 Standard Registered 10c – 1 Sep 1971 until 30 Sep 1972 10c plus 10c 28 Apr 1972 27 Nov 1971 10c – 1 Oct 1972 until 30 Apr 1975 10c plus 20c 12 Apr 1973 9 Feb 1973 20c – 1 May 1975 until 30 Jun 1979 20c Plus 40c 16 Nov 1976 27 Mar 1976 35c – 1 Jul 1980 until 31 May 1980 35c plus 60c 3 Mar 1980 25 Apr 1980 Standard Registered 45c – 1 Jun 1980 until 24 Apr 1984 45c plus 75c 31 Mar 1981 26 Jun 1981 55c – 25 Apr 1984 until 30 Sep 1990 55c plus $1.50 23 Sep 1985 29 Jul 1989 $1.10 – 1 Oct 1990 until 31 Mar 1996 $1.10 plus $3 15 Feb 1991 12 Aug 1990 $10 – 1 Apr 1996until 31 May 1998 $10 plus $10 11 Jul 1997 5 Aug 1997 Envelope rate $3 registration plus 50c postage Adhesives: Front: $10.50c; Reverse $20 Standard Registered $25 – 1 Jun 1998until 1 Jul 2001 $25 plus $25 ? 2000 4 Jan 1999 $40 – 2 Jul 2001until 2 Aug 2004 $40 plus $40 No example 4 Feb 2003 – Dingle Smith $60 – 3 Aug 2004until 7 Mar 2010 $60 plus $60 No example 15 June 2007 – Paul Wright $120 – 8 Mar 2010 > $120 plus $120 No example No example The next article in the series will be mail to Europe (including the UK). I am missing images of several rates and would be pleased if anyone can send examples to me. Rate Reg.? Date Range Rate Reg.? Date Range 50c plus 60c Reg. 1 Jul 1979– 31 May 1980 $45 plus $30 Reg. 2 Jul 2001– 2 Aug 2004 60c plus 75c Reg. 1 Jun 1980– 24 Apr 1984 $70 3 Aug 2004– 7 Mar 2010 $1.40 plus $3 Reg. 1 Oct 1990– 31 Mar 1996 $70 plus $60 Reg. 3 Aug 2004– 7 Mar 2010 $12.50 1 Apr 1996– 31 May 1998 $140 plus $120 Reg. 8 Mar 2010 > $12.50 plus $10 Reg. 1 Apr 1996– 31 May 1998

The Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Philately is an ongoing project to document everything known about the subject. It was initiated back in the 1990s by Derek Sutcliffe and me. Since then, several others have contributed, notably Paul Wright, Ray Stanton, Paul Farrimond, Ray Murphy and Dingle Smith. Four printed volumes of the EJP have been published (Adhesives to 1935, GB Used in Jamaica, Airmails, Military and Patriotic Mail) and several more are being worked upon (too many!). Much information is loaded to the website http://jamaicaphilately.info/ but this does not replicate the printed books. This series of articles will highlight information being added to the website and what subjects are currently being researched, requesting additional information to be supplied. West Indies Specialist Stock Lists and Auctions In the past, several dealers have distributed stock lists and auction catalogues. I am trying to get hold of a copy of each edition. These catalogues are being scanned and pdf documents created. Once completed, the catalogues will be donated to the Royal Philatelic Society London Library, to be preserved for posterity. The RPSL online Catalogue has the ability to attach the pdf documents created which can be viewed by anyone. I am missing the items listed below. Please either donate the items to me for forwarding to RPSL (preference) or send me a scan to complete the record. My contact details are: info@jamaicaphilately.info, postal address is inside the front cover of the journal. Caribbean Philatelic Auctions These were produced by Malcolm Watts from about 1980 and was taken over by Derek Lilley in 1990. The last catalogue I have is number 142 produced in 2011. I am missing the following: Numbers 1 to 34, which were loose leaf. BWI Auctions Dennis Mitton. I have numbers 1 to 21, 1984 to 1988, if anyone has later ones. Please let me know. Michael Hamilton Mike started producing auction catalogues in 1989. I have an incomplete run for #1 to #65 (2001) but have quite a few missing: 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 44, 59, 63. The RPSL already has 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, 37 but it would be simpler for me to scan these at home. Mike also produced various stock lists. For those produced with an address of King Street I have nos. 9, 44, 45, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63; they are undated. I would be pleased to receive others. Those with his Dorset address are harder to understand as there several series in parallel; they are also undated. I will try to unravel these later but if anyone can supply spare copies it would be appreciated. Pennymead Auctions David Druett produced catalogues from 1982, I am missing #6, 83, 84, 86. The last one I have is #87 (2008). Other There are probably other old-time stock and auction lists out there from specialist BWI dealers. I would be pleased to receive any contributions and will pass on to the RPSL. JAMAICA: Inland postage on outgoing packet letters; scans sought. A group of Jamaica collectors are looking at the rates charged for Jamaica inland postage on letters sent from post towns for the packet. Prepayment of the Jamaican inland postage on packet letters was compulsory, and up to 1843 the inland and packet rates charged were separately identified. The inland rates were usually paid in local currency, not sterling, until 1840, and this local currency charge was expressed on the face of letters. The charge was usually in black ink, sometimes only the figure, sometimes prefixed "Inland Postage Paid" or an abbreviation such as "IPP". The charge was by distance. For example, the ordinary inland single rate in local currency from Page 31 1774 to 1840 was 7½d up to 100 miles and 1s 3d over 100 miles. Rate steps were non-linear, for example over 100 miles the rates were for double – 1/10½d, triple – 2s 6d and 1oz – 3s 9d. We would like more examples of these inland charges. We especially seek to see charges of 2s 6d or multiples of 2s 6d (such as 5s or 7s 6d) or where they are not to be explained by the ordinary rates. In addition, any covers showing Express markings. Very occasionally there is a reference to the Packet Express, such as "Express Post Paid" or "EIPP" for the inland postage paid. This is part of a larger project on Jamaica Express, 1800 to date. We would welcome any illustrations of ‘Packet Express’ or ‘Express’ covers of any date. If possible, please send scans to paul.wrightsw19@btinternet.com. GB Newspaper Archive The GB Newspaper Archive (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) has digitised quite a few editions of the Royal Gazette of Jamaica (1779–1840) – unfortunately quite a few missing. These are freely available for viewing / download. I have been working through extracting any information relating to the postal service and maritime news that seems relevant. So far, I have completed up to 1819. The time-consuming aspect is downloading each page of each edition individually. If anyone would like to help me on this aspect, then pleas get in contact so that I can provide simple procedures and organise to avoid duplication of effort. Once downloaded, send to me to extract information. Year-on-year are then added to my EJP index http://jamaicaphilately.info/information-index.

The point of this article is to encourage others to take up postal stationery as a collecting theme. I have collected Leeward Island postal stationery for over twenty-five years. Leeward Islands postal stationery consists of – newspaper wrappers, post cards, registered envelopes and prepaid envelopes. The scarcity of these items is usually related to the numbers of items printed and supplied to the postal authorities but not in all cases. A number of years ago I decided to make a sub-collection of examples from a single envelope and have attempted to find as many examples of different usage. The item I chose was the KGV 1928 empire rate 1½d brown envelope. This envelope was supplied in one of the highest numbers for Leeward Islands postal stationery (36,475) (1) and had 3 printings. With an estimated survival rate of around 1 in 300 this would suggest that around 120 items are in current circulation. This collection begins with the King George V Stationery Die Proofs of Surface Printed Indica (Thomas De La Rue & Co. Issues of 1927). (Fig. 3) Figure 2 is a complete envelope indicia proof and Figure 3 illustrates a Specimen copy supplied to UPU members JOHN SPRATT Fig.1 Die proofs in black on white glazed card cut down and affixed to thick card dated 19 Nov. 1926. Manuscript: Approve H S (Stanfield) 19/11/26 (ex. Larson). This includes the Indica for the 1½d brown envelope. Fig. 4 The front and rear of an unused envelope. Note the straight edges to the envelope knife under the flap (type. 1), as per the specimen copy. Presidential stationery was abolished in 1928 by Stamps Order (No.15). These envelopes were produced (Sept. 1928) to prepay the British empire rate (1½d) and appear to have been available in all of the Leeward Islands. The following examples are grouped in regard to the islands that they were originally posted from. Usage in Antigua As the most populous of the Leeward Islands a greater number of used items are expected to have originated in Antigua. Usage in British Virgin Islands Usage in Barbuda Usage in Dominica Usage in Montserrat Usage in St. Kitts Maritime Usage Concluding remarks The envelopes show a range of posting dates from 1929 to 1936. I presume that earlier envelopes (after Sept. 1928) are out there but are rather scarce. An air mail envelope in thin paper and different size was issued in April 1934 and I presume that these were used in preference due to reduced weight, although these envelopes are also very scarce (Ed. Actually very rare with one known mint and three known used.) and outside the scope of this collection. I hope that I have demonstrated that it is possible to make a reasonable collection from a single item of postal stationery and that the article has inspired some of you to take up collecting postal stationery (if only one type of envelope!). If anyone has examples of this envelope originating in Anguilla, Nevis or with “village” postmarks or anything unusual (early or late, censor usage) I would be most interested to hear from you. References (1) Michael Oliver, Leeward Islands: Notes for Philatelists, BWISC, 2000