Guernsey Postal History.
Before the establishment of a Post office in Guernsey and the provision of a regular packet service to the Channel Islands in 1794 letters for the Bailiwick were sent to Forwarding Agents, usually at Southampton and Weymouth, but sometimes to other South Coast ports or towns. The Agent would pay the inland postage and then endorse/forward the letter via a ship to the Island usually adding a charge of up to 1d. The same occurred in reverse. Most Agents were merchants and ship owners and some were inter-related which was common in the mercantile trade of the time.
With the establishment of the postal service from 1794 a Postmistress was appointed in St Peter Port and formal packet rates established for the letters. Various handstamps were put into use by the Post Office and these included –
Before the establishment of a Post office in Guernsey and the provision of a regular packet service to the Channel Islands in 1794 letters for the Bailiwick were sent to Forwarding Agents, usually at Southampton and Weymouth, but sometimes to other South Coast ports or towns. The Agent would pay the inland postage and then endorse/forward the letter via a ship to the Island usually adding a charge of up to 1d. The same occurred in reverse. Most Agents were merchants and ship owners and some were inter-related which was common in the mercantile trade of the time.
With the establishment of the postal service from 1794 a Postmistress was appointed in St Peter Port and formal packet rates established for the letters. Various handstamps were put into use by the Post Office and these included –
Guernsey had its own distinctive 1d and 2d unpaid handstamps in use from 1843 and an 8d from 1844.
Maltese Cross handstamps were issued for use with the first adhesive postage stamps of Great Britain together with the Mulready letter sheets from 1840. Various differences are known and the Guernsey example is recognisable by the bluntness of the centre diamond on one side and the blunted point on one side of the inner cross.
Several different styles of circular datestamps have been issued for use in Guernsey from 1830, shown are the 1843 datestamp, the 1830 datestamp recut with a repair to the letter ‘N’ and a shortage of number ‘4’s meant the use of an inverted ‘7’. While the recut was away being done, a ‘Travelling’ datestamp was used.
A Krag machine canceller was introduced to Guernsey in June 1923 giving a continuous cancellation of five wavy lines and a square datestamp. This was followed by the Universal machine canceller in December 1931 giving a continuous impression of first five and later more wavy lines with circular datestamps.
Various registration marks and cancellations are known from 1852 and in some profusion from 1885. Covers usually bear higher rate stamps to meet the postage plus registration fees.
Parcel post handstamps and cancellations take various forms and commence with the introduction of the parcels post service from 1883. Small packet handstamps are noted from 1932 onwards.
Triangular cancellations are known between 1939 and the 1960s. These were used mainly on bulk postings of circulars and sometimes as count marks in mail census reviews. They are also known used in conjunction with the machine cancellers.
“PAID” handstamps were first sent to Guernsey in 1920, and more were sent over the years. There are various sub-types and the earlier usages were usually struck in red ink.
“PAID” markings were also used in the machine cancellers and a new die for use in the Krag cancelling machine was introduced in 1925. A different boxed die was used from 1931 until the Universal machines were fitted with new dies showing 1D PAID between the wavy lines.
With Postal Independence from 1st October 1969, the new Guernsey Postal Administration issued newly designed datestamps –
15th August 1847 saw the issue of the double arc datestamps,these can be found in a variety of colours. Early Single Circle datestamps appeared in 1858, a simple design, followed by a more complex design, the Squared Circle datestamp, in 1887, these stayed in use until 1905.
Double circle datestamps were put into service in 1905, there were several types and sub-types of these with a variety of bars and crosses in various shapes and sizes and used until 30th September 1969, and variations have been in use in more modern times.
Single circle datestamps made a reappearance in the 1930’s and continued through to the present day. Although a simple basic design, there were many types and sub-types, as to be expected during a usage of 70 plus years.
Various types of numeral obliterators can be recorded for Guernsey between 1844 and the 1890s commencing with the barred oval types and then the duplex types from 1858 and the singles from 1872: