Jersey Postal History.
Before the establishment of a Post Office in Jersey and the provision of a regular packet service to the Channel Islands in 1794 letters for the Island 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 concerned 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 Postmaster was appointed in St Helier and formal packet rates established for the letters. Various handstamps were put into use by the General Post Office and these included –
With the setting up in Jersey of the Penny Post in the 1830s a new handstamp was introduced (see above right) and is known used in conjunction with the boxed numbers representing St Aubin, Gorey, St Peters and St Clements respectively, shown below. Sometimes the boxed numbers are known used on their own.
In line with other British ports, Ship Letter handstamps were gradually issued for use from 1794 and are known in various colours, some being extremely rare.
Jersey also had its own 1d and 2d unpaid numeral handstamps cut from wood and in use from 1843 and an 8d from 1851.
The smaller figure “8” was used on mails in 1851 to collect ship letter charges and is known struck in blue. The larger figure “8” is known used in 1868 and both are quite rare.
Maltese Cross handstamps were issued for use with the first adhesive postage stamps of Great Britain together with the Mulready letter sheets from 1840. Some differences are known and the Jersey example is known struck in red until November 1840. It is also known struck in black ink contrary to regulations in November and December 1840, but this is almost certainly in error.
Various types of numeral obliterators can be recorded for Jersey between 1844 and 1902 commencing with the barred oval types, in use between 1844 and 1870.
The second group of numeral obliterators are the duplexes. These comprise an obliterator and date stamp together. These were in use from 1858 until the latest recorded date of 5th February 1881. There are various types and sub-types of duplexes.
The single oval obliterators make up the third and final group, as the name implies, are made up of only the obliterator and no date stamp. These were in use between 1875 and 1902.
Several different styles of circular datestamps have been issued for use in Jersey from 1830, shown below are the original datestamp, the 1845 recut of the original, due to being too worn to use, and a ‘Travelling’ type used while the original was being recut for a second time in 1848.
Continuing, the ‘Travelling’ type of 1845, ‘Double Arc’ type introduced in 1849, and circular datestamps brought into use in 1858, and are found in use at various times until the 1930s.
The duplexes were replaced by the combined obliterator or ‘Squared Circle’, introduced in 1881 and used until 1896. A number of variations of this obliterator were issued for use, several of which appear to have been in use at the same time.
The double circle datestamp appeared in 1896 and there were a multitude of types and subtypes, this make it an even more interesting field of study. The single circle datestamp, introduced in 1935, continues in use to the present day, again with the many types and sub-types that can be expected during a period of seventy plus years.
A Krag machine canceller was introduced to Jersey in June 1923 giving a continuous cancellation of five wavy lines and a square datestamp. This was followed by the Universal machine canceller in 1930 giving a continuous impression of first six, five in 1931-35 and seven wavy lines from 1937 with circular datestamps. Two slogans were inserted in 1930 and then in 1931.
Various registration marks and cancellations are known from 1855 and the first were the ‘Crown’ and concave ‘REGISTERED’ types of which at least four different sub-types have now been identified. From 1879 oval datestamps were introduced from 1879 and covers found with these usually bear higher rate stamps to meet the postage plus registration fees. Various code letters are known to be inserted in these oval datestamps. Different designs of the oval were introduced during the 1900s.
An oval Express Post handstamp was issued from around 1900 and examples of its use are rare. The Money Order Office (M.O.O.) datestamp came into use around 1900 and again this is usually found on cards and Parcel Post labels.
Parcel Post handstamps and cancellations take various forms and commence from 1886 following the earlier introduction of the Parcels Post service in Great Britain from 1883. Most of the cancellations are of rubber and were subject to some distortion after continuous use.
Rubber handstamps and datestamps were also issued from 1893 for use on small packets and various types are shown:-
Triangular cancellations are known between 1909 and the 1950s. These were used mainly on postings of circulars, printed matter and sometimes as count marks in mail census reviews. They have the Post Office number for Jersey 409 or just JE inserted and are mainly known used in conjunction with the machine cancellers.
“PAID” handstamps were sent to Jersey from 1919 and more were sent over the years. There are various sub-types and the earlier usages were usually struck in red ink. During the German military Occupation of Jersey between 1940 and 1945 the PAID datestamps were quite frequently used when postage stamps were in short supply.
“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 etc between the wavy lines.
Since 1969 the Jersey Postal Administration has used a 31mm single circle ‘PAID’ datestamp. Two examples of datestamps used by the Philatelic Bureau are also shown.
