Postage stamps and postal history of the United Kingdom

This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the United Kingdom (universally referred to by philatelists as "Great Britain"). The postal history of Great Britain is notable in at least two respects; first, for the introduction of postage stamps in 1840, and secondly for the establishment of an efficient postal system throughout the British Empire, laying the foundation of many national systems in existence today.

Contents

1 Early history 2 Postage stamps 3 Victorian era 4 Early 20th century 5 Abdication and war 6 Modern era 7 Regions and offices 7.1 Regional issues 7.2 Offices abroad 8 See also 9 References

Early history

The story begins in the 12th century with King Henry I, who appointed messengers to carry letters for the government. At this time, private individuals had to make their own arrangements. Henry III provided uniforms for the messengers, and Edward I instituted posting houses where the messengers could change horses. The reign of Edward II saw the first postal marking; handwritten notations saying "Haste, post haste".

Henry VIII created the Royal Mail in 1516, appointing Brian Tuke as "Master of the Postes", while Elizabeth I appointed Thomas Randolph as "Chief Postmaster". Under Thomas Witherings, chief postmaster under Charles I of England, the Royal Mail was made available to the public (1635), with a regular system of post roads, houses, and staff. The recipient paid the postage.

In 1661, Charles II made Henry Bishop the first Postmaster General (PMG). In answer to customer complaints about delayed letters, Bishop introduced the Bishop mark, a small circle with month and day inside, applied at London. In subsequent years, the postal system expanded from six roads to a network covering the country, and post offices were set up in both large and small towns, each of which had its own postmark.

Postage stamps

The Great Post Office Reform of 1839 and 1840 was championed by Rowland Hill as a way to reverse the steady financial losses of the Post Office. Hill convinced Parliament to adopt a flat 4d per 1/2 oz (£1.18/kg). rate regardless of distance, which went into effect 5 December 1839. This was immediately successful, and on 10 January 1840 the Penny Postage started, charging only 1d for prepaid letters and 2d if collected from the recipient. Fixed rates meant that it was practical to avoid handling money to send a letter by using an "adhesive label", and accordingly, on May 6, the Penny Black became the world's first postage stamp in use.

The stamp was originally only for use within the United Kingdom and as such was in effect initially a local stamp. For this reason the name of the country was not included within the design, a situation which continued until the special commemorative issue for the Festival of Britain in 1951, when for the first time the name of the country appeared on a stamp of the UK.

It soon became obvious that black was a not a good choice for stamp color, the cancellations being hard to see, and from 1841 on the stamps were printed in a brick-red color. The Penny Reds continued in use for decades.

Victorian era

The Victorian age saw an explosion of experimentation. The inefficiency of using scissors to cut stamps from the sheet inspired trials with rouletting (the Archer Roulette), and then with perforation, which became standard practice in 1854. In 1847, the 1 shilling (£0.05) became the first of the British embossed postage stamps, (of an octagonal shape), to be issued, followed by 10-pence stamps the following year, and 6 pence (£0.025) values in 1854.

Surface-printed stamps first appeared in the form of a 4-pence stamp in 1855, printed by De La Rue, and subsequently became the standard type. 1/2d and 1 1/2d engraved stamps issued in 1870 were the last engraved types of Victoria; the next would not appear until 1913. Surface-printed stamps of the 1860s and 1870s all used the same profile of Victoria, but used a variety of frames, watermarks, and corner lettering.

A 5 shilling (£0.25) stamp first appeared in 1867, followed by 10 shilling (£0.50) and 1 pound values in 1878, and culminating in a 5-pound stamp in 1882.

Meanwhile, the age of the Penny Reds had come to an end along with the Perkins Bacon printing contract. The new low values were also surface-printed; first was a penny stamp colored Venetian red in a square frame, issued in 1880. However, the passage of the Customs and Inland Revenue Act of 1881 necessitated new stamps valid as revenue stamps, and so the Penny Lilac was issued in that year, inscribed "POSTAGE AND INLAND REVENUE". This stamp remained the standard letter stamp for the remainder of Victoria's reign, and vast quantities were printed.

1883 and 1884 saw experimentation with stamps using fugitive inks. These were rather plain designs, low values in lilac and high values in green, because those were the only colors available. They succeeded in their purpose - relatively few of the stamps survived usage, their colors fading away when soaked from the envelope - but they were not liked by the public.

The last major issue of Victoria was the "Jubilee issue" of 1887, a set of twelve designs ranging from 1/2p to 1sh, most printed in two colors or on colored paper. (Although issued during the Jubilee year, they were not issued specifically for the occasion, and thus not commemoratives.)

Early 20th century

When Edward VII succeeded to the throne, new stamps became necessary. The approach was very conservative however; most of the Jubilee frames were reused, and the image of the King was still a single profile. Edward's reign being short, there were no major changes of design, but the use of chalk-surfaced paper was introduced. (This type of paper can be detected by rubbing the surface with silver, which leaves a black mark.)

By contrast, the stamps of King George V were innovative from the very first. The first issue made was of the half and penny values, which were in the same colours as used for the previous reign. Although the main design feature remained the same, (a central oval for the portrait, an ornamental frame, value tablet at the base and a crown at the top), a three quarter portrait was used for the first time. Subsequent designs reverted to the standard profile however.

Britain's first commemorative stamps were issued for the British Empire Exhibition in 1924. The pair of large-format stamps featured a lion in an imposings stance; they were issued twice, in 1924, and then in 1925, the stamps of each year being inscribed with the year of issue. A second set of commemoratives in 1929 marked the 9th Congress of the Universal Postal Union, held in London that year.

Abdication and war

A set of four stamps were issued in 1936 for Edward VIII before he abdicated. George VI's coronation was marked with a commemorative, part of an omnibus issue included every colony in the Empire. New definitives featured a profile of the king on a solid color background, presaging the Machins (see below) of later times.

The century of the postage was celebrated in 1940 with a set of six depicting Victoria and George VI side-by-side. By the following year, wartime exigencies affected stamp printing, with the 1937 stamps being printed with less ink, resulting in significantly lighter shades. Postwar issues included commemoratives for the return of peace, the Silver Jubilee and the 1948 Olympics in 1948, and the 75th anniversary of the UPU, in 1949.

In 1950 the colors of all the low values were changed. 1951 saw a new series of high values (2s 6d, 5s, 10s, £1), and two commemoratives for the Festival of Britain.

Modern era

When Elizabeth II succeeded her father in 1952, new stamps were needed. The result was a collection of variations on a theme that came to be known as the Wilding issues, after designer Dorothy Wilding.

Wildings were used until 1967, when the Machin issues were introduced. The Machin design is very simple, a profile of the Queen on a solid color background, and very popular, still being the standard British stamp as of 2004. They have been printed in scores of different colors; in addition, decimalisation required new denominations, and there have technical improvements in the printing process, resulting in literally hundreds of varieties known to specialists.

Regions and offices

In general, the colonies of the Empire had (and still have) their own postal administrations, with varying degrees of central direction, and their own histories. British stamps were used at many of these colonies in their early years, and can be recognized from numbers on the postmarks.

Regional issues

Beginning in 1958, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales and Monmouthshire received their own special issues. The designs are basically Wildings and later Machins, but modified to incorporate the symbols of each regions. While only sold at post offices in their respective regions, all are valid through the country.

Offices abroad

At various times, overprinted British stamps have been produced for post offices overseas.

• Middle East Forces, 1942-1947
• Eritrea, 1948-1951
• East Africa Forces, 1943-1950
• Tripolitania, 1948-1951
• Morocco, 1898-1957 (in British, French, and Spanish currencies)
• Turkish Empire, 1885-1921

See also

• List of people on stamps of the United Kingdom
• List of British postage stamps

References

• Stanley Gibbons catalog
• J. T. Whitney, Collect British Postmarks (British Postmark Society, 1979)