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Bermuda's postage stamps

Many feature history, environment, flora and fauna

By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) at e-mail exclusively for Bermuda Online

To refer to this web file, please use "bermuda-online.org/stamps.htm" as your Subject.

Introduction

Beautiful stamps are a serious business for Bermuda Post Office. The Island’s colorful stamps not only serve as payment for postage, they generate extra revenue thanks to legions of collectors around the world. It is a feather in the cap for Bermuda Post Office (BPO) that its stamps are so eagerly anticipated and collected by people around the world. The BPO has a philatelic coordinator, currently Mr Stanley Taylor. Part of the magic is striking the right balance between issuing a number of pleasing, new designs each year and not ‘overkilling’ collectors with a constant barrage of releases.

Some 700 to 800 committed collectors of Bermuda stamps have standing orders with the post office that guarantee an automatic payment is made as soon as a new stamp issue is released. This ensures the latest designs are immediately forwarded to them to add to their collections. Most collectors are in the US, the majority on the East Coast. There some in Australia, Hong Kong, Eastern Europe, England and Canada. The BPO also has customers from the cruise ships or tourists staying at hotels who come in to buy stamps as they are collectors.

For a number of reasons the quantity of Bermuda stamps sold has fallen by between a third and a half in the past decade or so. One factor is the increasing use of e-mail and other forms of electronic messaging replacing traditional mail and letter writing. Less tourists in Bermuda has resulted in less postcards being sent, and therefore less stamps bought, and many businesses now use franking machines, doing away with the need for physical stamps.

Even so, many hundreds of thousands of Bermuda stamps are produced each year in four separate design issues. The first new issue of 2013, released in February 2013, was a set of stamps commemorating the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. The stamps come in a variety of face values, each with a different design. The biggest quantity produced is the 35 cents version for local postage, of which 150,000 were made.

A lot of care is taken to ensure Bermuda stamps are interesting and lively. They tend to be bigger in size than other jurisdictions, allowing more detail to be included. Each stamp design is discussed and agreed on by committee then sent off for Royal approval before it can be issued. Many stamp collectors focus on a particular subject, era or country. Those who collect Bermuda’s stamps like the fact there are only four new issues each year. Sheets of stamps and first-day covers are highly collectable. Some Bermuda stamps from the earliest days, such as the Perot stamp of the 1840s, can trade for as much as $250,000. Sometimes an unexpected event can increase the demand for a particular stamp. The 2009 tall ships issue included one stamp featuring the Canadian ship SV Concordia, which visited Bermuda that year. When it sank a year later, near Brazil, many people sought out the Bermuda stamp as a collector’s item.

Bermuda one penny postage stamps of 1864 and 1906, issued in the respective reigns of Queen Victoria (right) and King Edward VII.

As a  group of very small and isolated islands only 21 square miles in collective total land area, surrounded by the western Atlantic Ocean, nearly 600 miles from the nearest mainland of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA and 3,150 miles from London, England, Bermuda - developed after discovery in 1609 as a British colony - initially developed its own system for handling letters and parcels or valuable items, known as packets, for urgent delivery. 

It began in Bermuda by depending first on packet ships that sailed mostly first from the southern English part of Falmouth, Devon.  (See the book referred to above, The Bermuda Packet Mails and the Halifax-Bermuda Mail Service, 1806 to 1886. Dr. Jack (John) C. Arnell and Morris. H. Ludington). 

These fast small sailing ships were the first in the world to offer a regular national and international parcel and postal service.  Packet ships were vessels employed to carry British post office mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. They were regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers. Their crew were referred to by trade as packet men and their industry was the packet trade. Interestingly, the French word "paquebot" derives from the English term "packet boat," but means a large ocean liner.

Packet ships, among them Royal Mail ships and Cunard, connected Bermuda with St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, New York City and or Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. A packet agent was based in each of those ports. In those days, when the capital of Bermuda was the Town of St. George, not the later-built City of Hamilton, the packet agent managed all external mails from the town. (Packet agent hand stamps issued from 1820 were the precursors of the postage stamps of today).  A domestic mail service was begun in Bermuda in 1784 by the Bermuda Gazette, but was later taken over by Bermuda's colonial government. In 1859, both internal and external mail service became the colony's responsibility, with the chief postmaster being based at the Town of St. George.

1848. However, it was not from the town but in the new City 13 miles away that Hamilton William Bennett Perot, postmaster, whose ancestors had arrived in Bermuda from France as persecuted Huguenots and became Anglicized, created Bermuda's first postage stamps. He did so by hand, from his office at Par La Ville, Queen Street, Hamilton, using the words "HAMILTON BERMUDA" in a circle, with the year and Perot's signature in the middle. They became known as Perot Provisionals and are among the unique creations of philately. Bermuda's most cherished stamps are the original Perot stamps from 1848, in three values. Perot served as Bermuda’s first postmaster general from 1818 to 1862. Perot Post Office on Queen Street bears his name. He produced the stamps between 1848 (only eight years after they were introduced in Great Britain) and 1865 to foil mail cheats who were not leaving money in a dropbox for postage. His stamps were used only for the internal mail within Bermuda, which is why the collecting fraternity never found about them until 1897. Only 11 Perot stamps are thought to exist in the world and they have commanded as much as $100,000 at auction. The Queen has three and Dr Saul has two. Back in 1848, Mr Perot’s stamps were worth a penny. One of Dr Saul’s Perots and one of the Queen’s were originally joined but were torn apart by an auctioneer in the 1930s. One was sold to the Queen and one was put on the market. The Queen is not an enthused stamp collector but she takes her duty to preserve one of the world’s best stamp collections very seriously. Much of the collection was inherited from her grandfather, George V. Her collection, known as the Royal Philatelic Collection, consists of 328 red albums of about 50 pages each of stamps from George V’s time, which means there are over 16,000 pages in the collection, which may have as many as 20 or 30 stamps on them. The focus of the collection is now on the postal stamps of Great Britain and all the colonies and now a lot of the Commonwealth countries) and the late Baron Stig Leuhesen's Estate (he once lived in Bermuda). A later (1860) crown-in-circle design used at St. George's is attributed to its then-postmaster James H. Thies. 

1854. Bermuda Perot stamp of this year is shown below: 

1865. General stamp issues in Bermuda began with a set of three (1d, 6d, and 1 shilling), each with a different design based on the profile of Queen Victoria. Bermuda, as a British colony, followed the custom still common on most British UK and some (but not all) now-politically independent countries of the British Commonwealth but then pat of the British Empire to show an image of the current British monarch on all postage stamps. These were supplemented with 2d and 3d values in 1866 and 1873. 

In 1902, King Edward VII who succeeded his mother Queen Victoria after her reign of more than 60 years, was not honored with his image on new stamps like his late mother. Instead, the first postage stamp of his ilk depicted a Bermudian dry dock, as the stamp below shows. 

That design remained in use throughout his reign. However, the King was honored another and much longer way, with Bermuda's main civilian hospital, formerly the Cottage Hospital, renamed after him.

King George V had a number of Bermuda stamps bearing his likeness from 1910, including the seal of the colony (a caravel), and the higher values (2 shillings and more). 

1920. Bermuda's first commemorative stamps included this issue of 1920, marking the 300th anniversary of representative institutions. The design consisted of the caravel seal and a profile of George V, with the inscription "TERCENTENARY OF ESTABLISHMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS" below. 

Bermuda Commemorative 1920

1921. A second issue of commemorative stamps a year later commemorated the same occasion with a completely different design, with George V in the centre and various symbols in the corners.

1924. Bermuda stamps included the following:

1936. Bermuda issued a pictorial series of stamps, consisting of nine stamps with seven different designs depicting local scenery. Several of the designs were reused, and three more added, for a 1938 issue featuring King George VI.

1937. Bermuda issued these stamps.

1938. Bermuda issued a considerable number of stamps including several of the yacht Lucie:

In 1949, a century after it was issued, Postmaster Perot's provisional postage stamp (see below) was commemorated by the issue of three stamps, a 2 pence and a halfpenny blue and brown; a 3 pence black and blue; and a 6 pence violet and green. 

1949 Postmaster Perot postage stamps commemorating centenary of his first (1849) stamp.

Another 1949 stamp was this one, below:

1967. These two were issued:

1975. 200th Anniversary of Bermuda's pro-American, anti-British Gunpowder Plot. See Bermuda's History 1700-1799. Four stamps were issued, shown top left.

1987. 50th anniversary of airmail service to Bermuda

Since then, cultural, illustrated events and personalities in Bermuda history have dominated Bermuda postage stamps. 

Historical and cultural stamps

Of special interest are these stamps that commemorated Bermuda's colonial history as a British island nation and overseas territory. Sir Thomas Gates, as Governor designate, and Admiral Sir George Somers commanded the British fleet to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1609, from Plymouth, Devon. Off the Azores, after a tempest, seven of nine ships got to Jamestown. The flagship Sea Venture, with Somers, Gates and 150 others, was wrecked on a Bermuda reef. All survived and found wild hogs, birds and marine life as food, no humans. Bermuda was uninhabited, with a warm and mild climate. Nine months later, in May 1610, leaving four men to keep Bermuda inhabited as a new British possession, they sailed on two pinnaces they built in Bermuda from native red cedar, the Deliverance and Patience, for Jamestown. 

They arrived there with enough provisions from Bermuda for the starving Virginia colony. 

Conditions were horrible there, with chronic food shortages, rampant starvation, miserable conditions, sickness and difficulties with Indians, compared to idyllic if isolated circumstances in  Bermuda nearly 600 miles away. In Virginia, they had been presumed dead. Only when they arrived did the Virginians - later, officials in England - know they had landed and survived. 

Accounts of their tempest ordeal before their shipwreck and their pleasure with Bermuda caused a sensation in London. They inspired William Shakespeare to pen his The Tempest drama; and resulted in the permanent settlement of Bermuda in 1612. 

In 1620, the first legislative meeting was held at St. Peter's Church, St. George's, later rebuilt in limestone. English architecture was used by the first colonists but with local limestone not wood after 1620. Bermuda limestone was the building material, for protection against hurricanes. But quarrying and cutting was arduous. It is still used today mostly for roofs. (Concrete blocks are now the walls in modern Bermuda homes). Early settlers built first wooden then limestone forts on Paget and Smith's islands. But only one ever fired a shot in anger, against a Spanish ship. 

In 1775, some Bermudians, sympathetic when America rebelled against British rule, stole gunpowder from the British Army in St. George's. They delivered it to an American ship, for General George Washington's armies. The Continental Congress exempted Bermuda  from the food and grain embargo against other British territories during the Revolutionary War.

In 1793, over the objections of the town of St. George, Hamilton was incorporated in 1793 as Bermuda's capital. 

In 1962, it was the 350th anniversary of Bermuda's Parliament, the House of Assembly, the oldest of all British colonial and overseas parliaments.

In 1965, the Bermuda Regiment was formed.

1975. October 27. The following First Day Cover was issued for the 200th anniversary of the following:

In 1993, one of the many special stamps was for the City of Hamilton's bicentenary that year. 

1983. 17th October. A British Airways Concorde flew from Bermuda to Orlando, Florida. in 1 hour and 36 minutes.

British Airways, not Bermuda Government, stamp issue

When British Airways and Air France commenced SST Concorde services in 1976 - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde_SST - to their major routes, including in BA's case to the Caribbean, Bermuda was not then and never became one of the destinations included. Bermuda's runway was easily long enough but may have been deliberate policy on the part of BA not to fly the world's most expensive-to-operate supersonic aircraft which carried only a relatively small number of passengers when compared to much more expansive aircraft on the London-Bermuda direct route which was BA's single most profitable route by far. But it is known that BA charter or regular flights stopped off in Bermuda on several occasions during Concorde's commercial lifespan (that lasted until 2003), including when the Queen flew to and from the Caribbean on her Jubilee tour.

1985. Bermuda issued these stamps on all the parishes:

The one relating to the former Canadian Forces Station has the following description for this BD$1 stamp on the liner details of the First Day Cover issued with this issue. "The Royal Canadian Navy leased some fourteen acres of former British Admiralty lands at Daniel's Head towards the western end of Bermuda in 1963. The installation was established as a signals intelligence unit to support the Canadian Forces and to aid in search and rescue operations.  Due to changes in international relations and with increased fiscal constraints, the Canadian Government closed the site in December 1993."

May 2002, a new postage stamp set was issued, showing four Bermuda caves - Fantasy Cave, Crystal Cave, Prospero's Cave and Cathedral Cave.

November 18, 2005. 50th Anniversary of Bermuda Orchid Society was celebrated with the issue of four orchid stamps. 

December 23, 2005. Stanley Gibbons Group Ltd, noted rare stamp dealers, launched the Bermuda domiciled and incorporated Rare Stamp Investment Fund, with legal advisor Cox Hallett and Wilkinson.

2009. Bermuda's 400th year of settlement.

2011. Bermuda Casemates Dockyard stamps

2012 stamps. They include St. Peter's Church

Books and Papers on Bermuda's Stamps include

A Beginning Collection of Bar and Duplex Cancels on the Victorian Stamps of Bermuda. David R. Pitts. Mimeo; May 1998. [58 pp.]

A Study of the Printings of the King George VI Key-Type High Values of Bermuda, Leeward Islands & Nyasaland. Eric P. Yendell. Study paper no. 13. King George VI Collectors Society, 1983; 21 pp.

Air Mails of Bermuda. Norman C. Baldwin. Sutton Coldfield, U.K, F.J. Field, 1967. [16 pp.].

Bermuda. Henry R. Holmes. London, H.F. Johnson, 1932; 93 pp.

Bermuda, 1938-53, 1/- to £1: Inferences from the Crown Agents' Records. Study paper no. 2. King George VI Collectors Society, 1973; 16 pp. Originally published as whole number 74 of Geosix.

Bermuda: A Study of the King George VI High Value Definitives - 12/6 Perf. 14. Wilson C. K. Wong. Study paper no. 14. King George VI Collectors Society, 1989; 46 pp.

Bermuda by Air: A Handbook and Catalog of Bermuda Philately. Charles E. Cwiakala. Edited by R.W. Dickgiesser. Killen, Ala., Bermuda Catalog Project, 1996, xiv+141 pp.; bibliography.

Bermuda King George VI High Values: A Guide to the Flaws and Printings. Robert W. Dickgiesser. Weston, Mass., Triad Publications, 1980, 59 pp.; bibliography.

Bermuda Mails to 1865; An Inventory of the Postal Markings. Michel Forand and Charles Freeland. Monograph no. 13. British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, 1995; 128 pp.; bibliography, index.

Bermuda: The 1910-36 "Ship" Type Stamps. M. H. Ludington. London, Junior Philatelic Society, 1955; 35 pp.

Bermuda: The Half-Penny on One Penny Provisional of 1940. {Study paper no. 9] King George VI Collectors Society, 1976; 11 pp. Published as whole number 93 of Geosix.

Bermuda: The Handstruck Stamps and Cancellations. Robson Lowe, 1956. London,  45 pp.

Bermuda: The Post Office, Postal Markings and Adhesive Stamps. Robson Lowe, 1962. London,  297 pp. + 51 plates. A 4-page list of "Addenda and Corrigenda" was published in 1966. Supplement. London, Robson Lowe, 1968; 38 pp. + 14 plates.

First flights of Bermuda and British Caribbean FAM Routes. Charles E. Cwiakala. [Monograph no. 3]. British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, ca. 1982; [35 pp.]. Reprinted from the British Caribbean Philatelic Journal.

Head-plate flaws of the King George VI high values of Bermuda, Leeward Islands, and Nyasaland. Interim report no. 2. King George VI Collectors Society, May 1970; 25 pp.

King George VI Large Key Type Stamps of Bermuda, Leeward Islands, Nyasaland. Robert W. Dickgiesser and Eric P. Yendall. Weston, Mass., Triad Publications, 1985, 183 pp.; bibliography.

Regular Sea Communications with Bermuda to 1914. Reprinted from Bermuda Historical Quarterly, 1979; iv+8 pp.

Stamps from the Bermuda Prize Court Sale. Kasimir Bileski. Canada ca. 1949, 11 pp.

Study of the head-plate flaws of the George VI high values of Bermuda, Leeward Islands and Nyasaland. Edwin H. Folk. Interim report. Philadelphia, August 1968, 7 pp.

The Airmails of Bermuda, 1925-1989: A Specialized Catalogue and Illustrated Price List. William J. Clark. Greenwich, Conn., Havemayer Press, 1990; [68 pp.]. Second edition revised and augmented, 1991 [76 pp.]. Third edition, revised and augmented, 1992.

The Bermuda Packet Mails and the Halifax-Bermuda Mail Service, 1806 to 1886. Dr. Jack (John) C. Arnell and Morris. H. Ludington.  Postal History Society, 1989, 103 pp. Includes annual tables showing dates of departure and arrival of each packet and mail boat at its various ports of call.

The Development of the Transatlantic Mail Service to Bermuda. Dr. Jack (John) C. Arnell. Offprint from Bermuda Journal of Archaeology and Maritime History. 1989. 18 pp. [pages 25 to 42.

The Encyclopedia of British Empire Postage Stamps. Volume 5, part 5; Bermuda and British Honduras. Robson Lowe. London, Robson Lowe, 1973; 128 pp.

The Furness Line to Bermuda. M. H. Ludington and Michael R. Rego. Monograph no. 11, British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, 1991; 60 pp.

The King George V High-Value Stamps of Bermuda. Myles Clazer. Marblehead, Mass., Calaby Publishers, 1994; xv+208 pp.; bibliography; index

The King George VI issue for Bermuda - the 1/2d to 1/6 values: an attempt to examine and evaluate new evidence. Frank R..Saunders. King George VI Collectors Society, 1970; 16 pp.

The Postal History of Blockade Running through Bermuda, 1861-1865. Monograph no. 14. British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, 1966; iii+47 pp.; 2 indexes

The Postal History of Bermuda. Edward B. Proud. E.B. Proud Ltd., 2003; 432 pp..

The Postal History and Postage Stamps of Bermuda. Lawrence, Mass., Quarterman, 1978; 446 pp.; index.

The Postage Stamps of Bermuda. Bertram W. H. Poole. W.E.P. philatelic handbook no. 7. London, D. Field, 1911; 39 pp.

The Royal Mail Steam Packets to Bermuda and the Bahamas, 1942-1859. M. H. Ludington and Geoffrey A. Osborn. London, Robson Lowe, 1971; 26 pp. + 7 loose maps.

West Indian Censorship Devices. Handbook no. 2. Geoffrey G. Richie. Harrogate, U.K., Roses Caribbean Philatelic Society, 1977; 105 pp. In addition to Bermuda, contains articles on Bahamas, Barbados (revised), British Guiana (revised), British Honduras, Cayman Islands (revised), French West Indies, Grenada (revised), Jamaica (revised), Leeward Islands, St. Lucia (revised), and St. Vincent.

Bermuda's General Post Office (GPO)

To which all enquiries re postal stamps should be made

The Philatelic Bureau, Bermuda General Post Office, 56 Church Street, Hamilton HM 12. Bermuda. E-mail gpo@ibl.bm. Telephone: (441) 297-7893.

Stamp Design Advisory Committee

Advises the Bermuda Government's General Post Office on what stamps should be issued and when. See under alphabetical order in Bermuda Government Boards.