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Auction: 17025 - Bermuda, Crossroads of the Atlantic: A Postal History from 1617 to 1877 - The David Pitts Collection
Lot: 7

(x) Internal Mail
On May 20, 1812 an official Post Office was established on the island for the first time. There were three official rate structures during the period
5d. Rate Period, 1812-42: 5d. per sheet until October 1817, 5d. for the first two sheets and 5d. for each additional sheet from 1818 until 1835, and then 5d. up to three sheets. Maximum was 1/3d. at all times
1812 (21 Aug.) entire letter from London "p Catherine" to Messers. Wadson & Astwood, handled and rated by the first official Bermuda Postmaster, John Till, at "1/3d" as a triple 5d. per sheet rate and then corrected to the double 5d. per sheet rate at "10d", both marked in red crayon; clean and attractive. This is the earliest known of any Bermuda postal marking. It is also a unique example of a pre-adhesive two-sheet 5d. x 2 internal rate and the earliest recorded manuscript "1/3d" altered to "10d". Photo

Post Office Closures
Post Office Closures occured from 8 May to 25 November 1814, from 15 October 1817 until 9 October 1818, and from 10 October 1821 until 1 May 1830

During the 1817-18 closing, publisher C.R. Beach delivered internal mail privately for 4d.

During the 1821-30 closure, Postmaster William B. Perot in Hamilton continued service as usual while Postmaster James Taylor at St. George's handled only outgoing mail. Internal mail had to be picked up at the Post Office. Rate markings are always present

The first intra-island route from St. George's to Hamilton in 1812 added Ireland Island (under Admiralty control) in 1842. In 1844 the service was expanded to Mangrove Bay, Somerset Bridge, Southampton East and Warwick

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Estimate
£800 to £1,000