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Auction: 17025 - Bermuda, Crossroads of the Atlantic: A Postal History from 1617 to 1877 - The David Pitts Collection
Lot: 76

(x) Packet Letters
G.P.O./Admiralty Period, 1806-1840
The G.P.O. continued its Falmouth Packet service to North America, extending it to Bermuda in 1806 in response to military needs. At first the G.P.O. had a virtual monopoly on the North America route though by 1823 competition from American companies rendered the service unprofitable and the Admiralty assumed responsibility for it since military needs remained unchanged
The service went underwent a number of route changes before it was finally abandoned in 1840 and contracted to Cunard. There are seven different routes
Route 4, November 1823-December 1826
The Admiralty took over the North Atlantic route in April 1823. By November they had returned to using the same year-round route as during the War of 1812. The Bermuda Post Office was closed from November 1821 until May 1830
The British Admiralty's "Mexico Packets" were established to service the western Caribbean and Mexico in 1825. In 1842 the Royal Mail Steam Packet assumed that route until 1868. The Mexican route passed through Bermuda until 1850
Jamaica served the eastern Caribbean and north-east coast of South America
1825 (23 Apr.) entire letter from Mexico City to London and sent by the Mexican Packet just before the formal establishment of the monthly packet in July, overland to Vera Cruz and thence via Jamaica and Bermuda to London, rated "3/-" and showing a light strike of the rare "mexico" fleuron handstamp (crossed by filing crease) and the reverse with Vera Cruz manuscript forwarding agents endorsement for 28 April, Kingston Jamaica datestamp (8.6, across join) and arrival datestamp (25.7). The earliest recorded cover carried on the Mexico Packet service and the earliest recorded usage of the Mexico fleuron handstamp. Photo

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Estimate
£800 to £1,000