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Auction: 17025 - Bermuda, Crossroads of the Atlantic: A Postal History from 1617 to 1877 - The David Pitts Collection
Lot: 77

(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 (8 Oct.) entire letter from Bermuda to William Astwood care of Tucker & Lauries at New York, hand-carried to Norfolk, Virginia and with manuscript rate "25" for internal postage to New York (over 400 miles), upon arrival forwarded back to Bermuda per Kingfisher to Halifax and thence per H.H.S. Nieman to Bermuda, Tucker & Lauries forwarding agents oval-framed cachet in red on reverse. A most unusual handling and believed to be unique thus. Photo

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Estimate
£500 to £600