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Auction: 17025 - Bermuda, Crossroads of the Atlantic: A Postal History from 1617 to 1877 - The David Pitts Collection
Lot: 176

(x) Packet Letters
RMSP Second Contract, 2 November 1847-1 August 1850
There were three routes involving Bermuda. The Mexico and West Indies packets alternated every two weeks on the 16th. and 2nd. After 7 May 1848 the West Indies route was extended to New York
Bermuda was the first stop on all three routes, where the route split, south west to Mexico (Route 5), south to St. Thomas (Route 6), and northwest to New York (Route 7). Homeward bound mail on all three routes passed through Bermuda. After August 1850, RMSP stopped all service to concentrate on the more lucrative Mexican routes
Route 6, The West Indies Packet
The West Indies Packet left England on the 2nd.. This route is generally considered scarcer than Route 5
Route: Southampton-Bermuda-St. Thomas-Puerto Rico-St. Thomas-Bermuda and return
1848 (2 Dec.) entire from London to Bermuda "p. Avon" (on the Mexican route), blown off course to Barbados (on the West Indies route), finally arriving at St. Thomas on 2 Jan 1849, the mail sent to Bermuda by brig Chebucto on her return trip from St. Thomas to New York with arrival on 27 January, rated "1/-" and showing Bishopsgate handstamp, despatch datestamp on reverse. A rare unscheduled conjunction of the Mexico, West Indies and St. Thomas-New York routes, re-routed by storms with very few covers traced showing the effect of weather. Photo

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Estimate
£300 to £350