On May 9, 1945, when the German occupation of the Channel Islands was over, about 30,000 Germans became POWs. The majority of these POWs were removed from the Channel Islands to camps in Britain during May/June 1945. However, some 3,800 POWs remained on the islands to help clear up the mess of four years of occupation (Alderney: 500 POWs, Guernsey 1,700, and 1,600 on Jersey).
Stanley Gibbons Channel Islands Specialised Catalogue of Stamps and Postal History (1983 page 180) states the following:
“After the surrender of the Channel Islands in May 1945, large numbers of German prisoners of war fell into Allied hands and some were held on the islands. One item of mail is known, from Germany to a prisoner of war, bearing the Spremberg [Russian Zone]datestamp of 29 April 1946. It is addressed to “Uffz. Wilhelm Baigar, B.167373, No. 802 P.O.W. Camp Jersay [sic] Great Britain, C.I.”
In 1799, the Ship Letter Office was established in London with the necessary Parliamentary enactment. The double oval and crown replaced the previous two-line handstamp. The Crown handstamp sent to Guernsey in 1802 had two periods of use, from 1802 to 1815, and again from 1844 to 1849. Because the ship letter charges were strenuously opposed by the islanders as they were seen as a levy on incoming mail from private ships, little mail was ever handed over to the Post Office. As a result of this, the double oval Guernsey ship letter handstamp lay idle for most of its life. Consequently, to date only five or six examples for the 1802 to 1815 period of use are known to exist. A few more are known from the 1844 to 1849 period. The rare entire shown dated 30 December 1814 (first period of use) sent from Rotterdam to Guernsey and bears a Type 2 double-oval/Crown/GUERNSEY handstamp applied at the Guernsey post office. Notably, the letter was charged at the short-lived 6d ship letter rate.
This rare item came into my possession during August 2024 by private sale and is one of the key items in my Channel Islands Ship Letter handstamps collection. It is listed in Gibbons Catalogue of Postal History of the Channel Islands (1991), but not in Robertson’s A History of the Ship Letters of the British Isles (1983 Reprint)
To date, this is the only known example of this ship letter handstamp. The letter was written by William Moss, a Wesley missionary in the Gambia. He arrived on 30 November 1838, serving the missionaries at MacCarthy Island and St Mary’s, both situated on the River Gambia and returned to England on 28 March 1841. Unfortunately, William Moss’ wife died on 22 January 1839, shortly after their arrival following a fever. They married shortly before departure to Gambia. This letter was written shortly after his wife’s death.
Mission House
St Mary’s, River Gambia
January 4, 1840
Revd and my dear Sirs,
I have just returned from another visit to MacCarthey Island and hearing that a vessel will leave this Port for Jersey in about an hours time, I thought it advisable to inform you of my welfare and also to forward the list of Subscribers to the Mission lands at both stations. From the accompanying letter you will perceive that the Subscriptions at St Mary’s are more than double of the amount of last year. In fact about every European has subscribed for the year 1839 and are anxious to promote the wellbeing of the dark degraded demonised Sons of Ham, nor are the Subscription at MacCarthey’s behind those of the proceeding year. Every European there has subscribed and sincerely hope the time is not to far distant when they will see a chapel erected in which most of them doubt not are anxious to worship the God that made prescribed and redeemed them. I did intend to send the accounts of both stations by this vessel, but as I have only just returned from settling the affairs at MacCarthey’s it is utterly impossible. However you may depend up receiving them. God willing by the very first opportunity with a lengthened report of everything connected with these all important stations on the banks of the Gambia. The farm I am happy to state has answered my expectations. The production twice as much as last year. [Note: Since 1823 the mission has grown peanuts].
I trust you will publish the list now sent home in the next report and please do not forget to send a good supply of reports.
The new Brethren have not arrived but are expected every hour.
At present I am in possession of perfect health thank the Lord for this and all his other mercies believing you sympathetic with me in my present circumstances and intreating an interest in your prayers and in the prayers of all God’s people.
I remain your humble and
obedient servant
William Moss
Wesleyan Missionary
Brethren, Pray for me, WM.
In his book A History of the Ship Letters of the British Isles (reprint 1993), Alan Robertson states on page E.203 that the “standard” oval type with crown for Lyme Regis (Lyme) probably exists, but as yet no example is recorded. There are now two known examples.
Les Iles Normandes Volume 10.1 (1991) pg 9, illustrates a letter that was in the collection of Mike Burrington, one of the Society’s Canadian members. The letter from Guernsey to London, written in French, is dated 30 August 1811. There is no mention of the significance of the LYME ship letter handstamp. As with the example shown below, it too was sent via the forwarding agents, James Cazenove & Co.
This earlier use of the LYME ship letter is dated 6 January 1811 is also from Guernsey to London. It was charged at the triple letter rate of 3/3d (3 x 4d ship letter fee (1799 rates and 3 x 9d mileage rate for 120-170 miles as per 1805 rates).
The wrapper shown below is dated November 27 1840 and was purchased at the CISS Weekend Meeting held in Cardiff in 2017. It bears a 1d black (Plate 7) cancelled with a black Maltese cross. The double ring datestamp reads JERSEY/NO27/1840 and is addressed to a solicitor in Monmouth. Note the inverted 4 in the datestamp.
Initially, red ink was used to cancel the 1d black and 2d blue stamps, but because of the fraudulent removal of the red ink, a black ink was trialled for use in the London Twopenny Post Office at St Martins-le-Grand from the 31st August 1840. Due to the success of the experiment, all Post Offices used the black ink from February 1841. However, some towns seemed to be using the black ink on a regular basis during the period when red ink was to be used. For example, Perth was using black ink during September and October 1840, Jersey from November 1840, and Doncaster from December 1840. The reason for the use of the black ink prior to February 1841 at these post offices is unknown.
Rockoff and Jackson, in their Encyclopaedia of the Maltese Cross Cancellations of Great Britain and Ireland, list eighteen items from Jersey where the 1840 1d black was cancelled with a black Maltese Cross prior to February 1841, the earliest listed being November 27, 1840 and addressed to Plymouth.
The wrapper shown here is not listed by Rockoff and Jackson, but does bear a November 27, 1840 Jersey datestamp. So we now know that there are at least two items dated November 27, 1840 where the 1d black has been cancelled by a black Maltese cross. Guernsey did not follow this practice, with the first recorded use of a 1d black being cancelled with a black Maltese Cross is cited as February 25, 1841.
