“Confoederatio Helvetica”
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SWITZERLAND 1854 - 1863 “CONFOEDERATIO HELVETICA” PART III OVERSEAS LETTER MAIL IMPERFORATED SITTING HELVETIA RICHARD SCHAEFER COLLECTION The British Mail Service in the North Sea, English Channel and Celtic Sea The London General Post Office (GPO) served as mail distribution center for mail destined to all destinations within Great Britain. The GPO had established contracts with third party maritime mail service providers, which were responsible for dispatch of mail to the insular destinations in the English Channel, North Sea and Celtic Sea The Weymouth & Channel Island Steam Packet Company The first mentions of a regular serviced packet route between France and the Channel Islands are dated from 1805. Later organized as the Weymouth & Channel Island Steam Packet Company the first steam vessels to operate the route were introduced in 1827. In 1857 the company was merged into the Great Western Railway conglomerate, which controlled much of the transportation on the British land and waterways. The Isle of Wight Steam Packet Company Mail exchange was serviced through the Isle of Wight Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which operated its first steamer from Southampton in 1820. In 1826 the Isle of Wight Steam Packet Company was formed. The companies served by paddle steamer ferry service Cowes, Isle of Wight and Southampton David Hutchinson & Company (Hebrides Islands Steam Packet) In 1851, Burns Brothers, G. and J. Burns of Glasgow passed their fleet of Hebridean vessels to their chief clerk, David Hutchinson. The new company, David Hutcheson & Co. had three partners, David Hutcheson, Alexander Hutcheson and David MacBrayne. The Company rapidly became the main carrier on the West Highland route operating from Glasgow down the Firth of Clyde through the Crinan Canal to Oban and Forth William, and on through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness. They added the mail run to Islay, Harris and North Uist from Skye and then the Outer Isles run from Oban to Barra and South Uist. United Kingdom: Channel Islands (13) French Transit Treaty. Rate Period: 15.12.1854 to 1.9.1859 Thun to St. Helier, Jersey, September 1855. Single rate of 55 Rappen. Carried from St. Malo on September 23 with the Weymouth & Channel Island Steam Packet Company Arrival at St. Helier on September 27- addressed to Captain Walbankk Childers Provenance: Harlan Stone, Herbert Brach and Steve Turchik United Kingdom: Isle of Wight (12) French Transit Treaty. Rate Period: 15.12.1854 to 31.12.1855 Bellinzona to Ryde, Isle of Wight. Single rate of 55 Rappen via France. Carried by the Dover Royal Mail Packet Company Calais-Dover By railroad London-Southampton and carried by Isle of Wight Royal Mail Steam Packet Company to Ryde Provenance: Richard Schaefer and Daniel Ruiz United Kingdom: Hebrides- Isle of Sky (13) French Transit Treaty. Rate Period: 15.8.1859 to 1.10.1865 Dover Versoix to Portree, Isle of Skye. Double rate of 110 Rappen, via France. Carried by Dover Royal Mail Packet Company from Calais to Dover and by railway Dover-London-Edinburg-Glasgow Carried by steamer of David Hutcheson & Company Hebrides Packet from Glasgow via Oban to Portree Provenance: Richard Schaefer and Daniel Ruiz The Holyhead and Kingston Packet Following the building of new roads and the Menai Bridge by Thomas Telford in 1801, Holyhead became the port for mail to be carried to Dublin, Ireland, and after 1818, to the new harbor at Howth, the harbor at Dublin being inaccessible at low tides. Completion of a new deep-water jetty at Kingstown in 1827 saw the closure of Howth. In 1839, with the opening of the London & Birmingham Railway, Liverpool became the main port for mail to be sent over the Irish Sea to Kingstown. (Kingstown was originally called Dunleary until changed in honor of King George IV in 1827). It was always the intention of the Post Office to return services to Holyhead. With the building of the Chester to Holyhead Railway in 1848 the service was transferred from Liverpool. The Holyhead & Kingstown Packet service commenced in 1860 when a new contract was agreed and four vessels were put into service, all named after the four Irish provinces - Connaught, Leinster, Munster, & Ulster. United Kingdom: Ireland (10R) French Transit Treaty. Rate Period: 15.8.1859 to 30.9.1865 reverse H & K PACT Holyhead-Kingston Packet Lausanne to Dunmanway, County Cork, January 1862. Triple rate of 180 Rappen plus 180 Rappen for Registration. Carried by Dover Royal Mail Packet Company from Calais to Dover and South Eastern Railway to London Arrival London 18 JAN 62 and by London-Crew-Chester railroad to Holyhead. Carried by Holyhead & Kingston Packet. Arrival in Ireland backstamp Dublin 19 Jan 62 and local service to Dunmanway, County Cork Provenance: Emerald (2003) The Crimean War Russia and Turkey were at war by October 1853 and on 30 November the Russian fleet emerged from Sebastopol and devastated the Turkish at Sinope. England remained neutral, although with a mounting sense of anger, until 28 March 1854 when national feeling could be contained no longer. Mail from Switzerland related to the Crimean War is rare. The Baltic Fleet The allied British and French fleets imposed a blockade of the Russian coast in the Baltic Sea during the Crimean war to hinder the Russian supply lines. A special post office notice, dated November 1854 was issued which resolved that mail to the Baltic Fleet had to be sent via Danzig where mail was forwarded to the British Admiral Steamer Duke of Wellington which was responsible for further dispatch to the troops. The Black Sea Fleet During September 1854 the allied forces advanced into the Crimean and on 9 September 1855 were able to capture Sebastopol. The treatment of English mail to the British troops was directed to be sent under French transit via Marseille in closed mailbags. Because there was no means of knowing the whereabouts of divisions, it was considered necessary to send everything to Constantinople where a British post office had been opened in June. Crimean War: The Baltic Fleet (13R) German Postal Union Treaty. Rate Period: 15.10.1852 to 31.8.1868 Luzern to Baltic Fleet, Crimean War, August 1855. Single rate of 50 Rappen via Danzig. Upon arrival at the Danzig post office (postmarked on the back) forwarded to the British Consul in Danzig British Consul forwarded the letter to the Admiral Steamer Duke of Wellington for dispatch to Lieutenant Henry Rogers Provenance: Hans Schild and Richard Schaefer Recognized as one of the most important Destination mails from this Period Crimean War: The Allied Camp in Corsica (13) French Transit Treaty. Rate Period: 15.9.1854 to 15.8.1859 Lugano to Bastia, April 1856. Single rate of 40 Rappen plus 40 Rappen for Registration, via Marseille Carried by Lake Steamer Waldstaettersee from Fluelen to Luzern and Compagnie Valery from Marseille to Bastia Provenance: Walter Haemmerli Corsica was used by the Allied forces as a troop and supply station during the Crimean war Crimean War: Dalmatia (12) German-Austrian Postal Union Treaty. Rate Period: 1.11.1852 to 31.8.1868 Bern to Castelnuovo, Dalmatia, January 1855. Single rate of 50 Rappen, via Austrian Lloyd from Trieste. Adressed to a Lieutenant of the 3rd Austrian Batallion, protecting the Adriatic Coast against Turkish invasion Provenance: Richard Schaefer and Daniel Ruiz Crimean War: Black Sea German Postal Union Treaty. Rate Period: 14.1.1853 to 30.9.1867 Geneva to Odessa, Ukraine, February 1856. Single rate of 90 Rappen, sent via Berlin Sent via Prussia, since the regular route via Austria was still interrupted due to Crimean War Provenance: Robert Fuerbeth The treaty of Paris was signed on 30 March 1856 between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, British Empire, the second French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia. It made the Black Sea neutral territory, closing it to all warships, and prohibiting fortifications and the presence of armaments on its shores. The treaty marked a severe setback to Russian influence in the region. Norway (12) German Postal Union Treaty. Rate Period: 15.4.1855 to 23.7.1865 The German Postal Union had provisions in place for mail dispatch to Norway for a land route through Helsingborg and Svinesund in the winter and for direct sea conveyance between Denmark or Hamburg and the Norwegian ports of Christiania (Oslo) and Christianesand during the rest of the year. A mail packet from Kiel to Christiania had been running since 1847. When the summer route was open (15 April to 15 October), the exchange office was Sandosund on the west coast of the fjord and was the principal transit post for all incoming and outbound mail. The Danish Mail Steamer DS VIKEN in 1861 Unterseen to Horten and redirected to Christiania, August 1861. Single rate of 135 Rappen, via German Postal Union. Manuscript marking via Hamburg & Kiel a vapore VIKEN Treated through the Danish Ober Post Amt in Hamburg- backstamped KDOPA HAMBURG 8/8 Carried by the Danish postal steamer D.S. Viken on the route Hamburg-Kiel-Nyborg-Fredikshaven-Christiania Provenance: Richard Schaefer and Daniel Ruiz Kingdom of Denmark (12) German Postal Union Treaty. Rate Period: 29.3.1854 to 1.9.1868 Lausanne to Copenhagen, June 1860. Single rate 115 Rappen, via German Postal Union. Backstamp Hamburg 15 June and KDOPA (Koenigliches Danishes Ober Post Amt) 15 June where rated with 2 skilling Carried by Royal Danish Mail Steamer to Copenhagen- arrival backstamp Kiobenhaven 16 June Provenance: Richard Schaefer and Daniel Ruiz Kingdom of Denmark (12) German Postal Union Treaty. Rate Period: 29.3.1854 to 1.9.1868 Geneva to Copenhagen, October 1861. Single weight 75 Rappen, via German Postal Union.