Bermuda Stamps & Bermuda Postal History
Bermuda Stamp Resource Page for the collector of Bermuda Stamps

Resource Page for Collectors of Bermuda Stamps & Bermuda Postal History

Bermuda stamps, Bermuda, Bermuda stamp images, Bermuda resource page

 
Bermuda Flag. Bermuda Stamps

HISTORY
The island is first mentioned on a Spanish map dated 1503. A Spanish adventurer, Juan de Bermúdez landed on the island in 1515. English settlers arrived on the island in 1612 and settled in what is now St George. St George is the oldest existing English settlement in the Western hemisphere. Letters, with no postal markings, are known from Bermuda from 1660. The first organised postal service was a private service organised by James Stockdale in 1784. This led to the establishment of a government service in 1811. William Perot, who was made postmaster in 1818, introduced the now famous "Perot" stamp in 1848.


PHILATELIC SOCIETIES FOR COLLECTORS OF BERMUDA STAMPS & POSTAL HISTORY

Bermuda Collectors Society (USA)

The Bermuda Collectors Society (BCS) is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the study and exchange of information concerning all aspects of Bermuda philately. Since its founding in 1986, the Society has grown to a worldwide membership of over 200.

British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group (USA)
The main goal of the British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group is to promote interest in, and research into, the stamps and postal history of the British Caribbean area.

British West Indies Study Circle (UK)
Promote interest in and the study of the STAMPS and POSTAL HISTORY of the islands that comprise the BRITISH WEST INDIES and in addition Bermuda, British Guiana (Guyana) and British Honduras (Belize) and the Postal History and Markings of other British interests in the Caribbean, and Central or South America


NEW ISSUES of Bermuda Stamps 

The Philatelic Bureau

  Bermuda General Post Office  
Hamilton HM PM, Bermuda. 

Bermuda Stamps & Bermuda Postal History
SELECTED PAGES ABOUT BERMUDA STAMPS AND BERMUDA POSTAL HISTORY
BERMUDA, or, to give the islands their correct name, the Bermudas, are a group of islands to the number of about three hundred, lying in mid-Atlantic, about 580 miles from the nearest land in North Carolina; only some fifteen of them are inhabited. The main island, Great Bermuda, is fourteen miles long from south-west to north-east, and a mile wide in most parts. lt resembles in shape an open snap-hook, with its mouth towards the west, and the eye to the north-east.....


BERMUDA NUMERICAL POSTMARKS

Horizontal Oval (introduced 1865)
1  - St George's
2  - Hamilton
3  - Ireland Island
4  - Mangrove Bay
5  - Paget East
6  - Paget West
7  - Warwick East
8  - Warwick West
9  - Southampton East
10 - Southampton West
11 - Somerset Bridge
12 - Bailey's Bridge
13 - Crawl
14 - Harrington Sound
15 - Flatts
Vertical Oval (introduced 1879)
1  - Hamilton
2  - St George's
3  - Ireland Island
4  - Mangrove Bay
5  - Paget East
6  - Paget West
7  - Warwick East
8  - Warwick West
9  - Southampton East
10 - Southampton West
11 - Somerset Bridge
12 - Bailey's Bridge
13 - Crawl
14 - Harrington Sound
15 - Flatts
16 - Devonshire North
17 - Devonshire South
18 - St David's
19 - St George's West

BOOKS ON BERMUDA PHILATELY AND BERMUDA POSTAL HISTORY

The Airmails of Bermuda 1925-1989: A Specialized Catalogue and Illustrated Price List
by William J Clark,
publ Havemayer Press,
1990 (First Edition), 68pp; 1991 (Second Edition), 76pp;
1992 (Third Edition), 76pp

Air Mails of Bermuda
by Norman Cecil Baldwin, publ F J  Field, 1967, 16pp

A Beginning Collection of Bar and Duplex Cancels on the Victorian Stamps of Bermuda
by David R Pitts, publ Mimeo,  May 1998, 58pp

Bermuda: The 1910-36 "Ship" Type Stamps
by Morris Hoadley
Ludington, publ Junior Philatelic Society, 1955, 35pp.

Bermuda by Air - A Handbook and Catalog of Bermuda Aerophilately
by Charles E Cwiakala; editor Robert W Dickgiesser, publ Bermuda Catalog Project, 1996, 141pp, ISBN 0965201708

Bermuda Civil Censorship World War I
by Stewart Jessop, publ British West Indies Study Circle, 2006, 44pp

Bermuda, the Handstruck Stamps & Cancellations
by Morris Hoadley
Ludington, publ Robson Lowe, 1956, 40pp

Bermuda King George VI High Values - A Guide to the Flaws & Printings
Find this book at Biblio.com
by Robert W Dickgiesser, publ Triad Publications, 1980, 59pp

Bermuda Mails to 1865. An Inventory of the Postal Markings
by Michel Forand and Charles Freeland, publ British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, 1995, 118pp
Some 650 entries; Date stamps, Paid Stamps, Ship Letter and Forwarding Agents. Packet arrival and departure dates for 1827, 1842-50 and 1850-54. Postal rates and an overview of the pre 1820 postal history.

The Bermuda Packet Mails and the Halifax Bermuda Mail Service 1806 to 1886
by John C Arnell and Morris Hoadley Ludington, publ Postal History Society, 1989, 161pp, ISBN 0853770190
Gives details of dates of departure and arrival of each mail packet

Bermuda: The Post Office, Postal Markings and Adhesive Stamps
by Morris Hoadley Ludington, publ Robson Lowe, 1962, 297pp + 51 plates
Addenda and Corrigenda, 1966, 4pp
Supplement,  publ Robson Lowe, 1968,  38pp + 14 plates

Bermuda Registration Labels
by Brad Arch, 1993, 24pp
Illustrations of the numerous types with period of use and catalog numbers.

Bermuda: A Study of the King George VI High Value Definitives - 12/6 Perf. 14
Wilson C K Wong, publ King George VI Collectors Society, 1989, 46pp

British Empire Civil Censorship Devices, World War II, Trinidad and Tobago
 by Ron Wike, publ Civil Censorship Study Group, 1994, 80pp, ISBN 1872744117
Development, organization of the censor stations, the markings, labels, seals, permits, instructional markings and security devices, also covers censor numbers allocated to Jamaica and Bermuda

Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps 1939-1953 Vol V,  Bermuda & British Honduras
by Robson Lowe, publ Robson Lowe, 1973, 104pp, ISBN 0853973245

First Flights of Bermuda & British Caribbean FAM Route
by Charles E Cwiakala, publ British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, c1982, 35pp

The Furness Line to Bermuda
by
Morris Hoadley Ludington and Michael R Rego, publ British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, 1991, 60pp

The History of the Sailing Packets to the West Indies
by Leonard E Britnor, publ BWI Study Circle, 1973, 172pp

Intercepted in Bermuda: The Censorship of Transatlantic Mail during the Second World War
by Peter A Flynn, publ Collectors' Club of Chicago, 2006, 254pp, ISBN 0916675157
Mail travelling between the U.S. and Europe was censored in Bermuda. This work provides the history of the censorship service. Includes markings, usages, censor tapes, earliest and latest know usages of markings and tapes. Bermuda became the world’s largest transit censorship operation with a peak examiner strength of about 700 in July 1941.

The King George V High Value Stamps of Bermuda 1917-38
Find this book at Biblio.com
by Myles Glazer, self published, 1994, 224pp, ISBN 0964496909

The King George VI issue for Bermuda - the 1/2d to 1/6 values: an attempt to examine and evaluate new evidence
by
Frank R Saunders, publ King George VI Collectors Society, 1970, 16pp

The King George VI Large Key Type Stamps of Bermuda, Leeward Islands, Nyasaland
Find this book at Biblio.com
by Robert W Dickgiesser and Eric P Yendall, publ Triad Publications,
1985, 183pp

The King George VI Large Key Type Revenue and Postage High Value Stamps, 1937-1953
by Eric P Yendall, publ Royal Philatelic Society, London, 2008, 368pp
The book deals with the KGVI high-value postage stamps of Bermuda, Leeward Islands and Nyasaland, as well as the high-value revenue stamps of Ceylon; Nyasaland; Straits Settlements, Malacca, Malaya, Penang and Singapore; and Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda. A detailed study of the stamps, varieties, postage rates and usages.

The Postage Stamps of Bermuda
by Bertram W. H Poole, publ  D. Field, 1911, 39pp

The Postage Stamps of Bermuda; with chapters on Postal Stationery
by Henry Robert Holmes, publ Johnson, 1932, 93pp

Postal History and Stamps of Bermuda
Find this book at Biblio.com
by Morris Hoadley Ludington, publ Quarterman, 1978, 446pp
Includes bibliographical references and an index. This is a revision of the author's 1962 book "Bermuda: the Post Office, postal markings and adhesive stamps" and its 1968 Supplement together with additional new material.

The Postal History of Bermuda
by Edward B Proud, publ E B Proud Ltd, 2003, 432pp

Postal History of Blockade Running through Bermuda During the American Civil War 1861-65
by 
Morris Hoadley Ludington, publ British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, 1996, 50pp

Regular Sea Communications with Bermuda to 1914
by Morris Hoadley Ludington, Reprinted from Bermuda Historical Quarterly, 1979, 12pp

The Royal Mail Steam Packets to Bermuda and the Bahamas 1842-1859
by 
Morris Hoadley Ludington and Geoffrey A Osborn, publ Robson Lowe, 1971, 24pp, ISBN 085397019X

A Study of the Printings of the King George VI Key-Type High Values of Bermuda, Leeward Islands & Nyasaland
Eric P Yendall, publ King George VI Collectors Society, 1983, 21pp

West Indian Censorship Devices
by
Geoffrey Graham Ritchie (ed), publ Roses Caribbean Philatelic Society, 1977, 105pp
In addition to Bermuda, contains articles on Bahamas, Barbados, British Guiana, British Honduras, Cayman Islands, French West Indies, Grenada, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, St. Lucia and St. Vincent.


ARTICLES IN GIBBONS STAMP MONTHLY

February 1950 issue of GSM pp 66-68
THE POST IN BERMUDA by Harold G D Gisburn
Article covers the history of the discovery and settlement of the island, its early postal history and details of how Bermuda is serviced with overseas mail at the time of writing.