Pitcairn Islands stamps
P=have O=don’t have it
http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/pacific/index.html
Scott: #15P
Issued: 10.10.1949
UPU Issue (Common Design Types)
Inside #15: Stamps on Envelopes
Scott: #171AO
Issued: 1.10.1981
Local Motives
Inside #171A: Burning obsolete stamps
Thanks to Dragan Buškulić
Scott: #221-224O
Issued: 14.3.1983
Commonwealth Day
Inside #222: Stamps on Envelopes
http://www.commonwealthday.co.uk/stamps_pitcairn_islands.htm
Scott:#322O, #322a, #322bO,
#322cO
Issued: 28.4.1989
Pitcairn Island Bicentennial
Inside #322b: Isle of Man #393O
Inside #322c: Norfolk Island #453O
Released on 28 April
in conjunction with the Pitcairn Islands the
Norfolk Island and Isle of Man Postal Administrations was a souvenir sheet
which features one stamp illustrating Lt. Bligh and his party being cast
adrift, another (being an Isle of Man stamp on a Pitcairn stamp) showing
Fletcher Christian, and the third (a Norfolk Island stamp on a Pitcairn stamp)
depicting "mutineers and Polynesian maidens".
The Isle of Man (NZ
$2.40) and Norfolk Island (NZ $3.20) souvenir sheets, featuring the same three
designs in a different order but in the same format, were also produced.
Scott:#338-342P
Issued: 15.10.1990
50th Anniversary, Pitcairn
Island Stamps
Inside #338: Pitcairn Islands #2O
1940
Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers look towards Pitcairn (With
Bounty Chronometer).
Inside
#339: Pitcairn Islands #31O
1957
The Schoolteacher's house; this design first released on 2 July 1957 carried
the incorrect inscription "Pitcairn School". It was re-issued
on 11 May 1958 with the correct inscription (With Bounty bible).
Inside #340: Pitcairn Island #108O
1969
Government Radio Station at Taro Ground (With Pitcairn Bell).
Inside #341: Pitcairn Island #172O
1977
HRH Prince Philip with St Paul's Rock and the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Prince Philip visited Pitcairn in February 1971 (With HMAV Bounty).
Inside
#342: Pitcairn Island #300O
1988
HMS Briton and HMS Tagus. First British vessels to visit Pitcairn after
settlement by the mutineers.
Inside #342: G.B. #1O
The
History of Pitcairn's postal service from: http://www.stamps.gov.pn/
Without long
explanations all that can be said of Pitcairn's postal service during the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is that it was irregular and
unorganized. There being no postage stamps, mail from Pitcairn was often
handed to the captains of passing ships who paid for the onward postage upon
reaching their first port of call. Frequently such letters carried a
hand-stamped cachet "Posted in [or at] Pitcairn Island / No Stamps
Available".
Attempts were made by the British early in the twentieth
century to organize a postal service through the British Consul in Tahiti but
only small quantities of mail appear to have been carried. Probably the
most helpful measure was that introduced on a semi-official basis by Mr. Gerald
Bliss, postmaster in the Panama Canal Zone, shortly after the canal opened in
1915. Mr. Bliss acted as unofficial agent for the inhabitants of Pitcairn
for a number of years and his office became a clearing station for Pitcairn
Island mail.
A number of visiting government administrators having
pointed out over the years the disadvantages stemming from the lack of a postal
service, it was agreed by the British and New Zealand governments in 1921 that
both countries would accept and deliver unstamped mail from Pitcairn. The
concession consisted of a waiving of the normal double surcharge on unstamped
letters and reverting to the earlier postal system whereby the receiver paid
for the mail.
In time, abuses of the system (passengers in passing ships
were reputedly putting mail ashore for onward transmission under the "no
stamp" system) led to New Zealand Post Office authorities withdrawing the
concession in May 1926. There followed a period of twelve months when
Pitcairn was once again without an authorized postal service.
This unhappy state of affairs ended on 7 June 1927, when an
agency was established on Pitcairn for the sale of New Zealand stamps.
Thus, until 14 October, mail dispatched from Pitcairn bore New Zealand postage
stamps covered by cancellations reading "Pitcairn Island/NZ Postal
Agency".
Largely as a result of recommendations made by Mr. J S
Neill, a Colonial Office employee sent out in 1937 to report on and suggest
improvements for the form of government on Pitcairn, official notice was given
on 30 April 1940 of the establishment of a Post Office on the island. In
due course this led to the closing of the NZ Post Office Agency on 14 October
1940 and the opening the following day of the Pitcairn Islands Post Office with
the release of the first Pitcairn Islands stamps. This consisted of the
eight designs making up the definitive issue that remained on sale until July
1957.
Designs for this set incorporate stamps on stamps.
One definitive stamp from each decade since 1940 has been selected to represent
Settlement, Education, Communication, Royalty and Ships.
Scott: #452P
Issued: 17.5.1996
CHINA '96, 9th Asian Intl. Philatelic Exhibition
Inside #452: People’s Republic of China #1900O
Jiazi Year (Year of the Rat)
Scott: #520aO
Issued: 22.5.2000
Stamp Show 2000 Exhibition
Inside #520a (In margin of sheet-logo): G.B #1O
Scott: #790a-dO
Issued: 11.12.2014
75th Anniversary of the Adm. Byrd Visit to Pitcairn
Inside #790b: New Zealand #226P
Lou wrote: In 1939, the post office on Pitcairn was run by
a New Zealand Postal Agency, and a limited supply of New Zealand stamps was
kept on hand to cover the needs when a ship made a call on the island and took
on mail. When Byrd and his vessel stopped at the island to take on water
supplies, the agency and some members of the ship's crew, with Byrd's approval,
created a special printed cacheted envelope to note the visit. The hundreds of
letters the crew mailed as souvenirs depleted the stock of stamps, so most of
them went out without stamps but marked that postage had been paid. The cover
on #790a-b is one of the few with stamps, and the strip of five are all New
Zealand #226.
Thanks to Attilio Papio and Lou Guadagno
See also: http://www.stamps.gov.pn/ByrdExpeditionVisit.html
Scott: #798-807O
Issued: 15.10.2015
75th Anniversary of first Pitcairn Islands stamp
Inside #798-807: Pitcairn Islands #1O, #2O, #3O, #4O, #5O,
#5AO, #6O,
#6AO, #7O,
#8O
October 15 2015 is exactly 75 years since the Pitcairn
Islands released its first issue of postage stamps. The journey to get to this
stage was long and slow and began in 1887 when Pitcairn was formally
incorporated into the Empire under the British Settlements Act. Officialdom
refused to consider issuing stamps, even after a formal proposal from a Mr
Petch in 1905 when his design was presented to the Colonial Office. Pitcairn
mail did leave the Island, however, with the first known example being
recorded in 1882 bearing a US stamp. Pitcairn was "recognised" in
1921 when covers being sent were impressed with a rubber handstamp inscribed:
POSTED AT PITCAIRN ISLAND – NO STAMPS AVAILABLE. In 1927 a postal agency was
established on Pitcairn by New Zealand authorities, after which NZ postage
franked most of the mail that left the Island.
The recognition for who was responsible for the first
stamps (eight definitives) is unknown. H.E.Maude, then Crown Commissioner for
Pitcairn, spent time on Pitcairn in 1940 and took a keen interest in the
situation and eventually set up the first Post Office. A.E.Fuller of the GPO in
Fiji, where Pitcairn postal affairs were to be administered, was also involved.
He in fact accompanied the first shipment of stamps to Pitcairn in September
1940.
Dr
Arthur Delaney, from his article "Pitcairn’s First issue" (SPA
Journal, Vol. 33, Nov. 1970), from whom most of the background is taken and
gratefully acknowledged, writes that the inspiration for the first issuance of
stamps must go to Karl Baarslag who visited Pitcairn in 1935 as a radio officer
on the yacht Vagabondia. He discussed with Andrew Young (Pitcairn’s unofficial
postmaster at the time) about Pitcairn possibly having its own stamps. The
Commissioner had turned down several petitions from the Island but Baarslag
gave details of a similar example for the island of Barbuda in the West Indies.
Young and the Chief Magistrate, Parkin Christian, then planned their strategy
and Pitcairn had its own stamps five years later.
The designs for the first issue also had a difficult
journey. A number of essays were submitted to the King for approval but several
were sent back for revision or rejected outright, including an image of
Fletcher Christian superimposed on a view of Bounty Bay. (Christian did make it
however on the 1d, 1/- and 2/6 stamps). These original designs are now housed
in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. The intent of the originators of
Pitcairn’s first stamps was to show the Bounty saga, although the link of the
oranges shown in the ½ stamp is somewhat dubious. All stamps incorporated the
Bertram Park portrait of King George VI as an inset. Other design points to
note are the inclusion of Christian and five mutineers (1d and 2/6 stamps) from
the print "The Mutiny on the Bounty" by Robert Dodd (1790), now in
the collection of William Dixon, NSW, Australia; the portrait of
Fletcher Christian (1/- stamp) (artist unknown) also in the Dixon
Collection; Bounty Bay (2/6 stamp) taken from the book "Pitcairn: The
Island, the People, and the Pastor" by the Rev. Thomas Murray (1855); John
Adams (1½d stamp) from the drawing by Capt. R. Beechey(1825). The engraving was
by H. Adlard who also engraved the image of John Adams’ house shown in the 1½d
stamp. Bligh’s image in the 2d stamp is from a sketch by J. Russell and
engraved by Adlard and the Bounty was adapted from a still from the first
motion picture in 1935. The printing of the first definitive is also
interesting. The 1d, 3d and 2/6 stamps were printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson and
Co. Ltd. of London and were slightly smaller than the remaining values which
were printed by Waterlow and Sons Ltd. of New Malden. The entire series was
recess engraved and printed on paper watermarked with the multiple crown and
script "C.A." of Crown Agents.
A new
Post Office was constructed and the first definitives went on sale on October
15 1940 and were withdrawn on July 1 1957.Eight reprintings were made during
this time. Sales were staggering - Maude and his wife stamped covers for 16
days although the date stamp remained firmly on 15 Oct. 1940! After this it was
destroyed to stop entrepreneurial Islanders from profiting into the future.
In
1951 the original eight definitive stamps were joined by two additional stamps
featuring the original Bounty Bible (4d stamp) and the Schoolhouse, as seen in
1949 on the 8d stamp. Both stamps were designed to fit into the definitive
family look with the King’s head inset as for the original designs. The
Pitcairn Islands Philatelic Bureau has added the two 1951 stamps to this issue
giving the 2015 definitives a total of ten stamps. This is to ensure most make
up rates are covered (the 2007 definitives featured 12 stamps) and to treat the
2015 release as a commemoration of the "early" definitives
in addition to the "first" definitives.
The First Day Covers show early photographs of the Post
Office and staff, including Roy Clark. What is also interesting on these covers
are the two cachets shown. While the first likely cachet was of the schooner
Yankee, skippered by Captain Irving Johnson and used by the Islanders who
produced "home-made" covers featuring the new definitive, the first
cachets specifically prepared are known in philately as Types 12 and
13. The designer of Type 12 is unknown and all the text is with the type in
blue. Type 13 is thought to have been designed by R.H. Mower of San Francisco,
California. His cachet refers to Pitcairn as the Gem of the South Pacific.
The
Philatelic Bureau is proud to both commemorate the 75th Anniversary of
Pitcairn’s first stamp issue and brings you the amended original designs that
are fitting for such an important occasion.
Thanks
to mike Knopfler
Best website related:
Pitcairn Island
Philatelic Bureau
Wish
List
Pitcairn Islands #1, #2, #3, #4,
#5, #5A, #6, #6A,
#7, #8
Pitcairn Islands #31
Pitcairn Is #71 for
Philippines
Pitcairn Island #108
Pitcairn Is #171A
Pitcairn Island #172
Pitcairn Island #221-224
Pitcairn Island #300
Pitcairn Island #321d for Isle of Man, Norfolk Island
Pitcairn Island #322, #322a, #322b, #322c
Pitcairn Is. #520a
Pitcairn Is. #705d for Chad, Togo
Pitcairn Is. #790a-d
Scott: #798-807O