| | Transatlantic mail between
Canada and Europe is one of my collecting interests because of the postal
markings and messages they often carry. Most of my covers are from the
stampless age, before the introduction of adhesives in the 1840s and 1850s to
prove prepayment of postage. It was a time when government and private
sail ships and steamships carried mail; countries concluded bilateral postal
agreements or none at all; letters could be sent pre-paid or not (collect) and
correspondents could direct which route or vessel the letter could be carried.
All these bewildering variables resulted in different rates, routes travelled and
accounting procedures to keep a record of debits and credits. Fun stuff.
1839 (NO 29)
Quebec, Lower Canada to Edinburgh, Scotland, folded letter postmarked red QUEBEC
circular date stamp and matching PAID
struck three times, each next to manuscript rate 11, 18Ύ and
12½, also manuscript 1/- in black. Reverse struck with
straight-line LIVERPOOL
/ SHIP LETTER and JAN 4 E 1840
receiver. FREIGHT MONEY TO
ENGLAND DURING THE FOUR PENNY UNIFORM RATE PERIOD
Carried via closed bag mail from Quebec to Liverpool, prepaid 11d. Canadian
currency to the
border, 18Ύ cents U.S. to New York, 12½ cents FREIGHT MONEY fee for carriage by American
sailing
vessels to England. Carried by the Black Ball Line sailing packet Cambridge,
departing on December 5, 1839 and arriving at Liverpool on 3 January 1840.
Entering as a Liverpool ship letter, rated 1/- Sterling collect,
representing 8d inwards ship letter rate plus the experimental 4d. Uniform inland
rate. The 4d. rate was in effect from December 5, 1839 to January 10, 1840.
This brief period saw the progression change from number of sheets to weight,
one rate under ½ oz, two rates from ½ to 1 oz,
and so forth. In contrast, the Canadian Post Office continued to rate letters
by number of sheets for nearly another 4 years when it switched to weight on
January 5, 1844.Significantly, while the Canada Post Office collected and remitted the Freight
Money to the U.S., it was
never authorized to do so. The Post Master General in London ordered the
Canadian Post Office to cease collecting the fees in December 1840. |
 |
 |

|