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9 MAY 1906 / Orange River Colony to Bermuda. Envelope sent from Hoopstad, Orange River Colony, to Hamilton, Bermuda, possibly from a former POW interned in Bermuda during the Boer War. Addressed to Helen May Outerbridge, likely related to Anna Marie Outerbridge (leading figure and a passionate advocate for the Boer War prisoners). Franked with ½d Embossed Envelope uprated with ½d (SC 61), tied by ‘Hoopstad 19 MY 06 O.R.C.’ cds and H5 Bailey’s Bay cancel. Reverse bears purple ‘WITH P.L. MADER’S COMPLIMENTS’ handstamp and ‘Hamilton 23 JU 1906’ H7 cds. A rare Boer War-era Bermuda correspondence with intriguing provenance. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $100-$125 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 105
Symbol: C
2 MAY 1814 / Halifax, Nova Scotia to Bermuda via HMS Espoir. Stampless letter with a black ‘HALIFAX / 2MY2 / 1814’ postmark, and received by Mr. Benjamin Charles Gray on 13 June 1814. No visible postage fee. Carried aboard the Royal Navy brig-sloop Espoir, a Cruizer-class vessel launched in 1804 that saw extensive service during the Napoleonic Wars, mostly in the Mediterranean. A fine early naval carriage to Bermuda during the closing phase of the War of 1812 period. Fine to Very Fine Est: $125-$150 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 106
Symbol: C
2 SEPTEMBER 1823 / London to Bermuda via Falmouth and Halifax. Sent stampless from London and carried from Falmouth to Halifax by the packet Lord Sidmouth, then forwarded to Bermuda aboard HMS Argus. The packet rate from London to Bermuda (via Halifax) was 2s 2d sterling; once converted to Bermuda currency at the customary 50% premium and combined with inland delivery charges, the amount due became 3s 8d.
Double-ring ‘? 1823’ datestamp on reverse. A well-documented example of mid-19th-century transatlantic packet routing and Bermuda’s distinctive currency conversion practices. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $100-$125 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 107
Symbol: C
23 JULY 1824 / Bermuda to Norfolk, England. Stampless letter carried aboard the schooner Aetna, which departed Bermuda on 23 July 1824, bearing a red ‘SHIP’ handstamp on the front. Written by Thomas Stowe, who, together with his brother, owned several vessels engaged in Atlantic trade, including the Aetna herself. A straightforward example of early 19th-century merchant-ship carriage from Bermuda to the U.K., tied directly to a locally prominent shipping family. Est: $50-$60 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 108
Symbol: C
8 APRIL 1824 / Edinburgh to Bermuda via London, Falmouth, and Halifax. The cover shows the black Scottish ‘Add ½d’ road-toll handstamp applied in Edinburgh, along with the Bermuda Postmaster’s calculation of charges, the reverse has a red ‘JAN W 11 A 1824’ postmark. After traveling south through London and on to Falmouth, it was carried on the packet route to Halifax and then forwarded to Bermuda aboard HMS Dotterell, arriving at St. George’s.
The composite rate reflects the inl and postage from Edinburgh to Falmouth, the Scottish road tax, the packet fee from Falmouth to Bermuda, the required conversion into Bermuda currency, and the local inland charge, an excellent illustration of the complex, multi-layered rating system applied to early transatlantic mail. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $150-$175 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 109
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31 DECEMBER 1827 / Bermuda to London. This letter, written by Archdeacon Aubrey Spencer, was mailed at the Charing Cross Receiving House and marked with a black manuscript ‘2’ due handstamp on the front, with the Westminster Office datestamp on the reverse. Spencer later became the first Bishop of Bermuda and Newfoundland, and in 1844 was appointed Bishop of Jamaica, where he was known for his commitment to education and charitable work.
The cover is slightly tattered, with a piece removed from the back, but remains a sound and appealing example of early correspondence from a significant Anglican figure in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $70-$90 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 110
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7 NOVEMBER 1839 / London to Bermuda. Sent via the packet Hope, which departed Falmouth on 9 November and was subsequently transferred to the Margaret at Halifax for the final leg to Bermuda, arriving 3 January 1840. The front bears a red ‘PAID L.S. / 7 NO 7 / 1839’ Maltese Cross.
In 1839 the packet rate from London to Bermuda had just been reduced from 2s/2d to 1s, while the 5d Bermuda inland fee applied to letters delivered west of the Ferry. A well-routed example showing the transitional packet rates and local delivery charges of the period. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $125-$150 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 111
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9 MAY 1840(?) / Devonshire, England to Bermuda. The only dating appears inside the flap of this small cover (115mm x 65mm) reading ‘REC’D 9th May at Hamilton by R.J.P. Darrell’ Darrell was already active in public life by 1840, having been appointed to the newly formed Board of Works, and since handstamps for local mail came into use shortly afterward, the cover is most likely from around 1840.
The salutation ‘To Monsieur’ suggests the writer was Louis Griset, a vestry clerk in Devonshire who had recently arrived from France to teach at Devonshire College in 1837. An appealing early incoming letter connected to two well-documented Bermuda figures of the period. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $40-$60 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 112
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19 FEBRUARY 1840 / Bermuda to London via New York. Entered the mails at Portsmouth with a red ‘SHIP LETTER PORTSMOUTH’ handstamp and forwarded through Middleton & Co., New York. It arrived in London on 2 April 1840, rated at the 8d ship-letter fee (effective 1840), clearly shown by the large manuscript ‘8’ Pre-stamp Bermuda covers routed through New York are notably uncommon, and this example neatly illustrates the early transatlantic forwarding network just months before the advent of the Penny Post. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $70-$90 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 113
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2 MAY 1840 / Bermuda to London via New York, carried on the Gladiator and forwarded by Middleton & Co,. Entered England as a shipletter with the rate of 8d (effective 1840), identified by the red ‘PORTSMOUTH SHIP LETTER’ handstamp. Forwarded on to London, where it arrived 18 June 1840.
Early Bermuda transatlantic covers with clear Portsmouth Ship Letter markings are not frequently seen, and this example neatly documents the Bermuda–New York–Portsmouth routing in the first months of the Penny Post era. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $70-$90 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 114
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3 JUNE 1840 / London to Bermuda via New York. The enclosed letter with the Bermuda ship letter rate of 5d, and notes the additional 5d inland fee between St. George’s and Hamilton. The sender paid a full 10d accordingly. Although the carrying vessel remains unidentified, the cover offers valuable insight into early Bermuda postal accounting and the interplay between ship-letter fees and local inland postage. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $60-$70 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 115
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5 FEBRUARY 1841 / Bermuda to London via Halifax. Carried from Bermuda on 5 February 1841 by the mail boat Roseway, one of the small sailing vessels employed on the Bermuda–Halifax route from 1834 to 1848 before steam service replaced them. Transferred at Halifax to the Cunard steamer Columbia, which departed for Liverpool on 4 March. The Columbia, later wrecked at Halifax in 1843, was the first and only Cunard transatlantic steamship lost during the line’s first three decades of service. The reverse has a light, black Bermuda fleuron PM 2 and red circle with Maltese cross ‘17 MR 17 / 1841’ handstamp. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $100-$125 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 116
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23 MAY 1841 / Direct from Bermuda to London. Carried by the Falcon, this letter entered the London mails as a Ship Letter, showing the red ‘SHIP LETTER’ and ‘J 23 JU 23 / 1841’ circular handstamp, and was charged the standard 8d rate. The Bermuda Royal Gazette of 25 May announced: ‘The Brigantine Falcon, Capt. Pitt, will positively sail this day for London, G.B.’, a contemporary notice that aligns neatly with the cover’s recorded routing. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $80-$100 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 117
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5 JULY 1843 / Kingston, Jamaica to Bermuda. Backstamped ‘KINGSTON / JY 7 / 1843 / JAMAICA’, with a large manuscript ‘4’ on the front and black, broken-circle ‘KINGSTON / JY 7 1843 / JAMAICA’ on the reverse, this copy of De Cordoba’s Mercantile Intelligencer dated 5 July 1843 reached Bermuda aboard the RMS Avon, the wooden paddle-wheel steamer then serving the West Indies–Bermuda route.
Launched in 1842 with a crew of 94, the Avon was among the early Royal Mail steam packets operating in the Caribbean until her retirement in 1862. A fine example of printed matter carried by the emerging RMS steam network connecting Jamaica and Bermuda. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $60-$80 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 118
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23 MARCH 1846 / London to Bermuda. Stampless letter carried by the mail boat Lady Ogle, Capt. Samson, making an exceptionally fast 4½-day passage from Halifax and arriving at St. George’s on 23 March. The cover bears a black oval ‘I / MR 3 / C’ on the front and red ‘LS / 2 MR 2 / 1846’ Maltese Cross backstamp, illustrating a well-documented mid-1840s transatlantic routing to Bermuda. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $70-$90 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 119
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11 JULY 1846 / Antigua to Hamilton, Bermuda. The letter refers to two enclosed documents, which would have definitely raised the weight above ½ ounce and triggered the 8d charge, double the single-letter rate. Posted at Antigua on 11 July 1846, it traveled by Royal Mail Steam Packet inter-island service to St. Thomas, where it was transferred to the RMSP packet Avon for carriage onward to Bermuda.
A well-routed example of mid-1840s West Indies mail showing the interplay between local packet networks and the mainline steam service. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $150-$175 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 120
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25 JUNE 1847 / London to Bermuda via Liverpool and Halifax. Carried to Bermuda by the mail boat Margaret, Capt. Pickering, completing the Halifax–Bermuda run in 8½ days. This small (90mm x 50mm) cover bears manuscript ‘Pre-Paid,’ a black oval ‘I MY 27 C,’ and a red ‘PAID L.S. / MAY 1847’ Maltese Cross handstamp on the front. A neat and compact example of late 1840s packet mail reaching Bermuda via the Margaret’s well-documented service. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $60-$80 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 121
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30 MARCH 1848 / Bermuda to London via Halifax and Liverpool. Addressed to the General Secretary of the Wesley and Leysian Mission Society, this letter was carried from Bermuda by the mail boat Velocity and transferred at Halifax to the Cunard steamer Caledonia. After a roughly five-week voyage, it reached Liverpool.
The reverse shows black ‘HAMILTON / MR 14 1848 / BERMUDA’ and red ‘I.C / 19 AP 19 / 1848’ backstamps, documenting a full Bermuda–Halifax–Cunard routing typical of the late 1840s packet system. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $80-$100 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 122
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18 AUGUST 1849 / New Orleans to Bermuda via New York. Two letters originally enclosed together in New Orleans were forwarded through New York, where a forwarding agent placed them into a fresh cover and posted them on 27 August, as shown by the red ‘NEW YORK / AUG 27’ postmark. By this date, inland delivery fees had been abolished and the 4d ship-letter rate applied.
A faint ‘20’ appears on the front, its purpose not yet fully understood, but likely a clerk’s accounting or rating notation related to the forwarding process. Edges and reverse are slightly tattered, but a well-routed example of mid-19th-century U.S.–Bermuda correspondence. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $80-$90 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 123
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25 MARCH 1851 / Philadelphia to Bermuda. Posted by C. & J. Perot of Philadelphia and rated ‘4’ for the ship-letter fee collected on arrival by Postmaster W. B. Perot. Carried on the schooner Vigilant, the letter entered Hamilton on 15 April. The Perot family played a central role in Bermuda’s early postal history, most notably W. B. Perot, creator of the famed Bermuda postmaster stamps, adding further interest to this correspondence. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $100-$125 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 124
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30 SEPTEMBER 1851 / Nova Scotia to Bermuda. Carried from Halifax by the screw steamer Ospray, Capt. David Hunter, with a crew of 20. The letter entered St. George’s on 4 October after the southbound passage. A black, broken-circle, ‘HALIFAX / SP30 / 1851’ cds appears on the reverse, neatly documenting its departure. An attractive example of mid-19th-century mail carried by the early screw steamers serving the Halifax–Bermuda route. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $60-$80 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 125
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7 APRIL 1852 / Bermuda to Tioga County, New York. A bold, black ‘NEW-YORK / SHIP / APR 27 / 7’ cds dominates the corner of this incoming letter to Oswego (Tioga County), New York. The 7c due reflects the 2c ship-letter fee plus the 5c unpaid inland rate; had the inland postage been prepaid, only 3c would have been charged. A clear example of how U.S. postal accounting differentiated between prepaid and unpaid components on Bermuda correspondence. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $80-$90 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 126
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16 JANUARY 1854 / Official free mail sent under the signature of Colonial Secretary Robert Kennedy. The red ‘HAMILTON / JA 16 / 1854’ cds denotes that no postage was to be collected on delivery. Kennedy, who served as Colonial Secretary for an extraordinary 53 years and sat on the Council for 55, was one of the most powerful and controversial figures in mid-19th-century Bermuda, frequently at odds with other officials and ultimately marrying a young Bermuda heiress while in middle age. A striking example of free official correspondence tied to one of the colony’s dominant political personalities. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $70-$90 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 127
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29 NOVEMBER 1861 /London to Bermuda via Halifax. Prepaid in London with red ‘LOMBARD STREET / F X / NO 29 51 / PAID’ and red manuscript ‘1d,’ this cover was forwarded via Liverpool and Halifax under the 6d packet rate, which included a 1d credit. It departed London aboard the RMS Merlin on 20 December 1851. The Merlin was notable as Cunard’s first iron-hulled paddle steamer, marking a significant step in the evolution of their transatlantic fleet. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $100-$125 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 128
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14 DECEMBER 1861 / St. George’s to Pembroke, Bermuda. Local, compact ‘mourning’ cover (110mm x 60mm) bearing the red St. George’s ‘PAID’ date stamp, a marking in use only briefly between 1861 and 1863. Addressed to Thomas S. Tuzo, a prominent Pembroke resident. The black-bordered envelope reflects public observance of the death of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, on 14 December 1861, about six weeks before this letter was mailed. A distinctive piece of local correspondence illustrating both a scarce marking and contemporary mourning practice. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $50-$70 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 129
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10 MAY 1888 / Bermuda local ‘On Her Majesty’s Service’ letter. Government correspondence sent in this small cover (100mm x 60mm) free when signed by the responsible official. Although marked to go ‘Immediately,’ Bermuda had no special-delivery system, so the instruction served only as a request for prompt handling rather than a postal service designation. A straightforward example of official free mail within the colony. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $50-$70 (Image)
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Sale No: 2601
Lot No: 130
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1840(?) / Bermuda folded note. A privately carried, undated message written by David Dill and addressed on the reverse to Capt. William Cox. The note concerns Dill’s approval of the salary proposed by the vestry for the Reverend Mr. Lightbourn, an issue he notes having discussed with the Archdeacon, indicating Dill’s own prominence within the vestry. Capt. Cox served as church warden of the Devonshire Vestry, and this folded letter was discovered among that parish’s archival papers. A revealing piece of early Bermuda ecclesiastical correspondence circulating outside the formal mails. Fine to Very Fine. Est: $40-$50 (Image)
