British post offices in China

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00:00World Stamps – British Post Offices in China

00:13The British Post Offices in China were a system of post offices set up by the United Kingdom

00:18in various treaty ports of China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

00:24As a consequence of the Treaty of Nanking of August 29, 1842, Great Britain opened five

00:31consular postal agencies on April 16, 1844.

00:36Another five were opened later.

00:38Initially, letters were simply bagged in these cities and carried to Hong Kong, where they

00:43were labeled B62.

00:45Later, in the 1860s and 1870s, each office received its own postmarking devices.

00:52British stamps of Hong Kong were used from 1862 onwards, but after January 1, 1917, the

00:59Hong Kong stamps were overprinted China.

01:02The initial overprinting included 16 values ranging from one cent to ten dollars.

01:08From 1922 onwards, an additional ten values with the multiple script CA watermark were

01:14also overprinted.

01:16All of the offices were closed on November 30, 1922.

01:21Weihewe was occupied on May 24, 1898, and mail packed with the Weihewe local was carried

01:27to Chifu by Cornebei & Co. for further processing.

01:32This lasted until the Chinese Liu Kung Tao Post Office was opened in March 1899, and it was

01:38in turn replaced by a British post office on September 1, 1899.

01:43A second British post office was opened at Port Edward in 1904.

01:48Hong Kong stamps that were overprinted China continued in use in both offices until the

01:54settlement was given up on October 1, 1930.

01:57The stamps were printed in sheets of 240, divided into four panes, each of ten rows of six stamps,

02:05and using two printing plates.

02:07One for the head of King George V, known as the head plate or vignette, and a second for

02:12the frame, which was known as the duty plate.

02:16One duty plate was used for each value with the exception of the 25 cent value, which was

02:21used until 1919 when it was discovered that it contained a wrong Chinese character and a

02:27new plate was made.

02:29One common head plate was used for all values, and sheets exhibit just that number.

02:35The first issue of stamps was sent to Hong Kong on November 6, 1916, and Mr. Wolf confirmed

02:42that they had been brought into use on January 1, 1917.

02:56The first issue of Stampede is sent to Hong Kong stamps.