The History of the Postmarks of the British Isles from 1840 to 1876 - John Hendy (1909)

68 THE POSTMARKS OF THE BRITISH ISLES FROM mO.
one halfpenny for each newspaper. Until the rst April, 1863, these gratuities were paid
on letters both outward and inward ; but from that date it was decided that only one
gratuity was to be payable, and that upon the inward letters only. The principal ports,
after Liverpool and Bristol, at which Ship Letters arrived were : Falmouth, from the
West Indies and South America ; Plymouth, from the Cape of Good Hope and South
Africa ; and Hull, from the North Sea ports. Ship-Letter Mails for London were landed
at Gravesend, and forwarded thence by railway. The following were types of the Ship-
Letter stamps in use at those offices (Figs. 407-411).
V
I
86 3 1'
-LE
Fig. 407. Fig. 408. Fig. 409.
y HULL V^
SHIP-LETTER
\m y I >657 /
Fig. 411.
In the London office plain and dated Ship- Letter marks were in use (Figs. 41:
and also a "Too-Late" stamp (Fig. 414).
413),
Fig. 412. Used in red on
Letters received by Ship-
Letter Mail.
•SHIP-LETTER
TOO-LATE
Fig. 413. Used similarly lo Fig. 412. Fig. 414. Used in black on Letters
arriving too late to be forwarded by
the Private Ship they are addressed to
go by