Postage stamps and postal history of Christmas Island

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A British Wilding series postage stamp used at a British Forces Post Office on Christmas Island in 1957. 1957 Christmas Island BFPO postmark on British Wilding stamp.jpg
A British Wilding series postage stamp used at a British Forces Post Office on Christmas Island in 1957.

The postage stamps and postal history of Christmas Island , in the Indian Ocean, was linked to its original economic situation until 1993. Mainly ruled by a phosphate production commission, the island was part of the British Straits Settlements colony from 1901 to 1942, then of Singapore from 1946 to 1958. Although it was placed under Australian control in 1958, the island remained postally and philatelically independent until 1993 when Australia Post became the island's postal operator.

Christmas Island Australian external territory

The Territory of Christmas Island is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. Christmas Island is located in the Indian Ocean, around 350 kilometres (220 mi) south of Java and Sumatra and around 1,550 kilometres (960 mi) north-west of the closest point on the Australian mainland. It has an area of 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi).

Phosphate salt or ester of phosphoric acid

A phosphate is a chemical derivative of phosphoric acid. The phosphate ion is an inorganic chemical, the conjugate base that can form many different salts. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Of the various phosphoric acids and phosphates, organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry, and inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in agriculture and industry. At elevated temperatures in the solid state, phosphates can condense to form pyrophosphates.

Straits Settlements former group of British territories located in Southeast Asia

The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a Crown colony on 1 April 1867. The colony was dissolved in 1946 as part of the British reorganisation of its Southeast Asian dependencies following the end of the Second World War.

Contents

The island issued its own postage stamps from 1958. Those issued by Australia Post since 1993 are also valid in Australia, as are Australian stamps in Christmas Island.

According to the Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue, [1] 32 stamps were issued when postal responsibility was exercised by the Phosphate Commission between 1958 and 1969, and 335 under the responsibility of the Christmas Island Administration between 1969 and 1993. From March 1993 to February 2003, during its ten first years of postal responsibility, Australia Post issued 153 stamps for Christmas Island.

Stanley Gibbons company which specialises in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products

The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange and which specialises in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philatelic publisher. The company's philatelic subsidiary, Stanley Gibbons Limited, has a royal warrant of appointment from Queen Elizabeth II.

Linked to the Straits Settlements

Christmas Island was annexed by the United Kingdom in 1888 and run by the Christmas Island Phosphate Company since 1899 with European employees and Malayan and Chinese workers. A post agency was opened in 1901, managed by the District Officer, the representative of the Straits Settlements colony on the island. [2] The agency sold stamps of this colony, figuring the British monarch.

A post office is a public department that provides a customer service to the public and handles their mail needs. Post offices offer mail-related services such as acceptance of letters and parcels; provision of post office boxes; and sale of postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. In addition, many post offices offer additional services: providing and accepting government forms, processing government services and fees, and banking services. The chief administrator of a post office is called a postmaster.

The Straits Settlements of the Malayan Peninsula have a postal history distinct from the other Malayan areas.

Mail travelled between Christmas Island and Singapore with cargo and migrant workers by the ships commanded by the company. Most of the small amount of mail was sent and received by the European part of the population. [2]

During World War II, the Japanese forces invaded the island on 31 March 1942. [3] After the British forces liberated Christmas Island, British Military Administration overprinted stamps of Malaya were in use in the island. [3] The civil postal agency was reopened by the end of 1946. [2]

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Battle of Christmas Island 1942 battle in the Pacific during WWII

The Battle of Christmas Island was a small engagement which began on 31 March 1942, during World War II. Because of a mutiny by Indian soldiers against their British officers, Japanese troops were able to occupy Christmas Island without any resistance. The United States Navy submarine Seawolf caused severe damage to the Japanese cruiser Naka.

British Military Administration (Malaya) Postwar administration of Malaya before its independence

The British Military Administration (BMA) was the interim administrator of British Malaya from August 1945, the end of World War II, to the establishment of the Malayan Union in April 1946. The BMA was under the direct command of the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, Lord Louis Mountbatten. The administration had the dual function of maintaining basic subsistence during the period of reoccupation, and also of imposing the state structure upon which post-war imperial power would rest.

After these events, the local postal system followed the political changes in British Malaya. Administratively linked to Singapore in April 1946, Christmas Island received this colony's stamps in 1948, but the mail was transported by the Pan Malayan Postal Union. [2]

British Malaya Former set of states on Malay Peninsula

The term "British Malaya" loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries. Unlike the term "British India", which excludes the Indian princely states, British Malaya is often used to refer to the Malay States under indirect British rule as well as the Straits Settlements that were under the sovereignty of the British Crown.

Federation of Malaya former country

The Federation of Malaya was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states that existed from 1 February 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957, and in 1963 Malaysia was formed when the federation united with the Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak Crown Colonies.

Postal independence under Australian administration

1958–1959 transition

A 1958 2c stamp of Christmas Island. Stamp Christmas Island 1958 2c.jpg
A 1958 2c stamp of Christmas Island.

While Singapore prepared its accession to self-government, the United Kingdom decided to transfer Christmas Island administration to Australia, a country which had been controlling along with New Zealand the phosphate company, the British Phosphate Commission, since 1948. The Australian Christmas Island Act accepted the continuity of the Singapore legal system on the island, including the postal system. The Malayan dollar remained the currency because of the needs of South-East Asian workers. Consequently, the island's postal system was independent of Australia's and placed under the responsibility of the Christmas Island Phosphate Commission. Inhabitants could collect their mail at the post office in Flying Fish Cove. For outgoing mail, specific postage stamps would be issued even if the Australian Department of Territories asked the Australian post office to produce them. Postal rates remained those of Singapore, placing this State inside the interior rate zone of Christmas Island. [2]

However, two modifications were made on the Singapore postal system in Christmas Island: the airmail postage rate to Australia was reduced and Australian cancelling stamps were sent in 1958 with the designation: "CHRISTMAS ISLAND / INDIAN OCEAN / AUST". [2]

The first philatelic issue was released on 15 October 1958. [3] It was an adaptation of Australia's 1 shilling 7 pence stamp of March 1955, using a bas-relief profile of Queen Elizabeth II by W.L. Bowles with floral ornament. The design by F.D. Manley was reshaped by engraver G. Lissenden to include a black "CHRISTMAS ISLAND" and encircled value in Malayan dollars overprint. [4] The face values and part of the chosen colours were inspired by the last definitive stamps of Singapore in use in Christmas Island. [2] [5] Stamps were printed in recess for the effigy and the word "Australia" and in typography for the overprint by the Note Printing Branch of the Commonwealth Bank in Melbourne. [2] [6] The philatelic office in Melbourne, in charge of the Australian Territories stamp sales, delivered one hundred stamp sheets to the Phosphate Commission which expedited them to the island by a ship sailing from Fremantle. [2] The same royal effigy served for the registered postal stationery issued on 18 May 1959. [2]

Under the Phosphate Commission's postal responsibility

The map of Christmas Island, its major toponyms and the phosphate mining railway were the subject of the 2-cent stamp issued in 1963. Map of Christmas Island 1976.jpg
The map of Christmas Island, its major toponyms and the phosphate mining railway were the subject of the 2-cent stamp issued in 1963.

The first stamps were viewed as a temporary issue, but it took five years to produce the next series. Under the supervision of the Department of Territories, the Stamp Advisory Committee and representatives of the island, the Australian Post Office and Note Printing Branch's artists and printers worked on the project from photographs taken on the island presenting its flora, fauna and mining industry. Finally, ten stamps were scheduled, drawn and engraved by G. Lissenden, Peter Morris and Bruce Stewart. They were issued on 28 August 1963. [2] [7]

Two years later, the island participated in the omnibus issue for the 50th anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landing in Gallipoli during World War I. [2] [8]

These two issues bore the designation "CHRISTMAS ISLAND" without any reference to Australia like the new cancelling datestamps on which the "AUST" abbreviation disappeared. Nonetheless, on 6 May 1968, the monetary and postal systems of Christmas Island were brought closer to the Australian ones: the Malayan dollar was replaced by the Australian dollar and the Australian Post and Telegraphs Act came into force. Local adaptations remained possible, like the localisation in Western Australia of Christmas Island to calculate the postal rates, and the special low rate for letters to Malaysia and Singapore. [2]

A third definitive issue was released on 6 May 1968 too, depicting Indian Ocean fish. This zoological topic was proposed as early as 1966 by the Christmas Island representatives for the second series, who approved artist George Hamori's designs. But the twelve stamps were not issued until 1968 to coincide with the monetary change. [2] [9] The designation "CHRISTMAS ISLAND / INDIAN OCEAN" appeared for the first time on these 1968 stamps and remained in use until 1993. [10]

Under the local administration's responsibility

On 1 February 1969, postal responsibility on the island was transmitted by the Phosphate Commission to the Christmas Island Administration. It quickly created a philatelic office and in 1971 chose an agent for sale in the rest of the world, the Crown Agents. The stamp program was then decided locally, produced with the Agents' expertise and printed by specialised printers in Europe, [2] and in Australia starting in the late 1980s. [11]

The philatelic program did not surpass four issues per year. The major topics were local: fauna and flora, local history (political, economic and daily life). Christmas became an annual topic from the 1970s [3] due to the name of the island, with some gaps around 1990: the seasonal issue was replaced by mini sheets announcing international philatelic exhibitions. [10]

Mail was moved by the ships exporting phosphate to Australia or the liners to Singapore. In June 1974, the mail transportation took advantage of the establishment of new regular air services between the island, Perth and Singapore. [2]

Australian postal territory

Christmas Island meter stamp type 1 Christmas Island 1.jpg
Christmas Island meter stamp type 1

At the beginning of the 1990s, Australia decided to impose full Australian legislation to Christmas Island. In postal matters, starting 2 March 1993, Australia Post became the postal operator of the island and responsible for its philatelic program. Consequently, Christmas Island stamps issued after March 1993 were usable in Australia, and Australian stamps in Christmas Island. [12]

On 4 March 1993 the first five Australia Post stamps were issued with a new designation: "CHRISTMAS ISLAND / AUSTRALIA". The philatelic program topics remained limited. Australia Post promised three issues per year: [13] a Christmas stamp that was issued every two years during the 2000s, a Chinese New Year stamp since 1995 (later a twelve stamp issue after 2002 [10] ) and one issue on local life.

Synthesis

DatesStamps available
Value in Straits dollar.
1901–1942 Malaya / Straits Settlements
1942–1945 Japanese Occupation
1945–1946Stamps of the Straits Settlements
overprinted "BMA / MALAYA"
Value in Malayan dollar.
1946–1958 Malaya / Singapore
1958–1963Christmas Island / Australia
1963–1968Christmas Island / Indian Ocean
Value in Australian dollar.
1968–1993Christmas Island / Indian Ocean
1993–Christmas Island / Australia
and stamps of Australia
Key
"quotation marks"designation overprinted
italicdesignation on stamps

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References

  1. ↑ Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, pages 104 to 112.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Richard Breckon, "Christmas Island's Stamps and Postal History: 50 Years of Australian Administration", Gibbons Stamp Monthly, October 2008, pages 81–85.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, page 104.
  4. ↑ Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, pages 40 (Australia, stamp #282d) and 104 (Christmas, #1–10).
  5. ↑ "Christmas Island", stamps #1–10, Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, page 104 confronted to "Singapore", stamps #38–52, Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840–1970, Stanley Gibbons, 2008, page 527.
  6. ↑ " Christmas Island ", stamps #1–10, Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, page 104.
  7. ↑ "Christmas Island", stamps No. 11 to 20, Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, page 104. The catalogue credited Lissenden as the designer of the 2 and 8-cent stamps while Breckon (2008) credited them to Morriss.
  8. ↑ "Christmas Island", stamp No. 21, Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, page 104.
  9. ↑ "Christmas Island", stamps No. 22 to 31, Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, page 104.
  10. 1 2 3 Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, pages 104 to 112.
  11. ↑ Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, pages 104 to 112. The printer and the printing method are quoted in Stanley Gibbons catalogues.
  12. ↑ Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Australia, Stanley Gibbons, 4th edition, 2007, page 109.
  13. ↑ Ron Negus, « Celebrating Christmas », Stamp Magazine #74-11, November 2008, pages 70 to 73.
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