1125+ web files in a constantly updated compendium on Bermuda's business, culture, cuisine, customs, districts, economy, education, food, geography, government, history, internet access, laws, parishes, politics, religions, traditions, wildlife etc. For tourists, business visitors, employers, employees, newcomers, researchers, retirees, scholars. Funded by and linked to The Royal Gazette, Bermuda's only daily newspaper.

Bermuda's postage stamps

They show history, environment, flora and fauna

By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) exclusively for Bermuda Online

To refer to this web file, please use "bermuda-online.org/stamps.htm" as your Subject.

Introduction

These cultural, illustrated events and personalities in Bermuda history are from sets issued in 1962, 1970 for the 350th anniversary of Bermuda's Parliament (House of Assembly), 1984 for the 375th anniversary of Bermuda as a British island nation. and 1993 for the 200th anniversary of the City of Hamilton (much younger than the Town of St. George). Bermuda postage of 1984

Sir Thomas Gates, Governor designate, and Admiral Sir George Somers (both top graphic) commanded the British fleet to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1609, from Plymouth, Devon. Off the Azores, after a tempest, seven of nine ships got to Jamestown. The flagship Sea Venture, with Somers, Gates and 150 others, was wrecked on a Bermuda reef. All survived and found wild hogs, birds and marine life as food, no humans. Bermuda postage of 1984

How they arrived

Bermuda was uninhabited, with a warm and mild climate. Nine months later, in May 1610, leaving four men to keep Bermuda inhabited as a new British possession, they sailed on two pinnaces they built in Bermuda from native red cedar, the Deliverance and Patience, for Jamestown. They arrived with enough provisions from Bermuda for the starving Virginia colony. Conditions were horrible there compared to Bermuda nearly 600 miles away. In Virginia, they had been presumed dead. Only when they arrived did the Virginians - later, officials in England - know they had landed and survived. Accounts of their tempest ordeal before their shipwreck and their pleasure with Bermuda caused a sensation in London. They inspired William Shakespeare to pen his The Tempest drama; and resulted in the permanent settlement of Bermuda in 1612. Bermuda postage Stamp

More stamps

	In 1620, the first legislative meeting was held at St. Peter's Church, St. George's, later rebuilt in limestone. Early settlers built forts on Paget and Smith's islands. But only one ever fired a shot in anger, against a Spanish ship. English architecture was used by the first colonists but with local limestone not wood after 1620 (see stamp). 1970 sterling Bermuda postage stamp
	In 1775, some Bermudians, sympathetic when America rebelled against British rule, stole gunpowder from the British Army in St. George's. They delivered it to an American ship, for General George Washington's armies. The Continental Congress exempted Bermuda  from the food and grain embargo against other British territories during the Revolutionary War. Bermuda postage stamp
	Over the objections of the town of St. George, Hamilton was incorporated in 1793 as Bermuda's capital. Bermuda's most cherished stamps are the Perot stamps from 1848, in three values, of which there are only 11 left. Owners include former Premier Dr. David Saul with two; Her Majesty the Queen with four; the late Baron Stig Leuhesen's Estate (he once lived in Bermuda). The Moncrieff Cover of 1875 has three original stamps on the original envelope.  In London in 2003, one of these stamps sold for $104,885. One of the many special stamps was in 1993 for Hamilton's bicentenary.  Bermuda postage stamp
	Bermuda limestone was the building material, for protection against hurricanes. But quarrying and cutting was arduous. It is still used today mostly for roofs. Concrete blocks are now the walls in modern Bermuda homes. Bermuda postage stamps are collected by stamp enthusiasts. Non-residents can use a special mail service. The Philatelic Bureau of the Bermuda Post Office has  a Standing Order Account service. This assists them in their collections of Bermuda's postage stamps, postcards, stamp booklets, airliners (aerograms) and First Day Covers.  Bermuda postage Stamp
	In May 2002, a new postage stamp set was issued, showing four Bermuda caves - Fantasy Cave, Crystal Cave, Prospero's Cave and Cathedral Cave. To be on its mailing list, or receive information about Bermuda's past and present stamp issues, send your name and full mailing address (by airmail) to The Philatelic Bureau, Bermuda General Post Office, Hamilton HM PM, Bermuda. Or for any further information, e-mail gpo@ibl.bm. Also see Sue's Stamp World.

All the graphics above were processed by the author

Bermuda's General Post Office (GPO)

To which all enquiries re postal stamps should be made

Stamp Design Advisory Committee

It advises the Bermuda Government's General Post Office on what stamps should be issued and when.

See under alphabetical order in Bermuda Government Boards.