British Stamps used in China

I have been collecting and have an interest in British stamps used abroad and as such, over the coming weeks, I will include related articles and information. Let’s start with British stamps used in China. I have started collecting Hong Kong stamps but for this article I will concentrate on British stamps used in the Treaty of Nanking Ports.

The British stamps were used in China during the period of 1842 to 1930 after the signing of the Treaty of Nanking between the Queen and the Emperor of China in August 1842 which brought an end to the First Opium War between Britain and Chinese Qing Dynasty. As a consequence of this Treaty, China granted Britain the right to open consular agencies to provide postal services to the local British community in 5 ports: Amoy, Canton, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai, This was then formalised by Hong Kong government in April 1844.

In 1860 with the enactment of Treaty of Peking, British postal offices were extended to other 6 Port: Chefoo, Hankow, Kiungchow (Hoihow), Swatow, Tainan (Anping) and Tientsin.

From October 1864, with the exception of Amoy, it was compulsory for the mail from the remaining Treaty Ports to be carried and cancelled in Hong Kong with “B62” cancellation.

As the postal business started to pick up in the late 1860s, the consular agencies were transformed to postal agencies and acquired their own postmarking devices. In May 1868 they were moved under the direction of Hong Kong postal authorities. In 1866 Shanghai and Ningpo were allowed to cancel the mail at the actual ports. This was then extended to the remaining ports over the next 10 years. Previously during 1863 and then again in 1865-66, Shanghai used Circular Date Stamps (CDS) on adhesives. 

The Vertical and Horizontal obliterations and CDS were used in the Treaty ports until 1885. Some of these are illustrated here.

• Amoy – the postal agency was established in 1844 which was further expanded into 2 separate offices, one residing offshore in island of Ku Lang Seu. Hong Kong stamps were cancelled at Amoy 1864-1916 with below postmarks:

Vertical Obliteration “A1” used in Ku Lang Seu island from 1869 to 1882
Horizontal Obliteration “D27” used from 1876 to 1884
Name Horizontal used from 1876 to 1894
Name curved used from 1867 to 1922
Double circle, Name at foot used from 1916 to 1922

• Canton – the British postal service endured a lot of changes since its establishment in this Treaty Port in 1834. In 1839 the postal office was closed due to evacuation of the British community, only to be re-opened in 1844. As a consequence of the riots of 1857 and the closure of the British consulate, a new temporary postal agency was opened instead at nearing Whampoa. Another temporary agency was set up in 1859 when the British forces arrived to Canton but both of these agencies were closed when the Consulate was re-established in July 1863. Below is the postmarks used in Canton to cancel Hong Kong stamps between 1870 and 1916:

Vertical Obliteration “C1” used from 1875 to 1884
Name Horizontal used from 1870 to 1901
Name curved used from 1890 to 1922

• Foochow – the postal agency in this port (originally called Foochowfu) was set up in June 1844. Hong Kong stamps were cancelled here from 1867 to 1916 with below CDS postmarks:

Vertical Obliteration “F1” used from 1873 to 1884
Name curved with inscription “FOOCHOWFOO” used from 1867 to 1905
Name curved with inscription “FOOCHOW” used from 1894 to 1917
Double circle, name at top with inscription “B.P.O” used from 1906 to 1910
Double circle, name at foot used from 1915 to 1922

• Ningpo – the postal agency was established in 1844. Hong Kong stamps were cancelled in Ningpo from 1866 to 1916 with below postmarks:

Vertical Obliteration “N1” used from 1870 to 1882
CDS Name Horizontal used from 1870 to 1899
CDS Name curved used from 1899 to 1922

• Shanghai – a packet agency was set up in the British Consulate in April 1844 which was then moved to a different premises in 1861. This was later upgraded to a Post Office in September 1867. This port was also used as a British Military post office from 1927 till 1940. Honk Kong Stamps were cancelled here from 1863 till 1916 with below postmarks:

Vertical Obliteration “S1” used from 1866 to 1885
Name curved with inscription “SHANGHAI” used from 1886 to 1906
Single Circle, Name at top with inscription “B.P.O” at foot used from 1904 to 1921
Single Circle, Name at top with inscription “Br.P.O” at foot used from 1907 to 1922
Double circle, Name at top with figure “I” to “VIII” at foot used from 1912 to 1922

• Chefoo – Eventhough the British Consulates existed here since 1863, the postal agency was not establised in this port until 1 January 1903 on the premises of commercial firm, Curtis Brothers. Hong Kong stamps were cancelled at Chefoo from 1903 to 1916 with below CDS postmarks:

Double circle, Name at top used from 1903 to 1920
Name curved used from 1907 to 1913
Double circle, Name at foot used from 1916 to 1922

• Hankow – is situated on the Yangtse river which became a Treaty Port in 1860. Although the British consulate was established by 1861, there was no postal agency function until 1872. The Hong Kong stanps were cancelled here from 1874 to 1916 with below CDS postmarks:

Name curved used from 1874 to 1916
Horizontal Obliteration “D29” used from 1878 to 1883
Double circle, Name at foot used from 1916 to 1922

• Kiungchow (Hoihow) – is situated on the island of Hainan and its port is called Hoihow. The consular postal agency was opened at Kiungchow city in 1876 and later transferred to Hoihow in 1878. A second agency was opened at Kiungchow in 1879. The Hong Kong stamps were cancelled here from 1879 to 1916 with below postmarks:

Horizontal Obliteration “D28” used from 1879 to 1883
Name curved with inscription “KIUNG-CHOW” used from 1879 to 1881
Name curved with inscription “HOIHOW” used from 1885 to 1922 

• Swatow – became Treaty Port in 1860 and the first packet agency was opened in 1861. This agency was transferred to the city on the other side of river Han with a second agency being opened in the foreign concession during 1883. The Hong Kong stamps were cancelled here from 1866 to 1916 with below postmarks:

Vertical Obliteration “S2” used from 1875 to 1885
Name Horizontal used from 1866 to 1890
Name curved used from 1884 to 1922
Double circle, Name at foot used from 1916 to 1922

• Tainan – Anping is the actual port, situated on the island of Formosa. Although British trade was operational on this island since 1860, the actual mail was not postmarked on this port until 1889. Formosa was occupied by the Japanese in 1895 which marked the end of British post on this island. The Hong Kong stanps were cancelled here between 1885 to 1895 with below postmark:

Name curved used from 1889 to 1895

• Tientsin (1882) – The postal agency was organised in this Treaty Port on 1882 but due to unsuccessful business, it was closed only to be re-opened on 1 October 1906 under the governance of Chinese Engineering and Mining company. British military postal offices were functional on this port between 1927 and 1940. The Hong Kong stanps were cancelled here between 1906 and 1916 with below postmarks:

Double circle, Name at top used from 1906 to 1913
Single Circle, Name at Top used from 1907 to 1922

All these postal offices were closed on 30 November 1922. However Port Edward and Liu Kung Tau agencies (from the Leased Territory of Wei Hai Wei) stayed open until 1 October 1930. 

• Wei Hai Wei territory was leased to British government from 24 May 1898. From 8 December 1898 until 15 March 1899, a local private post office (Cornébé and Co) operated the mail between the port and Chefoo for onward processing. This was followed by Chinese post opening on the island of Liu Kung Tau in March 1899, which in turn was replaced by a British post office on 1 September 1899. A second British Post Office was opened at Port Edward on 1 April 1904. Hong Kong stamps were cancelled in this island between 1899 and 1916 with the below postmarks:

Name curved with inscription “LIU KUNG TAU” used from 1901 to 1930
Name curved with insctiption “WEI-HAI-WEI” at top and “PORT EDWARD” at foor used from 1907 to 1930

Some Examples of Hong Kong Stamps cancelled with above obliterations and postmarks

Sources:	Royal Philatelic Society, London
	Stanley Gibbons Catalogue 1999