Subject:
The Postal History of the Falkland Islands 1827 -1945. Although the United Kingdom had claimed the Islands many years before and had occupied them briefly in 1765, it was not until 1833 that they became permanently occupied. This presentation will attempt to explain the postal history from the time before this assertion of British rule and take matters forward to the end of World War II. The earliest items all emanate from the whaling industry, in the main from the USA; the Islands being a particular favourite of some of the New England private ship owners. The earliest packet mail goes back to 1843 via the South American ports of Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. Stamps were first issued in 1878 and 1879; these immediately preceding a formal mail contract between the Falkland Island Government and the Kosmos Company of Germany. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company took this over in 1901 and operated exclusively until 1917. Inter island mail was important in the Islands as it wa