Page 292 - Sierra Leone to 1961 - The Collection

19th Century Mail from the United Kingdom to Sierra Leone

Packet Service

Prior to 1848, there were no formal postal packets to Sierra Leone. The public had to rely on private shipping
to carry mail as ship letters. Following the introduction of the first mail packet on 1 January 1848, the number
of packet sailings per month slowly increased throughout the century:

Effective Date Number of Monthly Sailings Normal Days of Sailings

† 1 Jan 1848 1 1st (from Plymouth)
24 Oct 1852 1 24th
24 Oct 1858 1 24th (from Liverpool)
9 Mar 1869 2 9th & 24th
4 Jun 1869 3 4th, 9th & 24th
6 Aug 1870 3 6th, 9th & 24th
6 Feb 1871 5 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th & 30th
‡ 9 Oct 1872 0 Contract expired
6 Apr 1873 5 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th & 30th
3 Jan 1874 4 or 5 Every Saturday
3 Jul 1894 6 or 7 Every Saturday and every other Wednesday

† The Royal Navy provided a monthly packet service from the United Kingdom to Sierra Leone from 1848 to 1852.
‡ The ships still sailed and carried mail, but it was treated as Ship Letters and marked accordingly.

Letter Rates

Jul 1819 1s 9d per sheet from London at ‘half packet’ rate

Ship Letters Packet Letters

½ oz 1 oz ½ oz 1 oz

21 Aug 1835 8d 1s 4d

31 Dec 1847 1s 0d 2s 0d
6d 1s 0d
1 June 1855 6d 1s 0d 4d
8d
1 Apr 1879 (UPU) - - 2½d 5d
1d 2d
1 Jul 1892 - -

25 Dec 1898 - -

Sources

Beale P.O., The Postal Service of Sierra Leone: Its History, Stamps & Stationery until 1961, RPSL, London 1988
Beale P.O. & Walton F.L., West African GPO Postal Notices of the Nineteenth Century, WASC, Dronfield 2001
Moubray J. & M., British Letter Mail to Overseas Destinations 1840-1875, RPSL, London 1992
Tabeart C., United Kingdom Letter Rates Inland and Overseas 1635 to 1900, HH Sales, Bradford 2003