Postal History Review
POSTAL HISTORY of the SPANISH PHILIPPINES, 1565-1898
{This review by George Henderson appeared in Postal History, June 2001 edition.
This is the journal of The Postal History Society in Great Britain.}
The Philippines comprises some 7,000 islands spread over roughly 600,000 square miles
of the Pacific Ocean – not an easy country for inland posts! So this book concentrates
almost entirely on the territory’s contacts with the rest of the world.
For anyone who learnt English history in the 30s, the term galleon conjures a
vast unwieldy Spanish ship of war; so all the more surprising to find galleons as
the major providers of transport and mails from the start, in 1565, of the Spanish
settlement in the Philippines until they were phased out in favour of swifter vessels.
Most mail to and from Spain between 1565 and 1820 crossed the Pacific to Acapulco
in Mexico (a Spanish colony until 1810), travelling eastwards well north of Hawaii
and westwards via the Marianas and Guam (Naval historians may call to mind Anson’s
expedition in 1741-2). The last galleon plied this route in 1815; before that Spanish
ships began using the alternative route via the Cape of Good Hope. Other routes
and carriers came into being: Spanish naval frigates, ships of the Royal Philippine
Company, ships of other nationalities calling at Manila and privately owned vessels
of Philippine and Spanish merchants; each group is examined in detail.
The British, under the guise of the British East India Company, occupied Manila in
1762 and took advantage of the trade opportunities offered; but they had to leave
two years later when the Treaty of Paris led to the cessation of hostilities with
Spain. But British participation in carrying mail from the Philippines to Great
Britain continued to develop, and the authors include a list of 36 British ships
calling at Manila in 1834-43. At that time mail was carried by British ships to
Bombay, thence to Suez or Basra for the route via French ports. A chapter on this
route is followed by others dealing with mail to the Far East ports; to France and
other mainland European countries, and to the USA.
The Philippines began issuing postage stamps in 1854 and a chapter deals with their
rates and cancellations; a further chapter deals with the use of British Asian stamps
on Philippine overseas mail in the 1850s to 1870s. In 1877 the Philippines joined
the UPU, and a chapter deals with the consequent rates for letters, registration
and postcards. Maritime mail in the 19th century is reported in great detail
in Chapter 14, including lists of all vessels (grouped by owners) that called at
Manila or other ports in the islands. A final chapter deals with official mail and
mail to and from the Mariana and Caroline Islands.
Appendices contain lists of addressees of mail to Spain and other destinations -
a sure indication of the extreme scarcity of surviving material; and examples of
postal markings used on mail from the 1790s to 1898.
The text is written with remarkable clarity and is brilliantly illustrated with maps
and covers from the authors’ collections. Unfortunately there is no lettering on
the hard cover.
