Regional postage in Great Britain

Regional postage in Great Britain is the issue of postage stamps reflecting the identity of parts of the United Kingdom.

Postage stamps were first issued by Great Britain in 1840 and were valid throughout the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1922 and in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland thereafter.

In 1958, special regional issues were commenced in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales received their own special issues. The designs used the same portrait as the Wildings and then later changed to the Machins, but were modified to incorporate the symbols of each of the home nations. While generally sold at post offices in their respective areas, all were valid throughout the UK.

The currency in use in 1958 was the pound sterling with 12d (pence) = 1s (shilling); 20 shillings = £1 (pound). Following the decimalisation of sterling on Decimalisation Day 15 February 1971, the currency changed to 100p (pence) = £1 (pound).

Abandoned idea in the 1940s

The idea of Regional stamps came up after World War II to help the tourism in the Channel Islands, which were occupied by German forces until the end of the conflict. The concept was extended to all United Kingdom's regions and essays were prepared: positions of King George VI's head [Essays of 1946 from The British Postal Museum & Archive reproduced in Julia Lee, "Unseen material on show in regional definitives display", "Stamp Magazine" #74-6, June 2008, page 23.] and symbols. [ [http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/exhibitions/lions/islands One black and white example] reproduced on "Lions, Leopards, Unicorns & Dragons: The first "Regional" stamps", on-line exhibition, The British Postal Museum & Archive, May 2008, retrieved 10 May 2008.]

First Issues

The first value (3d deep lilac) of the regional issues were introduced on 18 August 1958 in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The design consisted of the Wilding portrait of the Queen surrounded by appropriate regional symbols. Other values were introduced at later dates. Some of the issue dates are unclear, as the stamps were issued first at the Philatelic Bureau in Edinburgh, others first at the Philatelic Counter in London, others first in the region.

The colours used were consistent across the various regions, and stayed constant with the exception of the 4d value was issued in three different colours - ultramarine, olive-sepia and vermilion. The 4d's colour changes were made to keep them consistent with that used by the new pre-decimal Machin series (5 June 1967). The original ultramarine was changed to the 4d Machin's olive-sepia. When the Machin's colour was changed because of complaints that postmarks could not be read on so dark a colour, the regional 4d stamps were again changed to the new 4d colour of vermilion.

Jersey and Guernsey became postally independent on 1 October 1969 when they each issued their own inaugural series (see "Jersey Post", "Guernsey Post") although locally-produced stamps had been in use during the Occupation of the Channel Islands 1940-1945. The Bailiwick of Guernsey incorporates Alderney, Herm and Sark which all used the Guernsey issues from 1969. Alderney has issued its own stamps since 1983 and these are valid throughout the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

Decimal issues

On 7 July 1971 the previous Wilding based designs for the Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were replaced with designs similar to the standard British Machin portrait definitives. Each stamp had a reduced size Machin portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with a national emblem in the top left corner, the latter designed by Jeffery Matthews. [http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_matthews_intvw1.html Interview of Jeffery Matthews during Stamp Show 2000] , "The Chronicle", October 2000, page 1.] . The emblems used were :
* Isle of Man: The triskelion;
* Northern Ireland: The "Red Hand" in a star beneath a crown;
* Scotland: The lion rampant;
* Wales: The Welsh dragon.

The colours of the Machin regionals were the same as those of the main Machin issues. There are a few exceptions, eg the 4½p regionals are a darker blue. Not all the values and colours of the main issue appear in the regionals, but as these designs remained in use in the other regions for the rest of the 20^th century, a large number of values were issued.

The Isle of Man became postally autonomous on 5 July 1973 when it issued its inaugural set (see "Isle of Man Post"). Consequently only four values were issued:
* 2½p bright magenta
* 3p ultramarine
* 5p reddish violet
* 7½p chestnut

Pictorial Issues

Around the turn of the 21^st century, new original designs were produced for each of the British home nations (including, for the first time, England). Four values were issued for each country. They show national insignia (except those for Northern Ireland). These were initially borderless, but in 2003 white borders were added to each stamp. As postal rates have changed, so have the values denominated on some of the stamps. The '2nd' and '1st' values have remained constant, but the 'E' value has reverted to (initially) 40p, and then increased from there. The 64/65p values have been reissued as 68p, 72p and 78p values.

External References

* British Stamp Catalogues by Stanley Gibbons Ltd
* "The Stamp Atlas" by Stuart Rossiter & John Flower

External links

* [http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/exhibitions/lions/ "Lions, Leopards, Unicorns & Dragons: The first "Regional" stamps"] , on-line exhibition, The British Postal Museum & Archive, 2008.