A POSTAL HISTORY OF ZWOLLE

GREAT BRITAIN

As early as 1661, the British General Post Office (GPO) signed a contract with the city of Amsterdam for the transport of mail across the North Sea. This took place with sailing ships between Harwich and Hellevoetsluis or Den Briel. The mail was treated as ship letters.

The invasion of the Netherlands by France in mid-January 1795 put an end to the connection between Harwich and Hellevoetsluis. A new route was already opened on January 24, now from Yarmouth via Cuxhaven and Hamburg to the Netherlands and vice versa. In Great Britain, the postage for this service, 1 shilling per single letter, had to be paid in advance.

Even before the signing of the Peace of Amiens on 25 March 1802, which brought peace between France, England and the Batavian Republic, the postal connection with Hellevoetsluis was reopened. The first mail was received in Amsterdam on 3 January 1802.
After war broke out again between the United Kingdom and France on 18 May 1803, a convention was concluded on 25 June 1803 between France and the Thurn-und-Taxis Post to resend the letters via Hamburg.

With the promulgation of the Continental System by Napoleon on 21 November 1806, relations with England were terminated and all trade and correspondence prohibited. The GPO then tried to get mail to the French-controlled areas by other means. Mail was delivered via Göteborg (Sweden) and until early 1807 via Tönningen (the Danish Schleswig-Holstein) and then Helgoland. Fishermen also smuggled mailbags ashore, possibly receiving them in the North Sea from ships of the British Royal Navy. The letters were not allowed to have postmarks or indications of the letter writers from which it could be ascertained where they came from. Sometimes we can tell if the letter came from Great Britain by looking at the watermark in the letterhead.

By the end of 1813, Napoleon had been defeated and postal communication with Great Britain could be resumed. According to Circular 1 of 19 November 1813, the first closed mail package arrived at the post office in Leiden, for further distribution across the country. The mail was landed in Katwijk by the English. A week later, the postal connection was moved to Hellevoetsluis according to Circular 2 of 7 December 1813. This was carried out with private sailing packets under contract with the GPO in London. The English mail was collected in London and taken by stagecoach to Harwich, a journey of 8 to 10 hours, from where the packets went to the Netherlands, a crossing that took 24 to 48 hours, depending in particular on the wind direction. Normally the mail was unloaded in Hellevoetsluis and forwarded to the post office in Rotterdam, where the return mail was also collected. If this was not possible in winter due to ice formation, Scheveningen was visited and the package was sent to the The Hague post office.
The last mail transport via the Harwich - Hellevoetsluis route took place on 29 August 1832 per Lord Duncan. On 3 September 1832, this ship took the last return mail to Harwich.

On 22 August 1822, the first steamboat to transport mail between London and Rotterdam, the King of the Netherlands, departed. The crossing was now faster and more regular, a steamboat is of course hardly dependent on the wind direction as a sailing boat is.

In June 1832, the General Steam Navigation Company (GSNC) was awarded the mail contract. Mail was now brought to Rotterdam twice a week, leaving from London on Tuesday and Friday nights. In the Netherlands, this change was announced in Circular 249 of 12 October 1832.The GSNC Attwood was the first British packet to sail under this contract.

The Batavier of the Nederlandsche Stoomboot-Maatschappij (NSM), later replaced by the Batavier II and subsequent numbers, sailed for about fifty years between Rotterdam and London from 12 April 1830, but this regular connection, the Batavier Line, though mentioned in Circular 332, did not receive a mail contract and the letters were therefore also dealt as ship letters.

Paddle steamer NSM Batavier, 1855.

In Great Britain, until 5 December 1839 the postage for foreign letters was up to 1 ounce (oz) higher if a letter consisted of more sheets of paper:

Single letter = 1 sheet of paper = 1 x postage
Double letter = 2 sheets of paper = 2 x postage
Treble letter = 3 sheets of paper = 3 x postage
Ounce letter = 4 sheets or 1 oz weight = 4 x postage
Every ¼ oz over 1 oz, 1 x postage extra.

5 December 1839 the weight progression was introduced in Great Britain: letters not exceeding ½oz: 1 x postage, above ½ up to and including 1oz: 2 x postage, above 1 up to and including 2oz: 4 x postage, etc.

The British rates for single letters per packet from and to the Netherlands were:

1) plus inland rate from London
2) plus inland rate to London
3) plus inland rate to Dover

During the wars with France, these postal connections were mostly broken. The mail was then sent via Hamburg if possible, see above. The rates via Hamburg were:

Rates from 1840:

*) Via Calais: up to ¼oz / above ¼ up to ½oz.

For the conversion of the postal rates, 1 shilling = 12 pence = 60 cents.

From November 29, 1813 (Circular 1) the Dutch postage for the letters received in closed mail packages with the packets from England was as follows:

up to 15 grams: 10 stuivers
15 - 20 grams: 14 stuivers
20 - 25 grams: 18 stuivers
25 - 30 grams: 22 stuivers
Every 5 grams more: + 4 stuivers.

Initially, Leiden (Circular 1) functioned as an exchange office for mail to and from Great Britain. On December 7, 1813, Leiden was replaced by The Hague, because the post was not delivered by the English in Katwijk but in Scheveningen (Circular 2).
Den Briel became Border Post Office on 14 December 1813 (Circular 4), which office became an oval handstamp Brielle Eng: Corresp:, in use between 1815 and 1832.

On 1 February 1815 (Circular 42) the Dutch postage for outbound letters became the inland rate up to Den Briel + 3 stuivers sea rate, rounded up to whole stuivers. Letters could only be sent prepaid.
The weight progression is from this date as for inland letters.
For incoming letters from Great Britain up to 1 Lood = 15 grams (from 1821 up to 16 wigjes) the postage was 10 cents.

On 14 October 14 1843, a postal treaty was concluded between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, in which the maintenance of a regular postal service was agreed. This came into effect on 1 January 1844. Twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, packets contracted to the British General Post Office will carry mail between London and Rotterdam. In case of bad weather, the post could be placed in Scheveningen or another port. It also regulated the transit and colonial correspondence which shall be transmitted through the said states.
According to Circular 332, in which the postal treaty was explained, mail could also be sent under the same conditions with the Batavier or other private steamers that regularly sailed between Rotterdam and a British port.

From 1 January 1844, the rate for the entire route became for letters up to 15 wigtjes: 60 cents (Circular 332), the British rate became for letters not exceeding ½oz: 1 shillings. Letters could be sent prepaid or unfranked. Partial postage was not allowed.

On 19 August 1846 it is announced that there is now also a regular steamboat service between Rotterdam (departure on Friday) and Yarmouth (departure on Wednesday) (Circular 365). The postal rates for this are the same.

From 25 June 1845 (Circular 354) the mail could also be sent via Ostend in Belgium. The exchange office (Border Post Office) for this route became Breda.
Prepaid to Ostend: 20 cent Dutch postage + 15 cent Belgian transit postage = 35 cents, according to the Belgian weight progression.
In the UK to be paid by the addressee to ½oz: 8 pence.

From 1 December 1849 (Circular 404) the mail via Ostend was sent daily by closed mail, it was possible to prepay to destination according to the Dutch weight progression:

Rate when routed over Ostend, up to 15 wigtjes: 70 cents.
Rate when routed over Rotterdam: stayed 60 cents.

Letter from London by packet to Rotterdam and further overland to Zwolle, 16 April 1851. Rate 1-1-1844 to 1-4-1854, 0 - 15 wigtjes: 60 cents.

From 2 December 1853 (Circular 483), the mail could only be sent via Ostend. The packet connection between Rotterdam and London was ceased.
The rate became 40 cents per 15 wigtjes. 1 Oktober 1864 the letter rate was reduced to 15 cent per 15 wigtjes or grams and per 1 July 1875 12½ cent per 15 gram.

The rates for letters from the Netherlands to Great Britain and Ireland became:

On 3 October 1876, the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland obtained the contract for the mail transport. The SMZ sailed between Vlissingen and Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey.

Incidentally, if Hellevoetsluis and Rotterdam were not reachable due to, for example, ice conditions, the mail coming from England was brought ashore in Scheveningen. The Hague then arranged the distribution instead of the official Border Post Office.

Ship letters

In addition to transport by packets, mail could also be sent with other ships. In the Netherlands, the word Zeebrief had to be noted on reverse. Handstamps were issued for this later. The name of the ship and evetually the name of the captain and port of departure had to be stated on the front of the letter.

Rates applicable in Great Britain for incoming ship letters from the Netherlands:

*) + inland rate per sheet of paper from port of landing to destination.

Rates applicable in Great Britain for outgoing ship letters to the Netherlands:

*) + inland rate per sheet of paper to the port of sailing.

The ship letter rates for letters from Great Britain arriving in the Netherlands were for the first weight class:

*) Reduction only for ship letters from Great Britain, because the rate would otherwise be higher than those for the packets (Circular 176 article 17). The mail sent as ship letters were stamped Engeland over .... with the name of the port of arrival.

The Netherlands did not have a rate for outgoing ship letters, only the inland rate to the port was due. However, on 17 September 1823, the rate was equated to that for the packets: 15 cents + the inland rate up to the Border Post Office Den Briel (Circular 176 article 4).

Inland rate for England and Wales

These rates for single letters (consisting of a single sheet of paper) applied between any two Post Offices but letters passing through London paid two charges until 1797.

Single letter rates from 1801 to 1839:

Single letter = 1 sheet of paper = 1 x postage
Double letter = 2 sheets of paper = 2 x postage
Treble letter = 3 sheets of paper = 3 x postage
Ounce letter = including and above 1 oz weight = 4 x postage.

On 5 December 1839, rates by weight were introduced:

The Uniform Penny Postage came into effect on 10 January 1840. The start of the issue of postage stamps and postal stationery followed on 6 May 1840.

Last update 10.09.2024 5:55 PM

Copyright © 2019 - G.L. van Welie FRPSL
Secretary of the Nederlandse Academie voor Filatelie
Representative of the Royal Philatelic Society London for the Netherlands

Nothing from this website may be copied, distributed and / or published without written permission from the author.

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