Postage stamps and postal history of Bechuanaland Protectorate
Encyclopedia
The first Bechuanaland Protectorate postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

s were produced in 1888 by overprint
Overprint
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage stamp or banknote after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative purposes such as accounting but they are also employed in public mail...

ing stamps of Bechuanaland (some overprints of British stamps and some issued specifically for the colony) with "Protectorate". In 1889 a ½-penny stamp of Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...

 was overprinted "Bechuanaland / Protectorate.".

From 1897 to 1925 more British stamps were overprinted using the protectorate's name in various layouts. In 1910 a 6-pence stamp of Transvaal was also overprinted; although it was intended for fiscal use, postal uses are known.

The print makers first inscribed stamps appeared in a series of 1932. The 12 values, ranging from ½d to 10 shillings, all used the same design; a group of cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 next to a baobab
Baobab
Adansonia is a genus of eight species of tree, six native to Madagascar, one native to mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and one to Australia. The mainland African species also occurs on Madagascar, but it is not a native of that island....

 tree, surmounted by a portrait for King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....

. The usual Silver Jubilee
Silver Jubilee
A Silver Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, ruling anniversary or anything that has completed a 25 year mark...

 and Coronation issue
Coronation issue
In philately, a Coronation issue is an issue of postage stamps made by the British Post Office and the Post Offices of Commonwealth countries and British dependencies to celebrate the coronation of a new monarch....

s appeared in 1935 and 1937, with King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

 replacing his father in a similarly-designed series of 1938.

The protectorate's Peace issue of 1945 was produced by overprinting "Bechuanaland" on South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

's Peace stamps. Stamps were issued for the Royal visit in 1947, and for the usual omnibus sets of the period.

Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 replaced her father in a definitive series of 1955, the rest of the design matching the previous definitives.

Three stamps in 1960 commemorated the 75th anniversary of the protectorate, then in 1961 Bechuanaland converted to the South African rand, necessitating surcharge
Overprint
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage stamp or banknote after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative purposes such as accounting but they are also employed in public mail...

s on the existing definitives in February, followed by a new definitive series in October that was mostly pictures of birds, with some showing people at work.

Standard Commonwealth omnibus issues appeared up until independence, along with a 1 June 1966 issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Bechuanaland Pioneers and Gunners.

See also

  • Postage stamps and postal history of British Bechuanaland
    Postage stamps and postal history of British Bechuanaland
    This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of British Bechuanaland.-History:For many months, starting in 1883, pressure was placed on the British Government to do something in Bechuanaland because of unrest in the area. On 29 October 1884 the British Government appointed Sir Charles...

  • The Tati Concessions Land
    Tati Concessions Land
    The Tati Concessions Land was a concession created in the borderlands of the Matabele kingdom and the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The concession was originally made by the Matabele King to Sir John Swinburne...

    , a territory originally part of the Matebele Kingdom and later incorporated into the Bechuanaland Protectorate, issued Revenue stamp
    Revenue stamp
    A revenue stamp, tax stamp or fiscal stamp is a adhesive label used to collect taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, and many other things...

    s in the 1890s.
  • Stellaland
    Stellaland
    Stellaland, officially known as the Republic of Stellaland from 1882–1883 and, after unification with the neighbouring State of Goshen, as the United States of Stellaland from 1883–1885, was a Boer republic located in an area of Bechuanaland, west of the Transvaal.During its short history,...

    , a break-away Boer republic from the Bechuanalands, issued its own stamps, described in Postage stamps and postal history of Stellaland Republic
    Postage stamps and postal history of Stellaland Republic
    Stellaland was a short-lived Boer republic from 1882 until 1885, located in southern Bechuanaland, west of the then South African Republic. With Vryburg as its capital it was incorporated in British Bechuanaland in 1885...


External links


Further reading

  • Proud, Ted
    Ted Proud
    Edward Wilfrid Baxby Proud is a pioneering British postal historian and philatelic writer who in 2008 was invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists....

    . The Postal History of Basutoland and Bechuanaland Protectorate. Proud-Bailey Co. Ltd., 1996. ISBN 1872465110
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