Seapost -> The Bombay - Aden Sea Post Office Service
The Bombay - Aden Sea Post Office Service
By Brian Allcock
The Bombay - Aden - Suez Sea Post Office service was introduced in 1868 to speed the delivery of mails to and from India. It was operated by the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company on their steamer service from Suez to Bombay, via Aden. The sorting of the mails in either direction was carried by up to six teams under the control of the Indian Post Office. An intermediate stop was made at Aden for the discharge and collection of mails to and from East Africa and the Arabian coast, as well as for refuelling the ships.
This service was based on a similar service operated by the British Post Office on the P. & O. ships operating between Alexandria in Egypt and Marseilles, France, and return. This service, known as the Mediterranean Sorters, was terminated on the 28th May, 1870, but the Bombay service continued to operate up to the start of the First World War in August 1914.
The first contract between the Indian Post Office and the P. & O. Company was raised in 1867 and the first sailing to carry mail to India was in May 1868. There were several updates to the contract during the following decades of operation.
There are 10 different types of transit marks used on this service, together with six special marks used to cancel mail posted on the steamers, a further six registration marks and eleven instruction marks such as postage due, miss-directed and paquebot. Illustrated below are some of the different transit marks used.
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| Type 1 - without and with set letter.
Set letters were introduced in September 1868. |
Type 2 | Type 3 | Type 4 | |
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| Type 5 | Type 6 | Type 7 | Type 8 | Type 10 |
It should be borne in mind that most of these marks have many variations, for instance there have been over 15 different Type 7 marks and 25 different Type 8 recorded. The Type 9 mark is identical to the Type 8, except that its diameter is 26mm as against 25mm.
Earliest recorded example of mail posted on board steamer with the Type C01 mail canceller, a diamond of bars.
Between 1868 and 1888, the sorters on the mail steamers went to Suez via Aden from Bombay and return; after 1888 they only sorted the mail between Bombay and Aden and return. Transit marks Type 1 to Type 6 can be found on mail during the 1868-88 period and Types 4 to 10 on mail from 1888 onwards.
Carried on the S.S. Salsette. Route: Departed Suez 18-6-1870, Aden 24-6-1870, and arrived Bombay 1-7-1870.
Miss-directed mail. Mail that was miss-sorted had a 'MALDIRIGE' mark applied as well as the SPO transit mark. See below.
Post Card sent to Landour, India but miss-sorted to London. Error of sorting note by SPO sorters and returned to India from Aden.
Although special cancellers should have been used to cancel mail posted on board the steamers, many examples exist where mail has been cancelled used the transit marks shown above. Below are some of the specific cancellers that were issued to cancel mail.
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| Type C1 | Type C2 | Type C3 | Type C4 | Type C5 |
The Sea Post Office sorting service was terminated in August 1914 with the outbreak of the 1st World War, when many of the ships were requisitioned for war service. The P. & O. Company, together with the Indian Post Office realised that they could not continue the regular weekly steamer service.
