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SearchMails to Australia & New Zealand to 1880 are covered in great detail in Colin Tabeart's excellent book. But I'm still wondering how mail endorsed & paid to go via French Packet to Marseilles actually got to Marseilles.
For NZ at this time mails were sorted in London (at a central London Post Office?) for 2 different destinations - Wellington & Auckland. Did all mail (from Scotland, & England) to the Colonies go to London first?
From London what was the route to Marseilles? via Paris? which channel ports?
Are there any books that describe this part of the service?
French packet via Marseilles - route taken to Marseilles
Re: French packet via Marseilles - route taken to Marseilles
Fairly sure that a lot of mail to overseas going via south coast ports would have been directed to London first and sorted there, yes -- certainly from Scotland and most of England and Wales. Some nearer offices may have despatched to the port directly.
It wouldn't have been for all colonial mail -- anything going from Liverpool for example would probably have been sent there directly where that was quicker.
Likewise, fairly sure that all these mails via Marseilles would have gone with the rest of the French mails by the usual Dover-Calais route, and from there by whatever routing the French post office used from Calais to Marseilles -- by 1880 via rail pretty much all the way, I would expect. I think all or most of the French TPO routes went via Paris, so they probably were handled there, but you'd need to consult a French postal historian for that.
It wouldn't have been for all colonial mail -- anything going from Liverpool for example would probably have been sent there directly where that was quicker.
Likewise, fairly sure that all these mails via Marseilles would have gone with the rest of the French mails by the usual Dover-Calais route, and from there by whatever routing the French post office used from Calais to Marseilles -- by 1880 via rail pretty much all the way, I would expect. I think all or most of the French TPO routes went via Paris, so they probably were handled there, but you'd need to consult a French postal historian for that.
Re: French packet via Marseilles - route taken to Marseilles
Thank you for the reply - it is pretty much as I expected or would have guessed. Judging by the time taken to Marseilles it must have been a pretty efficient well trodden rail journey from London to Dover & Calais to Marseilles. The rail companies appear to have contract for ships to take mail packets across the channel...
"The Dover Historian" website talks about the London, Chatham, Dover Rail's packet service and their contract with the Post Office. It also describes the merger with the Royal and Imperial Mail Steam Packet Company operating out of Dover Harbour. With routes: Calais-Dover, Dover-Ostend and Ostend Dover. It seems French operators were encouraged to run the sailings from France as much as possible.
"The Dover Historian" website talks about the London, Chatham, Dover Rail's packet service and their contract with the Post Office. It also describes the merger with the Royal and Imperial Mail Steam Packet Company operating out of Dover Harbour. With routes: Calais-Dover, Dover-Ostend and Ostend Dover. It seems French operators were encouraged to run the sailings from France as much as possible.
Re: French packet via Marseilles - route taken to Marseilles
You may find some information in the UK-France postal conventions and associated regulations - links on this website in the list "Links to UK Postal Treaties Available Free on the Internet" https://gbps.org.uk/information/sources ... (2021).pdf .
There is also "British Letter Mail to Overseas Destinations 1840 to UPU" by Jane and Michael Mowbray which has a paragraph about mail to Marseilles as well as much on the mail routes.
There is also "British Letter Mail to Overseas Destinations 1840 to UPU" by Jane and Michael Mowbray which has a paragraph about mail to Marseilles as well as much on the mail routes.