Postal History
SECTIONS
Works on general postal history subjects - rates, routes, particular postal services etc. Works which focus more specifically on studies of postal markings have been listed separately on their own page.
We have tried to list these as far as possible in date order of their subject matter, although since many of the books and monographs cover a wide date range of material this can only be approximate.
General



Royal Household Mail
Glenn H Morgan
[243pp, 10.8MB, 1992‑2012]
Mail from the royal residences, households and offices of Great Britain. Includes 2012 updates
House of Commons Post Office Factsheet
[21pp, 623KB, 2010]
Archived official factsheet with the history up to 2010
History of the Manchester Post Office 1625-1900
Charles Calvert
[297pp, 41MB, 1966‑69]
Part 1 (1966) and Part 2 (Penny Posts, 1969)
Miles and More - Complexity of the UK Postal System 1784‑1840
Theo Brauers
[59pp, 71MB, 2015]
A GBPS Diamond Jubilee Festival Presentation
GB Postal Reform 1837‑40
Tom Slemons
[48pp, 21.8MB, 2015]
A GBPS Diamond Jubilee Festival Presentation
Evolution of the British Overseas Mail System 1840-56
Paul Phillips
[87pp, 23.9MB, 2015]
A GBPS Diamond Jubilee Festival Presentation
UPU Members and Dates of Joining
UPSS / James Bendon
[8pp, 66KB]
Created by the United Postal Stationery Society
The Collection of Postage Due in Ireland 1914-1926
Robert Benninghoff
[22pp, 73MB, 2015]
A GBPS Diamond Jubilee Festival Presentation
Coronation 1937 Covers, an illustrated listing
Allan Oliver
[106pp, 8.2MB, 2004]
GB Postal Mechanisation From Transorma to the Modern Era
Steve McGill
[46pp, 30MB, 2015]
A GBPS Diamond Jubilee Festival Presentation
GB Postal Mechanisation Timeline
Steve McGill
[1pp, 61KB, 2015]
A GBPS Diamond Jubilee Festival Presentation
High Value Packets and Bankers Special Packets – the Post Office 'secret' services
Mike O'Hara
[223pp, 56MB, 2012]
Comprehensive treatment of these two services
British Post Office Santa Mail Service
Glenn H Morgan
[24pp, 2.0MB, 1989]
The story of the service still provided for children who write to Father Christmas
Postal Sanctions Against Rhodesia 1965 to 1980
Mike Hughes
[171pp, 32MB, 2018]
By kind permission of the Rhodesian Study Circle
Bringing Postal History to Life
Tom Slemons
[58pp, 26MB, 2015]
A GBPS Diamond Jubilee Festival Presentation
A Guide to Reading Old Handwriting in Relation to Postal History
Allan Oliver
[8pp, 236KB]
Mail Packet Sailings


Edmund Dummer and Falmouth Packet Sailings to West Indies 1702-1841
John Olenkiewicz
[340pp, 12.5MB, 2018]
Dummer 1702-11, Falmouth 1745-49 and 1756-1841
Bristol and Falmouth Packet Sailings to North America 1710-1840
John Olenkiewicz
[132pp, 27MB, 2018]
Bristol 1710-15, Falmouth 1755-1840 to various ports, chiefly NY and Halifax
Falmouth Packet Sailings to Brazil 1808-1850
John Olenkiewicz
[87pp, 2.1MB, 2018]
Between Falmouth and Rio de Janeiro and Bahia
Falmouth Packet Sailings to Surinam etc 1810-1816
John Olenkiewicz
[9pp, 706KB, 2013]
Between Falmouth and Surinam, thence to other Caribbean ports
Falmouth Packet Sailings to South America 1824-1832
John Olenkiewicz
[14pp, 438KB, 2018]
Between Falmouth and Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Rio
North Atlantic Mail Sailings 1840-75
Walter Hubbard and Richard F. Winter
[436pp, 55MB, 1988]
By kind permission of the US Philatelic Classics Society. With revisions