Postal Markings

SECTIONS

General
Barred Numeral Cancellations
Special Event Postmarks
Slogan Postmarks

We have tried to list these as far as possible in date order of their subject matter, although since many books and monographs cover a wide date range of material this can only be approximate.

These downloads include a number of versions of previously printed books, and some works that have only been published in PDF form.

General

Great Britain's First Postage Stamp
Ernest Gladstone
[48pp, 19.8MB, 1924]
Pioneer study of Dockwra marks, with archival examples pictured

The History of the Early Postmarks of the British Isles down to 1840
John Hendy
[238pp, 13.7MB, 1905]
One of the classic early works on postmarks

The History of the Postmarks of the British Isles from 1840 to 1876
John Hendy
[204pp, 6.3MB, 1909]
One of the classic early works on postmarks

England and Wales Post Office Numerals
John Parmenter and Ken Smith
[432pp, 6.4MB, 2003]
Listings of 1844 numbers in numeral postmarks, including London. Complete book (for parts see here)

Barred Numeral Cancellations of Ireland - Scarcity Ratings and Coloured Cancellations
Andrew Chappell and Chris Jones
[15pp, 253KB, 2014]
As seen in the GBPS Newsletter

The Anglo-French Reciprocity - Movable Boxes and More
Doug McGill
[109pp, 25MB, 2015]
A GBPS Diamond Jubilee Festival Presentation

UK Taxe Marks for International Mail 1875-2000 – Usage and Listing
Ken Snelson
[186pp, 14.7MB, 2007]

UK Taxe Marks for International Mail 1875-2000 – Usage and Listing (Update)
Ken Snelson
[38pp, 3.2MB, 2022]

The Registration "Rotary Device"
Maurice Buxton
[26pp, 1.9MB, 2020]
Discussion of scarce "roller" device for blue crossed lines 1878-81, with image gallery

Krag Machine Postmarks of Great Britain & Ireland
Paul T. Carter
[307pp, 62MB, 2022]
2nd Edition, 2022. Made available by the British Postmark Society. Updates here

Record of Covers with "Passed by BPA" Cachets 1940-53
Maurice Buxton
[248KB, 2015]
Spreadsheet recording details of 850+ examples of these covers

The Sub Office Postmarks of Sheffield
Frank Walton
[406pp, 48MB, 2021]
2nd edition. By kind permission of the Stuart Rossiter Trust

Effects of the 1971 PO Strike on FDCs
Roger Bloomfield
[105pp, 27MB, 2011]
Notes and record of a collection, made available by Cavendish

Twenty Years of First Day Postmarks
Brian Pask and Colin Peachey
[147pp, 6.9MB, 1983]
Made available by the British Postmark Society

Postage Paid Franks and Cancellations of the Channel Islands
Glenn H Morgan
[96pp, 2.5MB, 1983]
Used to denote that postage has been pre-paid

Barred Numeral Cancellations of England and Wales

These files comprise the text of Barred Numeral Cancellations of England and Wales by John Parmenter, David Luckly, and Ken Smith, with Prof. Cedric Prys-Roberts (Welsh section) – a comprehensive listing of these postmarks that provides the most detailed treatment available concerning which handstamps and codes were used when, revised and updated for this 2021 listing. All files include a short 4 page introduction.

(For Irish numerals, see General section above.)