Volunteers working on the preliminary stages of document preservation at the Notarial Archives in Valletta often turn up documents of particular historical or social significance. One of the documents that was brought to light recently is a mid-18th century folded letter bearing the first adhesive postage stamp issued in Malta – the iconic Queen Victoria 1/2d yellow.

Miniature sheet issued on December 1, 2010, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Malta’s first postage stamp, incorporating the earliest known postal use of the stamp.Miniature sheet issued on December 1, 2010, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Malta’s first postage stamp, incorporating the earliest known postal use of the stamp.

The earliest recorded letter originating from Malta was sent by Grand Master Philip de L’Isle Adam in 1532, two years after the Knights Hospitallers had finally settled in Malta following their expulsion from Rhodes by the Turks. The letter is dated June 14 and was addressed to the Bishop of Auxerre, François de Dinteville, who was then the French ambassador in Rome.

Little is known about Malta’s postal history between these early years and the start of the 18th century when Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful established the first proper postal service, the Commissary of Posts, in 1708.  This postal service appears to have been based in Piazza Tesoreria in a building serving as La Casa del Comun Tesoro in Republic Street, now the Casino Maltese.

The address on the 1861 letter with the inverted stamp and the wax seal remains.The address on the 1861 letter with the inverted stamp and the wax seal remains.

On October 7, 1799, during the blockade of the French forces in Valletta,  Alexander Ball set up Malta’s first regular mail delivery service and designated a few rooms in San Anton Palace to be used as a post office. A few years later a packet service, running concurrently with the Island Postal Service, was established for mail between England, Malta and Gibraltar. This service, managed initially by Packet agent James Chabot, was run by privately owned vessels on contract to the Post Office, sailing from Falmouth on the first Wednesday of each month. The first handstamps, consisting of the word Malta in cursive script within a curved box, were introduced in 1807.

The year 1840 saw the issue of the world’s first adhesive postage stamp in Great Britain, the celebrated imperforate penny black bearing the head of Queen Victoria. British stamps, cancelled with the ‘A25’ postmark, were used in Malta from August 1857, and prepayment of postage became compulsory on February 1, 1858.

In 1859, the British authorities in Malta decided it was time to introduce local stamps. They started the process for the issue of the first Maltese postage stamp by commissioning De La Rue, the security printing company which had been established by Thomas De La Rue in 1821, to engrave a die for the stamp. The engraving, showing the head of the young Queen Victoria, was created by Jean Ferdinand Joubert de la Ferté, the French engraver, photographer and inventor who developed new photographic techniques and engraved notable postage stamps of the United Kingdom and the Confederate States of America.

The earliest recorded letter originating from Malta was sent by Grand Master Philip de L’Isle Adam in 1532, two years after the Knights Hospitallers had finally settled in Malta following their expulsion from Rhodes by the Turks

Following the approval of specimen stamps sent to Malta, the first stamps were printed in pale yellow brown (buff) on blued paper with no watermark; they were issued for sale to the public on December 1, 1860. This first stamp was sold at the Valletta Post Office, police stations and at principal stationers; it was only legal for Maltese inland postage and it remained the standard rate for island mail weighing less than one ounce until 1943. Overseas mail had to be franked with British stamps.

The halfpenny yellow is now much sought after by collectors and often fetches high prices at auction. The earliest known use of the stamp, just 12 days after its issue, is on a cover from Valletta to Mosta sent by G. Grognet de Vassé, architect of the Mosta church, to Don Giuseppe Said; this cover fetched no less than €5,800. In 2010, Maltapost issued a miniature sheet, incorporating an image of this letter, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Malta’s first postage stamp.

A close-up of the stamp and cancellations.A close-up of the stamp and cancellations.

The halfpenny yellow continued to be used until 1885 when the first definitive set of Maltese stamps was issued. This set included a new halfpenny stamp with the same design as the halfpenny yellow but printed in green, as well as eight others ranging in value from one penny to one shilling. The higher value stamps also bore the head of Queen Victoria in various frames and colours.

Between 1860 and 1885 the halfpenny yellow was reprinted 28 times. The second printing, this time on white paper, was effected in November 1861 and stamps from this printing exist in three shades. Philatelists have identified no less than 19 varieties of the stamp, based on year of issue, colour shade, watermark, perforation and type of paper.

The postal item found at the Notarial Archives consists of an entire folded letter franked with the halfpenny yellow cancelled with a combined 19mm single ring and 21mm A25 handstamp. The former bears the letter A, the word Malta and the date SP 6 61. This combined handstamp came into use in June 1861.

The date of September 6, indicates that the stamp is one from the first printing, since stamps from the second printing were issued  in November 1861. The letter is addressed on one of the outer folds simply to Giuseppe Scicluna, son of Innocenzio (?) at Gudja (Al Sig. Giuseppe Scicluna, figlio d’Innocenzio (?), Gudia). The father’s name is indistinct and there is no street address. Apparently there was only one person living in Gudja with this designation.

Part of the text of the 1861 letter sent from Żejtun to Gudja.Part of the text of the 1861 letter sent from Żejtun to Gudja.

The stamp and cancellations appear below the address; interestingly they are inverted with respect to the address, indicating, perhaps, an early lack of familiarity with the use of the stamps. The folded letter carries a broken red wax seal, indicating that it had originally been secured with a ribbon affixed to the wax.

The letter itself is dated September 5, 1861, while the sender’s location is given as ‘Żeitun’. The text of the letter consists of what appears to be a list of names of people and their forebears for a number of years. The first entry reads: In primo per l’anno /47 Giuseppa figlia zitella delli furono Michele Caruana e Grazia Maria del Tarxien.” This is followed by five similar listings. The letter bears no signature.

This item of Maltese postal history is important as it constitutes a very early example of the postal use of the first printing of the Queen Victoria halfpenny yellow, the stamp which is assigned catalogue no. 1 in the Stanley Gibbons Malta Stamp Catalogue. Such documents highlight the historical significance of Malta’s Notarial Archives and the importance of the conservation of this valuable repository of Malta’s paper heritage, a task which is being assiduously undertaken by the Notarial Archives Resources Council.

Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the staff at the Notarial Archives and to his fellow volunteers. Special thanks to Dr Joan Abela for her valuable suggestions, to Angel Camilleri who found the letter, Isabelle Camilleri and Paul Camilleri for the scans.

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