Stamp Stories

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22371, 7 April 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

Stamp Stories

The time seems to have passed when postal administrations were prepared to look upon stamps as merely an acknowledgement of the payment of postage. For a very long period Great Britain and most of the colonies were content to reproduce the portrait of the reigning monarch on the stamps. The designs of the earliest issues for the colonies, though containing Queen Victoria’s head, were not uniform, and some of these were among the most beautiful of portrait issues.

In 1879 a precedent was established by the adoption of what is known as a “key plate,” with blank spaces, into which the name of the colony and the value could be added. The “key plate” types with King George V portrait were in general use in many of the colonies, and some cases they are still being used, but are now being replaced by more attractive designs of a pictorial nature. Among the colonies which haVe always favoured distinctive issues is the group known as the Falkland Islands. Falkland Islands, proper, lie off the east coast of South America, but just as the Cook Islands and, other Pacific groups are 1 dependencies of New Zealand, similarly the' groups and islands in the South Atlantic are dependencies of the Falklands. These included the South Shetlands and the South Orkneys, lying in the Antarctic region; South Georgia to the east of the Falklands, and Bouvet Island, an isolated island to the far south of Africa.

The Falkland Islands were 'first discovered in 1592. The earliest

attempt at settlement was made in 1764 by the French, who were followed by the Spanish; . and in 1771 Great Britain first laid claim to a part of the group. The Argentine Republic next sent colonists in 1830, but they were withdrawn 11 years later; and in 1833 Great Britain formally occupied the islands with the purpose of protecting .the . seal 'fisheries.. - , The Germans attempted to capture the'Falklands in'l9l4, but the battle that resulted. was, a. triumph for the 1 British Navy. The Argentine Republic still claims sovereignty over , the Falkland Islands and the South Orkneys. * and in 1936 an Argentine stamp v with a map , of, South America ■howed: the Falklands as part of Argentina; Nbrvyayun 1928'.claimed Bouvet Island and. though the

FALKLAND ISLANDS

(By R. J. G. Collins)

legality of the claim was questioned, Great Britain actually ceded the island to Norway. The one issue of stamps with the name Falkland Islands is used in the various groups. In 1933, to commemorate the centenary of British occupation, a beautiful set of 12 values was issued, and this has been followed by another set of 12 values with the portrait of King George VI in the top left-hand corner of each stamp. On the id value there is shown an arch formed of whales’ jaw bones and erected as a monument at Port Stanley at the time of the centenary. Whaling is a major industry in the group, and the greater part of the total of the world’s catch comes from these waters.

The design lor the Id value depicts a black-necked swan, a different species from the well-known black swan of Western Australia. The memorial to commemorate the battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914 was unveiled in 1927 and a view of the memorial occupies the middle of the 2d.

Sheep farming is the chief occupation of the inhabitants of the Falklands. On the id value of 1933 a champion Romney Marsh ram which had been purchased in New Zealand was shown, and on the 2id

value of the latest set we find a flock of sheep. It is interesting to compare this stamp with the 2Jd value of our Chamber of Commerce set.

The 3d New Zealand pictorial of 1898 had a pair of huias, which are interesting to ornithologists, because of the difference between the beaks in the two sexes. The 4d Falkland Island is similarly' of interest because the Upland Goose displayed is a peculiar species of geese, as the male is black and white and the female brown and white. Two ships are shown on the 6d and 9d ralues. Both vessels are used for oceanographic research, with particular reference to the habits of whales. The Discovery II on the 6d is not Shackleton’s famous vessel but was named after it. The mountain on the Is value is located in South Georgia. The coating of snow on the summit, which in the distance looks like

powdered sugar, has been responsible for the local name of the peak, Mount Sugar Top. Four 'species of. penguins are found In the Falklands and adjoining groups. - The King penguin, the largest species, appeared on the 5s value of 1933; and on the 2s fid

of the present series three "Gentoo” penguins appear in characteristic posture. Sea lions abound in the Falklands and an excellent specimen is to be found illustrated on the 5s stamp. Deception Island, the principal one in the South Shetlands, until 1931, when the whaling station was closed, possessed the most southerlypost office in the world.. An attractive view .of the island; is to be found on the new 10s value. 'Thfe last stamp in the set, the £1 value, has the arms of the , colony as its central feature.