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A Brief History of Australian Postage

Part One | Part Two

A Brief History of Australian Postage
Part One

In 1809 Isaac Nichols, an ex convict, was appointed as the first postmaster of Sydney, in the colony of  New South Wales. His home in Circular Quay was turned into the first Post Office in 1810, this was soon followed by other colonies; Hobart (Van Diemen’s Land) (Tasmania), Brisbane (Queensland) (then part of NSW), Perth (Western Australia), Adelaide (South Australia) and Melbourne (Victoria).

On November 1^st , 1838, the New South Wales Post Office, issued prepaid envelopes valid for use within the Sydney area. These were embossed with the official seal of the General Post Office, although they were not postage stamps as we know them, they certainly were the pioneers.

The first Australian stamps to be issued were the Sydney Views series of New South Wales, on the 1^st of January, 1850. Being quite rare, these imperforated stamps should not be confused with the later perforated issue’s, which are common.

Victoria issued its first stamps on the 3^rd of January 1850.The next colony to issue stamps was Van Diemen's Land, on November the 1^st  1853, with the name being changed to Tasmania in 1856. Then followed Western Australia, with the popular black swan series on August the 1^st 1854. South Australia on January the 1^st 1855, and Queensland, after officially becoming a state, issued its first stamps on the 1^st of November 1860, prior to this postage stamps of  New South Wales were used.

With the creation of The Commonwealth of Australia on the 1^st of January 1901, stamps bearing the name Australia did not appear until 1913. This was partly due to inefficiency within the Post Office, so state stamps were continued to be used and were valid for postage anywhere. At the time, much anti royalist sentiment existed within Australia, with the republicans strenuously opposed to the incorporation of the head of the British Sovereign on Australian stamps. The first of these stamps were issued in 1913, and will feature in part two of this series.

A Brief History of Australian Postage
Part Two

With the republicans having a powerful influence on Prime Minister Fisher’s government, the first stamps to be issued bearing the name Australia, were the kangaroo in map design, the first of this issue were released on the 2^nd of January 1913. With the defeat of the Fisher government, one of the first acts of the new Cook government, was to issue a series of stamps bearing the portrait of King George V, with the first of these stamps being issued on the 8^th of December 1913. The Post Office then proceeded to keep both issues in print to satisfy both political parties. Stamps issued by the various States continued to be valid for postage until the introduction of decimal currency in 1966, late usage of these stamps on cover can be very valuable indeed, even  the more common types.

The first stamp issued after  the above issues was the six pence, claret Kookaburra, released on the 28^th of August 1914 and featuring a classic design that was used again in 1928 on the three pence blue issue, for the 4^th Australian Philatelic Exhibition.

Airmail was introduced on July 16^th 1914, when Maurice Guillaux made the first flight from Melbourne to Sydney carrying 1785 cards. Two stamps commemorating the 50^th anniversary of this flight were issued in 1964. The first airmail stamp was issued on the 20^th of May 1929, this featured a De Haviland biplane flying over a flock of sheep.

The first commemorative stamp was issued  for the opening of parliament house Canberra, on the 9^th of May 1927. Opened by the Duke of York who later became King George VI.

On February 14^th 1966 decimal currency was introduced and all Pound, Shilling and Pence values were withdrawn from Post Offices, though they were still valid for postage for a short time afterwards.

By Alan Sparks, May 2002