French post offices in China
The French post offices in China were among the
Operation
Unlike the other foreign post offices in China, the French operated two distinct types of post offices in China. Offices of the first type, typically located in French
Run by France
The Paris-run Post Offices in China and their opening dates are as follows:[2]
1862
- Shanghai (spelled as "Shang-haï" in the French postmark of the period)
1889
- Tianjin (Tien-tsin)
1898
1900
1902
- Xiamen (Amoy)
For the above post offices, the French government issued stamps of the "
In addition to ordinary postage stamps, France also issued postal stationery and postage due stamps for use at the Paris-run Chinese post offices.
Run by French Indochina
The post offices run by French Indochina differed from the other French Post Offices in China in a number of areas. Initially, the general issues of the Paris-run French Offices in China c. 1902-1904 were used, and these can be found with postmarks applied by the Indochinese offices. But shortly thereafter, stamps were issued with overprints specific to the office that issued them. For instance, the Canton office issued stamps overprinted “CANTON” rather than “CHINE.” Seven such Indochinese post offices had these overprints (here written as they appeared on the stamps) along with their opening dates:[1]
1900
- Hoi Hao
- Kouang Tchéou Wan
- Yunnan Fou
1901
1902
- Pakhoi
- Mongtze
1903
- Tchongking
One additional way that the Indochinese offices differed from the other French Post Offices in China was that their issues were all overprints applied to the then-current stamps of French Indochina, rather than to the stamps of France. The Paris-run offices would not accept mail franked with unoverprinted stamps of French Indochina, but the Indochinese run-offices are known to have done so. For this reason, French Indochina stamps are sometimes found legitimately used with cancels from one of their Chinese offices. Stamps from the Indochinese offices in China can likewise be found with cancels from Indochina proper, although these were likely applied at Hanoi or other locations through which mail had to pass, (i.e. these are essentially
The Indochinese Offices in France also sometimes opened sub-post offices within the area they served. For instance, the Canton office would eventually open six branches within the area it served. The specific branch a Canton stamp was used at can sometimes be seen in the postmark. Earlier Canton postmarks read “Canton / Chine” whereas later cancels include a code letter from A to F to show at which branch of the Canton office they were used.[1] Although covers are uncommon to scarce with some index letters (code letter C being most common), on adhesives these cancels are quite common on the overprinted Indochina issues. Recently it has been suggested that these code letters could be time code instead of name of branch offices. Time coding was used by the British post office in Canton on its cancels at around this time. Code A was used in the morning shift and code B in the afternoon shift.
Closure
All foreign-run post offices in China permanently closed on 31 December 1922 [3] if they had not been closed earlier. - The remainder stocks of the Indochinese office issues were called back by the French Indochina postal authorities and used up in Indochina and Kouang Tchéou Wan. They are seen on commercially used covers, also used in mixed frank with regular issues, until the mid 1930s. Particular the stocks of high denomination stamps took a long time to be exhausted.
Kwangchowan
One notable exception to this were the post offices in
Due to its status as a leased territory still in existence after 1922, Kouang Tchéou was the only French postal entity in China to issue
French postal operations in Kouang-Tchéou continued until 1943, when the colony was occupied by the Japanese army. Although France resumed sovereignty briefly over the colony for a few months at the end of the Second World War the territory was returned to China in early 1946.[4]
References
- ^ a b c Jacques Desrousseaux, "Bureaux Indochinois en Chine (Indochinese Offices in China, in French)". Colfra Editions, Paris, 2011. "Bureaux indochinois en Chine - Col.fra". Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ Dr. Jérôme Chane-Tune, Bureaux français et indochinois en Chine. Essai de nomenclature des timbres à date des bureaux de poste (1863-1922) [French and Indochinese PO in China - comprehensive and practical nomenclature of the datestamps used (1863 - 1922)], Colfra Editions, Paris, 2005. "Timbres a date des bureaux francais et indochinois en Chine 1863 - 1922". Archived from the original on 2007-02-07. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
- ^ Éditions Yvert & Tellier, "Catalogue de Timbres-Poste Tome 1". Éditions Yvert & Tellier, Paris, 2007.
- ^ a b c Desrousseaux, Jacques (2011). "Territoire de Kouang Tchéou Wan (Territory of Kwangchowan". Colfra Editions (in French). Paris. Archived from the original on 3 June 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
Sources
- Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues
- Yvert et Tellier: various catalogues
- AskPhil – Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms
- Encyclopaedia of Postal History
- Stuart Rossiter & John Flower: The Stamp Atlas
- The Hong Kong Philately Society Journal J23, J25, J26, J27, J28 Postal History and Philately articles by Dr. Andrew Cheung FRPSL, AIEP and Mr. Dennis Chow on French Post Offices in China