The

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Com ...

of the

Malayan Peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

have a

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is at ...

distinct from the other Malayan areas.

Early postal arrangements

Mail was originally handled privately by passing ships; the earliest known

postal marking A postal marking is any kind of annotation applied to a letter by a postal service. The most common types are postmarks and cancellations; almost every letter will have those. Less common types include forwarding addresses, routing annotation ...

s date from around 1806, used by a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

on Prince of Wales Island (now

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

).''Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840-1970''. 111th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2009, p. 365.

Stamps of British India and Burma

Service was regularised by the Indian Post Office Act of 1837, by which the East India Company was granted a monopoly of the mail services. All private vessels were required to carry letters at prescribed rates for postage. Acts of the government of India from 1834 to 1838 inclusive: Ordered to be ... pp.65-6. On line.
/ref> Handstamps were applied to preadhesive ship letters.

Postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

s of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

were used from 1854, the Settlements being considered part of the "Bengal circle", then from 1861 they became part of the "Burma circle". The cancellations used were B/109 at

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

, B/147 at Penang, and B/172 at

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

First stamps

When the Settlements became a

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

in 1867, they began issuing their own stamps, not least because they adopted a currency based on 96 cents to a silver dollar. Beginning on 1 September 1867, nine types in the existing stocks of Indian stamps were

overprint An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a Postage stamp, postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or Ticket (admission), ticket after it has been Printing, printed. Post offices most often use ...

ed with a crown and a new value in cents. Then, stamps printed by

De La Rue De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in Basingstoke, England, that designs and produces banknotes, secure polymer substrate and banknote security features (including security holograms, security threads and security printe ...

for the Settlements started arriving in December; they are notable for a prominent white frame around the profile of Victoria, inscribed "STRAITS SETTLEMENTS POSTAGE". The set of nine values, 2c to 96c, appeared gradually, with the 30c value not being issued until 1872. Shortages from 1879 through 1882 necessitated the production of various surcharges, until new 5c and 10c stamps arrived in January 1882. Additional surcharges appeared regularly until the end of the century. 1906straitssettlements2c

Key plates

In 1892,

key plate stamp Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

s went on sale, a number of them printed in two colours. A notable feature of this issue is the $5 stamp issued in 1898. The accession of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second chil ...

necessitated new stamps in 1902, still in a key plate design, supplemented in 1903 with a design using oval vignette.

Twentieth century

The island of

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capita ...

was incorporated into the colony in 1907, the remainder of Labuan Colony's stamps were overprinted "STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.", some with new denominations. In 1910 new stamps appeared with values of $25 and $500 (although available for postage, their more usual use was fiscal). George V replaced Edward VII on stamps beginning in 1912, reusing the frames and replacing only the vignettes. These stamps were overprinted in 1922 to mark the

Malaya-Borneo Exhibition The Malaya-Borneo Exhibition was an exhibition of the trade and economic possibilities of British Malaya and British Borneo which was arranged to synchronise with the Prince of Wales's visit to Singapore in March 1922. Governor Sir Lawrence Guille ...

. The Straits Settlements also joined in the Silver Jubilee issue for George V in 1935. The last issue of the Straits Settlements was the 1937 George VI series. Stamp Malaya Strait Settlements Japanese Occ 1942

Stamp Malaya Strait Settlements Japanese Occ 1942

World War II

In March 1942,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

issued stamps for their occupation, by overprinting existing stamps with Japanese inscriptions. After the Japanese surrendered in 1945, the British military administration issued provisionals by overprinting Straits Settlements stamps with "BMA / MALAYA". These stamps were used until 1948, when stamps were produced for

and

. The Straits Settlements was dissolved in 1946, with Singapore becoming a separate Crown colony, while Penang and Malacca joined the new

Malayan Union The Malayan Union was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government to simplify administration. ...

References and sources

;References ;Sources
AskPhil – Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms

* Lowe, Robson. (1951) ''The Encyclopedia of British Empire Postage Stamps Volume III''. London: Robson Lowe, pp. 296–321. * Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. (1986) ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald.
British Malaya Security Markings: Firm Chops, PERFINS, Forwarding Agents Chops etc.
* Francis E. Wood, "Straits Settlements and native protected states with special reference to stamps of doubtful catalogue status" in

The London Philatelist ''The London Philatelist'' was first published in January 1892
by

Francis E. Wood, ''Straits Settlements postage stamps''. Betws-y-Coed: 1945 or 1948. (Reprinted: Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, Selangor Stamp Club, 1961.)

External links

Malaya Study Group
{{PostalhistoryAsia British Malaya British rule in Singapore Philately of Malaysia Philately of Singapore Straits Settlements