BNAPS British Columbia Postal History Study Group

Newsletter - British Columbia Postal History Newsletter

S&O Railway postmark
S&O Railway
AP 7 / 00
RY-175

SS Aberdeen ticket stamp
JUN / 9 / 1906
Steamer 'Selma'
Steamer "Selma"
MAY 29 1913
Paquebot postmark
Paquebot
Received at Victoria
NO 6 / 14
Powell River POCON postmark
Powell River POCON
VIII 30 1977
Victoria to Seattle via seaplane postmark
Victoria to Seattle
VIA SEA PLANE
Mount Lehman POCON postmark
Mount Lehman POCON
2018-03-02

Newsletter Editors

From To Editor
1992 2014 Bill Topping
2014 2021 Andrew Scott, Editor
Tracy Cooper, Associate Editor
2021 Morris Beattie, Editor
Tracy Cooper, Associate Editor

Viewing the newsletters

The issues are in PDF format. File sizes vary from 1.0 to 3.0 MB. When you click on an issue number, it will be displayed in a new window. Closing the window returns you to this page.

How to search the newsletters

Here are three ways of searching the newsletters.

Index for issues 1 (1992) to 80 (2011)

Issue No. 81 contains an index of significant references to post offices covering issues 1 (1992) to 80 (2011).

Index for issues 1 (1992) to 120 (2021)

Morris Beattie prepared an index covering issues 1 (1992) to 120 (2021). See details under "Other resources" below.

Google search

To search through the newsletters using Google and constrain the search results to just the newsletters, paste the text: site:bnaps.org/hhl/newsletters/bcr in the Google search box followed by the phrase you wish to search for. In the image reproduced below, the search phrase is "Vernon".

Example of newsletter search using Google

Other resources

Click on the title. The publication will be displayed in a new window. Closing the window returns you to this page.


British Columbia Postal History Newsletter Index for Issues 1 - 120
Morris Beattie
BC Postal History Monograph No 4a
File size: 0.6 MB

This index was distributed with the British Columbia Postal History Newsletter, Vol. 31, No. 1, Mar. 2022.


The Lost Children Revisited
Tracy Cooper
BC Postal History Monograph No 1
File size: 0.2 MB


Brief History of Activities of the Vancouver Postal Censorship Station 1939-1945
Compiled by G. H. Clarke, District Director of Postal Services
File size: 1.1 MB

This document was assembled in September 1945. It provides a contemporary summary of all the numerous activities of the Censorship Station, as well as a history of censored mail through Vancouver during World War II.

It is Supplement #2 to the British Columbia Postal History Newsletter, and was distributed with the Vol. 24, No. 4, Dec. 2015, issue.


British Columbia Post Offices - Topping and Robinson
1991 Edition
Rarity Factor E Update

Tracy Cooper
B.C. Postal History Monograph #3
File size: 0.1 MB

Distributed with British Columbia Postal History Newsletter, Vol. 25, No. 1, Mar. 2016.


Andy Morod and the Nootka Sound Region
Gray Scrimgeour
File size: 1.7 MB

British Columbia Postal History Newsletter Supplement No. 4. Distributed with the Mar. 2019 issue of the newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 1.


A Correspondence from End of Track, B.C.
Brian Copeland
B.C. Postal History Monograph #5
File size: 0.9 MB

In newsletter #107 (September 2018, pp. 1077-1081), Tracy Cooper wrote about the End of Track story. At the time, eight BC End of Track postmarks had been reported. Recently, six additional envelopes bearing End of Track strikes dated from July through September 1885 have surfaced. Four contained letters that add to the overall story. This monograph discusses these letters and additional relevant material.

This monograph was distributed with the British Columbia Postal History Newsletter, Vol. 31, No. 1, Mar. 2022.


The Maitland-Dougall Family of Duncan, BC
Bruce Pollock
B.C. Postal History Monograph #6
File size: 2.7 MB

Presents the story of a remarkable family in the Cowichan Valley of British Columbia: James St. Leger Maitland-Dugall, his wife Winifred (née McKinstry Watson), and their two sons, William and Hamish. Many of the covers illustrating the monograph are ex Gerald Wellburn.

This monograph was distributed with the British Columbia Postal History Newsletter, Vol. 31, No. 2, June 2022.


Mails of the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company (Limited)
Morris Beattie
B.C. Postal History Monograph #7
File size: 3.7 MB

The Canadian Pacific Navigation Company (CPN), together with several competing companies, played a significant role in the development of mail services in northern British Columbia over the period from 1883 until 1901, at which time it was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. During its period of operation, the shipping line carried mail on both an informal (without markings) and formal (with markings) basis.

This monograph summarizes the background to the development of north coast mail services and the formation of the CPN. It discusses the vessels owned by that company and their probable involvement in mail delivery, and examines examples of any known postal markings used by CPN vessels.

The monograph was distributed with the British Columbia Postal History Newsletter, Vol. 32, No. 2, June 2023.


► NEW ◄
Cable Repair in the Pacific: 1937–1942
Ian Kimmerly and Gray Scrimgeour
B.C. Postal History Monograph #8
File size: 5.2 MB

This monograph describes items from an extensive correspondence between 1937 and 1942 involving Henry Porter, a trans-Pacific cable repair worker based in Victoria, British Columbia. Most of Porter’s cable repair trips were aboard the Cable Ship Restorer, owned by the Commercial Pacific Cable Company. Porter’s mail — from places such as Honolulu, Midway, Wake, Guam and Manila — usually was sent by air mail via U.S. Foreign Air Mail (FAM) Route 14, the Pacific Route of Pan American Airways (PanAm). This correspondence provides extremely rare examples of Canadian mail across the Pacific.

The monograph was distributed with the British Columbia Postal History Newsletter, Vol. 33, No. 2, June 2024.


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This page was last modified on 2024-12-07