Caribbean stamps

Currently on work experience at the Postal Museum from my first year at Exeter University studying History. I've been lucky enough to have been given the great opportunity to write this article! It focuses on four islands in the Caribbean and their particular individualities within the British Empire.

The British Empire and Commonwealth spanned a vast area over the 20th century being at its largest in 1922, unfortunately I don’t have the space or time to delve into the stamps of every area or the Commonwealth nor would most have the patience or interest to read it all. Instead I bring you a relatively short piece about four of the Caribbean islands under British control with two still being British Overseas Territories. It follows the journey from the inception of their stamps until independence and looks at the individuality of each despite the power of the colonial government. The Caribbean islands were also relatively different as a whole, being too small to have their stamps printed on the islands themselves, instead stamps were printed in Great Britain and shipped to them. I hope that this article can inspire people to not only see stamps as a valuable historical source and item of interest but also to look beyond the catalogues and delve into the history of the countries themselves.