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Bibliography, Reading & Abbreviation lists

  Bibliography


Beck, Lt. Cdr. J. W.     International Mail The Falmouth Packet Service (7pages)
Beck, John [Lt. Cdr.]     Captain John Bull of The Falmouth Packet Service
               South West Maritime History Society, Exeter (1995)  ISBN 0 9526455 0 5

Blyth H.                The History of Falmouth as a Packet Station since 1688…"

Britnor, Leonard E,       The History of the Sailing Packets to the West Indies (1973)
               British West Indies Study Circle  (paper No.5)  Kindly loaned by Peter Gilson (1996-7-8-9!)

Burns, Alan           The History of the British West Indies. Read:   1494 - "The Line"

Esquemeling, John Bucaniers of America, printed in English in 1684 (originally in Dutch)

Gay, Susan        Old Falmouth, The Story of the Days of the Killigrews to the Earliest Part of the 19th Century
                            Published by Headley Brothers, 14 Bishopsgate Street Without, London E.C (1903) Hardback, 260 pages.

Garstin, Crosbie    Samuel Kelly, An Eighteenth Century Seaman, Whose Days Have Been Few and Evil, To Whom Is Added Remarks...on Places He Visited During His Pilgrimage in This Wilderness. NY: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1925. 1st ed. 4to. Illus. 320pp
[Kelly relates to his service, from 1778, on Falmouth packets Thynne and Grenville.]
 100 years after Samuel Kelly of St. Ives died,  Garstin published a "Falmouth Edition" (160 copies)

Graham, G.C. & Humphries, R.A., The Navy & South America 1807-1823 (1912)

Gwin, Thomas    A Memorial of Anne Gwin, who Departed this Life at Falmouth, the 15th Day of the Second* Month called April, 1715, in the 23rd year of her age.  London: Printed by the Assigns of F. Sowle, in White-Hart Court, in Gracious Street and at the Bible in George-Yard, Lombard-Street, 1715. (40 pages)  Born at Falmouth on the 4th day of the 5th* month [July] of 1692 ... [*Old Style, Pre Gregorian Calendar]
[Daniel Gwin was the Packet Agent from 1689-1705... was Anne his niece?]  An interesting insight into health, travel and life of women early in the 18th century.

Howat, J.N.T.,            Postal History Intl. 9/1977
Howat, Rev. J.N.T.     South American Packets 1808 - 1880
               The British Packet Service to Brazil, the River Plate, The West Coast (via the Straits of Magellan) and the Falkland Islands)                        Published by The Postal History Society.  William Sessions Ltd., York. (1984)  ISBN 0 900657 95 2
               See Jeremy's website and publications

Lowe,  Robson.          The Codrington Correspondence, 1743-1851; (London 1951)
                "being a study of a recently discovered dossier of letters from the West Indian islands of Antigua and Barbuda  mostly addressed to the Codringtons of Dodington, with especial reference to the history of those adventurous                times and the hitherto unrecorded POSTAL HISTORY OF THE ANTIGUAN MAIL.
               SUBJECTS:     Postal service--Antigua. Antigua.--History.  Barbuda.--History. Codrington family.
               [Kindly referred (Nov. 99) by Victoria Cheney,   cheney@mail.utexas.edu  ]

Ludington, M. H. (Morris Hoadley), quoting sailings from Bermuda Royal Gazette
Ludington, M. H. (Morris Hoadley), Bahamas Early Mail Services and Postal Markings.
                       Washington, DC: Alpha Philatelic Printing and Publishing Co., 1982


Mackey, Albert Gallatin (1807-1881), The History of Freemasonry. Random House (1996)

 Manceron, Claude (1922-1999),  The Men of Liberty, Europe on the Eve of the French Revolution 1774-1778
                                *Translated from the French by Patricia Wolf. Published by Eyre Methuen, London (1977)
                                * Les Hommes de la Liberte, Les Vingt ans du Roi, Editions Robert Laffont, Paris (1972)

Minchinton, Prof. W. E., The Voyage of the Snow AFRICA,
               pp 187-196, The Mariner's Mirror, Vol.37 No.3. (July 1951)  
               [ The Quarterly Journal of the Society for Nautical Research.]

Mudd, David,           The Falmouth Packets, (1978)

Norway, A. H.,           The Post-Office Packet service " MacMillan (1895)

O'Byrne, W. R.,           A Naval Biographical Dictionary. (1849)

Philbrick, Miss M.E.,      Packet Captains Of Flushing 1689 - 1815. (42p booklet)
               Articles in History Around the Fal.  Parts 1, II, II and IV, including:
               Commanders Appointed By The General Post Office
               Commanders Appointed by the Admiralty

Redwood, Ursula     The Story of Flushing, Cornwall (1967)

Robertson, H.W.          Britain's Post Office
Robertson, Howard.,      Carrying British Mails Overseas (Allen & Unwin 1964)
Robertson, H. W.     A ) History of the Ship Letters of the British Isles
[Available at          B ) Ships & Shipping
Falmouth Library]     C ) Rates & Postal Charges
               D ) The Kinds of Maritime Handstamps
               Private printing of 600 copies by Pardy & Sons, Bournemouth (1955)

Thomas, David A.,      A Companion To The Royal Navy (1988)

Wellington & Lugg,       A Panorama Of Falmouth (1827) - based upon Richard Thomas' Guide
               [inc. Private Signals and  Commanders Appointed By The Admiralty]

Whetter, J.C.A.          Daniel Gwin - the First Agent of the Falmouth Packet Station
               [Old Cornwall, Vol. VI. No. 7. Autumn 1964]
Whetter, J.C.A.          Glasney College - Penryn


Other reference publications

Ben Franklin's Privateers, W. B. Clark, Baton Rouge, LA.(1956) (re Black Prince)
Doctor Franklin Postmaster General, R L Butler (1928)  
Falmouth Library Maritime Exhibition Brochure (1938)
Lake's Guide To Falmouth 1820 [and several other years] (Falmouth Library)
Pigot's Directory Of Cornwall 1830 (Falmouth Library)
Samuel Pellow's Letter Books (RIC, Truro)
Pennsylvania Gazette (by subscription at http://www.accessible.com/

The Development of the Transatlantic Mail Service to Bermuda
by J. C. Arnell  [kindly given to me by Arthur Blundell, 22.10.1997]
Bermuda Journal of Archaeology and Maritime History Vil. 1 (1989) pp. 25-42

Atlantic Mails, A History of the Mail Service Between Great Britain and Canada to 1889 by Dr. John C. Arnell.
The history, rates, markings and sailings. 1980, 412 pages, 58 color illustrations, cloth.

Steam and the North Atlantic Mails by Dr. John C. Arnell
The transition from Sail to Steam and the impact of the British mail contracts on the Cunard Line. 1987, 300 pages, cloth. [Very useful.]  
Bermuda Mails to 1865, An Inventory of the Postal Markings
by Michel FORAND and Charles FREELAND
British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group (1995)

The Postal History of the P & O Service to the Peninsula, by R. Kirk F.R.P.S., L
Royal Philatelic Society, London (1987)  ISBN 0 900631 15 5   (116 pages)

The Nova Scotia Post, Its Offices,Masters & Marks 1700-1867,
by J. J. MacDonald Ph.D.  
Unitrase Press, Toronto (1985) HB 295 pages   ISBN  0-919801-12-4



The Postage Rates of the North Atlantic Mails (1635-1950)
The Inland and Ocean Postage Rates Applied to Letters Between the UK and North America, by, and published by Malcolm Beresford MONTGOMERY MBE (1991)
ISBN  0 95 18335 0 2                [ 26 Cambridge Road, Southampton, SO2 0RD ]

The Message Carriers of Cadiz 1830-1860, by S. Nathan
Spanish Philatelic Society Book club No. 6.
Published by the Spanish Philatelic Society, Brighton BN1 3HQ  (1976)

The Postal History and Markings of the Forwarding Agents, by Kenneth Rowe
Leonard Hartmann (1984)   ISBN 0-917528-12-3   HB 270 pages

Newspapers  

Acadian Recorder (Halifax)
Antigua Chronicle
Bermuda Royal Gazette
British Colonist (Halifax)
Dominica Gazette
Exeter Flying Post
Halifax Gazette (1752-1766) *
Illustrated London News
Jamaica Royal Gazette
Lakes' Falmouth Packet & Cornish Herald
Lisbon Gazette [Gazeta de Lisboa ]
 London Evening Gazette
 Lloyds List
Madrid Gazette
Martinico Gazette
* Nova Scotia Gazette
Pennsylvania Gazette
Pennsylvania Packet
Royal Cornwall Gazette
Sherborne Mercury *
South Carolina Gazettes
West Briton

Newsplan Project - Disappointing, as the title suggests digitised newspapers....but, a good site listing newspapers on microfilm

 Abbreviations used in the Falmouth Packet Archives

AC     = Antigua Chronicle
AHN     = A.H. Norway, Author of The Post-Office Packet Service  (Macmillan, 1895)
ALB       = American Letter Book [Post-Office Record Room, London]
ARec   =  Acadian Recorder (Halifax N.S. newspaper)
BM     = British Museum (London)
BRGaz     = Bermuda Royal Gazette [The Royal Gazette, daily since 1828]
BRec   = British Colonist (Halifax N.S. newspaper)
CAL     = Calendar of State Papers, Domestic series (Charles II)
CFHS     = Cornish Family History Society
CRO     = Cornish Record Office [inc. Parish Register for Falmouth 1660-1812]
DAT     = David A. Thomas, Author of "A Companion to The Royal Navy"
D.Gaz     = Dominica Gazette
DU     = Duke University Library (Durham, North Carolina, USA)
ELib     = Exeter Reference Library (Gentleman's Magazine, Illustrated London News)
ExFP    = Exeter Flying Post
FLBk     = Falmouth Letter Books [see POST] (8 vols., several others lost/missing)
FLib     = Falmouth Passmore Library
FMus     = Falmouth Maritime Museum
FP     = Lakes' Falmouth Packet & Cornish Herald (Newspaper on microfilm 1839 +)
        (some editions missing due non-printing c.1847)
Gay     = Susan Gay (daughter of William Gay, Falmouth packet agent 6/12/1824)
Gaz        = London Evening Gazette (Newspaper)
GH     = Greenbank Hotel (Selly's Greenbank Hotel, Falmouth)
HGaz     = Halifax Gazette (1752-1766, when it was changed to Nova Scotia Gazette.)
HMM     = Halifax Maritime Museum (Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Fax 902 424 0612)
Howat     = Rev. J. N. T. Howat [see correspondence]
HR     = Howard Robinson (Author of 'Britain's Post Office' )
HU     = Dalhousie University, Halifax (Nova Scotia, Fax 902 494 2062)
Ill     = Illustrated London News (Weekly from 1842- )
JA     = Dr. Jack Arnell (Died April 2000) Philatelist and Archivist, Bermuda
JRGaz  = Jamaica Royal Gazette
LC     = Library of Congress, Washington DC
LEB     = L. E. Britnor (Author of The History of the Sailing Packets to the West Indies (1973).  
        Published by the British West Indies Study Circle  (paper No.5)  
LGaz      = Lisbon Gazette [Gazeta de Lisboa , started in 1715]
LL         = Lloyds List (Published since 1741)
LLib     = London Library
LUR     = Lady Ursula Redgrave (Local history research, Flushing, Cornwall)
MadGaz= Madrid Gazette
MGaz     = Martinico Gazette
MHA     = Museum of the Marine Historical Association. (Mystic, Connecticut, USA.)
NCU     = University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, N. Carolina
NjP     = Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey
NMM     = National Maritime Museum (Greenwich, London)
NSGaz  = Nova Scotia Gazette (Prior to 1766, it was called the Halifax Gazette, see above)
PGAZ    = Pennsylvania Gazette (available on-line by subscription from wwww.accessible.com)
PPak      = The Pennsylvania Packet, Philadelphia  
Phil     = Miss M. E. Philbrick (R.I.C. Courtney Library, Truro.)
         (Packet and postal records she collated from FP, LL, RCG, SM, WB.)
PLB     = G.P.O. Packet Letter Book  [see POST]
PLib     = Plymouth Library
POST     = Post Office Records (Post Office Archives, London. See PLB, PRBk, SL, TLB, WP )
PRBk    = Packet report Book [see POST]
PRO     = Public Record Office (Kew, London)
PSoc     = Philatelic Society
Quest    =The Quest for Longitude, by J.H. Andrews.  (Harvard Uni. 1996)
RCG     = Royal Cornwall Gazette (Newspaper)
RIC     = Royal Institution of Cornwall. [E-mail] (Courtney Library, Truro)
SL     = Saverland Letters [Post Office Archives, Mount Pleasant, London.]
SM        = Sherborne Mercury
Smith.  = Smithsonian National Postal Museum
TLB     = Treasury Letter Book (w.e.f. 1706, now held at the Post Office Archives,  London)
TLib     = Truro Passmore Library
TMus     = Truro Museum
VMM     = Mariners' Museum Library (Newport News, Virginia, USA)
WB        = West Briton (Newspaper)
WP     = Walsingham Papers ( Post Office Archives, London, and H. Robinson)


Notes on other Sources

"Cholmondeley MSS at Cambridge University Library hold the papers for the Postmaster General Sir Robert Walpole which is why they contain many references to Packet Boat activities."
(Information courtesy of Julian Cope, 1999)



Monday, 1752 March 23 (Julian calendar)  
Monday, 1752 April 3 (Gregorian calendar)
On this day, the oldest newspaper in Canada began publication in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as the Halifax Gazette. In 1766, the name was changed to the Nova Scotia Gazette. In 1999 it continues regular publication once a week as the Royal Gazette.


The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School
Pre 18th Century Documents

 A NAVAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
   by GARDNER W. ALLEN    AMERICANREVOLUTION.ORG
An excellent account of the development of the American navy, which site quotes from (extracts)

The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States. Edited by Francis  Wharton. Washington, 1889.

B. F. Stevens's Facsimiles of Manuscripts in European Archives Relating to America, 1773-1783. London, 1889-1895. [ Stevens.] Correspondence of French and British ministers and others relating to neutrality, American naval cruisers and privateers, etc.

A History of All the Engagements by Sea and Land that happened in America and Europe and the East and West Indies during the American Revolution. Manchester, 1787. Reports of British officers.

Statistical History of the Navy of the United States. By Lieutenant George F. Emmons, USN Washington, 1853.
Lists of Continental navy, of captures, and of privateers.

Battles of the United States by Sea and Land. By Henry B. Dawson. New York, 1858. [ Dawson.]
Official reports and very copious references

The Navy of the American Revolution. By Charles Oscar Paullin. Chicago, 1906. [ Paullin.]
An exceedingly valuable account of the organisation and administration of the Continental navy and of the state navies, with full references. "It contains a vast amount of information hitherto practically inaccessible and is indispensable for the student of this subject."

Naval Chronology. By Isaac Schomberg, R.N. London, 1802. [ Schomberg.] Gives valuable statistics.

Histoire de la Marine Francaise pendant la Guerre de l'Independance Americaine. Par E. Chevalier. Paris, 1877. [ Chevalier.] Contains extracts from official letters and ships' journals.

Histoire de la participation de Ia France a I'etablissement des Etats-Unis d'Amerique. Par Henri Doniol. Paris, 1886. [ Doniol.]

Franklin in France. By Edward Everett Hale and E. E. Hale, Jr. Boston, 1887. [ Hale.]

The Writings of Benjamin Franklin. Edited by Albert Henry  Smyth. New York, 1905.



Reflections On Suffolk County, (Long Island, New York)
Colonial Long Island: 1650-1783 - an overview
http://www.longislandgenealogy.com/reflections.html


Electronic Searches for out of print books, Try;

BookFinder for secondhand books
Test Search & Result (11 May 2000) for " Alan W. Robertson"

Robertson, Alan W.

Great Britain: Post Roads...Post Towns...Postal Rates 1635-1839
Brattle Bookshop. Privately Printed 1961 Very Good in Very Good DJ. B&W Illustrations, Maps. Please quote: 2935 Keywords: Coaching & Roads CR $45

THE SHIP LETTER STAMPS OF LIVERPOOL 1781 to 1900 (Circa)
Greenfield Books Ltd. London: The Regent Stamp Co., Ltd., 1953. Ed. Not stated, Pamphlet - some creasing and   soiling, else good+, 8vo, pp. 11. Pub'd as a supplement to "The Philatelist & Postal Historian". Incl. Packet Letter and Handstamps of Maritime Significance., B&W illustrations, Stamps & Coins Philately Philatelic Stamp Collecting Postage Stamps Packet Letters Handstamps Maritime Stamps Ship Letter Stamps.  $5

Search for Arthur H. Norway produced; Norway, Arthur H.
HIGHWAYS & BYWAYS IN YORKSHIRE, illns by Joseph Pennell & Hugh Thomson.
Highways & byways in Devon and Cornwall (illns by Pennell & Thomson)  
Naples Past & Present (2 vol. in l)

Search for Howard Robinson produced; Robinson, Howard
British Post Office: A History
CARRYING BRITISH MAILS OVERSEAS.
The Development of the British Empire
A History of the Post Office in New Zealand.
Britain's Post Office. A History of Development From The Beginnings to the Present Day
The Development of the British Empire. Revised and Enlarged Edition
A History of Great Britain

Search for The History of the Sailing Packets to the West Indies , produced Britnor, L.E.
The History of the Sailing Packets to the West Indies
Zubal Books: Publisher: London 1973,.; 4to, published as "Paper No. 5"; illus. with maps, reproductions, etc., v.g $40
Britnor, L.E. The History of the Sailing Packets to the West Indies   
British West Indies Study Circle, 1973 HC, somewhat worn, bookplate flyleaf Book # 2038
Price: US$ 40.00  Williams Books, Route 1 Box 190-A, Martinsburg, WV, USA, 25401. E-mail: terhunepayson@juno.com


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