International Mail (4)

In 1824, Dr. Thomas Edward Wood proposed to the Spanish government that a company be created to transport mail, passengers and other goods between Havana, Puerto Rico, Tenerife and Cádiz. After considerable study, the “Empresa de Correos Mar ítimos” was created and a formal regulation governing management of the company was published at Havana on April 23, 1827.

Article 7 of the regulations required that all mail originating from Cuba on the line must be prepaid. When this letter, written August 31, 1839, was taken to the post office and the postage paid, it was stamped “Habana/ Franco.”

Tome I, p10: Havana to Barbastro, Spain. 23 April, 1827.

Along the top of the letter sheet, the writer had placed additional directions for its destination, “España, Reino de Aragón” (Spain, [Former] Kingdom of Aragon), to aid the postal workers in determining where Barbastro was located. There are no postmarks on the back and the letter was not docketed upon receipt, so unfortunately, we do not know how long it took to arrive at Barbastro, Spain.