Devonport (GB)

From Stamps of the World
GB 1d Red Plate 51 MH.jpg
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  • Plymouth Dock

In 1690 the Admiralty gave a contract to Robert Waters from Portsmouth to build a stone dock at Point Forward on the east bank of the Hamoaze at the mouth of the River Tamar. Plymouth Dock, as Devonport was originally called, began around 1700 as a small settlement to house workers employed on the new naval base that was being built around Waters' dock. By 1733 its population had grown to around 3,000, and by 1801 it was already larger than both the nearby towns of Plymouth and Stonehouse together.

  • Devonport

By 1811 the population of Plymouth Dock was just over 30,000 and the residents resented the fact that its name made it sound like an adjunct of Plymouth. In 1823 a petition to King George IV requested the town should be renamed, and suggested "Devonport". The king agreed, and to celebrate, the town built a column next to the recently completed town hall; both were designed by John Foulston. Devonport was first incorporated as a municipal borough in 1837 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.

In July, 1849, the first outbreaks in what became a cholera epidemic arose on Union Street which connected Plymouth to Devonport, and were initially attributed to blockage of several house drains during construction of a new Millbay railway station. Devonport became a county borough under the Local Government Act 1888.

Devonport was issued the P.O. Numeral of 250 in 1844

Postmark Examples

GB 1d Red Plate 51 MH.jpg
1865 Devonport (Plymouth ) to Malta scarce deficient postage handstamp.
Small envelope with a GB 4d vermillion (pl 17) and 2 x 1d red plates (pl 87 and 97) posted at Devonport on 6th December 1865,sent to an officer on HMS Surprise. There is a 2 line postage due handstamp ‘DEFICIENT POSTAGE 6d’ ‘FINE 6d’ with a large 1/- tax mark. London and Malta arrival handstamps on the reverse.
HMS Surprise