The diversity of postal issues in Papua New Guinea is a reflection of the turbulent politics of colonization by Britain and Germany, the impact of two world wars and the significance of the development of air mail services in the rugged, isolated terrain of a country like Papua New Guinea. These philatelic treasures reflect in their artistic designs the country’s historical development, its unique cultures and significant social events. The postal history begins in the early 1880’s with the colonial aspirations of the two empires.
On 3 November 1884 the north eastern part of New Guinea above the 141 degree meridian, then known as Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, and the Bismark Archipelago consisting of Neu-Pommern (now called New Britain) and Neu-Mecklenberg (now New Ireland) came under German commercial control through the formation of the Neuguinea-Kompanie (New Guinea Company). On 1 April 1899 the German government took formal control and became a protectorate to the north eastern region of New Guinea appointing the Neuguinea-Kompanie to become the administrative centre for the Pacific region which included the German Solomon Islands, Carolines, Palau, the Marianas (excluding Guam) the Marshall Islands and Naru. The main commercial and missionary centres were Friedrich Wilhelmshafen (now Madang) and Alexishafen. The territory of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland and the Bismark Archipelago including German Solomon Islands were later referred to as Deutsch-Neu-Guinea.
Initially, the Reichspost stamps of Germania were used in the territory from 1888. The New Guinea Company also issued their own stamp for parcel post but was phased out. In 1897 the stamps of the Reichspost were overprinted with “Deustch-neu-guinea” and used until the released of the Yacht Hothenzollern series of Deutsch-neu-guinea stamps in 1901.
British interest in the island began to form in the 1880s in response to increasing concern at the growing German commercial development in the Pacific. The Germans had started staking claims along many Pacific islands and seemed to be taking an interest in one of the last unclaimed territories in the region.
The British Liberal Government led by Gladstone was reluctant to provoke German sensibilities at a particularly delicate time in European diplomacy and was loathe to take on any further imperial burderns. However, the Victoria police magistrate, Henry Chester, in an attempt to expand Australia's influence and/or protect the island of Australia from other European powers had already landed in Port Moresby and run up the British flag. This led to Sir Thomas McIlwraith, the Premier of Queensland, to order the occupation of New Guinea and some adjacent islands, ostensibly to guard the Torres Straits.
The British and various Australian premiers had to undergo some tortuous negotiations as responsibility for the costs of administration had to be sorted out. The Australian position to annex the territory was increased as the British Liberal Party began to come under political pressure over perceived weakness with Imperial affairs as General Gordon underwent his siege in Khartoum, Sudan. The Australian premiers offered to provide much of the financing, but when the Germans claimed the Northern part of island on On 3 November 1884 (Kaiser-Wilhelmsland), this convinced the British to accept the dangers of German encroachment and declare a Protectorate on November 6th, 1884. Of course, the Germans had claimed Kaiser-Wilhelmsland due to the actions of the Victoria government in the first place.
In 1886, the protectorate was added to some outlying islands and declared a colony in its own right. However, the changing political situation in Australia would severely impact on the organisation and running of the colony. Under Queensland administration stamps of the State of Queensland were used for postage in the territory and processed through Queensland.
In 1901, the Australians achieved Federation and as they were responsible for the majority of the financial burden of British New Guinea, it seemed natural enough to transfer responsibility of the island to Australia. Under this arrangement the federal government administered the postal system. The use of Queensland stamps in the territory was replaced with the introduction of a new series of territorial stamps the “British New Guinea” stamps.
In accordance with the formalising of the transfer of responsibilities in 1905 the Papua Act was passed and came into force in 1906. The colony was also renamed the Territory of Papua. In response to this all current stocks of British New Guinea stamps were overprinted for postage with the title “Papua” in black ink as a temporary measure. This would use up existing stocks and provide time to design and release a new series of stamps. These would become the Papua series which were to be based on the original lithographic plates of the British New Guinea stamps produced by De La Rue in London.
Upon the outbreak of WWI Australian troops annexed the German colony (Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) on 21 September 1914 when all German forces in the area surrendered. At this time all captured stocks of Deutsch-neu-guinea stamps and registered mail labels were pressed into service. Due to the scarcity of stamps for postage both stamps and registration labels were overprinted with “G.R.I” and the value ascribed using a crude press that was available at a local mission. This process produced a varsity of varieties which have been sort after by both German and English collectors alike.
Following the end of WWI in 1919 Germany formally relinquished control over the territories in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, and it was mandated as an Australian territory by the League of Nations to be known as the Territory of New Guinea. Initially, Australian stamps were pressed into service being overprinted with “N.W.P.I” for North West Pacific Islands. These were used throughout the pacific island region until 1925 when the first of the Territory of New Guinea stamps were released, the Hut series of stamps.
The Territory of New Guinea continued to be administered by Australia as a de jure British possession, separately to the Territory of Papua, until 1949.
The administration of both territories of Papua and New Guinea was suspended during the Second World War from 12 February 1942 in the face of the advance of Japanese Imperial Forces. The Japanese occupation of the Territory of New Guinea during 1942-43 resulted in the use of Japanese stamps and the overprinting of a quantity of stamps from the Territory of New Guinea (the ‘Bird of Paradise’ and some ‘Bulolo’) for postal service. After the war in 1945 consideration was given to re-issuing the pre-war Papuan stamps but insufficient stocks of Papuan stamps resulted in the current practice of using Australian stamps in both the territories of New Guinea and Papua was continued.
Following the war, the passage of the Papua and New Guinea Act 1949 united the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, to form the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, under a single Australian civil administration. In 1952, the Definitive Series of stamps was finally released under the new territorial name. The Territory continued to be administered by Australia until it was granted self government on 1 December 1973 and full independence on 5 September 1975 when it became known as Papua New Guinea.
Between 1966 and 1975 the country went through three currency conversions; Australian Pounds, Shillings and Pence, the Australian Dollar, and finally the Papua New Guinea Kina (K) and Toea (t). The transition in Australia in 1966 from the Australian pound, shilling and pence currency to the decimal currency of dollars and cents coincided with developments in postage printing technologies creating a significant philatelic punctuation with the end of one era and beginning of another; the unissued 5/-s Patrolman being the clearest testament to this transition.
