THE WRECK OF THE P&O AVA (1858):

HISTORY AND POSTAL HISTORY

ABHISHEK BHUWALKA

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ROADMAP

SS Ava and its Wreck Postal History

• Details of the ship
• The Calcutta Line and Beyond
• The Overland Route
• On Route the Wreck
• Survivors: Passengers and Mails
• Currency and Conversion
• Recovery of the Mails
• Two Batches of Dispatches
• Wreck Cachet
• Rarity Scale
• Representative Ava Wreck
Covers

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SS AVA AND ITS WRECK

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P&O AVA…NAME
Most P&O steamers named after places

Ava Ava (Awa or Inwa) - Ancient capital of Burma

Going back to the 14th century, destroyed by

earthquakes in March 1839

Rangoon

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P&O AVA…DETAILS
P&O Nemesis (1857; 2,018 tons) P&O Pera (1855; 2,014 tons)

No pictures of P&O Ava found

One of the smallest ships on the

Calcutta Line

Gross 1,373 (1,620 initially) and net

weight 934 tons

P&O Ceylon (1858; 2,020 tons) P&O Himalaya (1853; 3,438 tons)
Single screw propulsion with steam
engines of 1056 iHP (320 HP)

Capacity for 97 first class and 30

second class passengers

Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow

for Peninsular & Oriental Steam
Navigation Company (P&O)

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THE CALCUTTA LINE AND BEYOND

Calcutta Madras Point de Aden Suez

Galle

Overland Route to India in John Tallis’ Illustrated World Atlas (1851)

Overland from Suez

to Alexandria

Calcutta-Bombay: 1185 miles (1830s)

Bombay-Aden: 1650 miles

To GB
• Alexandria to Southampton
via Malta and Gibraltar, OR
• Alexandria to Marseilles via
Malta

Calcutta-Aden: 3325 miles

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THE OVERLAND ROUTE

Suez – Cairo (84 miles)

Cairo – Boulac (2 miles)

Boulac – Atfeh (120 miles)

Afteh – Alexandria (44 miles)

Mahmoudieh Canal

From De Nederlandse Scheepspost: 1. Nederland-Oost-Indië 1600-1900 by

Claude J. P. Delbeke 7
ON ROUTE THE WRECK

Postal Notifications from Calcutta Gazette of

30.01 and 06.02.1858

14 Feb 3.20 PM: Arrived Asked to drop £5,000

10 Feb 1858 9.15 AM: Left
Calcutta
Madras; loaded more
passengers and 510 boxes
of specie worth £260,000
(~£33 million in today’s
money)
worth at Trincomalee; an
unscheduled stop but for
which she would have
steamed past 50-60 miles
away

16 Feb 7.55 PM: (literature

15 Feb 4 PM: Left Madras;
believed that the post office
did not permit the ship to
sail a couple of hours early
says "afternoon") stuck the
rocks off a ridge extending
3/4th of a mile from shore,
off Rocky Point, about a 1½
miles from Pigeon Island
She was 12 miles (literature
says “80 miles”) from
Trincomalee

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 SURVIVORS: PASSENGERS AND MAILS
Ava carried 240 souls
including about 40 army
officers (many wounded), 25
women, and 19 children
(refugees of the mutiny)
Captain Cooper Kirton and
most officers remained on
board trying to rescue the
treasure
Admiralty Agent*, Lieutenant
R. Percival, attempted to
rescue the mails as soon as
the Ava hit the rocks but the
mail room filled rapidly
*The agent was an officer or person appointed by the Admiralty to be carried on board. The agent had powers to
determine times of sailing, variations of route, etc. He was in charge of the mails and saw them landed at each port of call.
Six boats were immediately
lowered and about 70
passengers apart from some Remainder of the men were
put on a rock near the ship
crew crammed into them for
the next 11 hours
Next morning, three boats
took ladies, children, and Ava broke into two 17 Feb
husbands to Trincomalee and 1.30 pm
arrived afternoon
Over the next weeks mails Mails dispatched to GB in
and cargo recovered with
two batches which reached
help from local divers and
those of HMS Chesapeake London in April and May
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POSTAL HISTORY

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CURRENCY AND CONVERSION

Indian Currency Conversion

12 pies = 1 anna 1 anna = 1.5 pence

16 annas = 1 rupee 1 rupee = 2 shillings
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RECOVERY OF THE MAILS
Recovery of the Mails
• Iron boxes were 2' x 1' x
1.5' deep
• 6 March: 2 boxes
recovered
• 7-10 March: 3 more
• 11 March: 34
• 12-15 March: 25
• Total 64 boxes of mail
recovered
• Probably only 2-3 lost
HMS Pylades Drying and Dispatch
• 14 Mar 7.30 PM: Reached • R. Percival handed over
wreck site the boxes to the
• 15 Mar 5.40 AM: Left postmaster
wreck • Same day, 18 Mar, the
• 15 Mar 8.20 AM: Reached P&O Candia was due to
Trincomalee leave Galle for Suez
• 16 Mar: Left Trincomalee • Some mails put on that
• 18 Mar 7.30 AM: Reached steamer
Galle • Larger portion was kept
to dry and sent by the
next packet P&O
Hindostan
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 TWO BATCHES OF MAILS
P&O Candia (1854; 1,982 tons)
P&O Hindostan
Overland to Alexandria
Galle (02.04)
P&O Colombo
Aden (11-12.04)
Suez (18.04) Alexandria (20.04)
Malta (23-24.04)
Gibraltar (03.05)
Southampton (10.05)
London (10.05;
P&O Hindostan (1842; 2,017 tons)
datestamps 11.05)
P&O Candia
Overland to Alexandria
Galle (18.03)
Aden (26-27.03)
P&O Pera
Suez (02.04) Alexandria (04.04)
Malta (08.04)
Gibraltar (13.04)
Southampton (17.04)
London (18.04;
datestamps 19-20.04)
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WRECK CACHET

“…the first mishap

Stamp sent to from which collectors
In Mar/Apr 1858 Proof impression
Foreign Branch can reasonably hope
orders given to book for 1858 has an Office at the London Affixed on all Ava
produce a special red impression of the wreck mails to acquire a cover with
G.P.O. on 13 (or14) a wreck cachet”
stamp cachet
April
Hoggarth and Gwynn

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RARITY

Numbers existing
• A: <10
Hoggarth and Gwynn • B: 10-19
Rarity Code of Ava • C: 20-35
wreck covers: C • D: 36-60
• E: 51-100
• F: 101-200
• G: >200

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IN HAPPIER TIMES! (1)
Aug 1855-Sep 1856: Ava initially
worked on the Alexandria –
Southampton route

Calcutta to London via

Southampton. Stamped 8a for a
double weight letter (1 oz).

Calcutta (09.03.1856) to Suez

(01.04) via Madras (15.03), Galle
(18.03) and Aden (27.03) on P&O
Nubia
Alexandria (09.04) to Southampton
(23.04) via Malta (13.04) and
Gibraltar (18.04) on P&O Ava
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IN HAPPIER TIMES! (2)
Ava dispatched to Calcutta in Oct
1856; arrived 16 Dec

Worked on the Calcutta Line (only 3

complete trips from Calcutta to
Suez) till she wrecked
Calcutta (05.06.1857) to Glasgow
(20.07) via London (19.07); Ava
carried the letter to Suez
Not stamped and sent bearing
(INDIA UNPAID handstamp)

Postage due of 6d from recipient for

the route via Southampton
Adrian Hopkins Collection on
loan to the Bath Postal Museum
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FULLY PREPAID (1854-55 LITHOGRAPHED)
Cawnpore to Manchester
(19.04) via Calcutta (08.02?)
and London (19.04)
Prepaid 4 annas (=6d) for
the route via Southampton

Jochen Heddergott Collection

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FULLY PREPAID (1855 DE LA RUE)

Benares (05.02) to
South Petherton
(21.04) via
Calcutta (09.02?)
and London
(20.04)
Prepaid 4 annas
(=6d) for the
route via
Southampton

Martin Hosselmann Collection 19

PREPAID BUT STAMP FLOATED AWAY
Calcutta to Kimbolton
(19.04) via London (19.04)

Prepaid 4 annas (=6d) for

the route via Southampton
but stamp floated away
(INDIA / PAID handstamp)

Hence no postage due

from recipient

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UNPAID AND SENT BEARING
Calcutta (06.02?) to
London (11.05)

Unpaid and sent bearing;

postage due of 6d for the
route via Southampton

No fine levied on unpaid

mails until 1 Sep 1858

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UNUSUAL DESTINATION: USA
Calcutta (02.02?) to Marblehead,
Massachusetts (2X.05) via
London (11.05)

From Liverpool (12.05) to New

York (23.05) on Inman Line’s City
of Washington

Unpaid and sent bearing; postage

due of 33 cents for the route via
Southampton

33c = 12c (=6d) India - GB

Steam Postage + 16c GB - US
Transatlantic charge + 5c US
Internal Postage Max Smith
Collection 22
UNUSUAL DESTINATION: USA (CALIFORNIA)

Calcutta (02.02?) to
San Francisco (24.05)
via London (11.05)

Prepaid but stamps

floated away (INDIA
/ PAID handstamp)

Early cover to
California; very rare
destination
Jochen Heddergott Collection 23
UNUSUAL DESTINATION: ITALY
Calcutta to Genova
(16.05) via London
and Calais (13.05)
No India markings;
likely carried privately
on the AVA
Curiously no London
date stamp as well

20 centimisi? postage
due on delivery
Adrian Hopkins Collection on
loan to the Bath Postal Museum
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UNUSUAL CONTENTS
Calcutta (09.02) to London
(11.05)

Prepaid either 6 annas (=9d)

(0.25 oz) or 8 annas (=12d)
(0.50 oz) for the route via
Marseilles but stamps floated
away

Max Smith
Collection
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SOLDIER’S LETTER

Cawnpore (indistinct
date) to Southampton
(11.05) via Calcutta and
London (11.05)
Unpaid and sent bearing;
postage due of 2d from
recipient

Soldier’s letters could

be prepaid at the rate of
1d or 9p
Jochen Heddergott Collection 26
REDIRECTED…IRELAND

Calcutta? to Dublin (12.05)

via London (11.05)

Prepaid either 6 annas

(=9d) (0.25 oz) or 8 annas
(=12d) (0.50 oz) for the
route via Marseilles but
stamps floated away
Redirected to London
(13.05) with 1d postage due

Jochen Heddergott Collection

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 REDIRECTED…SWITZERLAND
Madras (15.02) to London (11.05)
to Lieutenant W. G. Farquhar, care of
his agent, M/s Cockburn & Co.

Unpaid and sent bearing; postage

due of 6d from recipient for the
route via Southampton (though
route endorsement was Marseilles)

Recipient on vacation in Europe and

agent redirected to Geneva (likely
reached 13.05)

GB to Switzerland rate paid by a

1856 one shilling green stamp (SG
72?)

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ROUTING INSTRUCTIONS IGNORED
Calcutta (28.01) to Oxford (11.05) via
London (11.05)

Endorsed to be sent via Bombay but

was ultimately sent via Calcutta

Letter retained at Calcutta for either of

two reasons: the mutiny or the
judgement call that sending to Bombay
would not help it reach faster

Unpaid and sent bearing; Postage due of

6d from recipient for the route via
Southampton

Martin Hosselmann Collection 29

I WAS ON THE AVA!
Calcutta (09.02) to Bordeaux
(15.05)

Unpaid and sent bearing; 8

decimes (80 centimes or 0.8
francs) postage due in France

Did not receive the wreck cachet

since it did not go through
London

Alexandria (06.05) to Malta on Martin Hosselmann Collection

P&O Indus. Then Malta (10.05) to

Marseilles (13.05) on P&O Euxine.

How did travel from Galle? Did it

reach Suez on 04.05 on P&O
Bengal? Was there a third batch?
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I WAS NOT ON THE AVA!
London (09.02) to Calcutta
(14.03) to London (11.05)

Returned from Calcutta (23.03)

on P&O Hindostan possibly since
recipient was no longer in India

Hindostan also picked up AVA

mails at Galle (second batch)
before leaving for Suez

This letter may have been mixed

with the AVA mails and received
the cachet in error
Martin Hosselmann Collection 31
THE WRECK OF THE SS AVA
ABHISHEK BHUWALKA

abbh@hotmail.com

https://philaliterature.com

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SELECT REFERENCES
¡ Cable, Boyd. A Hundred Year History of the P. & O. Peninsular and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company. 1837-1937. London: Ivor
Nicholson and Watson, 1937.
¡ Ford, Eric H. “Saved from the Wreck of the “Ava”.” India’s Stamp
Journal 15 no. 11 (November 1952): 251-254
¡ Hoggarth, Norman, and Robin Gwynn. Maritime Disaster Mail: A
Study of Mail Salvaged from Maritime Disasters, as Casualties of
War, Collisions, Fires, Shipwrecks and Stranding. Bristol, Great
Britain: Stuart Rossiter Trust Fund, 2004.
¡ Hopkins, A[drian]. E[dmund]. A History of Wreck Covers
Originating at Sea, on Land and in the Air. 3rd ed. London: Robson
Lowe Ltd., 1967.
¡ Inglis, The Honourable Lady. The Seige of Lucknow: A Diary.
London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co.,1982.
¡ Kirk, R[eginald]. The P&O Lines to the Far East.Vol. 2. 4 vols.
British Maritime Postal History. Heathfield, East Sussex: Proud-
Bailey Co. Ltd., 1982.
¡ https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231161999/view
¡ http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/coloni
al/miscmapsearly1800s/tallisoverland/tallisoverland.html
¡ https://www.flickr.com/photos/angeljim46/8700677861
¡ http://www.gregormacgregor.com/Tod&Macgregor
¡ https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Tod_and_McGregor
¡ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia,_Lady_Inglis
¡ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Little_(physician)
¡ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Greathed
¡ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Hindostan_(1842)
¡ https://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=3581467
¡ https://www.poheritage.com/our-archive
¡ https://bathpostalmuseum.org.uk/shipwreck-mail
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