An island can get a lot of action depending on who it belongs to. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The visuals of the stamp is very British late colonial except for one thing. Where is Queen Elizabeth? The island going to Australia answers the why. Australia took over the administration of the island as it contained a lot of Aussies, no natives and Britain was fading from the area. It was the 60s and Christmas Island was east of Suez in the expression of the day.
Todays stamp is issue A2, a 2 cent(Malaysian) issued by the phosphate commission of Christmas Island in 1963. The stamp shows a map of the island and was designed and printed in Australia. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1 mint.
Christmas island was first spotted by a British vessel the Royal Mary on Christmas day 1643. The island was uninhabited and the ship was in the employ of the British East India company. The company was also involved in the founding of Singapore and once settlement of the island occurred in the 19th century, it was administered by the British Straits Settlements Colony, that also had roots in the British East India Company. Lucrative phosphate mines were set up in the late 19th century and Australians arrived to administer and Malayans, many of Chinese decent were brought in as indentured servants to work the mines.
During World War II the threat to Christmas was real and a token British force of 1 officer, 1 cannon, 4 British sergeants, and 27 Indian soldiers was sent to garrison. After a ship was sunk in the harbor and there was naval bombardment by the Japanese, the white flag was raised but the Japanese still sailed away. After they were gone the British flag went back up. The next night the Indians mutinied killing all 5 British and a few days later the Japanese landed to no opposition. The people had fled into the bush but were rounded back up to get the mines back into operation. The mutineers were tracked down post war and 5 were sentenced to death. At the request of newly independent India, their sentences were reduced to life in prison.
After the war the Australians took more of an interest as they had come to understand that the British couldn’t be relied on in this part of the world. Money was paid to Singapore in exchange for the dropping of a Singapore claim to the island. Perhaps a mistake given subsequent events.
Australia closed the phosphate mine in 1987 although a much smaller operation was restarted privately by former miners later. There was an attempt at a casino but that also failed. What as happened recently, is that as Australian territory, it has become a draw for asylum seekers mainly from the middle east and brought by Indonesian smugglers. The Australian Supreme Court ruled that asylum seekers that make it to Christmas have a right to have their claims adjudicated. The detention facilities that hold them during their cases hold now more people then the entirety of the local population. If the islands had stayed with Singapore, this would not have happened since they don’t allow asylum seekers and therefore haven’t been overwhelmed by them, despite Singapore’s wealth.
Australia Post formally took over the issuance of Christmas Island stamps in the 90s. Either Australian of Christmas Island stamps are valid for postage in either place. Christmas previously switched to the Australian Dollar in 1968
Well my drink is empty and so I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.