Post office · Bengal Presidency
HoughlyPostal Covers & Pre-1854 Postal History
Houghly postal covers and handstruck postal markings of pre-1854 British India, recorded in an open census: 4 Houghly handstamps recorded between 1785 and 1855, Bengal Presidency, with 19 Houghly covers traced to them.
- Handstamps
- 4
- Recorded
- 1785–1855
Houghly Town is the headquarters of Houghly District, Bengal, on the right bank of the Hooghly River, situated 22°55' N and 88°24' E. It was founded by the Portuguese in 1537, and the English factory there dates from 1651.
Houghly has 4 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings dated 1785–1855 recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Brown border = community submission, verified by editors
Houghly handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Houghly— postal history & markings
Houghly's record reaches back to 1785, when the scarce HG 1 in red opens the run of this old river town on the Hooghly — a settlement founded by the Portuguese long before the British. Worked mainly in red across four marks to 1855, the office pairs a genuinely early opener with the scarce late HG 4. For the collector, that 1785 strike is the prize: among the earlier marks recorded from Bengal, from a town whose history on the river ran back through Portuguese and Mughal hands to the very beginnings of European trade in the province.
Frequently asked — Houghly postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Houghly?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Houghly are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Houghly post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Houghly was a post office of the Bengal Presidency, British India, and this census records 4 distinct postal markings used there, dated between 1785 and 1855.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Houghly?
- 4 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Houghly in this census. Each mark carries its Hammond Giles catalogue figure number, colour, date range, evidence-based rarity grade, and links to every surviving cover recorded with it.
- How do I identify a Houghly postmark or cover?
- Compare your cover against the reference impressions on this page — each figure shows the mark's design, ink colour and recorded date range. If your Houghly cover bears a mark that matches a figure, open that figure's page to see every recorded example with provenance. If it matches none, it may be unrecorded: submit photographs through the form on this page and the editors will review it for inclusion in the census.
For background on the material itself, see the guides to the handstruck stamps of India, the pre covers of India and the pre stamp covers of India, which explain how marks like those recorded at Houghly were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Houghly, Hooghly, Hugli, Houghly HG 1, Houghly handstruck stamps, Houghly pre stamp covers, Houghly postal history.
How to cite
“Houghly, Bengal Presidency — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/bengal/houghly (accessed 24 September 2026).
Updated: 24 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Houghly?
If you hold a cover or strike from Houghly that does not match any figure above, submit it below. Approved additions appear here as new entries in the census — every submission is reviewed first.
Same presidency
Other post offices in the Bengal Presidency
Explore the pre-1854 postal history of other Bengal Presidency post offices — each page lists its recorded handstruck markings, dates and surviving covers.