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Hand Struck Stamps

Forwarding Agent

Hunter & HayPostal Covers & Forwarding Agent Marks

Marks
1
Covers
2
Hunter & Hay

About Hunter & Hay Hunter's Road, Vepery, formerly called Hunter Street, is named after Mr. John Hunter, who owned Hunter House in that street, a building long since demolished. Hunter arrived at Madras as a free merchant in 1787, served as Cashier of the Carnatic Bank, and about 1795 became Secretary of the British Bank and one of its Directors. In 1796 he received a grant of an acre of land in Vepery (No. 171 of 2200 April), and in 1803 was head of the firm of Hunter & Hay, whose offices were in Fort St. George. As a long-established Fort St George mercantile house, Hunter & Hay was among the Madras firms whose shipping links and commercial correspondence made it a natural conduit for private mail. In the decades before the uniform postal reforms of 1854, letters commonly passed through such agents, who endorsed or forwarded covers between the presidency port and correspondents at home and abroad — and it is in that role, as a forwarding agent handling pre-1854 mail, that the firm is recorded here. Surviving covers connected with Hunter & Hay are scarce, and each one adds to the thin documentary record of how correspondence moved through Madras’s mercantile network.

Census

Census records

2 covers recorded
Pre-stamp cover of India — COV-1789, 4 April 1799
COV-1789

4 April 1799

Entire posted from Guernsey to Madras on April 4th/5th, 1799. The post was forwarded in London by Messrs Perchard and Brock, who were the forwarding agents. Postage charged from Guernsey–Weymouth packet rate of 2d, Weymouth–London (128 miles) rate of 7d, total single letter rate amounting to 9d; for a double letter, totalling 1 Shilling 6d, with black London handstruck "AP 8 99" in a circle. It reached India on September 6th, 1799, with 154 transit days. Upon arrival at Madras, 7½ Fanams was the postage due, which was paid by Hunter & Hay, who were Tom Fiott's forwarding agents at Madras. As a result, Madras HG1 "P" (Post Paid Fort St. George) handstamp was applied in black colour instead of Madras HG4 "Post Not Paid", as the bearing postage was fully paid by Hunter & Hay, forwarding agents at Madras. The letter was redirected from Madras to Comballoor (Coimbatore), which was a rare destination in 1799, as there was no post office. The manuscript endorsement "forwarded by Hunter & Hay" has been signed on the back of this letter, which was rarely done on every letter.

Pre-stamp cover of India — COV-3528, 12 August 1799
COV-3528

12 August 1799

Postage charged, Guernsey Weymouth packet rate 2 d Weymouth - London (128 miles)7 d Total for a single letter 9 d Double letter I sh 6 d 6 Fanams Endorsed in Madras Forwarded by Y.m.ob.s.Hunter & Hay - (Hunter & Hay were Tom Fiott's agents at Madras) Extremely rare cover as majority of the covers coming from Europe were post not paid but very few covers were forwarded by the forwarding agent hunter and hay and thus postpaid fort St George HG4 hand stamp is applied

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If you hold a cover bearing a Hunter & Hay marking, submit it below. Every submission is reviewed before it appears in the census.

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Frequently asked — Hunter & Hay, forwarding agent

What are Hunter & Hay forwarding agent marks?
Hunter & Hay forwarding agent marks are private handstamps applied to letters in transit — not by a post office, but by the forwarding agent handling the mail — on pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of British India. This census records 2 covers bearing Hunter & Hay markings, of the pre-adhesive period.
How many Hunter & Hay covers are recorded?
2 covers bearing Hunter & Hay forwarding-agent markings are recorded in this census. Each entry links to the cover image, its date, and auction provenance where known.
Is there a Hunter & Hay stamp?
There is no adhesive postage stamp issued by Hunter & Hay — Hunter & Hay was a private forwarding agent, not a postal administration. The “Hunter & Hay stamp” collectors look for is Hunter & Hay’s forwarding-agent handstamp, struck on pre stamp, pre-1854 covers carried to India before the first adhesive Indian stamp of 1854. This census records every recorded Hunter & Hay cover, each with its image, date and provenance.
How do I identify a Hunter & Hay cover?
Compare your cover against the reference impressions on this page — each shows the mark's design, ink colour and recorded date range. If your cover bears a matching mark, open its 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.
Are Hunter & Hay covers rare?
Rarity here is census-driven — it reflects how many examples have actually been recorded, not a price estimate. 2 covers bearing Hunter & Hay markings are recorded so far; as more are contributed and verified, the census becomes a fuller measure of how scarce these forwarding-agent markings are.