Forwarding Agent
Thomas WaghornPostal Covers & Forwarding Agent Marks
- Marks
- 21
- Covers
- 235
- Recorded
- 1836–1853
Waghorn postal covers are the letters and entires carried through the overland mail agency of Thomas Fletcher Waghorn (1800–1850), the English naval officer and postal pioneer who opened the overland route between Britain and India — carrying mail across Egypt from Alexandria to Suez decades before the Suez Canal. His route cut the journey from roughly three months around the Cape of Good Hope to about five or six weeks, and his agency handled mail at Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, Bombay and beyond. A Waghorn cover is identified by its forwarding-agent marking or manuscript endorsement rather than by any adhesive stamp — these are pre stamp covers, posted before India's first adhesive of 1854. The marks include "Care of Mr. Waghorn, Suez", "CARE OF MESSRS. WAGHORN & CO." and others, catalogued here by their Sidebottom number and cross-referenced to Smith where the two catalogues differ. Several marks recorded in this census are unlisted in either Sidebottom or Smith. This page is an open census of recorded Waghorn covers: every mark is listed below with the covers that bear it, each with images, dates, provenance and auction history — so a Waghorn postal cover can be matched to its catalogue number and compared against other recorded examples.
Catalogue references
How the Waghorn marks are numbered
Each Waghorn marking on this page is listed by its Sidebottom figure number, cross-referenced to Smith where the listings differ. These are the numbers collectors and auction catalogues quote — so a cover described as “Waghorn Sidebottom 3” is the mark shown under that number here.
- Sidebottom
John K. Sidebottom, The Overland Mail: A Postal Historical Study of the Mail Route to India (The Postal History Society / George Allen & Unwin, London, 1948)
The standard study of the overland route to India, and the first work to catalogue the forwarding-agent markings used on the service. Its numbering is the reference collectors most often quote.
- Smith
Peter A. S. Smith, Egypt: Stamps & Postal History — A Philatelic Treatise (1999)
Extends Sidebottom's listing. Sidebottom's catalogue was long believed complete, but five further types were subsequently recorded and numbered 11, 12, 13, 14 and 14a in Smith.
5 marks recorded in this census are unlisted in either catalogue — recorded here from surviving covers rather than from the published listings. If you hold a Waghorn cover bearing a marking that does not match any figure on this page, it may be a further unrecorded type.
Frequently asked — Thomas Waghorn, forwarding agent
- Who was Thomas Waghorn?
- Thomas Waghorn was a forwarding agent of the pre-adhesive era whose handstamps were applied to mail carried through British India before the first Indian postage stamp of 1854. Waghorn postal covers are the letters and entires carried through the overland mail agency of Thomas Fletcher Waghorn (1800–1850), the English naval officer and postal pioneer who opened the overland route between Britain and India — carrying mail across Egypt from Alexandria to Suez decades before the Suez Canal. His route cut the journey from roughly three months around the Cape of Good Hope to about five or six weeks, and his agency handled mail at Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, Bombay and beyond. A Waghorn cover is identified by its forwarding-agent marking or manuscript endorsement rather than by any adhesive stamp — these are pre stamp covers, posted before India's first adhesive of 1854. The marks include "Care of Mr. Waghorn, Suez", "CARE OF MESSRS. WAGHORN & CO." and others, catalogued here by their Sidebottom number and cross-referenced to Smith where the two catalogues differ. Several marks recorded in this census are unlisted in either Sidebottom or Smith. This page is an open census of recorded Waghorn covers: every mark is listed below with the covers that bear it, each with images, dates, provenance and auction history — so a Waghorn postal cover can be matched to its catalogue number and compared against other recorded examples. This census records the surviving covers and strikes bearing his forwarding-agent markings, listed here under the catalogue name Waghorn.
- What are Waghorn forwarding agent marks?
- Waghorn 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. 21 distinct Waghorn markings are recorded in this census, dated between 1836 and 1853. Its markings are catalogued by their Sidebottom and Smith number (for example “Waghorn Sidebottom 3”).
- How many Waghorn marks and covers are recorded?
- This census records 21 Waghorn forwarding-agent markings across 235 recorded covers. Each mark carries its catalogue figure number, colour, recorded date range and an evidence-based rarity grade, with links to every surviving cover recorded with it.
- How are Waghorn marks catalogued and numbered?
- Waghorn marks are numbered by their Sidebottom and Smith catalogue references — collectors cite them as “Waghorn Sidebottom 3” and similar. Every figure on this page shows its Sidebottom number alongside the mark, so a cover can be matched to the exact catalogue entry.
- Is there a Waghorn stamp?
- There is no adhesive postage stamp issued by Thomas Waghorn — Thomas Waghorn was a private forwarding agent, not a postal administration. The “Waghorn stamp” collectors look for is Thomas Waghorn’s forwarding-agent handstamp (and often his own signature), struck on pre stamp, pre-1854 covers carried to India before the first adhesive Indian stamp of 1854. Each such marking is catalogued on this page with its figure number, ink colour and recorded date range.
- How do I identify a Waghorn 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 Waghorn covers rare?
- Rarity here is census-driven — it reflects how many examples of each Waghorn mark have actually been recorded, not a price estimate. With 235 covers recorded across 21 marks, each figure carries its own grade, from common through to rare and extremely rare, based on the number of surviving strikes documented in this archive.
An unrecorded mark from Waghorn?
If you hold a cover or strike from Waghorn 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.