Forwarding Agent
Waghorn
- Marks
- 21
- Covers
- 231
- Recorded
- 1836–1853
Thomas Fletcher Waghorn (1800–1850) was the English naval officer and postal pioneer who opened the overland mail route between Britain and India, carrying letters 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. Covers carried through his hands were struck or endorsed with a range of forwarding-agent markings — "Care of Mr. Waghorn, Suez", "CARE OF MESSRS. WAGHORN & CO." and others — which are 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.
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.
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.