The Royal Philatelic Society Londonbreadcrumb separatorPublicationsbreadcrumb separatorBooksbreadcrumb separatorMorocco: The History of the Local and Sherifien Posts

Morocco: The History of the Local and Sherifien Posts

By Richard J. M. Garcia MBE FRPSL and Maurice Hadida FRPSL

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The postal history of Morocco in the 1890s, and the years up to World War I, is rich and varied as four Imperial powers (Great Britain, France, Spain and Germany) maintained postal services which were in competition with each other and with the Sultan’s newly-created Sherifien Post. In addition, some entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to create Local Posts which complemented the foreign posts. As a result, many of the postal services worked in tandem with each other, producing rare and eye-catching combination covers. 

L’histoire postale du Maroc dans les années 1890 et les années qui ont précédé la Première Guerre mondiale est riche et variée : quatre grandes puissances (France, Grande-Bretagne, Espagne et Allemagne) disposaient de services postaux en concurrence les uns avec les autres et avec la poste chérifienne, récemment créée par le Sultan. De plus, des entrepreneurs saisirent l’opportunité de créer des postes locales qui complétaient les services rendus par les postes étrangères. En conséquence, la coopération entre les nombreux services postaux, qui travaillaient en tandem, s’est traduite par des affranchissements mixtes, rares et spectaculaires. 

 

Richard Garcia and Maurice Hadida

This is the first comprehensive and detailed account of this remarkable period in Morocco’s postal history, and explores the background to this time before considering the development of the Sherifien Post and each of the Local Posts. It also examines the role played by the intrepid rekkas, the postmen who carried the mail on foot up and down the country, and who made possible the expansion of the various postal services in Morocco. 
The richly-illustrated book draws widely on hitherto unpublished information gleaned from the French Diplomatic Archives and the Gibraltar National Archives. 

Il s’agit du premier récit complet et détaillé de cette période remarquable de l’histoire postale marocaine. Il commence par l’exposé du contexte de cette époque avant d’aborder le développement de la poste chérifienne et de chacune des postes locales, sans oublier le rôle joué par les rekkas, facteurs à pied intrépides, qui transportaient le courrier à travers le pays, et ont permis le développement des divers services postaux au Maroc. 
Le livre, richement illustré, s’appuie largement sur des informations, inédites jusqu’ici, recueillies auprès des archives diplomatiques françaises et des archives nationales de Gibraltar.

Richard Garcia is a retired senior Civil Servant, having risen to the position of Chief Secretary of the Government and Head of the Gibraltar Civil Service. His specialist areas are Gibraltar and Morocco. This is his fifth book on postal history and philately. He has also written widely and lectured on Gibraltar social history. He is a Fellow of The Royal Philatelic Society London, a Member of the Academy of European Philately and belongs to numerous philatelic societies.

 

Maurice Hadida’s professional career was in the field of banking and insurance. His specialist area is the postal history of Morocco. He has written many articles and lectured on this subject for many years. This is his first book. He is a titular member of the Academy of Philately of Paris, a member of the Academy of European Philately and an overseas member of the Royal Academy of Philately of Belgium. He is a Fellow of The Royal Philatelic Society London and belongs to numerous philatelic societies.

Richard Garcia est un haut fonctionnaire en retraite, qui a été le Secrétaire en chef du Gouvernement de Gibraltar et le responsable de son administration. Spécialiste de Gibraltar et du Maroc, c’est son cinquième livre sur la philatélie et l’histoire postale. Il a également écrit de nombreux articles et donné des conférences sur l’histoire sociale de Gibraltar. Fellow de la Royal Philatelic Society London, il est membre de l’Académie Européenne de Philatélie et de nombreuses associations philatéliques.

 

Maurice Hadida a effectué sa carrière professionnelle dans la banque et l’assurance. Il a écrit de nombreux articles et donné des conférences sur sa spécialité : l’histoire postale du Maroc. C’est son premier livre. Fellow de la Royal Philatelic Society London, il est membre titulaire de l’Académie de Philatélie de Paris, membre de l’Académie Européenne de Philatélie, de l’Académie Royale de Philatélie de Belgique (membre correspondant étranger) et de nombreuses associations philatéliques.

 

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 The background to the rise of private posts in Morocco

Chapter 2 An overview of the foreign postal services in Morocco:

(a) The French postal service

(b) The British postal service

(c) The Spanish postal service

(d) The German postal service

Chapter 3 The background to the Local Posts in Morocco

Chapter 4 The rekkas, the backbone of the postal services in Morocco

Chapter 5 The safety of the mails carried by the rekkas

Chapter 6 The Brudo Local Posts, 1891 – 1901

Chapter 7 The extension of the foreign postal services to Fez in 1892, and its impacts

Chapter 8 The creation and expansion of the Sherifien Post, 1885 – 1892

Chapter 9 The development of the Sherifien Post, 1892 – 1911

Chapter 10 The Charles Gautsch & Co Local Post, 1892 – 1893

Chapter 11 The Maïmaran/Irvine Local Post of 1892 and the Marx & Co. Local Post, 1893 – 1911

Chapter 12 The Abudarham Local Post, 1894 – 1901

Chapter 13 The Local Posts which operated for three to five years, 1895 – 1901

Chapter 14 The Morteo Local Post, 1897 – 1901

Chapter 15 The Local Posts which operated from one to three years, 1896 – 1901

Chapter 16 The Local Posts that operated for less than a year, 1892 – 1906

Chapter 17 The Algeciras Conference of 1906 and its impact on the Morocco postal services

Chapter 18 The final phase of the Development of the Sherifien Post, 1911 – 1915

Appendix 1 The Local Posts in chronological order of their establishment

Appendix 2 The Local Posts listed in order of longevity

Appendix 3 List of Morocco Local Stamps

Appendix 4 The Datestamps used by the Morocco Local Posts

Appendix 5 Translation of the Decree of 20 Djoumada El Aoula(in Hajeer year 1310, corresponding to 22 November 1892)

Appendix 6 Five octagonal or round Sherifien stamps for each of the thirteen cities. In the case of Tangier, the six colours are shown in each of the two formats

Afterword

Bibliography

Index

Préface

Remerciements

Introduction

Chapitre 1 Le contexte de la montée en puissance des postes privées au Maroc

Chapitre 2 Vue d’ensemble des services postaux étrangers au Maroc :

(a) le service postal français

(b) le service postal britannique

(c) le service postal espagnol

(d) le service postal allemand

Chapitre 3 Le contexte des postes locales au Maroc

Chapitre 4 Les rekkas : l’épine dorsale des services postaux au Maroc

Chapitre 5 La sécurité des courriers transportés par les rekkas

Chapitre 6 Les services Brudo 1891 – 1901

Chapitre 7 L’extension vers Fez des services postaux étrangers en 1892 et ses impacts

Chapitre 8 La création et le développement de la poste chérifienne 1885 – 1892

Chapitre 9 Le développement de la poste chérifienne 1892 – 1911

Chapitre 10 Le service de poste locale de Charles Gautsch & Cie 1892 – 1893

Chapitre 11 Les postes locales de Maïmaran/Irvine 1892 et de Marx et Co 1893 – 1911

Chapitre 12 Le service de poste locale Aboudarham 1894 – 1901

Chapitre 13 Les lignes de postes locales en service entre trois et cinq ans 1895 – 1901

Chapitre 14 La poste locale Morteo 1897 – 1901

Chapitre 15 Les lignes de postes locales en service entre un et trois ans 1896 – 1901

Chapitre 16 Les lignes de postes locales en service moins d’un an entre 1892 et 1906

Chapitre 17 La conférence d’Algésiras en 1906 et ses répercussions sur les services postaux du Maroc

Chapitre 18 La phase finale de développement de la poste chérifienne 1911 – 1915

Annexe 1 Les postes locales dans l’ordre chronologique de leur création

Annexe 2 Les postes locales classées par longévité

Annexe 3 Liste des timbres-poste des postes locales du Maroc

Annexe 4 Les oblitérations utilisées par les postes locales du Maroc

Annexe 5 Traduction du décret du 20 Djoumada El Aouala (an de l’hégire 1310 correspondant au 22 novembre 1892)

Annexe 6 Cinq timbres maghzen octogonaux et ronds pour chacune des treize villes. Dans le cas de Tanger, les six couleurs sont présentées dans les deux formes

Épilogue

Bibliographie

Index

 

Reviewed by Stephen Viñales FRPSL

This is a most interesting book, on a number of fronts. It covers the non-UPU postal services in Morocco in the period from 1891 to 1913, which consisted of the Sultan’s Sherifien post and a series of Local Posts which were run by entrepreneurs. 

The first plus-point is that it covers in great detail a field of Moroccan philately that has hitherto been quite inaccessible, because of the startling lack of literature on the topic. This is the first major monograph to be published on this subject, notwithstanding that the Local Posts and the Sultan’s post came to an end more than one hundred years ago. 

The absence of reliable published information has led to bazaar rumours being hitherto taken as fact. The authors have consulted primary archival sources in both France and Gibraltar and brought to light much new information. 

They have therefore corrected a number of the so-called facts. For example, the Anglo-Italian Local Post was in fact a purely Italian service. The Local Posts served postal needs, and the stamps issued by the promoters of the services were not philatelic fabrications, with one glaring exception, even though they were eagerly sought by collectors at the time and since. The exception, the later reprints of the Demnat-Marrakech stamp, are shown up for what they are: “philatelic weeds” that deserve to be uprooted from any honest collection. 

Even more startling is the discovery of a hitherto unknown Local Post. It has been believed for many years that there were twenty such services. Now, the service operated by Messrs Marx between Marrakech and Saffi has been added to this list. 

Another very positive plus point is that the book is written in both English and French, thus making it available to a wider target audience. 

The Sherifien post and the Local Posts are placed in context, and the authors are at pains to explain why they were created. A particularly fascinating section of the book is dedicated to the rekkas, the Moroccan postmen who carried the mail up and down the country on foot. They were the backbone of all the postal services in Morocco, not just the Local Posts and the Sherifien post. 

The index is useful. The layout is superb, as is to be expected from a book published by the Royal. There are copious illustrations, many of quite remarkable combination usages of stamps of the Local Posts and the Sherifien post with those of Gibraltar, France, Spain and Germany. It is a remarkable work of scholarship which is at the same time extremely readable.