The Uganda Cowries, also known as the Uganda Missionaries, were the first adhesive

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s of

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. Because there was no printing press in Uganda, the stamps were made on a

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

by the Rev. E. Millar of the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

, in March 1895, at the request of C. Wilson, an official of the

Imperial British East Africa Company The Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) was a commercial association founded to develop African trade in the areas controlled by the British Empire. The company was incorporated in London on 18 April 1888 and granted a royal charter by ...

. After Millar received a much-needed new ribbon, the color of the typewritten characters changed from black to a violet color. The stamps were valid for postage within the

Kingdom of Buganda Buganda is a Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Uganda's Central Region, including the Ugandan capital Kampala. The 14 ...

; in adjoining kingdoms and provinces they were used only for communications between officials of the Church Missionary Society. The values of the stamps varied, but all were denominated in

cowries Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails in the family Cypraeidae. Cowrie shells have held cultural, economic, and ornamental significance in various cultures. The cowrie was the shell most widely used wo ...

(

monetary Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: med ...

seashells A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. Most seashells are made by mollusks, such as snails, clams, and oysters to protec ...

), at 200 cowries per rupee or 12½ cowries = 1d. The design was simple, showing just the initials of the jurisdiction and a number for the denomination. The paper used was extremely thin. The stamps have been

forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...

Only a small number of the genuine stamps seem to have survived. Pen initialed, surcharged values exist; of these

Robson Lowe John Harry Robson Lowe (7 January 1905, London – 19 August 1997, Bournemouth) was an English professional philatelist, stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer. Life and career Robson Lowe is regarded by philatelists as the father of postal his ...

commented, "All are rare. We do not recall selling a copy in over 25 years." Wilson's embryonic postal system for Uganda commenced operations on March 20, 1895. A single letterbox was set up in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, at Wilson's office, offering twice-daily letter service to

Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Region, Uganda, Central Uganda which is located on Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda pri ...

and

Gayaza Gayaza is a town in Wakiso District in the Buganda Region of Uganda. Location Gayaza is in the North Kyaddondo Constituency, Kyaddondo County. The town is approximately , north-east of Kasangati, on the ''Kampala–Ziroobwe Road''. This is ...

for postage of 10 cowries. Other destinations had different rates. For addresses beyond Entebbe or Gayaza the mails were collected less frequently. Letters with European addresses were dispatched once a month, and they arrived at their destinations some three months later. Kingdom of Unyoro Handstamp

This postal service of Uganda may have been preceded by a postal service of the Kingdom of Unyoro (

Bunyoro Bunyoro, also called Bunyoro-Kitara, is a traditional Bantu kingdom in Western Uganda. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Central and East Africa from the 16th century to the 19th century. It is ruled by the King ('' Omukama'') of ...

), which applied a handstamp in

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...

. Military Forces assumed the operation of the mails in June 1896. The Uganda Missionaries were then followed by a typeset issue from a printing press in November 1896, after the

British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...

had gained control of the government. A recess printed issue from

De La Rue De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in Basingstoke, England, that produces secure digital and physical protections for goods, trade, and identities in 140 countries. It sells to governments, central banks, and businesses. Its ...

& Co. appeared in 1898, featuring a detail from Angeli's portrait of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

of 1885.Heinrich von Angeli, ''Queen Victoria,'' (1885)
/ref>

References and sources

;References {{reflist ;Sources *Charles J. Phillips, "Postage Stamps of Uganda", ''Stanley Gibbons Monthly Journal'' (February-March, 1904), pp. 164–5; ''Philatelic Journal of India'' pp. 4, 6. Re-issued as "The Missionary Issues of Uganda, March 20, 1895 - November 7, 1896", Stanley Gibbons (1904). *

, "The Uganda Missionaries", a supplement to ''The Philatelist'' (August, 1974); Robson Lowe, London (1974). *

, "2.-Uganda", ''The Encyclopedia of British Empire Postage Stamps, Volume II: The Empire in Africa,'' (1949), pp. 185-190. History of Uganda Communications in Uganda Postage stamps Uganda Protectorate

See also

References and sources