Roal mail steam Packet company

[Here are some fascinating archival details of the mail services of St. Vincent (1911-12). They have been extracted from Colonial reports of the time, and contain useful information about shipping lines operating to and from St. Vincent.]

The fortnightly mail services from and to England continue to be performed by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. At Trinidad the mails are transferred into the inter-colonial ships, which call weekly at St. Vincent on regular days: one week with outward mails on the way round the islands, and the following week on the way to Trinidad with homeward mails. The service is carried on in a satisfactory manner.

The steamers of the Pickford and Black Line from Halifax, Nova Scotia, under contract with the Imperial and Indian Governments, continued to run as usual, while occasional calls were made by the steamers of the Quebec Steamship Line.

During the year an arrangement was made with Scrutton’s Direct Line to call once a month outward and homeward bound. The East Asiatic Line of steamers from Copenhagen to London and the Danish West Indies also made occasional calls.

There is an inland postal system, by which the Windward district of the Colony is served three times a week, the Leeward district daily, and the Grenadines once a week.

The postal order system continues to grow in popularity, and its extension to the district towns has been accomplished.

The volume of work in the Post Office also continues to expand, which is a sure sign of the upward march of the Colony.

The revenue of the telephone department was £569, including £281 transferred to that head on accounts of the Government installation. The expenditure was £518. The main installation is in Kingstown with branch lines all over the island. The service is a most useful one.