Rhode Island Around the World - International Mail
1939 Registered Cover from Saint Helena through Port of New Orleans
Via New York Registry Office to Alton, Rhode Island
Franked with Three 1938-1940  King George VI Issues
(Scroll Down for Background Information and History)

The Registered Cover above was sent from the island of Saint Helena in April 1939 and entered the United States postal system at New Orleans on April 20. It was then forwarded through the New York Registry Office and arrived in Alton, Rhode Island on April 21, 1939. 

The cover is franked with three King George VI issues; two of which are damaged. The stamps are the 1938-1940 "Badge of the Colony" issues; 1/2 pence purple, 1 pence green and 6 pence gray-blue (Scott #s 118, 119 and 123).

Saint Helena is an island and British Colony in the South Atlantic Ocean about 1,200 miles west of South Africa. The island has an area of 47 square miles. The capitol is Jamestown. The islands of Ascension and the island group of Tristan da Cunha are dependencies of Saint Helena. The population of the island is approximately 5,700.

The island was first discovered in 1502 by the Spanish navigator Joao da Nova Castella. The island was occupied by the Portuguese and then the Dutch, however in 1659 the English "East India Company" took possession of the island. Napoleon was confined on Saint Helena from October 1815 until his death in May 1821. During this period the island was placed under the jurisdiction of the British crown. The East India Company resumed control of the island in 1821 until 1834 after which the island was placed under the Crown once again.

Saint Helena is was formed by volcanic activity, however all of the island's volcanoes are now extinct. The highest point is 2,690 feet and a narrow valley extends about 1.5 miles from James Bay on the northwestern side of the island. The capitol city and port of Jamestown, (the only city on the island) is in this valley. The island is home to at least 40 species of plants found nowhere else in the world.

Two thirds of the colony's budget is provided by the Great Britain in the form of a subsidy; the rest is raised from the sale of postage stamps, customs duties and wharf fees.