British mail steamers to South America, 1851-1965: a history of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and Royal Mail Lines

During the nineteenth century Britain?s maritime, commercial and colonial interests all depended upon a regular and reliable flow of seaborne information from around the globe.

Whilst the telegraph increasingly came to dominate long-distance communication, postal services by sea played a vital role in the network of information exchange, particularly to the more distant locations.

Much importance was placed upon these services by the British government which provided large subsidies to a small number of commercial companies to operate them.

Concentrating initially on the mail service between Britain and South America, this book explores the economic and political involvement of, at the outset, The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (later, Royal Mail Lines) from 1851 until 1874. (The Company?s West Indies services were subsidized from 1840 until the early years of the 20th century.)