Her Majesty Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace on May 24th, 1819, the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George III. She became Queen of England on June 20th, 1837, on the death of King William IV. In 1897, Barbados was among the very small number of British Colonies which commemorated the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty, with a special issue of postage stamps; the other countries being British Guiana, Canada, Leeward Islands, Mauritius and Newfoundland.

For the Barbados issue, the familiar device of the Seal of the Colony, already featuring on the current stamps, was adapted for its first commemorative issue by enclosing it in a diamond-shaped frame, and surrounding it with heraldic emblems of the United Kingdom. This was done at the suggestion of Mr. E.F.S. Bowen of the Public Works Department, whose preliminary sketch carried out in enlarged format, formed the basis of the finished design.

On June 7th, 1897, the requisition for an entire set of nine values was sent to Messrs. De La Rue & Co. for a report. The firm sent a design on June 14th, which was based on the design which was submitted. They quoted the usual rates, using the original Arms die, for a working die for the Key die (?50), a Key plate of 120 multiples in the large size (?85), and ?15 for each overprint plate of 60 multiples in the large size. They asked six months for delivery, but amended this to four months if the issue was confined to one duty only. The design was finally approved on July 6th, and all nine duties were ordered.

The Key die, key plate and overprint plates were made under Requisition No. 43/97 and the stamps were printed. These were all invoiced on December 10th, 1897, and the stamps were despatched to the Colony. It would appear that these stamps were put on sale in mid December 1897.
In June 1898, an order was sent off for Five Pence, Six Pence, and Ten Pence stamps. These were printed under Requisition No. 56/98, and the stamps were invoiced on July 26th, and despatched to the Colony.

As there was no paper watermarked Crown & CA suitable for printing stamps of this size, the printers had to resort to the old paper which was water¬marked Crown & CC. The stamps were printed on white paper, but some of the paper they used had a decidedly bluish tint, and all values are found on both types of paper, the blued paper stamps being much scarcer and naturally more valuable. The white paper stamps appeared first, and the blued paper shortly after. In the case of the blued paper stamps, care should be taken to see that the colours are not faded, especially in used copies, as it is possible to obtain a false blued effect by long exposure to sunlight. These stamps were perforated 14 by the comb machine.

These stamps remained on sale until stocks were exhausted, except for three values which were withdrawn from sale on December 31st, 1901, according to a Post Office Notice which appeared in the Official Gazette for July 4th, 1901:

JUBILEE STAMPS

NOTICE is hereby given that the stock of Jubilee Postage Stamps which may be on hand at the end of the current year, 1901, will be destroyed and no further sales will be made of Jubilee Stamps after that date.
The only values of the Jubilee Issue now on hand are 2/6., 8d., and 21/2d.

W.H. BAILEY,
Colonial Postmaster
General Post Office,
1st July, 1901.

It is not clear whether any of these three values remained unsold at the end of the year, and the Annual Post Office Report for that year, does not shed much light on it.

Specifications

Watermarked Crown & CC. Typographed by Messrs. De La Rue & Co. Perforation 14.

Details of the quantity printed and sent out to the Colony are shown in the table below:

1/4d. Grey & Carmine (SG 116, 125)

1/2d. Dull Green (SG 117, 126)

1d. Carmine (SG 118, 127)

21/2d. Ultramarine (SG 119, 128)

5d. Olive-Brown (SG 120, 129)

6d. Mauve & Carmine (SG 121, 130)

8d. Orange & Ultramarine (SG 122, 131)

10d. Blue-Green & Carmine (SG 120), Dull-Green & Carmine (SG 132)

2/6 Blue-Black & Orange (SG 124, 133)

Varieties

The following watermark varieties exist: Watermark Inverted (White paper): 21/2d, and 2/6.

Specimen stamps

Under Requisition No. 43/97, an additional 750 stamps of each value were printed and these were overprinted SPECIMEN for distribution to members of the Universal Postal Union.

1/2d. exist with double SPECIMEN overprint.

Die Proofs

Edmund A. Bayley lists the follow die proofs:

DP25. Key plate in the issued design, printed in black on glazed card, with value tablet blank, and dated 23 AUG 97.
DP26. Same as DP25, but dated 24 AUG 97, and marked AFTER HARDENING.
DP26a. As above, but cut down to stamp size.
DP27. Duty tablet, printed in black on glazed card, dated 22 SEP 97, for the ONE FARTHING value.
DP28. Same as DP27, but for the HALFPENNY value.
DP29. Same as DP27, but for the ONE PENNY value.
DP30. Same as DP27, but for the 2Vz PENNY value.
DP31. Same as DP27, but for the FIVE PENCE value.
DP32. Same as DP27, but for the SIX PENCE value.
DP33. Same as DP27, but for the EIGHT PENCE value.
DP34. Same as DP27, but for the TEN PENCE value.
DP35. Same as DP27, but for the TWO SHILLINGS & SIX PENCE value.
DP36. Key plate, printed in black on card attached to piece of paper, endorsed “Aug 28 120 leads & 6 extra” in manuscript, crossed with a red ink line, and dated “Dec 9th 97” also in manuscript. (From the De La Rue Day Books.)
DP37. Duty tablets for the ONE FARTHING, HALFPENNY, and ONE PENNY values, all dated Sept & 60 leads, stuck on piece of card, and crossed with a red ink line, and dated “Dec 9th 97”. (From the De La Rue Day Books.)
DP38. Same as DP37, but for the 2% PENNY, FIVE PENCE, and SIX PENCE values.
DP39. Same as DP37, but for the EIGHT PENCE, TEN PENCE, and TWO SHILLINGS & SIX PENCE values. (From the De La Rue Day Books.)

References:

1. The stamps of Barbados, Edmund A. Bayley, FRPSL, 1989