British Honduras is the former name of the modern country of Belize (not the separate country of Honduras). British Honduras was a colony of Britain that used its own stamps from 1866 until gaining independence 1973.
Queen Victoria
British Honduras’s first stamps showed a portrait of Queen Victoria, as did most stamps of Britain’s various colonies and territories of the era. In 1916, some stamps were overprinted with ‘WAR’ as a war tax to support the effort in World War I. Soon after this, in 1923, three postage due stamps — in 1 cent, 2c, and 4c — were first issued; they would be used for several decades with the same simple design in black.
1931 hurricane
In 1931, a hurricane hit Belize City, and semi-postal stamps were overprinted to raise fund for victims in 1932. These special stamps’ overprints read ‘BELIZE RELIEF FUND’ and ‘PLUS 1 CENT’ (or other value). Five different British Honduras stamps — 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, and 5c — each were used, and each had their value doubled for the relief fund.
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1961: Hurricane Hattie
In 1961, Hurricane Hattie struck the area, and stamps were overprinted with the phrase ‘HURRICANE HATTIE’ but they were not relief stamps, and there was no surcharge.
