"Quite a lot of attention has been paid to the abbreviated postmarks of St. Vincent, but if anything comprehensive has been written about the abbreviated postmarks of St. Lucia, I have yet to find it. A circular date-stamp with "ST. LUCIA" at the top, the date in two lines and an index letter above, seems first to have been introduced in the Ws. It was this index letter which indicated the office at which the stamp was used. The following are the abbreviations known to me:
| C | - | CASTRIES(Head Office) | M | - | MICOUD | |
| D | - | DENNERY | S | - | SOUFRIERE |
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| L | - | LABORIE | VF | - | VIEUX FORT. |
An example of 1885 of "c" (Castries) is the earliest abbreviated mark I have seen. It is, of course, easily the commonest. It was still in use in 1902 although a c. d. s. with "Castries" at the top and "St. Lucia" at the bottom, also with the index letter "c" was in use from at least 1899. Of the other offices I have found Soufriere to be fairly common, Vieux Fort not uncommon, Dennery and Micoud fairly scarce and Laborie quite rare. From 1912 all the abbreviated marks seem t o have been replaced by c.d.s. , without index numbers, having the name of the office in full at the top and "St. Lucia" at the bottom.
I have not discovered any abbreviated postmarks for ANSELARAYE, CANARIES, CHOISEUL or GROS ISLET, the remaining post offices in the island. I have a c. d. s. of Canaries in full and the index letter "C" dated May, 1911 which rather suggests that it never had an abbreviated mark. This information is the result of looking for these marks over the past two years and I have no, doubt that others can add a great deal more.
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