Vintage Royal Mail Steampacket Company Silverplate Tea Service

Per Mare Ubique (Everywhere by Sea) Born out of a necessity to transport mail, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company would eventually grow to be the largest shipping company in the world. In 1839, Queen Victoria granted a Royal Charter of Incorporation to "The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company" with the stated purpose of "carrying all Her Majesties' mail". Twice monthly voyages ran from England to the Barbados in the West Indies. As the empire grew, Queen Victoria granted additional Royal Charters to expand the Royal Mail's service first to British Honduras, and then beyond to each of her far-flung colonies. In the decade before the First World War, the company began building larger, more luxurious ships, offering cargo and passenger service between England and Buenos Aires, Argentina. A decade later it became the largest shipping group in the world when it took over the White Star Line in 1927, but troubled times lay ahead. So intrinsic was the company to Britain's shipping industry that