Joseph Osmond Barnard

Joseph Osmond Barnard ( born August 10, 1816 in Portsmouth, † May 30 1865 in Grand Port, Mauritius ) was an engraver and miniature painter, who designed the first stamps of Mauritius, which are commonly known as Red and Blue Mauritius.

Life

Barnard came to Mauritius in 1838, his passage to the then British colony he earned as a stevedore. In the following years he earned his living by engraving of jewelry, the production of business cards and painting of miniature portraits. Since 1839 he was married to a woman of Dutch descent, with whom he had 10 children.

In 1847 he was entrusted by the Postmaster-General James S. Brownrigg with the design and printing of the first stamps of the colony. These came on September 21, 1847, the post office and were sold out within a few weeks. Barnard was commissioned to make new printing plates, each containing 12 brands of value steps 1 Penny and 2 pence per plate. These plates he delivered on May 2, 1848, which printed therewith brands remained until 1859 in use.

Barnard opened a stevedoring company, which specialized in the loading and unloading of commercial vessels in Port Louis. From the profits he earned in 1862 a sugar cane plantation in the south of Mauritius, which he ran until his death.

Honors

To celebrate its 175th anniversary in the year 1991 the postal administration of Mauritius a special stamp with a portrait Osmonds and a mapping of the Blue Mauritius out.