The first post office was opened in 1861 though in 1824 a letter is said to have been “privately carried” to Europe. Until a boat service “Messagerie Maritime” took over the mail contract in 1866 mail to and from Seychelles could not be transported on a regular basis.

The earliest known letter using this service was dated April 1865. Colonial reports brought out the extreme communication difficulties though in 1877, the Mauritius Post Office reported that letters to and from Seychelles numbered 14,184.

The Post Office became autonomous from Mauritius in August 1982. It was in 1893 that the first local post office was introduced in Seychelles.

Non-commissioned offices in charge of the Police Station acted as receiving and dispatching officers. This service was stopped in July 1894 as it proved too much for them to cope.

In 1894, the new Administrator, Sweet Escot saw that the postal services needed improvement and introduced a new Inland Postal Service. The British India Steam Navigation Company also began a shipping contract in August 1895.

The quarantine of ships is said to affect mail from time to time. The local postal service covered the whole population of Mahe, Praslin, La Digue, including the outer islands. In 1965, this also included the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Airmail service was introduced in September 1932 but became effective in February 1938. The service was through Karachi and Nairobi.

The first civil flying machine to Seychelles was in June 1939 from Australia.

In 1948, the Royal Air Force established a base in Seychelles and the Catalina flying boat, operated flying services between Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar and Kenya. They carried mail in and out of Seychelles, but were authorized to censure mail for members of the armed forces.

In January 1953, East African Airway Corporation attempted to introduce the first airmail service with an amphibian aircraft from Kenya. The service was not economical and later withdrawn.

The United States Air force builds a satellite tracking station on Mahe in 1963 and introduced an amphibian service from Mombasa which carried first and second class airmail beginning August 1964.

Wilkenair introduced an airmail service in May 1970, which were followed by the opening of the international airport in 1971 and a weekly mail service introduced by BOAC in July 1971.

During World War 1 there were no regular censorship of civilian mail, but all correspondence to what was considered as enemy territory was examined by the Governor until near 1919.

During World War II censorship of mail, telegrams and newspaper began. The original sensors were Government Officers, Police Officers and retired Military Officers assisted by staff from Cable & Wireless for censorship of telegrams.

The Victoria Central Post office opened in 1861 as a sub-office of Mauritius. It did not have postage stamps of its own and used that of Mauritius. The first Seychelles stamp was issued on the 5th April 1890.