Frederick John Melville – Pioneer of Philately

THE PHILATELIC REGISTER is owned, published and edited by Ian Lasok-Smith

Contact Address: 6 Hough Green, Chester, CH4 8JG.  Email: [email protected]

ThePhilatelicRegister.com has replaced the montly issue of The Philatelic Register. The change in format has been dictated by the need to have a format that is more sustainable with regards the time required to keep it updated. As was The Philatelic Register, this evolving resource is FREE, users just need to register (only name and email address required) on the site to gain full access to article content.  All articles may be downloaded and printed or saved to PC. The site has been constructed on a WordPress platform and as such  has afforded much more versatility and new opportunites compared with original format.

I hope that as it evolves this new format will make it easier to fulfill the “Mission Statement” that encompasses the inspiration behind the original idea.

REGISTRATION:  The registration process on this site has default email verification, this cannot be bypassed.  Please check your spam folder if not received. If not in spam folder please advise me on  [email protected] using the email address you used at registration. I will then manually validate your account ASAP.  Please allow at least 48 hours for manual registration before contacting again.

(you may see reference to your profile at times when logging in or out. This has no effective relevance as the only details that those registering are able to enter are their name and email address. I have intentionally kept personal details to the practical minimum)

LOGIN:  This website has a default plugin to prevent malware or Distributed Denial of Service attacks. This security measure cannot be removed or deactivated. If subscribers make too many logins in a short period of time they may receive an “Access Denied” message. To try and mitigate subscribers inadvertently falling victim of this, I have set the inactivity logout at 60 minutes. Therefore if you need to leave the site for a short period of time you should likely not need to login again on your return.

If it so happens that you do receive an “Access Denied” message you will need to wait 30 minutes or so before attempting to log in again.

If you receive such a message on your first attempted login during a session it is likely to reflect the number of others logging in around the same time.

There will be an option to post comments on selected postings. It is hoped that by requiring registration it will discourage the leaving of inappropriate comments and mitigate the need for moderation of posts prior to publication. This would delay the publication and potentially devalue the facility if a posting would benefit from an early response (at times the facility to moderate comments may be activated if it is likely I will not be able to monitor for a while). As administrator I reserve the right to remove any post without need to give reason. Those deemed to be “abusing” the facility will have their registration revoked.

The most important purpose of the site is to provide a varied and expanding repository of knowledge and in doing so also try to recognise and preserve the work of many dedicated philatelists over the years. There will be regular postings but not at any specified times. The most recent postings appearing in “Latest Postings” in the sidebar.

The content of the site will be fully searchable using the search engine on the site.

Ian Lasok-Smith.  Owner, Publisher and Editor “The Philatelic Register”

Philatelic Traders Society (Gold Membership)

Thomas Tapling – Pioneer of Philately

 

             

Thomas Keay Tapling (30 October 1855 – 11 April 1891) was an English businessman and politician. He played first-class cricket and was also an eminent philatelist who formed one of the greatest stamp collections of his era.

The article that can be downloaded from the attachments below was first published in an early issue of “The Philatelic Register” in May 2021. It outlines the life and times of Tapling and describes a few of the  famous rarities in the Tapling Collection, one of the collections in the Philatelic Collections of the British Museum.

Thomas Tapling and his legacy. Part 1

Thomas Tapling and his legacy. Part 2

 

Ceylon 1851 5d Chestnut

Roger B West  is a well known philatelist and an acknowledged expert in the stamps of St Helena. In 1994 he edited the handbook “Madame Joseph Forged Postmarks” which has been widely acclaimed as one of the most important philatelic reference works.  He is also the owner of a long established stamp business Avion Stamps. Roger has generously provided a number of articles (Tag: RBW) for publication in The Philatelic Register.

As each these Musings and Observations are published I will leave the reader to make their own judgment as to where on the spectrum between humourous and thought provoking each article sits.

Ceylon 1851 5d Chestnut

The First Non-Stop Transatlantic Flight

In 1969 the Post Office issued a set of stamps commemorating “General Anniversaries”. The 5d value commemorates the fisrt non-stop transatlantic flight by Alcock and Brown.

In an early edidition of “The Philatelic Register” I wrote an article detailing the lives of Alcock and Brown and the events leading up to this historic event in aviation history. This article can be downloaded from the link below.

The First non stop transatlantic flight

Nicolaus Copernicus – 500th Anniversary of Birth

Nicolaus Copernicus was a revolutionary Polish astronomical thinker. He promoted a different way of thinking about the relationship of the Earth to the Sun. The Quincentenary celebrations took place in 1973.

As part of these celebrations in Poland The Copernicus Trail was created. This was essentially a route map of various places associated with Copernicus running from Olsztyn in the north to Krakov in the south. Philately played a major part in the celebrations.

The Copernicus Trail

The GB Sixpenny Definitive Aerogrammes of Queen Elizabeth 1954-1964

In 1965 according the G.P.O. 65 million airletters were posted annually

In “Stamp Collecting Weekly” March 12th and March 19th issues 1965   articles by I.H.C Godfrey  were published providing significant detail about the Sixpenny aerogrammes including the characteristics of various printings, and a checklist of the known varieties at the time. These articles are available for downloading from link below.

The 6d Definitive Aerogrammes

1976 Social Reformers issue-8½p value

The article that can be downloaded from link below was one of a number of articles produced for early editions of the monthly issues of “The Philatelic Register”, focusing on the story behind a particular issue or individual stamp in an issue. In addition to some historical detail and perspective, information is provided on items of interest for the collector to be aware of and perhaps seek out.

1976 Social Reformers issue-8½p value

 

GB Postage Dues “A short Official History” and healthy debate.

In the February 19th 1965 issue of “Stamp Collecting Weekly” a short article from the bulletin of G.P.O. Philatelic Bureau was published.  This article “GB Postage Dues – A short Official History” stimulated almost immediate “academic” debate.  Most notably a subsequent article by E.C. Ehrmann published in “Stamp Collecting Weekly” March 26th 1965 “GB Postage Dues- The G.P.O.  Philatelic Bureau answers questions”.  These two articles stimulated some further response reported in the “Quoting You” sections of Stamp Collecting Weekly in April and June. It is these letters that demonstrate the healthy debate and “banter” that collectors of the time engaged in, stimulated by philately but not always confined to matters philatelic.

GB Postage Dues. A short Official History

GB Postage Dues. Philatelic Bureau answers questions

Letter April 9th 1965

Letter April 30th 1965

Letter June 4th 1965