The Times of Rowland Hill 1795-1820

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.

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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)

Collecting Village Postmarks

The collecting of postage stamps in isolation can rarely provide the full social context behind the reason for their use in any particular circumstance. It is useful and frequently rewarding for a collector of what ever area or region, who may count themselves a philatelist, to develop some of the instinct of the postal historian. To this end, the study of postmarks provides perhaps an entry level in to the wider field of postal history. In a short but eloquent article brimming with enthusiasm published in Stamp Collecting Weekly September 4th 1980, D. R. Atkinson extolls the virtues of postmark collecting and provides step by step guidance on how to seek out and organise a collection relating to village postmarks. Advice that can be applied to probably many other areas of postmark study.

The article can be downloaded from the link below.

Collecting Village Postmarks

Peculiar Postmarks

Some may have it that the first cancellation used in Britain, the “Maltese Cross” was unusual. Although over the course of time there have been many different cancellations most have in the main been standardised.

In an article published in the April 9th 1965 issue of Stamp Collecting Weekly, D. R. Atkinson describes and illustrates a multitude of “Peculiar Postmarks” that have appeared. An attempt is made to describe and group the reasons why such postmarks appeared and suggests that many more may be hiding in plain sight.

The article can be downloaded from the link below.

Peculiar Postmarks

The Scroll (Hooded Circle) Cancellation.

In the late 19th century a distinctive and many think attractive datestamp appeared. Initially employed for certain special purposes e.g Royal Household mail, government departments…their use gradually expanded and were in ordinary use in the Irish offices of Cork, Waterford, Londonderry and Limerick (the “Cowall” cancellations).

Links are provide below to some articles and the correspondence they generated that were published in Stamp Colleccting Weekly in 1974 and 1976.

The Handstruck Scroll Cancellation

C.F.K. Goldthorpe M.A.  July 25th 1974

 

Handstruck Scroll Cancellations Correspondence

 

A Unique Edward VII Scroll Cancellation

G.V. Eltrigham,  F.R.P.S.L.  August 29th 1974

 

The Experimental Scroll Cancellations.

Peter A. Forrestier Smith  January 22nd 1976

There’s Something About Slogans

In a short article published in “Stamp Collecting Weekly” March 13th 1964″, C. Baker provides a brief introduction to slogan cancellations including advice on how best collected and what to look out for. It is an area where relatively scarce material may still be found cheaply by those with a little bit of knowledge. The article may be downloaded from the attachment below.

Something About Slogans

“Essex Post Goes and Coms. Every Day”

In an article published in “Stamp Collecting Weekly” April 10th 1964, L. J. Johnson summarised the development of postal services in Essex. From the end of the 15th century with the use of casual travellers, through the introduction of more regular services with the advent of stage coaches in the 18th century to the present day (1964)

Essex Post. Goes and Coms. Every Day

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

Inns as Post-Towns

After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, new roads were laid down by passing small towns. A consequence of this was that a change of horses drawing mail coaches now often needed to be undertaken a long distance from a town, often at a convenient inn. In time these inns became Official Receiving Houses.

In the article attached below from “Stamp Collecting Weekly” February 7th 1964, W.G. Stitt Dibden describes this evolution.

Inns as Post-Towns

The History of the British Army Postal Service

In issues 6 t0 11 of the fortnightly publications of The Philatelic Register in 2021 I serialised the history of the development of the British Army Postal Service from Saxon times to the present day.  The serialisation is attached below

Origins to 1840

Crimean War 1854 to Royal Warrant 1882

1882 t0 1913 incl. Boer War

World War I 1914-1918

World War II 1939-1945

World War II to Royal Logistics Corps 1993