The Philatelic Congress of Great Britain is a national congress held each year by the Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS).
The Philatelic Congress of Great Britain is a national congress held each year by the Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS).
The first Congress was held in 1909 in conjunction with a stamp exhibition at Hulme Town Hall in Manchester. They continue to this day, each year in a different location.
The business of the first Congress included the formation of a National Society or Federation, the desirability of a Collectors’ Catalogue, unnecessary issues, deceased collector’s stamps and an encyclopaedia of philatelic literature. [1]
The Congress is an opportunity for philatelists to network, view displays and attend the Congress Banquet.
Each year a Congress Medal is presented and the new signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists sign the Roll.
Papers are given on philatelic subjects, for instance at the 88th Congress in 2006 David Beech of the British Library gave a paper on "The Philately of the Edwardian era as shown in its literature". [1]
The Congress Medal is a medal awarded each year at the congress, usually to a single individual, "in recognition of dedication to the hobby [ philately] over many years". [2]
The first recipient of the medal was Wilfred Haworth at the 1959 Congress in Torquay. [3] In 2021, the medal was for the first time award jointly to two people. The original medal was designed by Ernest Hugen, [3] but the design has since changed. [4]
The medal is not for philatelic excellence, but for voluntary endeavours particularly at a national level. [2] The winner is selected by the Awards Committee of the Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS) and must be nominated by an officer of a philatelic society affiliated to the ABPS. [2]
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The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as The Philatelic Society, London. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its headquarters in the City of London.
Sir Edward Denny Bacon was a British philatelist who helped with the enlargement and mounting of collections possessed by rich collectors of his time and became the curator of the Royal Philatelic Collection between 1913 and 1938.
Clarence William Hennan was an internationally recognized philatelist known for his collection, his exhibits at various stamp exhibitions, and for his expertise in evaluating the authenticity of rare stamps.
James Richard William Purves – generally denoted in publications as J. R. W. Purves -- was an Australian lawyer and philatelist. His half century of work in Australian philately earned him the title "The personification of Australia in International Philately".
The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921. The Roll consists of five pieces of parchment to which the signatories add their names.
Francis Edgar Kiddle was a British philatelist who achieved an international reputation in the field of philatelic literature and cinderella philately.
Barbara Ruth Mueller was an American philatelist who remained, all her life, dedicated to the study of American philately. Her studies led her to a career of writing significant philatelic literature.
James Benjamin Seymour, of Great Britain, was a philatelist who created an award winning collection, and who wrote some of the key works in British philately.
David Richard Beech MBE was the curator of the British Library Philatelic Collections from 1983–2013. He is a fellow and past-president of the Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL). In 2013, it was announced that Beech was to receive the Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award for outstanding lifetime accomplishments in the field of philately.
Harry Osborne MD, MRCS, DPH, was a British medical practitioner and philatelist who wrote several important works on classic British stamps and signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1954.
The Crawford Library is a library of early books about philately formed between 1898 and 1913 by James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford. By the time of his death in 1913, Crawford was thought to have amassed the greatest philatelic library of his time. Today, the library is part of the British Library Philatelic Collections.
The Association of British Philatelic Societies, commonly known as the ABPS, is the British national association of philatelic societies, regional philatelic federations, and specialist philatelic societies.
Walter Dorning Beckton was a British philatelist who signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921. He was a Manchester solicitor by profession in the firm of Hockin, Beckton & Hockin.
Alan Keith Huggins MBE is a philatelist who in 1981, with Marcus Samuel, was awarded the Crawford Medal for his work Specimen stamps and stationery of Great Britain.
Hedwige Alma Lee FRPSL RDP was a Swiss-born naturalised British philatelist who specialised in the stamps of Switzerland and in topical collecting. She won large gold medals for her displays at Naba 1984, Stockholmia 1986, Hafnia 1987 and Finlandia 1988 and her collection was exhibited in the Court of Honour at PhilexFrance 1989 and New Zealand 1990. She signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1991 and later became the only non-resident member of the Consilium Philateliae Helveticae. The Royal Philatelic Society London award the Lee Medal in memory of Alma and her husband Ron.
William Reeve Rundell, sometimes Reeves, was an Australian postal officer.
Lieutenant-Colonel William Byam was a British Harley Street physician whose home in Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during the Second World War. In his spare time, Byam was a noted philatelist who was added to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1949.
Douglas Brawn Armstrong was a British philatelist who was added to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1959.
John Barefoot is a British philatelist, stamp dealer, and publisher, best known for his catalogues of revenue stamps which are known collectively as the "Barefoot catalogue".
