The Royal Philatelic Collection is the postage stamp collection of the British Royal Family. It is the most comprehensive collection of items related to the philately of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, with many unique pieces.
Sir Edward Denny Bacon, KCVO 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.
Sir John Mitchell Harvey Wilson, 2nd Baronet was a British philatelist and Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection from 1938 to 1969. He introduced the division of the collection by reign and, after World War II, loans from the collection to international exhibitions.
Herbert L'Estrange Ewen (1876–1912) was a British stamp dealer and philatelist in Swanage, Dorset and later in Norwood, London who was an authority on railway stamps. According to Brian Birch, Ewen collected stamps at the age of ten and started his own firm, the H. L’Estrange Ewen company, on his thirteenth birthday.
The Tapling Collection of postage stamps was donated to the British Museum from the estate of Thomas Tapling in 1891.
The Mosely Collection of British Africa stamps dating to 1935 was formed by Dr Edward Mosely of Johannesburg, South Africa. The collection was donated to the British Museum by his daughter, Kathleen Cunningham, in 1946 and is now held as part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. After the Tapling Collection, this is considered the Library's most important philatelic acquisition due to the number of countries represented and the number of unique items included.
The Universal Postal Union Collection is a deposit by the General Post Office (GPO) in the United Kingdom, under section 4 of the Public Records Act, of its duplicate Universal Postal Union collection of 93,448 stamps, covering the period from 1908.
The Crown Agents Philatelic and Security Printing Archive was deposited with the British Museum from the 1960s, though the first recorded deposit from the Crown Agents was in 1900. The archive consists of a range of philatelic and written material which were the Crown Agents' working records. It is the most comprehensive record of British Colonial and Commonwealth stamp issues of the last 100 years.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Collection was formed by instruction from the Secretary of State for the Colonies on 23 April 1890 to all territories under his authority. The intention was to have a record of all Colonial Postage and revenue stamps, postcards, embossed envelopes and newspaper wrappers. The collection contains single examples of the stamps in use at that time as well as some obsolete issues and single copies, usually from first printings, from 1890. Variations such as colour varieties and alternate watermarked papers are included.
The Fletcher Collection is Hugh Greenwell Fletcher's lifetime philatelic collection of British postage stamps and British stamps used abroad including overprints and non-stamp items such as postal stationery. On his death in 1968, the collection was bequeathed to the Bruce Castle Museum in Tottenham, once the home of Sir Rowland Hill. The collection was donated to the British Library in 1989.
The Fitzgerald Collection is an extensive philatelic collection of air mail stamps donated to the British Library and announced in 1951.
The Landmark Trust Lundy Island Philatelic Archive was donated to the British Library by the Landmark Trust in 1991 and consists of artwork, essays, proofs and issued stamps of Lundy from 1969. The collection includes 48 handstamp postmark devices dating from 1929, when the postal service was introduced on Lundy Island and forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections.
Janusz Marja Stefan Rogala Kaluski (1924–2010) was a sapper in the Polish Army who took part in the D-Day landings of World War II and who later won the Cross of Valour. In later life, Kaluski devoted himself to the philately of Poland, eventually becoming a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London and donating his stamp collection of fifty years to the British Library Philatelic Collections in 2003.
The Campbell-Johnston Collection is a collection of poster stamps that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. It consists of 30 large green albums.
The Walker Collection is a collection of philatelic material relating to the Second World War German occupation issues of the Channel Islands that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. The collection is mainly of Guernsey material. It was formed by G.L. Walker and donated to the British Museum in 1948.
The McInroy Collection is a collection of meter stamps of Great Britain and the world up to 2003 that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. It was formed by Dr R. McInroy and donated to the Library in 2004. As of March 2007 it comprised 116 boxes of material but with much duplication.
The Turner Collection of Forgeries is a collection of forgeries of postage stamps of the world to about 1900 that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. It was formed by S.R. Turner and donated in 1973. It is held in five numbered boxes and contains a few genuine stamps for comparison.
The Kay Collection is a collection of revenue stamps of the British Commonwealth to 1940 that forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. It was formed by A. B. Kay and originally donated to the British Museum by Kay's children Miss Nora Kay and Mr F. R. Kay in 1949. As of October 2007 it was held in eight boxes and 20 loose-leaf folders.
