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Philatelic award
First two pages of the Roll on display at the London 2022 International Stamp Exhibition, February 2022.King George V was the first signatory to the Roll.
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.
Selection of the signatories
Those who have assisted the development of philately through their research, expertise or giving their time can be candidates to sign the Roll if they are sponsored by one of the existing signatories. The following four years, the candidate is examined once a year with the other current ones by a Board of election.[1]: 33
The ceremony of signature of the Roll happens at the annual Philatelic Congress of Great Britain.[1]: 37–38 Under the Congress' rules, the signatories can talk and vote during the Congress.[2]
Forty-two philatelists were honoured posthumously on the first page of the Roll as "Fathers of Philately".[3]: 9–27
Four other names were added in the 1950s at the bottom of the first page. In 1951, Edward R. Woodward (died 1931) and J. Stanley Telfer (died 1938) were honoured by the Board of election because they were two important philatelists and member of the Board. In 1956, because the Board was sure they would have been called to sign the Roll if they would have lived longer, United States citizen Clarence W. Hennan and A. Tort Nicolau of Spain were added too.[3]: 26–27
History of the Roll
On 30 October 1919, Percy C. Bishop, a member of the London Stamp Club, proposed the institution of an "Philatelic Order of Merit" to honour philatelic writers. This order would be given more importance than existing philatelic prizes and would have an international importance. In late 1919, F. H. Vallencey, president of the club, presented the idea to the readers of his Stamp Collecting paper. In March 1920, a jury of five[4] published a list of twenty-five names who the jury selected from the ninety-one names sent by the readers and British associations.[5]
However, to gain official recognition, the London Stamp Club let the associative members of the 1920 Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in Newcastle upon Tyne decide the future of Bishop's idea. A sub-committee was constituted to find a new name and write rules of the award.[6]
At the 1921 Congress in Harrogate, the "Roll of Distinguished Philatelists" was created without any discussion.[7] The subcommittee has already got the signature of King and philatelist George V on the printed parchment, the twenty-four of the selected by the first jury and fifteen other philatelists were already invited to sign the Roll on the last day of the Congress.[8]
Starting in 1922, the selection of the signatories was annual except between the Congresses of 1940 and 1946 because of World War II.[9]
The "fathers of philately"
The names of forty-two deceased philatelists are printed on the Roll page that was signed between 1921 and 1935. They were placed in the ribbons that ornate the two columns on each side of the page. They were included as "fathers of philately".[3]
Mount BrownPhilipp von FerraryJames Lindsay, 26th Earl of CrawfordThomas Keay Tapling
Hastings Elwin Wright (1861–1897, United Kingdom), collector of British stamps in high quality state.[3]
In 2021, two new names were added to the "fathers of philately" to represent the many German and Austrian philatelists who were omitted due to anti-German feeling when the roll was created immediately after the end of the First World War:
Clifton A. Howes (vers 1860–1936, United States), specialist of North America, the United Kingdom and some Eastern Asian countries, President of the American Philatelic Society from 1915 to 1917.[19]
Bertram William Henry Poole (1880–1950, United States), philatelic journalist, specialist of Haiti and Latin America, and a stamp dealer after 1916.[19]
Finally, before the day of the first signing ceremony on 6 May 1921, King George V was the first to sign the upper part of the Roll ("George R.I.").[26] He was invited to do so because, when Duke of York, he was President of the Royal Philatelic Society London from 1896 to 1910, and was still a collector and philatelist with the help of the late John Alexander Tilleard and Edward Denny Bacon.
Stanley B. Ashbrook (1950) (United States), writer of standard books and many articles on early U.S.A. issues.[31]
H.W. Bessemer (1950) (United Kingdom), outstanding research on the stamps of France.[31]
Ibrahim Chaftar Bey (1950) (Egypt) President of the Club Philatélique d'Egypte, student of early Egyptian stamps.[31]
Walter H.C. Bromfield (1950) (Australia), President of the Philatelic Society of Western Australia for twenty-one years, intensive research on Western Australian stamps.[31]
Lester George Brookman (1950) (United States), editor for many years of the American Philatelist, writer of books on the 19th-century issues of the U.S.A.[31]
Pierre Morel d'Arleux (1950) (France), Honorary Secretary of the Académie de Philatélie, chief organizer of the Citex (Paris) Exhibition, writer on the stamps of France.[31]
R.W.T. Lees-Jones (1950) (United Kingdom), student and writer on Canadian stamps.[31]
J. Schmidt-Andersen (1950) (Denmark), Father of Danish philately, wrote extensively on the stamps of Denmark, published the plating of all four plates of Denmark No 1.[31]
Gilbert William Collett (1952) Honorary Treasurer of the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain from 1933 to 1952, played a considerable part in the preparation of the Jamaica Philatelic Society's Handbook.[32]
Adrian Albert Jurgens (1952) Leading specialist of the stamps and postal history of South Africa, founder of the Philatelic Congress of South Africa.[32]
Alfred H. Caspary (1953) (US) One of the greatest philatelists in the world, owner of notable collections of classic stamps.[33]
Georges Fulpius (1953) (Switzerland) Particularly interested in the stamps of Switzerland and Greece, served on juries at international philatelic exhibitions.[33]
H. R. Holmes (1953) (UK) Editor of the London Philatelist, member of the Royal Philatelic Society Expert Committee, wrote many articles.[33]
Carlos Trincão (1953) (Portugal) Formed a very fine collections of Portugal and Colonies, won gold medals at international exhibitions, Chairman of the Lisbon Centenary Philatelic Exhibition.[33]
Gordon Ward (1953) (UK) Wrote frequently in the philatelic press.[33]
Harry Osborne (1954) (UK), author of several important philatelic books. Awarded Grand Gold Medal for his Great Britain at London International Exhibition 1950.
Richard F. Winter (2008). Specialist of the postal history of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, President of the United States Classics Society from 1992 to 1996.[44]
Geoffrey Neil Kellow (2009)[46] author specialist of Australia and its States, bibliophile, organizer of the some Australian philatelic societies' libraries.
^ abArthur Ronald Butler, The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, The British Philatelic Federation Limited, 1990
^Arthur Ronald Butler, "The Beginning", chapter one of The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, The British Philatelic Federation Limited, 1990, page 7.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamArthur Ronald Butler, "The Roll and the 'Fathers of Philately'", chapter 2 of The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, The British Philatelic Federation Limited, 1990
^ abThe members of the jury were Percy C. Bishop, Derek Ingram, Fred J. Melville, G. L. Tinker and F. Hugh Vallencey ; in Arthur Ronald Butler, The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, 1990, pages 3-4.
^Arthur Ronald Butler, "The Beginning", chapter 1 of The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, The British Philatelic Federation Limited, 1990, pages 1—5.
^Arthur Ronald Butler, "The Beginning", chapter 1 of The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, The British Philatelic Federation Limited, 1990, pages 5—6.
^"Not only was the Roll presented as a fait accompli", wrote Arthur Ronald Butler, in « The Beginning », chapter 1 of The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, The British Philatelic Federation Limited, 1990, page 6.
^ abcArthur Ronald Butler, "The Beginning", chapter 1 of The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, The British Philatelic Federation Limited, 1990, pages 6—7.
^Arthur Ronald Butler, The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, The British Philatelic Federation Limited, 1990, page 89.
^"Death of Sir W.B. Avery, Bart." in The London Philatelist, Vol. XVII, No. 203, November 1908, pp. 256-7.
^Note biographiqueArchived 2006-10-11 at the Wayback Machine dans l'index « Who was Who? » (« qui fut qui ? ») sur le site du British Philatelic Trust, page consultée le 17 août 2007.
^"Death of the Rev. J.A. Dunbar-Dunbar" in The London Philatelist, Vol. XV, No. 169, January 1906, pp. 11-12.
^As printed in Arthur Ronald Butler, "The Roll and the 'Fathers of Philately'", chapter 2 of The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, The British Philatelic Federation Limited, 1990, page 14.
^"The Late Mr. Douglas Garth." in The London Philatelist, Vol. IX, No. 97, January 1900, pp. 2-3.
^ abcdefg"The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists - Five New Signatories for 2021", The London Philatelist, Vol. 130, No. 1484 (April 2021), pp. 177-180.
^Arthur Ronald Butler, "The Beginning", chapter 1 of The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, 1990, pages 4-5.
^"The Committee obviously has fewer qualms in proclaiming the wothiness of home-grown philatelists than had the London Stamp Club Jury", wrote Arthur Ronald Butler, in "The Beginning", chapter 1 of The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, 1990, page 7.
^"R.I.", in latin: Rex Imperator, meaning King (in the United Kingdom and colonies) and Emperor (of India).
^Gibbons Stamp Monthly, August 1930, p. 209. Stanley Phillips (editor of Gibbons Stamp Monthly) wrote as follows: "As the veteran philatelic auctioneer, now, alas! in poor health, moved to the table to sign the Roll, after an impressive oration by Captain H R Oldfield, I must confess that my eyes were wet, and I do not think I was alone in being thus affected. In honouring Mr Hadlow, the Congress, showed its appreciation of a personality of sterling merit and a lifetime of unselfish service to Philately."
^"The Late F. J. Peplow." in The London Philatelist, Vol. XLIV, No. 526, October 1935, pp. 217-218.
^ abcd"New Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelist". London Philatelist. 1394: 120.
^ abc"New signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists" by Jane Moubray in The London Philatelist, Vol. 123, No. 1414, April 2014, pp. 130-131.
^ abcd"New Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelist", Chris King, The London Philatelist, Vol. 124, No. 1424, April 2015, pp. 114-115.
^ abcd"The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists", The London Philatelist, Vol. 125, No. 1434, April 2016, pp. 150-151.
^ abcd"Roll of Distinguished Philatelists", Jon Aitchison, The London Philatelist, Vol. 126, No. 1445 (May 2017), pp. 194-195.
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