Delegation from China visit BPMA

On Wednesday 18 April, the BPMA were delighted to welcome a delegation from China, including Lu Xinghua, Deputy Director of China Post Literature & History Centre, Song Yunli, Curator of China Post Archives of China Post Literature & History Centre and Danny Kin Chi Wong, FRPSL, Royal Philatelic Society London China Representative.

BPMA Director Adrian Steel showing records in the BPMA's collections relating to China to the Chinese visitors

Gavin McGuffie, Acting Head of Archives and Records Management at the BPMA, took them for a tour of the Royal Mail archive, including looking at records in the collections relating to China, such as documents about delivery of mail via packet ships from the mid-19th century [POST 43/157] and a copy of a history of the British postal service by a Chinese postal official [POST 33/6013]. They also got to see three telegrams sent in response to the Post Office’s concern about its employees and the mail onboard the RMS Titanic (please see a previous blog on the RMS Titanic telegrams).

The visitors had the unique chance to hold a sheet of Penny Blacks from the BPMA's secure philatelic vault

The delegation was then treated to a tour of the secure philatelic vault with BPMA Philatelic Curator Douglas Muir, where they were shown Penny Blacks, Tyrian Plums, dies, rollers and Olympic stamp artwork.

Rowland Hill & the Penny Black

Rowland Hill, the great postal reformer, was born in Kidderminster, near Birmingham, in 1795. Originally an educationalist, it was in 1837 that he published his seminal pamphlet Post Office Reform; Its Importance and Practicability.

As heard in today’s episode of The Peoples Post, before 1840 postage rates were very high, and they were normally paid by the recipient. Charges were by distance and by the number of pages in the letter, rather than by weight. To send one sheet from London to Edinburgh cost 1s 1½d, a considerable sum in those days. The cost to the Post Office, however, was calculated by Hill at a fraction of 1d. There were also a number of anomalies whereby MPs’ mail, for example, was carried free, a system which was widely abused.

'Sir Rowland Hill' – oil painting attributed to Mary M Pearson, 1836 (2004-0154)

Hill’s proposal was three-fold: that postage should be prepaid; that it should be based upon weight, not distance or the number of sheets; and that the basic cost should be drastically reduced to a uniform 1d, making it affordable to all. The first mention of a label for prepayment – later the adhesive postage stamp – came in a reply to an official enquiry:

a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous wash.

In fact, Hill suggested four types of prepayment, all confusingly referred to as “stamps” – lettersheet, envelope, label and stamped sheets of paper.

Penny Black stamp used on the first day of issue, 6 May 1840 (POST 141/04, Phillips Collection - Volume IV)

Afraid of fraudulent imitation of the labels Hill said

there is nothing in which minute differences of execution are so readily detected as in a representation of the human face…I would therefore advise that…a head of the Queen by one of our first artists should be introduced.

That portrait of Queen Victoria was based upon a medal by William Wyon and was engraved by Frederick Heath, with the labels being printed by Perkins, Bacon & Petch. The Penny Black was put on sale in London on 1 May 1840, becoming valid for postage on 6 May. The experiment was a great success and was eventually imitated throughout the world.

In our collections at The British Postal Museum & Archive we hold unique treasures illustrating the history of postal reform and the design and production of the stamps. These include proofs, the Old Original die from which all the printing plates were made, and the only sheets of Penny Blacks in existence.

Old Original Die (Penny Black)

For his services Hill received many accolades and was knighted in 1860. When he died in 1879 he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

- Douglas Muir, Curator of Philately

For more on today’s episode of The Peoples Post see our webpage The Penny Black. Further images can be found on Flickr. Use the Twitter hashtag #PeoplesPost to comment on the show.

The Peoples Post

Monday 5th December sees the launch of an exciting new series on BBC Radio 4. The Peoples Post is a 15 part series exploring the history of the postal service through the people that use and work for it. The series begins in the 16th century in the reign of Henry VIII and explores some of the key moments in the nearly 500 years since then. Each weekday there will be a new 15 minute episode touching on a different part of this fascinating and evolving story.

London Chief Office - Artwork for a poster by Grace Golden on the subject of postal facilities, 1948. (POST 109/198)

The first five episodes, during the first week, will look at the early history of the postal service. It will cover the days of the postal service as an instrument of state and consider the expansion of the system, first under Charles I and then later in the 18th century with the post being used increasingly to assist trade. The final episode in week one will look at a postal system that was becoming ripe for improvement and this episode will link to week two where we see the postal service undergoing its most important change, postal reform.

'The Country Letter Carrier' - Oil Painting by J P Hall, 1859 (OB1997.8)

Week two opens with the story of the Penny Black and how postal reform changed the world. Throughout the week the massive expansion of the Royal Mail will be explored and the effect it had on the lives of people. From the expansion into the parcels posts in the 1880s through the development of social post and the part the post office played in the community, to the industrial unrest in the 1890s with the first postal workers’ strike.

The first 'First Day Cover' in the world, showing a Penny Black used on 6 May 1840, the first day of validity. (Phillips Collection Vol IV/3, POST 141/04)

The final week looks at some of the innovations and changes that were to impact on the industry. The rise of new technologies such as the telegraphs and later developments such as the introduction by Royal Mail of the postcode, and the way that system evolved to form a part of everyone’s life. This week will also consider the post office in the First World War, the impact of the loss of male workers and the employment of women, and also the massive new role of delivering mail to a world at war and managing censorship.

Norwich addresses need postal codes, GPO poster from 1961 (POST 110/4323)

The series is supported throughout by the BPMA. With each episode there will be new content loaded onto the website, Flickr and this blog, exploring some of the issues in more detail. Links to these will be provided via Facebook, Twitter and Google+ - and you can live tweet the show on the hashtag #PeoplesPost. Much of the research for the series has also been drawn from the Royal Mail Archive, which is managed by the BPMA. Images and details from the BPMA’s rich collections will illustrate each episode.

The BPMA were involved with the series from the very beginning and a number of members of BPMA staff were involved in developing the links with the series producers and the BBC. Most particularly the BPMA would like to thank Peter Sutton for his role of researcher, helping to find the links within the collection, and Jenny Karlsson and Alison Bean for helping to build the links and develop the online content.

- Chris Taft, Curator

What would you do with £1,053,090?

… Buy a stamp, of course! This phenomenal price tag is how much an anonymous telephone bidder paid on June 28, 2011 for the coveted ‘Post Office Mauritius’ two penny blue stamp during a sale at Spink Auctioneers, making it the most valuable stamp ever sold in the UK. The stamp hails from the impressive Chartwell Collection, which contains over 80 stamp albums, collected by Sir Cyril Humphrey Cripps.

Example of the 'Post Office' Mauritius in the Royal Philatelic Collection

Sir Humphrey (1915-2000) was a successful English businessman and philanthropist. He began collecting stamps almost by chance in the 1950’s, picking the hobby up from his son, Robert. Robert eventually lost interest in stamp collecting as he returned to school, but his son’s fleeting interest in the hobby transformed itself into a life-long passion for Sir Humphrey. He studied philately and the existing marketplace, focusing on Great Britain and the British
Empire. In 1972, he purchased the ‘Post Office Mauritius’ 2d. blue for £29,000, which was quite expensive at the time. He was later offered an even greater sum for the stamp, but Sir Humphrey rejected it—proving that his love was the act of collecting and the collection itself, rather than the monetary value of what it contained. This extraordinary stamp became a part of his British Empire Collection, which contained stamps from primarily Bermuda, Mauritius, the Virgin Islands, as well as Canada, New Zealand and theTurks Islands.

The stamp collection also included the Great Britain Collection, from which hails other big items in Spink’s ongoing auction of Sir Humphrey’s stamps, which included several examples of 1840 Penny Black plates and an accepted die proof for the ‘One Penny Stamp’. You can see some related items from the BPMA collection: lantern slides of a proof sheet of the 1840 Penny Black and the original die used for the 1840 Penny Black’s production.

‘Proof Sheet of the 1840 Penny Black’ – Lantern Slide (2010-0411)

The Original Die Used For Production of the 1840 Penny Black (BPMA collection)

Sir Humphrey’s collection is said to be one of the finest British stamp collections in private hands, a statement only reinforced by the estimated £20 million that the collection is expected to bring in over the course of its auction within the next 18 months. But what is possibly more fascinating than the price that the Mauritius stamp fetched and the value of the objects within the collection is Sir Humphrey’s evident love of stamp collecting, a passion that has assisted with the preservation of Britain’s postal heritage.

If you’d like to have a further look at the above items from the BPMA Collection, feel free to have a look at our website or catalogue. For Spink Auctioneers and Daily Mail articles on the sale of the Mauritius stamp, you can find them here and here.

- Sarah Cooper, Intern

Treasures of the Archive

Recently our Assistant Curator Vyki Sparkes gave a talk about our current Search Room exhibition Treasures of the Archive. A recording of this talk is now available on our podcast.

Moses James Nobbs: Last of the mail coach guards

In her talk Vyki highlighted three of her favourite objects in the exhibition – a watercolour of Moses James Nobbs: the last of the mailcoach guards, Frederick G. Gurr’s World War 2 scrapbook and an evidence bag from the Great Train Robbery – all of which have fascinating stories attached.

The Treasures of the Archive exhibition features many other unique and interesting items from our collection, including the first ‘First Day Cover’ in the world, showing a Penny Black used on 6 May 1840, the first day of validity; original artwork for Greetings Telegrams and stamps; and the United Kingdom’s first pillar box. Find out more on our website.

Download the Vyki Sparkes podcast for free at www.postalheritage.org.uk/podcast

Morten Collection Object of the Month: September 2010 – Mail Coach jug

Each month we present an object from the Morten Collection on this blog. The Morten Collection is a nationally important postal history collection currently held at Bruce Castle, Tottenham.

As part of a Heritage Lottery Funded project, Pistols, Packets and Postmen, the BPMA, Bruce Castle Museum and the Communication Workers Union (the owner of the Collection) are working together to widen access to and develop educational resources for the Morten Collection.

This month, Ian Cook, Librarian of the Communication Workers Union, has chosen an object from the collection which holds some fascination for him:

Like most schoolchildren of my generation I was aware of Rowland Hill and the Penny Black and was – almost certainly – given a toy post office as a present from an indulgent relative. However, it was not until I began working at the Union that I began to develop an interest in the wider aspects of postal history. The Library still holds its own archives and postal trade union journals from a century ago that show that the postal service was about people improving the lot of Post Office workers whilst maintaining a pride in their job and their organisation. I very quickly became acquainted with Mr. W. V. Morten and his postal history collection, as one of the first tasks I undertook was sorting postal material with the ‘WVM’ stamp which had come to light.

Mail Coach Bristol Ware jug from the Morten Collection

The object I have chosen from the collection is a Bristol Ware jug decorated with a mail coach. There is a note on the bottom, signed by Morten himself in 1913, giving the jug’s identification. Morten has no doubts, given the date (now obscured), its inscription “Quick Travelling”, the shape of the coach and the fact there are no outside seats, that this jug was made to commemorate the introduction of the Quick Travelling Mail Coaches invented by John Palmer of Bath in 1784.

A beautifully functional object, would these jugs have been available in coaching inns along the way for passengers, drivers and guards to assuage their thirst with water? Or maybe something stronger? How many people have handled it and drank from it over the last 200 years? How has a fragile object, presumably in daily use, survived in such good condition so that we can appreciate it today? Partly it is because of the efforts of collectors like W. V. Morten, who saw them worthy of collection and therefore salvation.

Treasures of the Archive

by Zoe van Well, Archives Assistant

Hi, I am Zoe van Well and this is the first time I have blogged for the BPMA. So why now? Well, recently I contributed to the leaflet for the Treasures of the Archive exhibition. It is housed in the Search Room of the Archive and is free for all to view. You can also download a copy from our website.

In writing the leaflet I was able to not only test my knowledge built up over the past year as an Archives Assistant but also to gain more! I found it so exciting to make connections between the themes highlighted by the Treasures of the Archive exhibition.

The Machin Head mould

One item is The Machin Head mould. Other themes include; Stamps That Never Were, featuring a page from David Gentleman’s design book, and also a World Cup Stamp commissioned for the Scotland team; Design in the GPO, The Mail Coach; and the list goes on!

I found that so many pivotal moments of postal history exposed by the exhibition directly influenced each other. The Machin Head, for example, is a mould sculpted and cast by Arnold Machin and was used to create the definitive stamp still in use today. (Everybody will have used one at some point in their life!) After I read some of Douglas Muir’s book on the topic, titled A Timeless Classic and sold in the search room, I became aware of the challenges which arose during the design process. In particular I realised the roles David Gentleman and the then Postmaster General Tony Benn played, given they were questioning the very use of the Monarch’s Head being present on stamps!

Various colours were trialled for the Postal Union Congress £1 stamp of 1929. Eventually, grey was selected.

This lead to me realising special stamps were very limited in number until the 1960’s, full stop! The Postal Union Congress commemorative stamps featuring George V (of which the £1 Stamp, 1929 is displayed in the exhibition) was only the second Commemorative Stamp to be commissioned. The first were designed for the British Empire Exhibition held in1924 and 1925. These stamps can currently be viewed at the Empire Mail: George V and the GPO exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery.

I must say though, whilst looking into these stamps I unearthed other research material which can sometimes be overlooked, including supplements issued in the Philatelic Bulletin. The Philatelic Bulletin is a small newsletter published by Royal Mail, and it includes articles on special stamps about to be issued. One supplement in particular does a great job of explaining the difference between definitive and special stamps. We have a complete collection of these Bulletins in the search room and they can be a great starting point for projects undergone by school pupils. They are also a great way for everybody to learn about events in philatelic history. Of course, if you become interested in an event and would like to see original material relating to it, either I or one my colleagues in the Search Room will be pleased to help you locate some if you wish!

One of only eight penny black proof registration sheets, produced before letters were inserted into the plate

Getting back to the Treasure of the Archive Exhibition, don’t forget we also have on display a Penny Black Proof Registration sheet (1^st April 1840), of which there are only eight and all are cared for here at the British Postal Museum and Archive. We also have a Queen Victoria Channel Islands Pillar Box, one of the very first to be made and which were trialled on the Channel Islands during 1852 and 1853.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to visit us while this exciting and rare material is still on display! Why not make a day of it by browsing our catalogue either online or in our search room after viewing the exhibition. You may also prefer to take inspiration from the search room information sheets such as Travelling Post Offices, Mail Rail, Animals in the Post Office, The Post Office in the Second World War, Women in the Post Office and Airmail. If you find something takes your interest, we can help you find a particular item and produce it for you from the repository.

We enjoy showing you original material as it can often be a thrilling experience; both for staff and visitors, whether it is a time bill, a report or a list of ingredients for cancellation inks!

Treasures of the Archive can be viewed in our Search Room until April 2011. For information on visiting the Search Room please see http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/visiting.

The Accession of King George V

Today is National Stamp Day, marking the anniversary of the world’s first postage stamp, the penny black, first issued 170 years ago; today also marks the 100th anniversary of the accession of King George V – the philatelist king. In celebration, and to mark London 2010 Festival of Stamps, Royal Mail has issued a new miniature sheet.

The Accession of King George V miniature sheet

The Accession of King George V miniature sheet features a 1st Class stamp and a £1 stamp.

The 1st Class stamp features the familiar Machin profile of Queen Elizabeth II, superimposed over the profile of George V, designed by the Australian sculptor Bertram Mackennal and used on stamps from 1912-1936 (known as the “profile head”).

The £1 stamp shows the Mackennal profile on the right, while the left hand side shows the three quarter profile of George V engraved by JAC Harrison from a photograph by W & D Downey, the court photographers. Known as the “Downey head”, this profile was used on the first definitive stamps of George V’s reign, until the Mackennal head supplanted it in 1912. These are contained within wreaths with a crown centre top and a couchant lion on the lower edge.

The border of the miniature sheet features a detail inspired by the engraving of St George and the Dragon by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co from the 1929 ninth Universal Postal Union Congress stamps.

Two pictorial First Day of Issue postmarks are available; one features the George V crown, the other George V’s cipher.

The Accession of King George V first day of issue postmarks

The Accession of King George V miniature sheet is available from Royal Mail.

More information on the Downey and profile heads, and the commemorative stamps issued during the reign of George V can be found on our website.

London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition

Philatelist Richard West explains why he’s looking forward to the London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition.

The London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition provides the almost unrivalled prospect of being able to see many of the finest stamp collections from around the world. Although international stamp exhibitions are held two or three times a year, it is only every ten years that the United Kingdom plays host, so it is just once a decade that the opportunity arises to see the best of the world of stamps, on one’s home territory.

Cape of Good Hope cover

And just as the event attracts the finest collections, so it also means that the cream of the world’s stamp dealers and auctioneers will be having a stand at London 2010, providing collectors with a good chance of filling at least one or two gaps in the collection.

Mulready envelope with two penny blacks and a more to pay stamp

The Business Design Centre in Islington will be a magnet for enthusiasts from 8th to 15th May, and most will need to visit twice, because the displays are being changed half way through: the collections on show on 12th to 15th May will be different from those to be seen on 8th to 11th May.

Penny black cover

In addition there will be an area dedicated to enthusing the young into the wonders of stamp collecting. The Stamp Active Network will be providing activities for young people throughout the exhibition, and no youngster will leave without a few goodies to add to or start a fascinating stamp collection.

The Rowland Hill Fund

The following blog was written for us by Mary Jeffery, Manager of the Rowland Hill Fund.

The Rowland Hill Fund is a registered charity founded in 1882 as a memorial to the great postal reformer and founder of the modern postal service Sir Rowland Hill, who retired as Secretary to the Post Office in 1864.

Sir Rowland Hill

Rowland Hill adapted the postal system of the 1830s from one which was slow and inadequate to the introduction of using an adhesive stamp on the letter sheets, and the Penny Black was born. This system meant letters were cheaper to send and Rowland Hill succeeded in making the postal system more efficient and profitable.

Rowland Hill died in Hampstead, London in 1879 and in 1882 the Post Office created the Rowland Hill Fund in his memory for postal workers, pensioners and their dependants in times of need.

In its early days before the existence of the Welfare State organisations such as ours were often the only place that individuals could turn to when in financial distress. Although welfare provision is now an accepted part of society there is nonetheless a need to provide financial support, and the Rowland Hill Fund is still a vibrant concern.

Over the years the Fund has helped thousands of individuals and made grants totalling many hundreds of thousands of pounds. Last year the Fund dealt with 369 new cases distributing close to £250,000 in grant aid to current and retired colleagues, and made more than 50 grants of £1,000 or over.

The support we offer is varied; help with budgeting, respite breaks, home modifications for the disabled, mobility vehicles or an unexpected crisis. The diverse nature of the help provided indicates that there is an ongoing need for the financial support and practical advice we are able to offer. There is a free confidential Helpline available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, HELP 0800 688 8777. Here are examples where the Fund has helped.

“A serving colleague’s ground floor belongings were destroyed in the recent floods. She had to move upstairs until the substantial repairs on the ground floor had been completed and needed a temporary electricity supply and a washing machine. We contributed £500 as an emergency payment.”

“For several years a retired colleague had difficulty of movement, and with the help of his wife had managed to continue leading a fairly full life. As she was getting older, she was no longer able to lift him. The Fund helped towards the installation of a stair lift and bath hoist.”

“A couple are travelling daily to visit their son in hospital. Their son was born with a number of heath problems and has been in hospital since birth and will remain there for several more months. They had paid out £720 in travelling expenses and the Fund reimbursed them and will continue to pay their travel costs until their son leaves hospital.”

“A family house had hardly any heating and there was no hot water available except from kettles. Their two young children were particularly affected during the cold weather and had to be shipped off to their grandmothers to stay until the weather improved. The Fund contributed towards the cost of a replacement gas boiler.”

Often people are suffering hardship through no fault of their own and we are here to provide assistance when it is most needed, and in these changing times we want people to know that there is somewhere they can turn to for support. If you know of a Royal Mail Group colleague or pensioner who may be in need of financial or practical support, do let them know about the Fund.

Please support your charity and give what you can to help those who need it the most. For more information, ways to contribute and eligibility criteria, visit our website www.rowlandhillfund.org