This brief history has been compiled by the General Secretary, Bob Harper, but with acknowledgement given to the late Dr E.R. Clark of Wolverhampton Philatelic Society (now defunct) who wrote a similar history in 1988 for the Federation’s Silver Jubilee.
The first thoughts given to forming a federation of Philatelic Societies in the Midlands were in 1949, but no action was taken for many years, until in 1962 Mr W.S. (Ches.) Chester of Coventry Philatelic Society took the initiative and wrote to 14 societies for their views. Dr. Gibbs of Birmingham Philatelic Society had already agreed to support the proposal and so an inaugural meeting was held on the 8th June 1963 in the Midland Institute, Birmingham.
At its inaugural meeting the new Federation adopted eleven Aims and Objectives and a set of rules. The A.G.M. followed on 26th September 1963 and an executive committee was elected consisting of President Captain F.G. Holland; Chairman Jack Andrews; Secretary John Adams; Treasurer E.H.G. Morgan; Editor Peter Clough and later an Exchange Packet Secretary Mr A.J. Hillman.
Some eleven societies supported the Federation initially and the first one day convention held at Leamington Spa in June 1964 was a great success. In 1965 Mr A.J. Hillman of Dudley Philatelic Society volunteered to run the Exchange Packet. This continued for many years closing only in the early years of the 21st Century.
The Federation bulletin “The Midlander” was first published in December 1963 with Peter Clough as editor up to 1965 followed by Mr E.G.H. Morgan then in January 1973 it became a monthly newsletter and expanded to two pages. After a brief period of decline it was reborn in its present form as “The New Midlander” edited by Colin Searle and published four monthly, in colour with photographs and containing some eight to ten pages. Dr. Ken Flint then took over as editor in November 2010. Distribution has also entered the 21st Century as copies are available in ‘electronic’ format sent to you by e-mail (and also on this website).
The Federation initiated a nine sheet Inter-Society competition at the 1965 Spring Meeting hosted by Dudley Philatelic Society and this became an annual event. The late Mr E.F. Smith of Birmingham Philatelic Society had devised an eleven point marking system for use at society level competitions and Mr W.S. Chester produced a small booklet containing these rules for the use of member societies. Mr Chester also, in 1973 called a meeting to approve holding a second meeting each year and the proposal was passed with the meeting being known as the “Autumn Convention”. It housed an 18 sheet competition for individuals rather than societies and entries are judged using National level parameters and giving all entries an award from a Diploma to a Gold. Over the years the Federation has achieved its objectives and we now see regular exchange visits between member societies, two conventions per year, lists of speakers and displays. The Federation also initiated a large philatelic show every two years named “MidPex”. This show is designed to showcase specialist Philatelic Societies along with providing a large venue for 50 or so dealers.
In 1976 and 2009 The Federation held its own judging seminars and now has some fourteen individuals qualified to judge entries at a national level. There are currently 38 member societies within the M.P.F. and The Federation is affiliated to the Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS) and before the formation of the ABPS was affiliated to the British Philatelic Federation (BPF). The Federation has been very successful in promoting philately in our region and we hope to continue to do so for many years to come. I will end by quoting the words of Dr Clark, written as long ago as 1988 and still true today “As a Federation we worry about the future especially the slow loss of membership in our societies but we do not give up. We carry on hoping that a way will be found to make the hobby popular again and in the meantime we will do our best to assist our member societies.” I wonder if we will be saying the same thing in another 22 years!
Bob Harper, MPF General Secretary April 2010.